Interconnection
It’s all about optimisation!
GTK has been operating for almost 30 years and customer focus has always been a top priority. Chas Shale, manufacturing director designate, said: “In a recent analysis of our business we calculated that 98 per cent of the products we manufacture for customers are customised in some way. Essentially, this means that each customer’s requirement is an individual project and, as an organisation, we have to be configured to support this.” Chas Shale tells CIE editor Amy Wallington more about this
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TK is an established manufacturer of cable assemblies, connectors, displays and custom manufacturing solutions. The company has a global manufacturing footprint with facilities in the UK and Romania, and it works closely with affiliate manufacturing partners in the Far East. “We opened the facility in Romania in 2016. It focuses on the production of cable assemblies and box-build, and is already exceeding all of our expectations,” Chas said. “It mirrors the UK facility in terms of its cell manufacturing structure and uses the same scheduling and shop floor data collection software. The facility has ISO 9001 approval and has just been accredited under the UL wiring harness traceability programme, which means we can offer customers a complete audit trail on all the components used to make their cable assemblies. We have made a significant investment in automated manufacturing equipment, enabling us to
produce medium to high volume production batches in mainland Europe.” This global footprint allows GTK to be
extremely agile and flexible when manufacturing products for customers and it has developed a series of build models that allow it to determine the most cost-effective way to deliver custom cable assemblies to customers anywhere in the world. “With our range of build models, basically we do the maths and work out the most suitable build model for each individual customer requirement,” said Chas. “There are several factors we need to take into consideration, including volume, branding, packaging, final delivery location; these will all influence the build model we choose. In some cases, we will manufacture the product in more than one location if this is the best option for the customer. “For new product designs, we can support customers in a variety of different ways. Our technical experts can provide
design guidance, BOM reviews and component cost-down advice, and review the overall product design in terms of its manufacturability. In addition, we can look at different branding and packaging options. We like to think that we can add value to customers’ designs in terms of both DFM and the finished product cost. The benefit of our global footprint is that we can manufacture new products in small volumes initially, and then, as volumes grow, transfer production to another location, but
barriers. The branch office staff liaise directly with them on a wide range of issues including engineering, quality, production and logistics. Each manufacturing partner is rigorously and regularly audited for quality purposes. “Over the last 30 years there have been significant advances in technology,” said Chas, “and this has impacted on the electronics industry dramatically. Electronic devices have become much smaller, but their power in terms of capacity and data
this is a seamless transfer as far as the customer is concerned. For new product designs, time to market is often a key driver and we offer a FastTrack prototyping service, where we can supply prototype cable assemblies from our UK manufacturing facility in less than five days from order, subject to component availability. This allows engineers to fine-tune and prove their designs without losing time.” For customers requiring products
approved to the AS9100 standard, GTK can support this from their UK manufacturing facility. Typically, these customers operate in the aerospace, defence and security markets, which demand the most stringent controls over manufacturing, quality and production processes.
Since its inception in 1990, GTK has
had strong ties with the Far East, and over the years has built lasting relationships with carefully selected manufacturing partners. GTK has a branch office in Taiwan, meaning it has direct access to its partners, with no language or time zone
16 October 2018 Components in Electronics
transfer speeds have increased exponentially. We have also seen a shift in the industrial electronics market where the product designs are now much more aligned with those of consumer electronic products. End users want smartphone-style interfaces for industrial electronic products. Customisation, branding and packaging have become more important, even for industrial sector products.
“All of these factors have led to the
greater demand for product customisation. From our perspective, this can mean a unique finished product for every single customer. Over the years we have adapted our organisation structure to be able to successfully support our customers and continue to grow. We know we will need to keep adapting as the industry evolves and customer requirements change. We are a customer-driven organisation and that means it’s all about optimisation for the customer.”
www.gtk.co.uk www.cieonline.co.uk
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