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How I did it – Manufacturing

Additives manufacturer: 'How toll manufacturing helped widen my customer base'

"I felt there was a lack of innovation in the plastics marketplace," says Paul Morris, Managing Director of Addmaster. "The market was commodity-based and dominated by large multinational companies that did not have the flexibility to create products to meet specific customer needs." Addmaster produces additives that can be combined with plastic and oil-based products to give them a specific use. The company’s flagship product, Biomaster, is added to products that people touch – such as keyboards, hand cream or chopping boards – to make those products more resistant to germs.

Addmaster employs toll manufacturers in the UK, who produce raw materials according to the company’s exact requirements. Paul says that employing third parties in this way gives him greater flexibility and means he can spend more time with customers. "We do not have to keep a line busy with work and this allows us to spend more time on customer service, product development and marketing."

Addmaster was founded in 2000 when Paul’s grandmother gave him a £5,000 loan, which he used to finance his first order. "I paid her back after the very first sale," he says. Starting work from an office in the Staffordshire Business Innovations Centre, the company quickly set about contacting customers. "As the Addmaster business model was new to the industry and had never been tried, the first year was spent communicating the services available to customers," says Paul. "We’re surprised how quickly the customer understood our offering." Addmaster has since grown year-on-year and currently employs five full time office-based staff while selling its products through agents to customers worldwide.

Event services: 'How we adapt to customer demand'
Gary Martin has been running Zap Events for 19 years, offering event services to corporate clients and large parties. A few years ago he started to produce decorative table centres, which he and his team make in the company’s workshop. Zap Events has a number of designs for its table centres, which it advertises on its website. However, Gary’s customers have specific ideas on what they want, which is why he employs a business model that enables him to adapt as necessary.

"I have a good understanding of what customers want," says Gary. "Usually, it’s something tall and elegant, and which doesn’t restrict the view from the table. I do a sketch of how I think it should be, the guys then programme the machines and we make one. We then photograph this and if a client wants to hire some we make a batch. Sometimes we have to tweak them a bit. For instance, they might want logos added."

Gary and his team are closely involved in what they make. He feels this is essential due to the nature of his business, even if the UK isn’t the cheapest country in the world for manufacturing. "We get a lot of last-minute orders," he says. "So I wouldn’t want to deal with China or somewhere abroad, because I need to respond quickly to customer demand. Also, fashions and tastes change, so I like to respond to these things as and when they arise."

His business has about £80,000-worth of stock in-house. The table centres, usually made from acrylic or wood are expensive to produce, so Gary has to ensure he doesn’t run into cashflow problems. "The client tends to pay 50% upfront, which is useful for cashflow purposes, as it covers most of the manufacturing costs. Once you’re established, it’s easier to reject business if they won’t adhere to your payment plans."

Zap Events had a tough 2009, but Gary refocused the business on the growing demand for table centres and now feels this is beginning to take-off. Turnover is in the region of £450,000, and demand is growing.

Mobility apparatus: 'The advantages of in-house manufacturing'
Evac+Chair produces an innovative product that enables mobility-challenged people to exit via a building’s stairwell during an emergency. All production takes place in three main factories in the West Midlands (Tyseley, West Bromwich and Telford) and the company offers clients a 'full service' approach. The company was founded in 1987 by Managing Director Barry Scholes, who bought the rights from American inventor John Egan. Egan created the Evac+Chair after he had to carry his wife down a flight of stairs in a hotel during an evacuation. The chair has wheels for the floor and skis for the stairs.

Evac+Chair retains tight control over its production and also provides servicing as part of the contract with clients. "We manufacture the chair here in Birmingham," says Marketing Director Paul Colder. "We’re not just an assembly plant, we produce all the main parts so we have complete quality control." Another advantage of in-house manufacturing , Paul says, is that the company can respond more directly to customer feedback and advance the product as the market requires. "As our founder says 'you cannot remain at the forefront by resting on your laurels' and therefore we focused hard on innovation," he says.