Industry News

Optimas OE Solutions LLC has announced the acquisition of uk fastener and parts manufacturer barton cold form, in a move that enhances supply chain security and flexibility of support for key OEM customers.

With an eighty year manufacturing history, Barton now operates from a custom-built 5,100m² facility in Droitwich Spa, to which it moved in 2006. Barton’s current machine park includes 19 heading, 9 rolling and 35 secondary operation machines. The plant is TS 16949 accredited and supplies leading automotive OEMs and tier suppliers, including through Optimas. Annual revenue is around GB£8 million and Barton employs 70 people, including those in a sales office in Katowice, Poland.

Optimas was established in July 2015 when senior management took Anixter’s OEM Fasteners segment private, supported by American Industrial Partners - a New York based, operationally oriented, middle market private equity investor.

Barton becomes Optimas’ second manufacturing site, joining the Wood Dale facility in Chicago. Anixter acquired Wood Dale in 2008 but the plant gained strategic significance following a major investment programme started in 2012, which included installing new National Formax headers.

Commenting on the Barton acquisition, Optimas president and CEO, Ian Clarke, said: "Considering the growing need of our customers around the globe, increased manufacturing capacity and expertise allows Optimas to better keep pace with demand, protect supply chain pipelines and continue to offer custom solutions that are otherwise unavailable elsewhere."

The UK plant will retain the Barton name and continue to be led by Andrew Nuttall, as operating director, and his current management team. Nuttall said he firmly believed the partnership with Optimas would "lead to positive benefits for our suppliers and customers”. He added: "Our partnership with Optimas solidifies the long-term stability of our business, accelerating our ability to act on growth opportunities with the industry."

Barton employees were informed of the new ownership on 2^nd November. For the presentation Andrew Nuttall was accompanied by Dan Jack, Optimas SVP EMEA; Mike Tuffy, SVP global procurement; and Tim Taylor, newly appointed as Optimas vice president for global manufacturing.

Following a video welcome from Ian Clarke to the entire Barton team, Tim Taylor quickly established his manufacturing credentials. A 30 year career in manufacturing started at Ford Motor Company. Advancing through Huck International he moved on to fulfill senior roles with McLean-Fogg Company for eleven years, which included heading its global vehicle systems business with plants and offices in North America, Europe and Asia. Taylor served three years as president and COO of Tempel Steel Company, Chicago until 2007, since when he has been managing partner of a manufacturing consultancy.

Referencing recent events in UK fastener manufacturing, Taylor’s primary emphasis was on how Optimas could now invest to grow Barton’s size and capability, providing enhanced employment security for its employees.

The Barton and Wood Dale manufacturing operations now report to Taylor, who, says Ian Clarke, “will split his time between Wood Dale and travelling globally as he leads our effort to expand our manufacturing strategy and footprint around the world”.

Dan Jack underlined the significance of the Barton acquisition to major OEM customers, particularly in supporting rapid growth from key automotive accounts. “This is all about a growth strategy for Optimas,” he stressed. “We’re successful, we want to be more successful and key to that is an integrated supply chain.”

Mike Tuffy reminded the audience he had known Barton Cold Form since the 1990s. “I always admired what you were doing – the passion to make parts in the UK to sell in the UK, before broadening to develop sales overseas.” He outlined how Barton’s manufacturing capability would dovetail to an overall procurement strategy that carefully identifies which parts to manufacture within Optimas and which to source from the company’s global portfolio of strategic vendors. After the presentation, Tuffy reiterated to this magazine that the investment would not represent a major shift in supplier relationships. “Having our own manufacturing is fundamentally a growth strategy, underpinning the critical supply chain security our customers now demand. It also provides a solution-oriented engineering capability, which we have already demonstrated at Wood Dale allows a tighter, more effective relationship with our customers’ own engineering and design teams. That all contributes to the growth and profitability of Optimas, which is what ultimately matters to all our stakeholders.”