Acquisition leads to record year and recruitment drive for MESTEC

One of the UK’s leading providers of cloud-based Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) has posted a record year – just twelve months after it was acquired by Eyelit Inc.

Bracknell-based MESTEC has seen sales grow by over 40% this year, as more manufacturing companies use its solutions to create smarter factories to improve labour productivity, overall equipment effectiveness, quality, and compliance.

The business has created more than 15 new jobs because of the growth, with the workforce now totalling 26 and plans in place to grow this figure again over the next twelve months.

One of the key drivers for future expansion will come through the footprint of its US-parent and its ability to deliver new opportunities in North America.

“We’ve already won our first three pieces of business in this part of the world since the acquisition and that is definitely something we want to build on,” explained General Manager Mark Carleton, who joined MESTEC in 2008.

“Our SaaS-based solution is configured for each client and works best where there is a level of production complexity and compliance required.

This has seen us build up strong client bases within aerospace and defence, automotive, electronics, food and beverage and the medical sector, delivering operational performance benefits to the likes of Sheffield Forgemasters, Siemens, and Thales.

He continued: “What makes us different is the time we take on the shopfloor to understand all the different processes and labour issues, building up a clear picture of where our technology can make a real difference.

“This is critical and gives clear transparency to both parties. It also allows us to deliver the fastest deployment times in our industry meaning our customers can be enjoying cost and time savings within a matter of weeks/months.

“We provide the foundation for a journey to Industry 4.0. Even in environments with low levels of automation we can still deliver IIoT technology to drive the move to a paperless, modern factory.”

MESTEC’s Manufacturing Execution Systems have been designed to help manufacturers maximise their labour performance, their processes and their right-first-time quality scores.

The SaaS solution eliminates spreadsheets, paper-based operations, and manual data collection, helping firms achieve advanced planning and scheduling, asset performance management, quality and compliance, manufacturing KPIs, inventory control and labour management.

It can be integrated into existing ERP systems so that improvements can be delivered from day one, with subscription-based charging fees ensuring no up-front costs.

Jason Adams, CEO of Eyelit, added his support: “One of our key strategic initiatives after the acquisition of MESTEC has been the launch of its cloud-based MES platform in the United States.

We have invested in building a team of sales, service and support personnel to enable the first steps in that journey and are delighted that multiple North America customers are now on board.