Wall Colmonoy celebrates 50 years in Wales, U.K.

March 5, 2020 - Wall Colmonoy celebrates its golden anniversary of 50 years of making metals work harder in Pontardawe, Wales. Wall Colmonoy, a family-owned and operated organization with facilities throughout the U.S. and U.K., is a global leader in materials engineering the aerospace, automotive, glass, oil and gas, mining, energy and other industrial sectors. The U.K. company exports over 80% of its products into the Eurozone, Scandinavia, South Africa, Russia, Middle East and India.

Wall Colmonoy began its European footprint in 1952, first as a sales office and distribution center in London, importing products from Wall Colmonoy Canada. As the company grew and a need for local manufacturing became apparent, alloy manufacturing began in Motherwell, Scotland, before transferring to a larger facility in Brackley, England.

Due to continued and rapid growth in the U.K. and European markets, William P. Clark Sr., group chairman, accepted an offer by the Welsh government, in 1969, to establish its European headquarters in Pontardawe, Wales and build a larger facility to fulfill growing demand.

Clark was attracted to the region’s 200-year metallurgical history, the available skilled workforce, highly qualified graduates from the local universities and the close proximity to a major metal supplier, Inco (now known as Vale) in Clydach.

Over the half-century, Wall Colmonoy has increased capacity of the Pontardawe facility from 33,000 to 70,000 sq. ft., opening a 23,500 sq. ft. advanced machine shop to support its casting manufacturing facility in 2012. Today, its workforce continues to grow, with 215 employees; a quarter of whom have been with the company for more than a decade.

In 2015, Wall Colmonoy launched a tailor-made apprenticeship program to train and develop a new generation of engineers. There has also been a concentration on developing employees through an active learning culture, while sponsoring employees in their pursuits of further education; ensuring the business develops employees’ skills to meet its future needs.

Bill Clark, chairman and CEO, explains: “Wall Colmonoy is proud to be in Wales. We have been there for 50 years and plan to be there for many, many more years.  We are growing and look to the local community and universities to build our expanding business.”

Not only does the company invest heavily in its people, but investment has extended to its manufacturing and engineering facilities. Recently, the company invested nearly £500,000 in its R&D laboratory. State-of-the-art analytical equipment has been introduced making it one of the best-equipped laboratories in the U.K., aimed at product development, technical support and advancement.

In addition to the high-tech lab, Wall Colmonoy implemented new technologies in powder processing, automated brazing paste mixing, which its engineers designed and developed; and 3D printing. This has aided and propelled the development of Colmonoy, Wallex and Nicrobraz products; the launch of ColWear, the company's vacuum-fused wear plates, and entrances into the dental industry and additive manufacturing.

Within Precision Components, Wall Colmonoy is working jointly with local academia to embrace Industry 4.0, by modernizing casting equipment and automation techniques through collaborative robots. For rapid prototyping of parts, the team deploys 3D-printed investment patterns and tooling. In addition, the company procured a 5-axis CNC milling machine, new Mazak twin-spindle CNC lathes, and expanded a turning cell to grow capacity and offerings.

Managing Director Rob Davies discusses the developments: “It’s an exciting time, where the landscape of manufacturing is changing, and our team is adapting daily. We have the drive, the knowledge and the backing to thrive into our next half-century.”

Wall Colmonoy plans to celebrate this milestone with employees, local government officials, customers and suppliers later this year.