Greene Tweed

Greene Tweed UK Nottingham’s Journey of Embracing Automation in the Workplace

Greene Tweed — 31/01/2023

Made in the Midlands member Greene Tweed & Co, has been on a challenging yet rewarding journey to automating their workshop over the last couple of years. So far, the investment includes the utilisation of Cobots with CNC machinery and MIR component transporters. Tony Baldassarra, Sealing Systems EVSM and UK Site Lead at GT, believes it’s helping the company close the skills gap, become a more attractive employer and achieve maximum efficiency.

Greene Tweed & Co, is a global manufacturer of high performance thermoplastics, composites, and engineered components. Established over 150 years ago, their product offering includes custom-engineered sealing solutions for a variety of sectors. With plants in the USA, UK/Europe and Taiwan, the company has remained dedicated to new ideas and high performance and safety critical products. In order to achieve this, GT has continued to invest in the latest technology, to optimise efficiency and stay inline with the ongoing changes in the industry, especially at its plant in Nottingham, UK.

Tony Baldassarra is considered an leader in optimising efficiency in business, employee engagement & development while investing in the right places to improve productivity - especially in the eyes of staff at Greene Tweed, Nottingham. The company’s highest external investment took place early this year. The £2.8M Mouldshop which Edward Johnson-Kolb, Value Stream Manager has headed up from cradle (to grave), has been very active in working with Tony and the automation team aligning the technology projects to the business strategy. The Mouldshop is set to take the company to new heights of productivity with the opportunity to produce more plastic components for customers faster and more energy efficient than ever before. However, what is most impressive is the company’s adoption and engagement with automation to deal with the skills shortage and the higher demand.

GT has invested in their staff, upskilling them in the world of automation to ensure the technology works around them. This has resulted in the use of multiple Cobot arms in conjunction with CNC machinery. Machine operators now work across three machines, rather than one. The Cobot arm loads material and extracts the products from the machine, the human is solely responsible for operating and setting the CNC machinery.

Efficiency is also optimised when it comes to navigating products and materials around the facility. MIR’s are responsible for carrying job-packs to work centres from the Preparation section then collecting the finished product and transporting them to designated areas, as well as manoeuvring other materials in the same way.

To get automation to work for them, GT has trained long established staff such as James Brown, Automation Technician, and Steven Buckley, Senior Production Technician to work with the complex technology, while adding to the team with Dave Fox, Senior Technical Associate. This has resulted in a testing area where automation equipment is goes through a trial programme before introduced to the workstation. Whilst the implementation of automation began in 2020, the company only started utilising it in June 2022.

Steven said: “The pay back from learning about this technology and implementing into our everyday processes has seen endless benefit. There seems to be a preconception that automation, particularly robots and Cobots, are taking people's jobs. That’s not the case here, we have to interact with it and it is therefore teaching us the skills of the future whilst improving overall productivity.”

As with many manufacturing and engineering businesses, GT Nottingham has faced recruitment challenges over the last couple of years. However, their approach to engaging staff with new technologies is also making them a more attractive employer. James Brown is responsible for project management, design and troubleshooting - working particularly with Cobots, Knife skive, MIR’s and Touchscreen project visibility.

James said: “Learning new skills in the role has given me a bigger and better understanding of integration of complex systems. There is a realisation that there is no such thing as plug and play, but also it is worth using this technology to help employees become more efficient.”

James believes that the Nottingham plant has had this positive reaction to the adoption of automation because of their encouraging top down leadership. James mentioned that many employees questioned the integration of Cobots at first. He continued:

“We have a positive culture at Greene Tweed which I believe has been a major factor in the company embracing automation.”

Though the two-year implementation has been challenging, it has set GT on a leading path for the future. The inclusion of this technology will help the business attract a new generation of machinists and operators who are tech savvy and engaged with high performance technology.

Tony, Sealing Systems EVSM and UK Site Lead at GT, concluded: “Automation is navigating the company towards improving efficiency, driving down costs and tackling recruitment challenges. We sat down with our team to plan out the new factory floor, ensuring we listen to the employees who work there every day. Greene Tweed has supported the investment through Capex with the aim to standardize the manufacturing operations globally at all our sites. Our achievements have come from strategic planning, visibility, looking at the skills gap and focusing on what is needed to change. All this without the comprise of Safety or Quality.

To be successful in the future we need a new generation of people to take up roles in manufacturing. To inspire them to do this, we need to be able to offer them these tech savvy roles.”

Find out more about Greene Tweed: https://greenetweed.madeinthemidlands.com/

Factory Tour at Greene Tweed: Process Discipline and Continuous Improvement in Action

Greene Tweed — 12/06/2026

Members from across the Made in Group network gathered at Greene Tweed's Ruddington facility for a morning of networking, knowledge sharing and behind-the-scenes access to a global advanced materials manufacturer.

Following refreshments and introductions, attendees had the opportunity to connect with fellow manufacturers before hearing from Greene Tweed's leadership team and exploring the factory floor.

With roots in the United States dating back to 1863, Greene Tweed operates globally across aerospace, semiconductor, energy and industrial markets, developing advanced materials and high-performance engineered components for some of the world's most demanding applications.

The Ruddington facility, established in 1982 and operating from its current 68,000 sq ft site since 2000, forms part of the company's wider global manufacturing network, serving customers across aerospace, semiconductor, energy and industrial markets.

Through a combination of presentations and a guided factory tour, visitors gained insight into the systems, people and processes that support Greene Tweed's approach to operational excellence.

A Practical Approach to Continuous Improvement

Welcoming attendees, Tony Baldassarra, UK Site Operations Leader, provided an overview of Greene Tweed's global footprint and the role of the Ruddington site within the wider organisation.

The presentations that followed offered insight into several areas of the business, with each member of the team sharing practical examples of how systems, processes and improvement activity are managed on site.

A common theme throughout the morning was the importance of structured improvement - reviewing performance, identifying opportunities and building on existing capability over time.

Tony also emphasised the role of leadership accountability in creating the conditions for sustainable improvement across the site.

"The managers on this site are accountable for everything."

Safety, Quality and Environmental Responsibility

Senior Site Safety Coordinator Ian Hooton opened by discussing Greene Tweed's approach to health, safety and environmental management.

Since Made in Group's previous visit in 2024, the site has continued to build on its strong safety performance, supported by employee involvement in hazard reporting, behavioural observations and ongoing safety engagement. Ian explained how Greene Tweed's behavioural safety programme generates around 900 safety observations each year, helping identify potential hazards before they become incidents.

"There is no fear in reporting anything. Everybody gets feedback on the things they put in and we do something about it."

Ian also shared an overview of Greene Tweed UK's ISO 14001 journey. The Ruddington facility became the first site within the wider Greene Tweed organisation to achieve the environmental management standard and has recently completed recertification.

The presentation highlighted the practical work behind the standard, including energy monitoring, waste reduction, machine shutdown programmes and employee engagement initiatives designed to reduce environmental impact over time. Attendees also heard how the site is using energy baselining to support a 5% reduction target, alongside wider initiatives focused on waste segregation, recycling and employee awareness.

The theme of structured improvement continued with Darral Beresford, European Quality Manager, who outlined how quality performance is monitored and reviewed across the business.

Attendees heard how Greene Tweed tracks quality concerns across the full process, from suppliers and warehouse activity through to manufacturing and customer outcomes, with improvement activity supported by communication across the wider team.

"It's not just quality driving improvement."

Darral explained that many quality concerns originate outside the manufacturing process itself, reinforcing the importance of working closely with suppliers and other functions across the value chain to support continuous improvement.

Investing in People and Future Capability

The discussion then turned to one of the most important challenges facing UK manufacturing: attracting and developing skilled people.

Senior Human Resources Generalist Amanda Williams explained how Greene Tweed has responded by creating its own trainee CNC machinist programme, helping bring new talent into the business while building capability for the future.

Launched in 2023, the programme was developed in response to an increasingly limited pool of experienced CNC machinists. Rather than focusing solely on previous experience, the programme places emphasis on attitude, commitment and potential.

Amanda also highlighted continued growth across the site, with headcount increasing by more than 8% during 2026 across manufacturing, engineering and support functions.

Attendees also heard about Greene Tweed's wider approach to employee development, recruitment, retention and succession planning, ensuring skills are nurtured internally as well as recruited externally.

Future capability was also a focus of the morning, with Site Engineering Manager Ralph Yorke providing an overview of ongoing investment across the facility and how the site continues to strengthen its advanced machining capabilities in support of future growth opportunities.

From the Mould Shop to the Cobot Cells

Following the presentations, attendees headed onto the shop floor to see many of the themes discussed during the morning in action.

The tour began with an overview of the facility before moving through a number of key manufacturing areas, giving visitors the opportunity to see production processes, automation and continuous improvement initiatives in action.

One of the highlights for many visitors was the opportunity to see the new mould shop, where powdered resin is transformed into billets before being precision-machined into high-performance components used in demanding applications around the world. The process provided a practical example of the control and discipline required when manufacturing advanced polymer products.

The tour also demonstrated how automation is being used throughout the facility to support consistency, safety and productivity.

Senior Process Improvement and Automation Engineer Dave Fox shared examples of practical automation and process improvement projects developed on site, from bespoke tooling solutions to improvements designed to remove risk and improve repeatability.

"Keep it very simple and work up."

Visitors also heard how the engineering team has developed hundreds of bespoke 3D-printed fixtures to support manufacturing operations, allowing tooling to be produced quickly and adapted to new products with minimal lead time.

That philosophy was reflected across the tour, where automation and process improvement were shown as practical tools for solving specific challenges, supporting operators and improving consistency.

A Joined-Up View of Manufacturing Performance

What made the visit valuable was not one single process, investment or initiative, but the way each part of the operation connected.

From the mould shop to automation, from safety observations to skills development, attendees saw a site focused on steady, practical improvement.

For Made in Group members, the morning offered a clear reminder that operational excellence is rarely built through one major change. More often, it is shaped through everyday discipline, shared responsibility and the willingness to keep refining how work gets done.

Made in Group factory tours give members direct access to the people, processes and ideas shaping UK manufacturing. To explore upcoming events, visit our events page or get in touch with the team.