TBS Engineering, of Gloucester, England, is responding to the supply chain challenges facing the battery industry. It has had to adapt its engineering processes and substitute or modify parts where long lead times demand this. Andrew Draper met with Group Sales Director Mark Gardiner to hear how they have managed this.
Like everyone else, TBS has been hit by the multiple challenges of the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, Brexit, and the combined knock-on effects of each successive event.
And now that there is war in Ukraine, supply chains are again being challenged. “It’s not necessarily Covid-related,” he said. “But the Russia-Ukraine situation has changed supply chains…they have had to move or adapt. I don’t think there’s any one reason.”
Negotiations with suppliers
He said costs have increased significantly. “But also, it’s compounded as lead times have extended.” That means negotiating with suppliers where lead times are unacceptably long. New agreements have been made with suppliers under which they hold spare parts and equipment stock specially for TBS.
There has been no cost implication in setting these up, Gardiner said. The agreements vary in terms of commitment to purchase and the expected usage of the stock parts. They are all reviewed every six or 12 months. The arrangements have worked very well for TBS in ensuring deliveries during the recent global supply chain challenges, he said.
“It wouldn’t have been required previously because availability of parts was much easier, and lead times just weren’t that long,” he said.
“It’s given focus on some areas that it didn’t before because it wasn’t required. If you needed a specialist part, you had a range of suppliers and it was always delivered quickly. Now, that’s not always the case. We have been mindful when designing and procuring equipment.”
He went on: “Some electrical parts we used to get next day, now it can take 18 months. We have to be flexible and adapt and put in a component that is available. We wouldn’t allow it to compromise the order though, we just have to design around it.”
“The key thing is innovation – it makes you think about manufacturing in a different way.” The company, which is expecting turnover of £40 million ($51 million) this year, has a team of 36 engineers who are called on to be innovative when such challenges arise.
But things do seem to be easing following our interview. Gardiner said in mid-August: “We actually sat down with our electrical hardware supplier last week and he assured us that all components are now back to the expected 6–8-week delivery. Which is great to hear and something that would be good to share, as the issue was real but has now eased.”
Purpose-built premises
TBS moved into purpose-built premises in 2018 – with 80,000 square feet shop floor space and 20,000 sq ft of office area. The company specialises in supplying lead-acid battery assembly and plate manufacturing equipment worldwide. It is low volume but highly engineered production, which the world’s leading battery manufacturers – from Clarios to East Penn, Enersys, Exide and Yuasa – use to make their own products. Major car producers, for example Ford, VW, BMW, and Mercedes assemble their batteries too using TBS equipment.
TBS sets up fully automated lead-acid battery assembly lines tailored to customer specifications, from enveloping/stacking to cast-on-strap COS, inter-cell welding, lid heat sealing, post burning and leak testing.
Gardiner showed off the COS8S combination machine. A mould typically costs £35–40,000 ($45–51,000) and every mould is unique, depending on which customer it has been made for.
It gives high-speed, fully automatic battery production for both AGM and PE SLI batteries, producing up to five polyethylene and five AGM batteries per minute.
An engineering company, not a battery manufacturer
Gardiner emphasises that TBS is an engineering company and not a battery manufacturer. Testing is at the heart of the company’s operations. All tooling is assembled and tested before dispatch. Four dedicated development engineers and one technician work in the development area.
Products come with 12–24 month warranties and TBS has local service centres in Pennsylvania, US, a production facility in Qingdao, China, and service/spare parts technicians in India. “We believe we offer the best solutions and best equipment in the market.
“The amount of development, investment, and service we put in means there can be, but not always, a small premium for our products. However, the value proposition offered over the life of the equipment far outweighs any additional initial investment.”
In August, work had just been completed to fit solar panels to TBS’ roof. They provide 525kW of capacity. The panels cover 70% of the roof area, which is enough to cover daily usage.
Spare parts service expansion
TBS is working on a spare parts service expansion, said Gardiner: “We are planning for the EU location to be in Germany, opening early 2024 and quickly followed by a facility in Monterrey, Mexico.”
The company closed a facility in Canada in 2021 and moved the activity to the UK to make use of existing engineering support in Gloucester.
TBS’ markets are cyclical, driven in part by where industry investments are being made. At present, the US, Mexico, India, and China are strong, while in the last 12 months, the US and Mexico were the most significant for TBS.
Previously, Europe, China and India were the hottest markets.
