For more than 20 years, SG Automotive has supplied the automotive industry with high quality PCBAs and LEDs. With a history of innovation and success, the company is preparing for a period of significant growth. Sales Director Juan Arrambide sat down with Inside Sustainability to explain more. Report by Imogen Ward.
Over the years, SG Automotive has worked hard to build a solid repu tation within the automotive industry. Today, it boasts an impressive turnover of €20 million and a quality rating of 2.0PPM.
“We have a long history making PCBAs, electronics and LEDs,” said Sales Director Juan Arrambide. “We actually pioneered the automotive industry with our LED technology for cars.”
SG Automotive’s origins date back to 1998, when its predecessor CMP Electronic was established as a specialist automotive wire harness manufacturer. The following year, after a change in direction that led to a joint venture with Alfred Schefenacker, the company was renamed SG Automotive, and its production focus switched to electronic components.
“ At the time, Schefenacker was a very well-known German automotive group,” Mr Arrambide explained. “We began collaborating on projects, and the partnership really evolved from there.
“Today, we are most well-known for manufacturing the turn light indicators for Mercedes Benz. We manufacture the PCBAs for the electronics and assemble and package the final product in house. This is one of our best products and has been for many years.”
After more than 20 years of success, SG Automotive has new goals for growth. Ever ambitious, the company intends to grow its turnover to €30 million by the end of 2025.
Forming new partnerships
With a target on the table, SG Automotive began searching for the perfect partner to help accelerate growth. In 2023, it came to an agreement with UK-based contract electronics manufacturer Jaltek Systems. The partnership will support demand from new markets and is likely to lead to fresh opportunities.
“We signed the collaboration agreement with Jaltek Systems in October last year, to support demand from the European and UK
markets,” Mr Arrambide explained. “Both parties are happy with the outcome, and we are excited about the new opportunities it will bring.
“The partnership will give us access to the UK’s automotive sector but also other non-automotive markets such as medical , aerospace and defence. These are all new areas for us that we are looking forward to exploring further. We are confident in achieving our 2025 turnover goal, thanks to the support of Jaltek Systems.”
As a result of this partnership, SG Automotive is now active in the UK market (an area it was previously absent from) and is very busy generating projects and leads.
Developing new capabilities
Whilst new doors open for SG Automotive in the UK market, the company has been busy diversifying away from its expertise in automotive. At the end of 2023, the company embarked on its first major project outside of the automotive sector.
“We have been working hard to diversify into other industries, because the automotive sector covers 95 per cent of our operations,” said Mr Arrambide. “This year, we are set to assemble approximately 200,000 PCBAs and control boxes for a smart furniture company. Off the back of this, the client has already placed an additional order for more than 185,000 units, which will be tackled later this year.”
Diversification is a major element of SG Automotive’s strategy: one that will not only help it reach its 2025 targets but will also help ensure it outlasts any potential market stagnation.
“The automotive industry is quite fragile at the moment,” Mr Arrambide continued. “In more recent months, we have witnessed a reduction in orders from this side of th e business. By diversifying into other
non- automotive markets, we are securing our current market-leading position and our future.”
Although orders from the automotive industry have reduced, SG Automotive is still experiencing a steady demand, especially when it comes to electronics requests.
Improving its impact
Manufacturing PCBAs is not the only thing that SG Automotive excels in; the company has also been working to improve its environmental impact. One way it is achieving this is through the generation of electricity using the heat from its production processes. The company also minimises its waste as much as possible.
“Any solder waste we produce is recycled, and we try to avoid scrapping our PCB boards,” Mr Arrambide explained. “We also design all our electronics with efficiency in mind: we don’t use unnecessary amounts of material, and we try to avoid
using too many different types of material. By designing the products to be as simple as possible, we can keep our environmental impact to a minimum.”
At this stage in the process, SG Automotive also takes packaging design into consideration. Where possible, the company offers clients returnable packaging so that it can be reused for future projects. Although more expensive than the non-returnable alternative, SG Automotive favours this option for its circularity.
When it comes to sustainability, SG Automotive has more planned for the rest of 2024 and beyond.
“We are always working on our KPIs and measuring our performance indicators to assess where we can improve,” Mr Arrambide continued. “We endeavour to make our electronics as sustainable
as possible, and we are assessing new ways to do that every day.”
According to Mr Arrambide, SG Automotive intends to remain fully focused on its growth objectives for the foreseeable future: “We offer our customers transparency and flexibility when it comes to their orders. As long as we continue to provide that, whilst prioritising product quality, we will continue to grow closer to our target turnover.
“All our achievements past, present and future, would be impossible without the amazing team of individuals we have at SG Automotive. Each employee is dedicated to ensuring the very best products for our clients, and they are a joy to work with. I am looking forward to what the remainder of 2024 has to offer, because we have a lot of incredibly exciting projects lined up. ” n
