Synthotec can trace its technical origin to a Research & Development program within Torringtons Limited in 1970.  This research focused on the development of polymer materials within high performance products within automotive production.  Engine, geartrain and wheel applications, particularly in bearing applications resulted in the establishment of a separate sub-contractor in this area.

In 1990 Synthotec was established, and acquired as part of its creation specific technical IP surrounding the production of plastic bearing cages within the automotive sector.  Along with a range of other products the companies production facilities expanded to its current site in Malvern UK.

Through the early 1990’s Synthotec worked with a number of bearing manufacturers and in particular NSK.  This was a fruitful period for both organisations, with the NSK UK developing its own product ranges and Synthotec supported substantially in its further its own technical production competences.

By 1994 Synthotec had invested in developing a number of production processes, with the first fully automated injection moulding, product handling and robotic cell.  Certainly in 1994 Synthotec can count itself as an early adopter of robotic competences within production, something it continues to expand on today.

The acquisition of Synthotec by the Pemberstone Group, heralded a new era of financing of the companies expansion and technical development. Pemberstone’s successful track record of investing and developing niche businesses allowed the company to expand both technically and commercially.

First evidence of this financial and commercial development were realised with the establishment of Synthotec Slovakia site in Zilina. The choice of location and key personnel was a careful and well throughout process, with production starting in 2007. Today, Synthotec Slovakia continues to grow and has established competences mirroring the UK factory.

With the development of injection moulding technology and robotics moving onto 6 axis capability, Synthotec has continued to invest in production cell utilising these advancements. Today the organisation has over 30 fully automated production cells, capable of production unmanned for 8 hours.

Beyond a lean manufacturing capability, the organisation has always had a high level of competence within tooling development. In 2012 the establishment of this capability within Synthotec Slovakia has allowed the company to offer this technical resource to support customer product development equally from both sites.

As customer volumes increased within certain sectors, production capacities have been challenged along with commercial needs. The first 16 cavity tooling developed by Synthotec for bearing cages had allowed the company to match both the supply and product pricing challenges.

With demand and applications ever expanding, Synthotec Group further invested in the Synthotec Slovakia plant, increasing the site capability from 15 cell to a possible 30 cells. This investment is targeted specifically at supporting customer product needs as they increase across high performance applications, passenger vehicles, trucks and railways.

The drive for ever more efficient and sustainable factories has been a focus area for many years and the latest production innovation now applied to the Synthotec Factories is Real-Time process monitoring. A totally in-house designed and developed system, the company is now able to monitor all elements of the production process in real time. This production process also automatically updates the Resource Planning System in real time also allowing for highly detailed and data rich analysis.