A MANUFACTURING firm in Tadcaster is closing in on sales totalling £20 million for the first time in its 42-year history after developing new technologies with its global customer base.

Lambert, which specialises in providing automation systems, equipment engineering and precision components, has invested £250,000 into its dedicated Innovation Centre to explore new technologies and research and development.

A host of new contracts currently under delivery, combined with existing orders in the goods, food and drink, and medical sectors, has seen the firm grow from £10 million turnover in 2010 to £19.9 million in 2014.

Backed by a long-standing relationship with the Business Growth Service, the company has also been able to create 75 jobs during this period and increased export activity to nearly 70 per cent of its total turnover.

Lambert managing director Warren Limbert said: "We are always looking at innovating the next process or bringing the next technology step change to market and it is this approach that has allowed us to expand globally.

"Automation is such a popular topic at the moment, with even the emerging countries looking at how they can take labour out of the equation to improve productivity.

"A lot of our work is to help our customers and their production lines work smarter by developing innovative, affordable automation solutions."

Lambert's Peter Wainman Innovation Centre was named after the company's co-founder, and has been described as a "major step forward for the business" giving it the ability to "strengthen existing relationships and begin working earlier with customers in their own product development lifecycle".

Some of the technology Lambert has made progress on includes: robotic glue dispensing, vision inspection, laser welding and cutting, high-speed pick and place for medical components and 3D printing of silicon components.

Mr Limbert said: "Four people are employed purely in this business unit and have access to state-of-the-art machinery, with further investment in both resource and technology planned for the next six months."

The Business Growth Service, which incorporates the Manufacturing Advisory Service and GrowthAccelerator, has played a significant role in Lambert’s growth over the last seven years.

Manufacturing expert David Whiteley first started working with the firm to complete an environmental study and this soon progressed to funding consultancy work to develop the skills of the management team and draw up a rolling strategic business plan.

More recently, the specialist assistance has been around continuous improvement, with Lean Business Solutions’ Kerry Cochran introducing new cellular build capabilities where the company’s automation systems can be manufactured in mid to high volumes.

Lambert, which employs eight apprentices out of its 183-strong workforce, has capped an exciting year by being named finalists in seven categories at the Manufacturer MX Awards.