STC members PP Control & Automation and Jaltek have agreed a new partnership they believe will give agritech innovators a single point of contact for contract manufacturing and electronics.

Their collaboration aims to target up to £4m of new orders with UK organisations involved in indoor/vertical farming, automation, precision farming and remote sensing.

This is expected to help potential clients speed up time to market, maximise output and unlock value-added design and engineering by providing access to a comprehensive suite of engineering and production capabilities.

If the predicted growth materialises then the additional revenue will help both firms create new jobs at their factories in Cheslyn Hay and Luton.

“Agritech has grown 20% over the last five years and is seeing lots of investment, with £919.1m of Innovate UK grant funding directed its way in recent years,” explained Garry Myatt, Sales Director at PP Control & Automation.

“There is a surging demand for new technology and the PP-Jaltek partnership is set-up to streamline the path from blueprint to the field, working with innovators and companies to navigate the complexities around design, manufacture and funding.”

PP C&A and Jaltek were introduced through the STC’s events and roundtables. Their complementary engineering and production capabilities, plus a shared commitment to supporting emerging markets and technologies, quickly led to them collaborating.

Garry added: “This collaboration is not just about assembling mechanical parts or circuit boards. It’s about providing the sector with the arsenal to scale up swiftly and sustainably, turning good ideas into the very fabric of agricultural innovation.”

Claire Mackay, Business Development Manager at Jaltek, enthused: “This is a fantastic example of two UK manufacturers joining forces to deliver a solution that a fast-growing market is looking for.

“There is so much innovation in this country, but a lot of the time it is commercialised elsewhere. We want to reverse that trend and feel agritech is the perfect sector for us to pioneer this new approach.”

PP Control & Automation, which employs over 230 people at its 5,500m2 facility, has evolved into an award-winning provider of strategic outsourcing solutions to over 30 of the world’s most successful machine builders.

Garry continued: “We and Jaltek both share a passion for facilitating innovation and making sure the UK benefits commercially from new technology and ‘disrupting’ the status quo.

“In particular, Jaltek’s expertise in printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) lay-out, fast turn-around new product introduction, test and final product assembly complemented what PP C&A offer and, combined, makes for a very attractive proposition.”

PP and Jaltek are now looking to bring new partners into the collaboration, with a company specialising in pneumatic and electrical automation equipment set to join shortly. This will evolve over time to become a holistic supply chain, speeding up time to market and making product launch for OEMs even easier.

This will boost both an existing working relationship with WMG/The University of Warwick and international discussions with Wageningen University & Research in Holland and the Simon Frazer University Centre for AgriTech Innovation (BCCAI) in British Columbia.

Article by Carl McKellar