Telford manufacturer invests £750k in expansion

Kiyokuni Europe now says it expects to create further jobs at its site in Holyhead Road in Priorslee after spending £750,000 on expanding its premises.

The main purpose of the investment was to create more warehousing space, but it comes in the wake of other investments in the company over recent months.

Over the last 18 months Kiyokuni has invested about £1 million in its production and tool maintenance machinery, including a Servo press added in November 2015, which broadened its capabilities.

Their premises have now increased by 1,700 sq m, bringing the plant's total floorspace from 5,400 sq m to 7,100 sq m (76,000 sq ft).

So far this expansion has created five new jobs, with a potential to create more new shifts, depending on new projects and orders.

Managing director Sean Davies said: "As part of Kiyokuni Europe’s long term growth strategy the company decided in 2015 to invest £1 million in an Aida 400 Ton servo progression press to increase the size of the pressings we could produce in order to better serve the automotive market’

"We realised when we made this investment that space would be an issue as we would be producing larger pressings in high volumes.

"The investment in this extension which increases our factory floor space by about a third enables us to solve this issue.

"It also provides us the necessary space that we will need to allow us to invest in additional press machines to further expand our manufacturing capacity in the future."

Kiyokuni was established in November 1987, with its production line opening in 1988, and Telford was chosen because of its proximity to a key customer and its links to other parts of the country.

Kiyokuni Europe specialises in the production of mid-sized pressings and assemblies from presses ranging in size from 80 Tonnes to 400 Tonnes.

The company produces pressings and assemblies in very low volumes using laser cutting, an NCT Press and press brakes and in high volumes from high speed progression presses.

These facilities are complimented by a range of secondary processes such as welding and assembly with painting offered through specialist subcontractors.

The company serves a variety of industries including the automotive industry where pressings are produced in both steel and aluminium for car air conditioning units and in steel for a wide range of chassis parts for different manufacturers.

Kiyokuni Europe also produces pressings for industrial air conditioning systems, for a wide variety of off highway equipment such as tractors and mechanical diggers and for wiper systems for buses and trains.