Ei Electronics: Manufacturing Excellence

Established in 1963, over the years Ei Electronics has paved the way in the home life safety sector, earning a greatly successful reputation. The company’s extensive manufacturing facility in Shannon, Ireland, serves as its global headquarters and factory, producing over 12 million domestic alarms and sensors each year.

Manufacturing Excellence

Innovation driven problem solving is at the heart of everything Ei Electronics does, with a growing dedicated research and development team. Since the earliest smoke alarm chamber design breakthrough in 1978, they have built an impressive track record of successful patent registrations, being the first to market time and time again.

The key stages of Ei’s state-of-the-art manufacturing process starts with the creation of sensor technology, then circuit board assembly and plastic moulding injection, to testing and quality control and finally to assembly and packaging. Ei’s lean manufacturing philosophy, introduced in the 1990’s, ensures total employee involvement and optimises flexibility, efficiency and quality; whilst building a companywide culture of continuous improvement.

Collaboration & Partnership

Aico is one of several wholly owned international subsidiaries of Ei Electronics and is the appointed UK distribution partner. The collaboration between Ei Electronics and Aico is reflected in the shared branding of product lines. Whilst Ei Electronics maintains a broad global presence, Aico serves as the face of the product line in the UK.

Aico is responsible for the whole distribution process, nurturing the supply chain as well as providing a range of additional services including customer service, marketing and technical support. Aico ensures product offerings are tailored to meet customer needs and region-specific regulations. This partnership creates a seamless blend of technology innovation, manufacturing excellence, and market-specific expertise.

Passionate People

Aico’s success relies upon passionate people, promoting best practice and engaging with our communities; all of which allows us to deliver safer homes. Aico ensures all colleagues are given the opportunity to visit the Ei Electronics factory in Shannon, Ireland. This is a crucial step in understanding the wider business and the full product life cycle. Having this knowledge, creates a team with a greater understanding of how each product is manufactured, tested and packaged. Thus, allowing all colleagues to apply this to their own role within the business.

At the most recent factory visit in October 2024, more than 40 Aico colleagues were given an in-depth tour of the full facility and shown the intricate process that each product endures before distribution. Colleagues were able to meet team members from Ei and find out more about the different roles within the Shannon facility.

“Visiting the factory was a great experience, providing colleagues a wider view of how the company operates. It was really interesting to see the detail and effort which goes into the manufacturing of each device, making it clear the reason we have the most reliable alarms on the market today.” – Christian Woolhouse, Relationship Manager, London West

The strength of Ei Electronics and Aico, as well as the relationship between them, allows for the provision of world-class products, solutions and services, positioning Aico as the leader in the UK home life safety market.