Harwin opens £3.8m smart manufacturing facility to address increasing demand for Hi-Rel connectors

Expansion of UK site increases production output by 30%

Portsmouth, UK, 19 October 2020 – Harwin has started production in its new manufacturing facilities at the Portsmouth headquarters in the South of England. Providing an additional 1,200m² of factory floor, the new facility is enabling the company to quickly and significantly scale up production of its award-winning high reliability (Hi-Rel) connectors to meet market requirements.

The total investment into the new facility is £3.8m; £1m of this brings in state-of-the-art equipment, with the last few machines arriving within the next 12 months. The new equipment uses advanced Industry 4.0 technology to maximise efficiency.

“Harwin leads technological progression in Hi-Rel interconnect components and the growth in customer demand means we have yet again exceeded our existing production capacity” said Paul McGuinness, Director of Operations at Harwin. “This investment has come at a crucial time, as the additional factory space and equipment enables us to ramp up production to meet high volume demands very quickly. The extra space also gives us over six month’s supply of raw materials held onsite, preparing us for unforeseen supply chain challenges relating to Brexit and avoiding any order delays to our customers.”

The company has a policy of replacing production equipment every 5 years to keep up with the latest developments in machinery advancements, maintaining reliability and operational effectiveness. In 2016, a new build 3,000m² factory was opened, and an R&D Centre and Apprentice Training Hub was set up in 2019. This latest investment also includes a new training area to support staff with ongoing professional development, encouraging advances in skills and job flexibility as the company continues to grow.