Wadkin UltraCare has made a “major strategic move” to broaden its moulder range by signing import deals with manufacturers in the Far East.
The company, which will continue to manufacture its top-end moulders in Leicester, has concluded an agreement to import IIDA-brand mid-market machines from Taiwan-based Anderson Industrial Corp. And to meet growing demand for entry level moulders it has set up a partnership with another Taiwanese company which will make machines for Wadkin under the revived Robinson brand.
Besides giving it a more comprehensive range, Wadkin says these developments will also have important implications for the continuing evolution of its Wadkin Ultracare repair and maintenance arm, which has just recruited another electrical specialist to take its team of service engineers to 26.
Managing director Peter Smith said Wadkin was responding to a rapidly changing moulder market place. “It is increasingly diverse and there are customers out there looking for machines in a wider range of performance and price levels; in the £20-30,000, £30-40,000 and £40,000-plus bands,” he said. “We can now offer all these options and support them all with our established UltraCare after sales service and support infrastructure. ”
“The quality of Taiwanese engineering firms varies widely, but I realised very quickly the company we selected to make our Robinson brand machines had the right skills and expertise” |
Wadkin UltraCare managing director Peter Smith |
Director of sales and marketing Nigel Smith described the cast-iron-framed IIDA moulder as a “very solid bit of kit”. “It’s designed by the IIDA of Japan, and manufactured by Anderson’s factory in Shanghai. It’s a very reliable machine which is used worldwide and we will be handling the whole of the European market for them, except Germany.”
Peter Smith visited a number of manufacturers in Taiwan before signing an agreement with the company supplying Wadkin with the Robinson-brand machine.
“The quality of Taiwanese engineering firms varies widely, but I realised very quickly this company had the right skills and expertise,” he said.
“In the future, we will also be looking at developing new designs with them.”