A Surrey electronics manufacturer is investing in digital leadership and workforce skills to build the foundations for its next phase of growth with support from the Made Smarter programme.
Cranleigh-based Cambertronics, has completed a Digital Transformation Workshop, a Leading Digital Transformation programme and Digital Champions training, helping the business develop a clear roadmap to improve traceability, streamline operations and strengthen digital capability across the organisation.
The starting point
Cambertronics specialises in the design and manufacture of high-tech electronic assemblies. It provides services from prototype development through to full turnkey production for customers across the automotive, marine, agritech, semiconductor test and industrial electronics sectors.
Founded in 1991, the business has built a strong reputation for technical expertise, quality and customer service.
Over the years, it has invested heavily in advanced manufacturing technologies, helping ensure the highest standards of production and reliability. However, many operational activities, including production tracking, quoting, inventory management and customer visibility, were still reliant on manual processes and disconnected systems.
With increasing customer expectations around traceability, responsiveness and supply chain transparency, the business wanted to explore how digital technologies could overcome these historic challenges and enable growth. Simultaneously, Cambertronics recognised that successful digital transformation depends on people, developing the digital leadership capabilities and the culture needed to support future change.
The solution
Cambertronics engaged with Made Smarter South East and completed a Digital Transformation Workshop. The process explored not only where digital tools could deliver most value, but also the skills required to support successful adoption.
Recommendations included barcoding systems to improve traceability, reviewing ERP solutions capable of integrating production, inventory and business data, enhancing customer relationship management processes, and increasing the use of digital tools to automate production tracking and inventory management.
The result was a tailored digital roadmap, providing Cambertronics with a plan for future investment. Jasper Whitefield, Business Development Manager, said: “We’ve invested heavily in advanced manufacturing equipment over the years, but many of our systems, from tracking production to managing inventory, still rely on manual input. We wanted to explore how digital technology could help us improve traceability, streamline processes, and get better visibility across the business.
“The workshop was incredibly valuable. It helped us identify the right areas to prioritise: automated barcoding systems, ERP integration, leadership training, and staff development.”
Jasper also participated in the Made Smarter Leading Digital Transformation programme, helping him strengthen his understanding about how to embed a strategy for change, and his colleague Joe Hildreth, (Production Supervisor), completed the Digital Champions programme, building additional digital capability.
The benefits
Cambertronics has developed a clear roadmap for future improvement and a stronger understanding of the technologies, processes and skills required to achieve its ambitions. The business now has a structured plan to improve operational visibility, strengthen traceability, streamline workflows and build the internal capabilities needed to support continued growth.
Participation in the Leadership and Digital Champions programmes has also helped reinforce the importance of aligning people, processes and technology, creating a strong foundation for future digital investment and organisational development. Jasper said: “Cambertronics is entering an exciting new chapter of growth and innovation. By embracing digital transformation, we are streamlining processes, improving efficiency, and creating opportunities to deliver even greater value to our customers. This investment ensures we can respond faster, offer new services, and maintain the quality and expertise our customers trust, while building a future-ready business.”
The Future
The digital roadmap identified several opportunities for future development which Cambertronics is now exploring, along with opportunities to introduce new technologies helping the business further improve efficiency, quality and customer service.
Support for Surrey businesses
Made Smarter is a government-funded programme to help SME manufacturers and makers boost productivity and increase their competitive edge through the adoption of new industrial technologies and tools. Start your own journey to digitisation – register for a free personalised assessment today.
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