Established as a distributor in 1994, Sampa Automotive has industry expertise that dates back to the 1950s. CVW finds out more about the commercial vehicle parts manufacturer.
Sampa Automotive established its first machine shop back in the 1950s. Today, the business has grown to become a recognised leader in its field, supplying OE parts to many leading European and North American commercial vehicle brands. With a manufacturing campus covering over 150,000m2 and incorporating 11 factories, Sampa Automotive has become a leading employer to the local community at its home base located in Samsun, Northern Turkey.
It is here that Sampa take the first steps in design through test and evaluation to eventual manufacture. The process begins at CAMP, the Sampa in-house Research & Development centre, which was launched with an initial investment of over $15 million with a 3,000m2 state-of-the-art facility.
It is here that over 180 engineers and designers equipped with high-tech tools and machinery, CAMP is constantly in pursuit of new products, processes, materials and methods.
Even though Sampa Automotive has become a leader in its own market in Turkey, it has not stood still and, today, the business is selling in over 140 countries worldwide. It also has offices, warehouses, and subsidiaries in over 15 countries and territories which include USA, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Mexico, and Australia.
Sampa aims to improve the logistics and access to its parts across the globe and the strategically located outlets enable Sampa to reduce lead-times significantly, therefore increasing customer confidence and building strong partnerships in the process.
Coming to the UK
The business ethos is to ensure that the territories they operate in are fuelled by local talent and a good example of this is Sampa UK & Ireland, based in Manchester. It is here that Sampa opened its first warehouse in the UK in March 2020 and has since been recruiting local talent with excellent knowledge of the UK commercial vehicle parts market.
The business has quickly established itself with its existing clients who were previously serviced from Turkey. They have quickly seen the benefit of Sampa’s presence by significantly reduced lead-times through the Manchester Hub.
But its not just all about parts, in addition Sampa UK & Ireland have teamed up with the local University of Manchester bringing its own experience of raw material and manufacturing to the North-West of England.
It is here in Manchester that the graphene material was discovered. The National Graphene Institute (NGI) facilities enable academics and their industrial partners to work side-by-side on new and exciting applications.
This new smart material could open up new markets and even replace existing technologies and materials. It is when graphene is used both to improve an existing material and in a transformational capacity that its true potential can be realised.
Sampa UK & Ireland has now taken back this new smart material to its manufacturing base and it is now being used in several recently developed rubber formulations by Sampa R&D CAMP, a particular strength of the business in this area of manufacturing.
The benefit here is that physical, mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of rubber materials, including the new graphene, are characterised; therefore, this enables more durable and smart materials to be developed by the help of this important study.
So, as Sampa UK & Ireland enters only its second year in the UK, it is excited for the future as it continues to build its product programme for all-makes European Truck and Trailer parts. The range currently stands at just over 8,000 articles which spans 24 product groups and is set to grow to over 10,000 by the middle of this year.
