We are Europlacer

Europlacer History

Europlacer was developing equipment for electronics assembly as far back as the 1970s. Initially, the company was known as Numergo, and then Eurosoft Robotique. In the 1980s, it was the first to devise the intelligent feeder concept, and developed a platform that embraced it. Importantly, that concept is still used today at Europlacer, and has since been imitated but never equalled by almost every competitive pick & place company.

Blakell Systems Ltd was established in 1970 as a general engineering company by the late Pat Kellard. The business manufactured products from traffic lights to fork lift trucks and engine block washing systems before entering the electronics market. Its first product was a light-guided system for semi-automated hand assembly of boards with through-hole components.

Blakell Systems acquired Ambotech in 1987. Ambotech designed and manufactured the ‘Robin’ range of fully automatic radial and coaxial placement machines for through-hole assembly. The combination of semi-auto and fully auto insertion technology provided the motivation to expand into the newly emerging Surface Mount Technology sector.

In 1991, Blakell acquired French company Europlacer Industries SAS and became the Blakell Europlacer Group.

The Europlacer product team initially developed the 928 platform, which incorporated the now-obsolete ‘moving table and substrate’ mechanism. This is still used by some competitive pick & place companies today. However, the expert Europlacer engineers quickly realised that moving table technology could not meet the greater accuracy and performance demands driven by increasing SMT miniaturisation.

They set about developing a robust X-Y gantry architecture combined with rotary turret technology for its new-generation surface mount placement platforms. It’s a dynamic precision-engineered approach that has underpinned the company’s range of products ever since.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, continuing platform developments resulted in flexible placement systems ideally suited to the high-mix electronics assembly requirements from most OEMs and contract manufacturers.

To sum up, Europlacer products offer a compelling return on investment irrespective of production volume – a fact that has driven significant business growth and secured market share worldwide.

Values

Our values originate from the Christian faith:

Our actions are grouped by the values they relate to:

Integrity

• Be honest, clear, and straightforward in all situations
• Actively demonstrating integrity by doing what we say we will
• Foster a culture of metrics and processes to focus our intentions, initiatives, and strategies
• Strive towards excellence in development of products, services, and best practice

Generosity

• Practice humility by putting others first
• Commit to continual development of ourselves, others, and the offering to our customers
• Being prepared to go the extra mile

Multiplication

• Be optimistic taking every opportunity to inspire and motivate those around us
• Actively seek opportunities for development, improvement, expansion, and growth

Respect

• Create an environment of family irrespective of geographic borders, cultures, and beliefs
• Support, encourage, respect and care for our fellow employees
• Dignify the opinions of others

Partnership

• Foster an environment of partnership with our customers and suppliers
• Build long lasting relationships with our fellow employees and business partners
• Collaborate with everyone you need to so that the customer experience is enhanced
• Be responsible stewards of our environment and resources

Foundation

We are founded on the word of God, which is our bedrock, having Faith that for all things and in all situations, God will inspire us and show us how to move forward.

Purpose

We provide innovative electronics manufacturing solutions for the global SMT industry which transform the productivity of our customers.  Our aim is to honour God in the way we do business, work collaboratively, enabling our employees and customers to realise their full potential, whilst supporting multiple philanthropic projects around the world.

Parable Trust

In 2013, Europlacer was acquired by Parable Trust, a not-for-profit company whose mandate is to develop and multiply talent in the marketplace by distributing funding.

Parable Trust is a faith-based organisation that abides by Christian moral and ethical principles. The Trust’s corporate governance focuses on fostering innovation and excellence with unwavering integrity.

For instance, it deploys profits from its revenues as reinvestment capital in its core companies as well as providing philanthropic funds to support poverty relief endeavours and Christian missions across the third-world, and in Europe and the USA.

Gearbox Europlacer

Gearbox Europlacer is a joint venture, high-mix, low-volume electronic manufacturing services (EMS) facility based in Nairobi, Kenya.

We aim to catalyse the burgeoning electronics hardware sector in the region by providing:

Quick-turnaround electronic manufacturing services to mature companies, start-ups and innovators.

By keeping the entire electronic value chain in Kenya (from solution to design, manufacturing, distribution, and product life cycle support), we ensure the maximum transfer of value that will establish a solid foundation for a new growth-positive, high-technology sector not only in East and Central Africa, but across the continent.