40 Years of Bespoke Automation

April 2024

40 Years of Automation

In 1984, SP Technology was founded with one goal: to design and manufacture world-class bespoke automation solutions.

40 years on and rebranded as SP Automation & Robotics, we continue to bring extremely innovative solutions across the globe and for many industry sectors.

We are incredibly proud of this achievement, and it has only been made possible by –

• Having an incredible team that has evolved over the 40 years.
• Creating partnerships with our customers in a collaborative and transparent manner.
• Tackling problems head-on when they occur
• Priding ourselves on every single machine and system we produce.

In 2017, Roy, the company’s first apprentice in 1986 and now its longest-serving employee, and Lee, who began working at SP in 2000 as a design engineer, completed an MBO and began to move the company forward even further.

Roy and Lee commented,

“Where has the time gone? We are incredibly proud to have reached this remarkable milestone. Anyone in business knows it can be challenging, but when you have the privilege of seeing a concept turn into reality using advanced and innovative solution designs, it makes it extremely rewarding and worthwhile. It goes without saying that the company is more than just the two of us, it is made up of almost 40 people whose passion and commitment are second to none. Although we are not a family business, the whole SP ethos makes it feel like one, and like any family, there are ups and downs, but we work through them together to achieve (in some instances) the unachievable. We can’t thank everyone enough, including strategic technical partners, our ever-growing client base and, of course, the incredible team which is SP. “

Roy commented further. 

“At our 15 years celebration (25 years ago), I was asked by Rod and Allan, the two co-founders of SP, to do an after-dinner speech – I was a design engineer at the time and can still remember the speech. Writing that speech cemented what it meant to be working for such a great company. My closing line of the speech was, “Here’s to the next 15 years” Well, that’s been exceeded, but I’m not sure I’ll be here for the next 40 years. “

“We are both proud of the business partnership that Lee and I have. We share the same values, passion, and eagerness for everyone to succeed. Yes, we do have a difference of opinion at times, but over all these years, we have never had a difference that we couldn’t sort out, and that approach is how we, as a company, design and build our machines.”

 Lee commented.

“Over 23 years ago, I joined SP as an eager Project Engineer, with Roy as my direct Manager. It may have taken a while to reach equal footing with my former mentor, but I think it’s fair to say that deep down, I’m still that eager Project Engineer, and I still have the same passion for what we can accomplish at SP. We often face challenges, but as a Team, we always overcome them!”

Happy 40th SP!!!!!!