ATAM UK offers an extensive range of standard products, including loose and moulded cable connectors according to standard EN 175301-803, M8 and M12 circular connectors, position sensors for pneumatic cylinders, pressure switches and encapsulated coils. The core range is available directly from stock in Nuneaton, in the heart of the UK.
ATAM UK also collaborate with many OEMs, supplying customized products to exact customer specifications, that are stocked in the UK to ensure rapid delivery. All products are manufactured in Nothern Italy by their partner company Atam S.p.A.
Interview with Steve Morecroft, Sales Director at Atam UK.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Steve Morecroft: Atam UK work very closely with customers in market sectors including Hydraulic, Pneumatic and Fluid in a variety of industries such as Off-Highway, Rail, Offshore, Automation, Food & Beverage, Robotics, Agriculture, Automotive, Medical, Transportation and many more! Basically, wherever you find a solenoid valve, there’s a possibility that Atam has been involved in the process!
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
S.M: Atam S.p.A. has recently re-launched an external armature range of solenoid coils at the Hannover Messe. This range is particularly suitable for demanding applications in farming, forestry and agriculture.
Atam UK has recently launched a new online connector selector tool allowing our customers to identify the most appropriate connector quickly and easily for their application. All parts are available from UK stock. The initial feedback from our customers has been fantastic.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
S.M: Our core range is solenoid connectors and solenoid coils. However, we are also seeing increased demand for our M8 & M12 connectors, along with pressure switches and proximity sensors.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
S.M: We are still seeing a strong level of enquiries and orders in the UK, Scandinavian and Benelux markets. Our order book is healthy, and we envisage a strong end to 2022 and start to 2023.
Steve Morecroft, Sales Director at Atam UK.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
S.M: Increased lead-times caused by raw material delays and full order books have led to some excellent opportunities for Atam UK due to our strong stock holding and automated production lines. Customers (particularly OEM’s) are now looking to forecast schedule orders further in advance to ensure they keep their own production lines running.
We have also noticed a trend that customers are now looking for complete customized solutions (for example our range of pre-wired connectors) where they previously would have wired the cable themselves.
The lack of available labor and lean working means that we are taking away pain points from our customers by offering a complete ‘plug and play’ solution.
In the future I expect to see this area of the business to continue growing.
We are also finding our customers becoming increasingly aware of reducing wastage and their impact on the environment. For example, a recent project we completed for 1000 connectors. Previously our customer ordered a 1M cable from our competitor even though they only needed a 200mm length. They cut the cable down and threw away the remaining 800mm of cable on each connector. This is a total of 800M wasted cable! We were able to offer a bespoke solution with 200mm cable, reducing cost, wastage and lessening their impact on the environment.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
S.M: We are currently investing R & D time in Industry 4.0 intelligent connector solutions.
E.E: What estimations do you have for the rest of 2022?
S.M: We continue to work hard in partnership with our customers to offer them the best possible solutions in a timely manner. We look forward to a successful remainder of 2022 and beyond. I would like to personally thank all our loyal customers and supply partners along with Ciprian at Easy Engineering Magazine for the opportunity to share my thoughts with your readers.
