Why TEX Plastics Needed to Evolve as a UK Injection Moulder
6 July 2026
Over the last decade, the UK injection moulding sector has changed in a way that is both structural and permanent.
“The UK injection moulding industry is not becoming less relevant — it is becoming more specialised. The opportunity is no longer in volume alone, but in technical capability, engineering collaboration and manufacturing intelligence.
At TEX Plastics, our focus remains on building a unified, resilient business that helps customers design better products, manufacture them more efficiently, and deliver them with absolute confidence.”
— Guy Sentance, Managing Director
Building a Design-Led, Value-Added Manufacturing Partner
Where customers once prioritised unit cost and availability of machine capacity, they are now looking for something very different: engineering input, supply chain resilience, sustainability data and speed of development.
This is not a short-term trend. It reflects wider pressures in UK manufacturing, including energy cost inflation, supply chain uncertainty, post-Brexit logistics friction, and increasing demands from OEMs to decarbonise their products while improving performance.
In this environment, simply being a “good moulder” is no longer enough. The companies that are succeeding are those that can operate as technical partners — not just suppliers. This reality underpins the "One Plastics, One Company" strategy spearheaded under Guy Sentance’s leadership, transforming TEX Plastics from two separate manufacturing facilities into a single, highly integrated engineering force.
Moving From Supplier to Engineering Partner
At TEX Plastics, we recognised early that the traditional model of selling machine time was becoming increasingly limited. Through a complete review of our management structure and corporate alignment, we have broken down geographic barriers between our Derby and Barnstaple facilities. This unified operational footprint allows us to offer a more seamless, value-added approach built around Design-for-Manufacture (DfM), early-stage engineering involvement and collaborative product development.
In practical terms, engaging with customers much earlier in their design process — often before tooling decisions are finalised. By pooling the specialised engineering resources of both sites into a single customer interface, we support:
- Optimisation of component design for moulding efficiency
- Identification of cost and complexity reductions before tooling investment
- Material selection aligned to performance and sustainability targets
- Consolidation of assemblies into fewer, more efficient components
- Reduction of downstream manufacturing and assembly risk
This early engagement approach is not about adding process. It is about utilising our collective, group-wide expertise to reduce risk for the customer and improve the final outcome.
Design-for-Manufacture as a Commercial Advantage
One of the most important shifts in our approach has been the emphasis on Design-for-Manufacture as a core capability rather than an optional service.
In many cases, customers come to us with designs that have been developed without full consideration of moulding efficiency, cycle time or tooling longevity. By applying structured, multi-site DfM reviews, we are able to identify improvements such as:
- Wall thickness optimisation to improve cycle time and reduce sink risk
- Draft angle adjustments to improve tool release and longevity
- Gate positioning refinements to improve flow and reduce defects
- Assembly consolidation opportunities to reduce part count
- Material substitutions that improve performance or sustainability
This approach reduces cost, improves manufacturability and often shortens time-to-production. More importantly, it reduces risk — particularly at a time when customers are under pressure to deliver faster programmes with fewer resources.
Metal-to-Plastic Conversion and Lightweighting
Another area where we are seeing significant demand is in metal-to-plastic conversion. Across multiple sectors — from consumer white goods to Britain's active domestic heating revolution — OEMs are looking to reduce weight, simplify assemblies, and improve efficiency by replacing metal components with engineered polymer solutions.
This is particularly relevant where:
- Weight reduction improves system performance
- Assembly simplification reduces cost and failure risk
- Corrosion resistance improves product lifespan
- Electrical or thermal insulation is required
At TEX Plastics, our technical teams regularly work with customers to evaluate existing metal assemblies and explore how injection moulded alternatives can achieve equivalent or improved performance. This is not a theoretical exercise — it requires detailed understanding of material behaviour, tooling design and real-world application conditions. When done correctly, it delivers significant benefits in both cost and performance.
Speed of Development and Early Prototyping Capability
Another clear expectation from customers today is speed. We are seeing increasing demand for reduced development timelines — in some cases compressing product development cycles from many months down to a matter of weeks as businesses look to reshore manufacturing back to the UK for intellectual property security and speed-to-market.
To support this, our unified structure allows us to deploy agile development processes, including rapid prototyping and early-stage validation techniques, seamlessly across both facilities. This enables us to support customers in:
- Early design validation before tooling investment
- Rapid iteration of complex components
- Bridging solutions between concept and full production tooling
- Reducing expensive late-stage design changes
The benefit to customers is straightforward: fewer surprises, faster decisions and reduced programme risk.
Sustainability Is Now a Technical Requirement, Not a Marketing Message
Sustainability has become a defining requirement for many of our customers, particularly those operating in regulated or high-visibility sectors. However, what is increasingly important is not general ambition, but technical capability and measurable compliance.
Customers are now asking very specific questions about environmental impact. In response, TEX Plastics has embedded sustainability directly into our corporate governance and operations through major structural milestones:
- EcoVadis Partnership: We have partnered with EcoVadis to rigorously track, audit, and report our progress in sustainability, ethics and corporate social responsibility.
- ISO 14001 Certification: Our Barnstaple facility successfully achieved ISO 14001 accreditation, aligning its environmental management frameworks directly with international standards.
- Closed-Loop Processing: We have heavily invested in advanced central granulation systems to facilitate the efficient, in-house reprocessing of large-scale scrap material.
Whether discussing the use of recycled materials, processing bio-based polymers or executing closed-loop material handling, sustainability at TEX Plastics is treated as a core technical competency.
Automation, Process Control, and Manufacturing Confidence
In a UK environment where energy costs and labour efficiency are significant considerations, automation and process control are no longer optional. Following successful implementation, TEX Plastics has rolled out advanced Real-Time Production Monitoring Systems across our facilities, moving from the initial trial phase to full installation at both the Barnstaple and Derby sites.
Combined with our ongoing investment in automated manufacturing cells, robotic handling, and a diverse portfolio of new, energy-efficient injection moulding machines, this allows us to:
- Consistently track and analyse production efficiencies live on the factory floor
- Maintain tight process control across complex production runs
- Reduce reliance on manual inspection via zero-compromise automated quality assurance
- Provide total transparency in manufacturing performance to our clients
For customers, this translates into greater confidence in supply, improved quality assurance and reduced total cost of ownership.
A Managed Evolution Under Focused Leadership
Much of this evolution has culminated during Guy Sentance’s transition into the role of Managing Director. It represents a steady, deliberate progression in how TEX Plastics positions itself and how we operate.
Central to this new chapter is Progress Through People. We recognise that advancing our technical capabilities requires investing heavily in our teams. Through close partnerships with regional educational institutions like Petroc College, we are actively developing management, communication and technical skills across our operators and team leaders.
By fostering leadership at all levels and combining it with unified site strategies, we are moving the business closer to our customers’ engineering challenges. This isn't about transforming what injection moulding is — it is about recognising how the role of a moulder has changed.
What Customers Are Really Looking For Today
When we speak to customers now, the conversation is rarely about machine size or basic unit cost. It is about:
- Reducing component weight and complexity
- Improving supply chain resilience through UK-based production
- Accelerating product development via integrated, multi-site engineering
- Meeting strict ESG and sustainability requirements backed by verified data
- Ensuring consistent quality at scale through real-time monitored automation
In other words, customers are looking for partners who can reduce risk and add engineering value — not just supply parts. That is the space we have deliberately positioned TEX Plastics to operate in.