ENGINEERING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

We’re PCE Automation

For more than 60 years, we’ve been at the forefront of UK automation and manufacturing, harnessing cutting-edge technology to create bespoke solutions to global manufacturing challenges.

Our team are leaders in their field, with a reputation for innovative thinking and top quality. Together, PCE’s expert engineers, technicians and programmers harness cutting-edge technology to create exceptional ‘turnkey’ systems which assemble, test, pack and deliver innovative, future-facing products to world-class standards.

We were founded in 1961 by Ernest James Cook; six decades later, under four generations of family leadership, our factory is still based in the heart of Suffolk, UK but our clients are worldwide.

Today, we’re pioneers in the ocular, medical and pharmaceutical sectors and have a reputation for automation excellence in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and industrial packaging.

OUR MISSION

Let’s collaboratively create the world of tomorrow through innovative automation.

OUR VALUES

INNOVATION IS EVERYTHING

We’re not content just to do things the way they’ve always been done. We work with industry leaders to engineer solutions that bring the future closer.

THE FUTURE IS NOW

Why wait? Our team harnesses the latest technologies to solve problems we’re only just starting to understand, to bring tomorrow into today.

OUR PEOPLE MAKE IT HAPPEN

PCE is burgeoning with great minds, ready to make the impossible possible. Collaborative working allows us to innovate and devise unique solutions to our customer’s requests.

OUR JOURNEY

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2014

2002

1994

1992

1981

1961

KING CHARLES III ROYAL APPROVAL

PCE receives the Kings Award for Enterprise 2023 for our contributions to innovation within the ocular sector. Having won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2020 for international trade winning the inaugural King's Awards gives PCE very special notoriety.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

In April 2022, Project Shooting Star was launched to develop land at the rear of the Beccles HQ building a 3500M² ECO factory unit. The state-of-the-art facility will cement PCE’s status as a global automation company and is planned to come online in 2025. In addition to the new development, industrial units were also acquired adjacent to our existing assembly halls immediately boosting floor space to 9500M².

60 Years of PCE

In August 2021, we celebrated our diamond anniversary, marking 60 years since Ernest James Cook founded EJ Cook & Sons. The company later changed its name to Poolcraft Engineering, which paved the way for PCE Automation. The landmark event was commemorated with a visit from Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant, who presented our Queen’s Award for Enterprise, together with a formal citation, personally signed by Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Minister.

Royal Ascent

Our reputation for global innovation and customer service saw us awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of our excellence in International Trade.

Pivoting for the Future

Investment in production facilities laid the foundations for our rapid growth within the ocular, medical and pharmaceutical industries. Meanwhile, we employed the 100th member of our world-class team.

Stronger Together

In September of 2018, PCE Automation Ltd completed the acquisition of db automation and Premier Bowl Feeders of Leicestershire, to form the PCE GROUP. Additional premises were also acquired at the PCE headquarters in Suffolk, increasing our overall production capabilities.

Give Youth a Chance

To celebrate 30 years of our successful apprenticeship program, PCE signed the Youth Pledge with the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

New Blood

PCE welcomed the 4th generation of the Cook family to the fold and expanded its Board of Directors beyond the Cook family to harness the next phase of expansion.

Joined up thinking

Between 2002 and 2014, PCE formed new supplier alliances through systems integration and sales partnerships with international brands, including Festo, Rockwell and Bosch Rexroth.

Building for the future

Continued expansion saw us commission a second purpose-built factory, immediately adjacent to our original hub, allowing us to increase our assembly area for large-scale projects.

Board reshuffle

Following Ernest Stanley and Bryan’s retirement, PCE formed a new partnership shareholding between the 3rd generation of the Cook family. PCE also registered and became an incorporated company.

One Million Mark

In 1994, PCE reached a significant financial milestone, accomplishing a £1m turnover, with a workforce of 15 full-time staff.

Relocation, Relocation, Relocation

Poolcraft Engineering fully re-branded to PCE Automation and relocated from its riverside premises to a specialist factory unit at Ellough, just outside of Beccles in Suffolk, UK. The rebrand better reflected the company’s primary business activities but retained the heritage behind its name.

Poolcraft Engineering was born

A downturn in the UK tourism industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s saw the company (then owned by Ernest James Cook’s two sons) diversify into packaging machinery under a new name of Poolcraft Engineering.

Pushing the boat out

EJ Cook & Sons was formed in 1961 by boat builder, Ernest James Cook. Later changing its name to Poolcraft he and his two sons Ernest Stanley and Bryan built a successful boat hire business on the Norfolk Broads, beside where the Beccles Lido currently stands. Together, they designed and built elegant wooden craft, changing to fibreglass and steel as the marine industry evolved.

Built to Last

It’s not by chance that our automated solutions are top quality; From the design of a new machine to the individual testing of each assembly when it comes out of production, every effort is made to ensure the brand’s standards of excellence are not only met but surpassed.

Guaranteeing the reliability of a PCE machine requires the application of a multitude of skills. From the first sketches to the moment it emerges from production, engineers specialised in material selection, motion analysis, mechanics and electronics work together to develop optimal solutions for each machine according to its intended use.

It is not only our products that are subject to the highest standards, but all our company processes also undergo a rigorous inspection to ensure that all structures and processes in our company are consistently optimized.

We demonstrate this daily through the following activities:

ISO 9001

Processes and templates implemented for every project milestone

Risk Management

Machine Acceptance Testing

2020

THE QUEEN’S AWARDS FOR ENTERPRISE

CATEGORY: INTERATIONAL TRADE

2023

THE King’s AWARDS FOR ENTERPRISE

CATEGORY: Innovation

Corporate Social Responsibility

Manufacturing shouldn’t cost the Earth. Which is why we’re striving to have zero impact on our planet. By implementing sustainable practices in every aspect of our business – from maintaining optimum equipment effectiveness (OEE) to utilising natural power sources for all our facilities – we’re engineering a more sustainable future, together.

Our people are our most important asset. Alongside our environmental policies, we’re committed to safety and act ethically according to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, to ensure the highest levels of integrity and transparency.