IDEM Safety Switches wins King’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2023 for its outstanding advances in machine safety
Innovation has always been an IDEM “core” principle – the cornerstone of the success of the business and winning The King’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2023 recognises the outstanding contribution IDEM has made to the integrity and reliability of machine safety switches.
Patented in 2011, the range of interlocking cam switches have become a de facto industry standard for protecting people from moving machinery and since their market launch in 2015, they have become a mainstay of the machinery industry. Utilising a novel approach to isolating the forces involved in opening and closing machine doors, the IDEM interlocks have huge resistance to tampering and preventing jamming when doors are mis-aligned.
Productivity improvements have been measured in every case where these switches are installed through reductions in downtime and ease of installation onto the machine.
Proudly wearing its ‘Made in UK’ badge, IDEM is now considered to be the UK’s largest producer of machine safety switches. Its comprehensive range of products are all designed, manufactured, and tested at the company’s state-of-the-art production site in Wigan, in the north-west of England. Visitors to this impressive facility, will experience a warm welcome from an experienced team of engineers and technicians. A tour of the factory reveals the very latest manufacturing technologies that enable IDEM to engineer products that stand up to the toughest of conditions. Recent investments include advanced printed circuit board manufacturing to ensure 100% reliability of the electronic switches, while the on-site testing laboratories ensure they meet the highest of quality standards. The company’s expert customer support staff are trained to guide its customers through the process of specifying the best safety solutions to keep their machinery both safe and fully productive.
With products known for their durability and reliability, IDEM’s reputation has allowed the company to grow sales on a global basis to the point where more than 90% of its production is now exported. Through an extensive network of industry partners and distributors, IDEM Safety Switches is now represented on every continent, with products available in more than 40 countries. The company’s employees are collectively delighted that their achievements have been recognised again with the King’s Award for Enterprise Innovation 2023 which follows the achievement last year of the Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2022.
One field where IDEM particularly excels is in the supply of devices to highly regulated industrial sectors that require strict hygiene regimes and rigorous wash down requirements, such as the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, oil, gas, and chemical industries. To this end, IDEM now boast the world’s largest range of Stainless-Steel safety switches specifically engineered for these incredibly challenging environments. In almost every episode of the BBC’s “Inside the Factory” TV program, when food and/or drink processing is involved, you will see examples of Idem’s safety switches being used!
