Expansion and Investment

Wilson Process Systems invests in new equipment; expands into new location Latest technology acquired by Contract Electronics Manufacturer to support growing customer base Hastings, July 2009… Wilson Process Systems (WPS), the leading contract manufacturer, has recently concluded a new round of investment which has seen the company expand its manufacturing capabilities and add a second manufacturing location. The moves are aimed at continuing the Hastings-based company’s impressive growth, which has seen WPS more than double its turnover to £10M in the last eight years. As a privately owned company WPS is very flexible, and the company has a policy of investing in the latest and best available equipment to support the needs of its clients. Recently the company has added an Orbotech Vantage S22 post reflow AOI system, a Universal Radial 8XT through-hole radial insertion machine and automated conformal coating systems and flexible IR convection ovens from Asymtek to handle the increase it is seeing in its assembly business. Other recent investments include: two Universal AC30 ‘Lightning’ pick and place machines; a Universal AC72 pick and place machine; a BTU Paragon 98 9-zone (with two cooling zones) a forced convection, computer controlled reflow oven, and an SM Tech Sigma Print AVX 500 fully automated, in-line solder paste printer with de-stacker. The company can also offer full Boundary Scan capability using a Goepel system. Two years ago, the company also bought a second factory, adding a further 8000 square feet of manufacturing space. This was necessary to house the company’s fully automated surface mount lines and now the site is fully operational WPS has increased its capacity to over 125,000 component placements per hour as well as improving its ability to accurately place fine-pitch devices. The company now has seven Universal assembly machines of various types. Comments Sales Director, Nick Jones: “There is still room to expand in the new Fir Tree Business Park premises, which is useful since we are experiencing growth in all sectors, particularly LED assembly, but also with industrial, defence and medical customers as well as general box build. We believe in constantly reinvesting in the latest equipment so we are always able to offer our customers the very best manufacturing processes possible, while keeping costs low”.