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New name in the motors market has a history

01 February, 2006

New name in the motors market has a history

There is a new source of general-purpose motors in the UK - a Birmingham-based business called Camis Motors & Drives. But behind the new name is a well-established business and a well-known motor industry personality.

Camis is the new identity for Advent Power Products which has been distributing specialised motors in the UK for 30 years. Two years ago, Advent was acquired by the Chiltern Group and is now part of a group of businesses using the Camis brand.

The company has recently recruited Ian Welsh to be general manager of the motors business. Welsh was previously chief executive of the UK operation of the Turkish motor-maker Gamak and, before that, was regional sales director for Brook Crompton.

Welsh has ambitious plans to expand the motors business and has recently signed a deal with the Netherlands-based motor supplier, Dutchi Motors, to sell its range of LV, MV and HV motors in the UK. He is also setting up a network of distributors across the UK.

Dutchi`s motors (some of which are shown above) are manufactured in China and Eastern Europe to its specifications. The company had a brief presence in the UK about ten years ago but, at that stage, the market was still sceptical about Chinese-made motors. Welsh is confident that this attitude has since changed with many big-name motor suppliers now sourcing or manufacturing their motors in the Far East.

Although the Dutchi name is not well-known in the UK, it claims to be Europe`s largest stockist of LV motors and says it has expanded by more than 35% a year for the past five years. It covers motors with ratings from 0.06-630kW and sells motors with a combined capacity of around 2.3 million kW every year.

Dutchi`s origins were as a trade organisation called Peja that bartered with Eastern Europe during the Communist era. Its activities included importing VEM motors from East Germany, but when the EU implemented protectionist policies in the 1980s, it started to assemble motors for VEM in the Netherlands. Following the collapse of the Communist bloc, Peja transformed itself into a motors company. It is a partner in a Chinese joint venture that produces motors solely for Dutchi.

All of Dutchi`s wide range of motors will be available in the UK - including Eff1 and Eff2 induction machines, brake motors, force-ventilated motors, explosion-proof motors, two-speed motors, single-phase aluminium motors, and MV and HV machines. Camis will hold £250,000 of stock in the UK, with access to a further €10m of stock on a 2-3 day turnaround from the Netherlands. Some modifications will be performed in the UK.

Camis will continue to distribute the specialist motors that Advent represented including ranges from ICME, EMOD, Winkelman, Lambert, Cemp and ATAV. Welsh reckons that, together with the Dutchi portfolio, these products will represent "the widest range of motors available in the UK today".

Welsh expects the Dutchi range to account rapidly for a large part of the Camis` business. He is confident that the "competitively" priced Dutchi motors will be a hit in the UK and should boost the size of the business significantly. "There is no reason why Dutchi shouldn`t reach £3m in the UK after two to three years," he predicts.

Welsh also plans to build relationships with the other Camis group companies which focus on electronics, fabrication and components. Camis Electronics incorporates the former Tonbridge-based business Mortley Sprague, which makes specialist items such as ejector seat motors and hand-operated generators.

The components business (which Welsh also manages) sells items such as switches, timers and relays via its Web site. Welsh expects to be selling some motor products online within 12 months. He has recruited Tina McRobie from WEG as technical sales engineer and is planning to recruit more sales engineers. He expects to expand in areas such as drives and gearboxes within 18 months.




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