Mullingar firm adds to links with Japanese partner

A Mullingar firm which last October expanded operations by moving into a new 1,200 m sq centre of excellence at Clonmore Business Park, has entered a new phase.

JL Goor, which imports injection moulding equipment which it then customises for clients across the island of Ireland, has announced it is to become the Irish supplier of a piece of high-tech Japanese equipment much in demand in the Irish manufacturing world.

JL Goor, which has a staff of approximately 15, has two other bases in Ireland, and first moved to Mullingar in 2020. Phil Watters, MD of the operation, said that for 20 years, JL Goor has been the Irish partner for the ‘Roboshot’ range of injection moulding machines produced by the Japanese firm Fanuc.

Now, JL Goor is also to start supplying the Irish market with Fanuc’s ‘Robodrill’, a compact machining centre, which is intended to serve industries such as the aerospace sector, car parts manufacturers, medical device manufacturers and the precision engineering sector.

“Manufacturers in Ireland are world class operations in critical industries where zero defect quality and compliant production is demanded,” says Phil, adding that they base their manufacturing on highly reliable equipment, supported by local expertise, which is where Fanuc and JL Goor come in.

As well as its links with Fanuc, JL Goor is a dealer for Tiovan materials handling equipment, and for the Italian robotics company, Star.

“We supply all of the major pharmaceutical companies in Ireland and all of their tier one suppliers,” says Phil

“For some of these companies, we supply the moulding machines and the materials handling system, while for other companies, we might only supply the material handling system.”

Over JL Goor’s 20-year partnership with Fanuc, 700 Roboshot machines have been installed in Irish industry and the mechanical and electrical modification work is carried out in Mullingar.

The Mullingar centre of excellence, which was showcased to clients and suppliers over three days last November, has manufacturing space for electrical design, installation, testing, fabrication and machinery customisation, plus a dedicated training and mould testing facility.

FANUC Ireland’s office manager, Conor O’Kelly, said Ireland is a key territory for FANUC globally and its J L Goor partnership has enabled Fanuc to support customers with a moulding footprint in Ireland, Europe and the US.

“We expect J L Goor to become as strategic a partner for our machining customers as they are for our moulding customers.”