Manufacturing Today Issue - 215 August 2023 | Page 246

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Whitecroft Lighting ( Whitecroft ) is one of the UK ’ s largest manufacturers of commercial lighting and occupies a position at the forefront of LED product design , innovation , and sustainability . With an annual manufacturing capacity of upwards of 600,000 luminaires , the business boasts the ability to complete the entire process of initial design through to finished product from its 10,000-squaremeter facility in Ashton-under-Lyne , England . “ We ’ re a project solutions organization , focusing on various key sectors like education , commercial , healthcare , and industrial ,” begins Whitecroft ’ s Operations Director , Robert Bates . “ Whether it be a distinct color , shape , size , or control mechanism , we ’ ve always prided ourselves on our ability to offer technical and architectural solutions with a difference .

“ We could be working on a bespoke solution or fully custom product one day , then regenerating a customer ’ s existing luminaire the next . Hence , flexibility has been at the forefront of our investment strategy to ensure we maintain our design capabilities and production agility .
“ It ’ s also about ensuring speed of agility ,” he continues . “ It ’ s great to offer dynamic solutions , but it ’ s important that we can fulfil these requests with a quick turnaround . Our investment has seen us introduce high levels of automation to our manufacturing process , but we also have agility within the workforce . Our people are highly skilled and flexible , and we can organize additional operations in certain areas of the factory within a short space of time , enabling us to more than double our capacity when necessary .”
Whitecroft is incredibly proud of its status as a UK manufacturer and strives to retain its production capabilities entirely in-house . “ Keeping our operations within the UK has been at the core of our investment journey ,” Robert states . “ When the focus shifted from
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