How Axiom Manufacturing Services provides exceptional support even in times of crisis
Axiom Manufacturing Services (Axiom) is a leading provider of bespoke manufacture and test solutions for high ingress protection ratings (IP), low-to-medium volume electronics. Managing Director, Chris Nye outlines the company’s story: “The site that we operate from in South Wales was originally the Celynen North Colliery, which was developed into a technology park in 1995. Sony’s Aiwa brand operated the 300,000 square foot facility until 2002 when Axiom acquired the site. Over the ensuing 22 years, Axiom has become a £67 million a year subcontractor employing 320 people.
“Most of our clients are in the military, aerospace, industrial and medical sectors, so we specialize in small batch, high reliability services,” he continues. “That’s part
of why the UK market works well for us, as it’s typically not a high-volume market. To differentiate ourselves from the competition, we place extra focus on supply chain excellence and delivering an exceptional level of service. It’s very difficult to compete on price in today’s landscape, so we aim to ensure that we can offer more than other businesses in the market. The services which help us stand out include our fantastic testing capabilities as well as our box builds, where you take bare board and give it a plastic housing, which is a good way to add value to the product.”
Chris then goes on to shed more light on some specifics of Axiom’s range of services: “We’re a full turnkey site from design and development, through to the surface mount into test, cable assembly, and full box build. We can do it all, and although that’s easy to say, it can involve some complexity. Because we are both a build to print subcontractor, and a subcontractor that can develop and re-engineer or reverse engineer a customer’s program or help them develop it from scratch, the processes can be much more involved. We operate a cradle to grave type approach; it’s the full suite. Against a lot of our peers, our test capability is extraordinary. We demonstrate impressive skill in that area, and for many of our clientele who often want to focus their engineering solely on new product development, it can be a great solution. It’s a service which has definitely gained increasing traction in recent years
“We have incredibly strong engineering and procurement teams. To complement the strength of these departments, we also have three surface mount lines that are all state-of-the-art Fuji tracks. We’ve got vapor phase which facilitates soldering and enables production of nanowires and also have automated optical inspection tools (AOI) which use cameras to inspect printed circuit boards and other electronics for defects and failures, as well as flying probe testing. We make sure we have the cutting-edge equipment that any engineer or customer might want, as one of our overarching philosophies is to stay at the forefront of technology.
“To achieve this, we’re constantly reinvesting in capital expenditure to ensure we have the latest kit, and technological advancements. In an industry that moves as fast as ours, this enables us to stay ahead of our competitors, rather than getting caught out and left behind – which can easily happen if you don’t develop sufficiently. Combining our production capabilities, the levels of service we provide, our testing experience and our specialist engineers, we are able build anything. We’re not a board assembly outfit, but we do offer those services. Alternatively, we can take it to a higher level of integration and ultimately drop ship from our facility to our client’s customer, allowing for a smooth process where they don’t have to touch the product at all.”
Keeping on top of technological advances can provide significant advantages, as Chris has outlined. He goes on to describe the company’s approach to assessing the potential of emerging technologies and whether they should be implemented into production processes: “We have already implemented systems to give us real time information on materials, lead times, and other variables. We also have more traditional information handling systems in place. In 2025 we will be looking at artificial intelligence in greater detail to see what the best way to harness it would be. Even if we decide it’s not ready yet to incorporate into our systems, it’s an important analysis that needs to take place.”
To reflect the company’s success and growth in recent times, Axiom is undergoing a brand refresh, updating its digital presence to match its cutting-edge production capabilities. “In May of 2024,” Chris explains, “we updated our website and our LinkedIn alongside our other digital assets. Our previous website no longer represented who we are as a company, therefore the updated version is much more sleek, informative and engaging. We’ve also placed a real focus on developing our digital presence, including regular posting on LinkedIn to drive growth and engagement. Re-energizing the brand has also helped internally mark a new era for the company, helping stakeholders buy-into our philosophies and more collaborative working, all pushing in the same direction, towards the same goals.”
Reflecting on what has driven the significant growth phase the business is currently experiencing; Chris concludes by highlighting some key factors: “We’re a can-do company; it’s an approach that has served us extremely well. Even in the semiconductor crisis for example, we still grew year on year. We are also very resourceful; we have an ability to procure parts that others can’t or won’t find. That I would say is one of our key strengths and therefore we have built some really strong partnerships.”