SMC 'makes PPMA show history'

30 September 2011

SMC went one step further than simply showing new products at this year's Process & Packaging Machinery Association

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While other exhibitors leave their factory for the duration of the show, SMC - which deals with pneumatic automation and control solutions – took part of its factory with it.

Live customer orders were hand-finished on a valve assembly cell at stand F54 for the duration of the exhibition - a first in the history of the PPMA show. Finished orders were then returned to the company’s logistics facility in Milton Keynes for immediate despatch.

The groundbreaking move was no gimmick, says SMC’s Head of UK Sales, Nick Pittwood: “Obviously we want to showcase specific products”, he said before the show, “but we also want to show that many orders are produced in the UK. Users can order customised solutions for their precise requirements, without the need to lock up cashflow in spares inventory as we can supply on a just-in-time basis, with shorter lead times than for supplies from abroad because they’re made in the UK.”

But it’s not just valves that SMC assemble by hand: “FRL components, actuators and control systems are manufactured locally, to customer specifications”, said Pittwood.

“SMC is the only major pneumatics manufacturer in the UK to hand-assemble products at this level, on a daily basis, and we want to tell businesses how we can help them optimise their cashflow, stock control and production efficiencies. In the current economic conditions, that might make the difference between surviving or going under”.

Visitors to the show will also get an exclusive first UK viewing of some of SMC’s newest products. Stand F54 will host 24 eye-catching display panels - many of them dynamic - highlighting real-life applications where SMC products can help MROs and OEMs improve machine efficiency and cut energy costs.