About Us
An Introduction to Access IS
Access IS designs and manufactures equipment that enables fast and accurate input of information into electronic systems and is the UK's largest independent computer keyboard manufacturer. Our products include custom and standard electronic keyboards, security document readers, barcode readers, magnetic swipe card and smartcard readers.
Over 75% of the products sold are application specific, so we are used understanding our customers' challenges and offering reliable and cost-effective solutions. We have a wide range of platforms on which to base new custom or semi-custom designs. Our world-wide customer base includes retail point-of-sale, airports, retail banking, dealing rooms in financial institutions and industrial equipment.
We design and manufacture in the UK with hardware and software engineering employing one third of our staff. Access is ISO9001:2008 and TickIT certified. We are committed to providing a responsive and professional service, and pride ourselves on maintaining the highest standards of integrity and business ethics. We value long-term relationships and relish the challenges of helping customers manage the input and output of data from electronic systems in the most cost-effective way.
Click here to read a brief company history
In-house Capabilities
Our aim is to be an agile business and we pride ourselves in the speed in which we can respond to our customers. To support this philosophy, we maintain all key disciplines in-house.
Mechanical & PCB Design
Product realisation begins with CAD and we use Solid Edge and Siemens NX mechanical and PCB design tools. Our products often incorporate many material types and we cater for engineered resins, complex in-mold decorating and multi-shot tooling.
Our PCB layout group use the latest Altium software which allows complete real-time integration of the PCB with our mechanical 3D CAD. Our in-house PCB knowledge means that we are able to take into consideration complex issues like ESD, RF interference and trace inductance early in the design cycle.
Our designs go through comprehensive design verification testing (DVT) and we follow design for manufacturability procedures to smooth the transition from design to production.
In-House Molding & Realisation
Wherever possible, we opt to invest in tooling to ensure high cosmetic finish and mechanical integrity whilst reducing component cost.
We have a tool room facility with automated machining centres connected directly for our CAD systems to quickly manufacture molded parts, significantly reducing the time it takes us to develop products and deliver prototypes.
In addition, we have the capability to produce two-shot molded keys, automatically mill parts for production and laser etch housings and keytops with logos and markings.
Software & Driver Development
We have developed an extensive library of software supporting diverse development platforms, processors and operating systems. Our embedded software is exceptionally flexible allowing new designs to be released quickly, often using proven code. All device drivers and production ATE software is produced in-house. Access was one of the first UK companies to receive TickIT certification, endorsing the good practice and continuous improvement in our software design.
Manufacturing
We take pride in manufacturing our products in the UK efficiently and cost effectively.
The majority of our manufactured products are custom or semi-custom in nature and batch size varies from quantities less than one hundred units to continuous flow-lines of larger volumes. This has required our systems and people to be highly flexible and responsive.
Our modern facilities include surface mount pick-and-place assembly, flow-soldering and in-house designed automated test facilities. Access is ISO9000:2008 certified.
Safety & Compliance
Designing with safety and EMC legislation in mind from the beginning of a design significantly reduces the time taken to bring a product to fruition.
Our engineering team has extensive knowledge of the requirements of international legislative bodies. We self-certify to apply the CE and UL marks, and our products are routinely designed to meet IEC and FCC standards.
Many solutions are based on existing designs or incorporate a number of proven technologies. This, together with in-house EMC emissions and immunity test facilities, reduces approvals overheads.
In-house Technologies
Since the company’s foundation, we have continually developed our in-house data-capture capability. As technologies emerge we aim to take advantage of the increases in efficiency in capturing and transferring data, and to pass the benefits on to our customers. Today, our design team has considerable knowledge in many technologies.
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OCR, MICR & MRZ Reading
Magnetic Stripe Cards
2D Symbol & Barcode Reading
Smartcards & ICCs
NFC & RFID Reading
USB & Bluetooth
Access IS: A Brief Company History
Incorporated in December 1984, Access Keyboards was created as a rapid response custom keyboard manufacturer serving UK based customers.
In December 1992 the company obtained ISO9001 accreditation and obtained ISO9001:2000 accreditation in 2002.
In 1997 Access gained accreditation as an Investor in People employer in recognition of our commitment to the development and motivation of our staff.
In March 2007 Access formed a wholly owned subsidiary in the US called
Access (North America) inc. The facility is based in Peachtree City, south-east of Atlanta, Georgia.
Access (North America) is set up to provide exceptional standards of customer support specifically for North and South American based businesses. The office provides the full range of pre- and post-sales support.
In October 2007 Access Keyboards was renamed Access IS, an abbreviation of 'Access Interfacing Solutions'. Following an extended period of developing and releasing innovative data capture solutions, we had a considerable portfolio of products and expertise beyond keyboards and we wanted our name to represent the broader product offering and engineering capability. Click here to read more about the background to the new name.
In March 2008, TickIT certification was added to the company's ISO9001:2000 accreditation. TickIT certification covers all types of software development processes and is aimed at system houses, software houses and in-house developers and is also relevant to the development of embedded software. For more information on TickIT, click here.
October 2008 saw the extension to Access' worldwide sales and support network to include nine centres in seven countries.
In May 2009 Access upgraded its ISO9000 approval to the new ISO9001:2008 standard.
In January 2010 we expanded into adjacent facilities increasing our production floor-space by 5,000 sq ft with the option to double this space further.
