As Charcroft Electronics turns fifty, Debbie Rowland explores the company’s consistent evolution and drive to be industry’s best through collaboration and commitment.
On the 23 August 1974, Paul Newman started a company called Charcroft and he remains the head of the company today, 50 years later. In those fifty years, the core values which drove Charcroft remain the same. The focus continues to be on building a UK-based company and investing in the specialist technologies which support customers in the most difficult and stringent applications. These cover high end markets such as defence and aerospace, plus those in harsh conditions like rail and industrial.
Customers in these sectors require specialist expertise, so Charcroft has recently increased its team of technical field sales engineers. This support provides individual solutions to challenges presented by each customer. The solution can be finding an alternative to an obsolete passive (or one on an extended lead time) so a system with a decades-long lifetime can continue to operate reliably. Customers can also use the specialist expertise when starting a new design, using the newest and most innovative products in the marketplace.
The common factor is that all the components must deliver the rugged reliability essential for high-end and harsh applications. That is why high-reliability power supplies and specialist semiconductors have been added to the franchised line card of passive components.
Holding all stock in the UK also delivers benefits for customers as import/export issues are mitigated. Delivery delays are also minimised as components can be despatched to customers same day.
Although Charcroft continues to be a specialist franchised distributor, solving customer challenges led to acquisitions which have prevented passive components becoming obsolete.
The acquisitions started with capacitor manufacturer Ashcroft and continued to the recent acquisition of audio capacitor manufacturer, ClarityCap, plus investment in a state-of-the-art high-speed winding machine for the clean room. The commitment to deliver flexible solutions means Charcroft was also approved as the first VPG Precision Centre in Europe for the manufacture of precision resistors.
The factories in Wrexham and Llanwrtyd Wells are used to manufacture bespoke customer designs and add the ability to offer value add services such as harnesses, adaptics, assemblies and modifications.
For customers, the benefit of UK-based manufacture is a lead time of less than 6-weeks and sample turnaround of 5-days for prototypes. This means the combination of designing in and approving new components can be done seamlessly and efficiently.
Charcroft has always believed in maintaining long-term partnerships with customers, as well as component manufacturers. It is the length of engagement throughout the supply chain that develops deep and specialist knowledge of the markets and components.
The goal is to continue to invest in the skills, processes and expertise which are essential for supporting customers, including acquisitions and new franchises. The key has been, and always will be, to continually strive to be the best in the industry through collaboration and commitment.