E+R’s Sales Director shares exclusive insights into the company’s innovation process
Emerson and Renwick, known as E+R Group (E+R), is a privately owned, independent equipment engineering company. Throughout its history, E+R has grown and developed across multiple market sectors, positioning itself as a leading manufacturer of sophisticated roll-to-roll production machinery. With a reputation for engineering, technology, and process innovation, the company supports developments for ever more demanding processes and products. A key factor in E+R’s growth has been its success in the recruitment and development of highly skilled technical personnel across a wide range of capabilities and competencies. Over a year after our initial interview, we catch up with Andrew Jack, Sales Director.
“The past year had its fair share of ups and downs due to unfavorable market conditions. Nonetheless, we have managed to diversify our operations and take on considerable work in the renewable energy sector, which is now our biggest market. By renewables, I am referring to battery coaters, fuel cells, photovoltaics, and other products in that vein,” he begins.
Its diversified product portfolio has empowered E+R to stand out and find its niche in the machinery manufacturing sector. “We pride ourselves on being a unique company with a wide range of techniques under one roof. At our core, we are a roll-to-roll converter, manufacturing everything that can be converted to a roll of film, from unwinding to coating and rewinding. Unlike most of our competitors, who typically specialize in one technique, we offer both wet atmospheric and vacuum roll-to-roll coating options. What truly sets us apart in the marketplace is our ability to handle many of the disciplines the market requires for a full turnkey process,” says Andrew.
Seamless solutions
Filling us in on E+R’s latest noteworthy projects, Andrew highlights a machine the company built and installed for Ilika. “This project involved designing a battery development machine for Ilika, a battery manufacturing company located just outside Southampton. Ilika was looking for a small scale machine that could offer them the flexibility required to develop coatings for their Goliath program, whose purpose is to produce larger scale batteries. In response, we developed a machine called the Genesis Air, which we launched over the last 12 months. Ilika became the first customer to purchase and use the Genesis Air, and the machine has proven highly effective for them. It is also worth noting that we have made some minor changes as part of the machine’s ongoing development throughout the last year. Overall, the project has been successful, with the customer being genuinely satisfied with the machine,” he emphasizes.
The Genesis Air is but one example of E+R’s focus on innovation. Andrew sheds light on recent investments in innovation and how they have benefited the company’s client base. “Our investments in innovation are driven by our customers’ needs and preferences. For example, clients have expressed a desire for smaller scale development machines that can be scaled up into larger manufacturing machines. To meet this demand, we began producing benchtop calendaring systems following a similar process as Genesis Air to facilitate smaller-scale development and bridge the gap to production-style machines. In other words, we build machines ranging from lab-scale to full-scale production, giving our customers confidence in our ability to create smaller machines and then easily and seamlessly scale up to larger ones.
Robust relationships 
“Two and a half years ago, before we launched our benchtop calendaring systems, we opened our Innovation Center. Located in Burnley, the Innovation Center showcases all our products and services, allowing us to conduct customer trials and product development all while designing and building machinery. This setup helps address the potential nine-month gap between a customer ordering a machine and its delivery by enabling clients to develop their products at the Innovation Center whilst we build their machine,” he reveals.
The Innovation Center plays a key role not only in supporting E+R’s customers, but also its suppliers. Andrew provides exclusive insights into the ways the company collaborates with its supply chain to ensure its standards are consistently met. “Maintaining a reliable and trustworthy supply chain is essential to our business. We tend to work with suppliers mostly from Europe and North America, and closely monitor the quality of their products. Although we handle most of our machining in-house (we are approximately 70 percent turnkey), we maintain strong working relationships with our suppliers for the parts we need. We meet and engage with our suppliers regularly, sometimes even allowing them to test and trial new products in our Innovation Centre. By doing so, they can demonstrate their new products and monitor performance using our equipment, enabling them to make adjustments and improvements in real-time.
Ahead of the curve
“In essence, we strive to work together as partners with our supply chain. Moreover, we collaborate extensively with our supply network to focus on their green credentials, as a significant priority for our businesses is the transition to Net Zero. On the electrical side specifically, we use parts that are energy-efficient, so that we can offer eco-friendly and low-energy machines to our customers. Overall, in order to reach our ambitious net-zero goals, it is crucial for us to collaborate with our suppliers and ensure their products meet our sustainability standards,” he explains.
By leveraging its diverse capabilities, fostering strategic partnerships, and investing in its state-of-the-art Innovation Center, E+R has proven its ability to engineer sophisticated, customized solutions that empower its clients to stay ahead of the curve.