February 28, 2008

Automation firm appoints new sales expert

Service and supply of drives, VSDs, Inverters, controls and braking resistors~ Passionate environmental campaigner also highlights the history of woman in automation ~

Field service and maintenance specialist CP Automation has appointed long standing industry expert Jennie Gordon to the role of product sales manager. The new position will encompass both the CP brand and sister company Euroserv. Gordon has been in the automation industry since 1989, a time when there were few women in this niche of the once male dominated engineering industry.


Before joining CP Automation, Gordon worked for Betech Systems, a UK distributor for Baldor. Gordon explains, “I first joined Betech in telesales. But I take pride in knowing all about the thing I’m selling, so in the evenings I used to read American electric motor manuals. After three months I was offered a job as an internal sales engineer and later I moved into external sales, where I spent twelve years. My last role was as corporate sales manager.” Gordon went on to work for Coulstock & Place Engineering, her last position before joining CP Automation.

Gordon believes that the biggest highlight of her career has been making men understand, at board and shop floor level, that women have valuable engineering expertise to offer. “When I first moved into the automation industry, I encountered untold opposition. At that point there simply wasn’t the quantity of female engineers that we have now. Today, most people think it’s unusual to encounter a female engineer of my age but that hostility has gone in most places.” Gordon also includes tripling turnover at Betech amongst the experiences that have stayed with her throughout her career.

When asked about the standards of the industry in which CP Automation operates, Gordon responded with a passionate argument in favour of improving UK Plc’s environmental credentials. “I’m a green person and I think we waste too much in industry. Every business should invest in high efficiency motors run by inverters that will save energy. If everybody changed their EFF2 motors over to EFF1 motors we would see a phenomenal decrease in energy used. The same applies to fitting automatic sensor lights as a standard part of lean manufacturing initiatives.”

Gordon’s hopes for her time at CP Automation are simply to increase sales, although with typical ambition she argues the potential for this increase is ‘exponential’. “The thing about CP Automation is that its young company, with real ideas, argues Gordon. “It provides its staff with the backing to carry on doing what they are good at; it wants to develop its employees and help them develop the company in turn.”

Gordon is a funk jazz fan, and has a broad ranging interest in other kinds of music. Despite originating from Lancashire, she lives in Halifax, West Yorkshire and holidays in England. She believes that even as a sales engineer who constantly travels the UK, there are still countless sights to be seen within the country, further reinforcing her green credentials.

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For further information contact:
Tony Young, CP Automation
Unit 8, Ashley Industrial Estate, Exmoor Avenue,
Scunthorpe, DN15 8NJ
Telephone: +44 (0)1724 851 515
Fax: +44 (0)1724 851516
www: http://www.cpaltd.net/ and http://www.euroserveltd.net/
e-mail: tony.young@cpaltd.net

Press enquiries: Richard Stone
Stone Junction, 33 Kirkdale,
Sydenham, London, SE26 4BT
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
e-mail: richards@stonejunction.co.uk
www: http://www.stonejunction.co.uk/

About CP Automation: CP Automation is a specialist in the repair and replacement of automation equipment including electronic boards, PLCs and Ac and DC drives. It was established to provide an independent maintenance service, without exclusive ties to any manufacturer. However, it does have strong relationships with the principal inverter, encoder, resistors and motor manufacturers.

Ref: CPA014/02/08