In this issue of Industry Update, we have selected Forteq UK as our Precision Plastic Technology Company of the Month.
Established in 1935, Forteq UK Limited are amongst the most experienced technical injection moulding companies in the UK. They are part of the Swiss owned Forteq Group, with manufacturing plants situated in USA, China, Italy, Czech Republic and UK with HQ in Nidau Switzerland.
Forteq UK is located in Huddersfield and specialise in high precision parts for automotive and industrial products, including very precise gears, complex housings and covers, smart metering applications, 2-shot applications, valve assemblies and products with high aesthetic requirements.
Industry 4.0 methodologies are deployed in the ‘state of the art’ moulding facility. They utilise fully integrated 6 axis robotic cells, automated insert sorting and loading, a factory wide material drying system and in-line camera checks for un-manned manufacturing.
Forteq UK offer world class product development services to enable sustainable and reliable precision plastic components. The company has established itself as an integral partner for the automotive and consumer electronics industry. Forteq manufacture high volume, highly complex, precision-made plastic components and assemblies globally, for use in technical applications.
Forteq UK maintains its in-house toolroom and has its own Group tooling facility in Suzhou China that supports the manufacturing plants globally. They have an assembly facility where operations such as ultrasonic welding, heat staking, milling, leak testing and various other value-added processes can be performed.
The Huddersfield facility operates injection moulding machines from 35 to 420 tonne clamp force and make parts from less than 1 gram up to 1 kilogram.
“30% of Forteq UK turnover is for producing components and assemblies for electric vehicles. Forteq has specialist teams focusing on plastic gears, plastic pump applications and metal to plastic projects,” noted Steve Roberts, forteq UK Business Development Manager. Its automotive customer base is comprised of tier 1 manufacturers for air suspension, battery components, seating, window regulators HVAC, geared actuators, fuel filtration and fluid delivery systems.
Committed to providing a high-quality service, Forteq UK offers unrivalled experience, expertise and reliability and boasts 24/7 support and availability for its domestic and international customer base.
In terms of recent events, Forteq UK has remained open for business during COVID-19 pandemic with only a small impact on turnover. “We have had spells of orders being delayed, but in general, our order book has been good. The biggest impact is the delay of new projects starting which on average is between 12 – 18 months, but in turn, existing production has run on longer than anticipated to balance this,” said Steve.
As the company looks toward the future, Forteq UK’s strategic target is to grow its business with BEV – Battery Electric Vehicles. Steve explained that, “We see components used on traditional ICE engine cars disappearing from our portfolio thus need to embrace the new components used across BEVs to future proof business.”
For more information on the company, please see the details below:
Contact Steve Roberts
T +44 (0)1484 424384
www.forteq-group.com