Services offered by EMB Ltd help Corby company reach for the sky

The sky's the limit for a Corby company which makes machines to carry roofing materials on construction sites and warehouse conveyor systems. Since the first machine was developed in a garden shed, Mace Industries has developed a national and international reputation - setting up separate companies to sell to customers in Australia, the United States and Poland. And they've made the most of business support services made available from contracts delivered regionally by EMB Ltd. These include Business Link, UK Trade & Investment and the Manufacturing Advisory Service.

Bumping out

Mace Industries was started by brothers Tony and Richard Mace, who were in the roofing trade. Having yearned for an easier way to carry tiles to the roof, they developed their own machine in a potting shed. The slang term for loading a roof was 'bumping out,' so the machine was called the Bumpa.

Today the new generation of Bumpa is the most popular portable loading machine on the market and the company has developed a range of portable conveyors for the building and warehousing industries. Twenty three people work at the Mace Industries factory on the Earlstree Industrial Estate in Corby.

The company is expecting to increase its output from 70 machines a month to 110 to keep pace with demand and is making the most of business support services to improve systems across its operations.

Snowballing support

Business Link introduced Mace Industries to the complementary services available from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS). They've already shown the business how it can improve efficiency and productivity simply by changing its administration and production systems. And Business Link also put them in contact with UK Trade & Investment, who helped them open up new export markets. Thanks to this introduction, the company now successfully trades through distributors in Iceland, Holland, Sweden and South Africa, as well as through its companies in the US, Australia and Poland.

Tony Mace, Managing Director of Mace Industries, said: "Thanks to the on-going support of Business Link and the other support services that they put us in touch with, the company is growing incredibly quickly. We wanted to strengthen our systems and train people better and Business Link has helped us to achieve that goal.

"Working with Business Link we have streamlined the business and introduced automated systems. We have also changed production methods, giving employees better job satisfaction because they now take responsibility for producing the whole machine, not just a part of it."

Tony said: "Business Link has improved since I first became aware of it and the service now relates more closely to the actual needs of industry. We wish we'd asked for their help earlier. We would advise any company thinking of changing its operations to get in touch with Business Link right at the beginning."