Specialist critical parts distributor Ehrco is aiming to grow its agricultural manufacturing customer base by 25% in 2021.
The Midlands-based firm, which counts 450 industry customers nationwide, is initially investing £60k in new machinery to help maintain its leading position as a supplier of mobile hose in the food production and farming sectors.
The new kit includes a laser etching machine that offers traceability on hose and hydraulic parts to improve security and slash replacement times by using unique part references for identification. Additionally, two new cutting machines are now in place which will both automate the cutting of hose for the OEM based customers and speed up the cutting of bulk hose to stock lengths for the sub distribution market. Both machines have helped to improve overall efficiencies and gain a 40% capacity in manufacturing output.
Ehrco is the UK’s largest independent supplier of hydraulic and mobile hose products. Agricultural demand is currently centred around food production and arable farming, which includes parts – including coupling parts and connectors – for combine harvesters and tractors.
The Dudley-based firm operates a 20,000 sq. ft storage facility holding £2 million worth of stock, across more than 10,000 components and distributes through depots across the UK.
Bryan Leavesley, Ehrco’s operations director, says: ‘As the food production and agriculture sectors step up their operations to meet the demands for produce, we will continue to see an increase in demands for our products into OEM and end user markets.
“We’re still improving our service to ensure our clients can run their operations as smoothly as possible and without unnecessary disruption. Investing in infrastructure has been key to remaining strong and competitive in challenging times.”
