HARLOW-based plastic hot air assembly specialist PHASA Developments has expanded its sales and support network after appointing Royse Manufacturing of Dallas, Texas, to distribute all PHASA products in the United States.

The move follows the appointment of distributors in Germany, Australia and Japan, and signals a major drive to capitalise on the cost and time-to-market advantages of the PHASA process throughout Canada, USA and Mexico.

PHASA's business manager Tony Woods said: "Royse has a long track record as a technology leader within the printing equipment sector.

"It has both the resources and commitment to back our advanced range of assembly equipment with the highest standards of service and customer support. We believe it's ideally placed to take advantage of applications for our technology throughout the automotive, IT, domestic appliance and electronics industries, particularly in the rapidly-expanding Mexican market."

As a result of the agreement, Royse will also manufacture PHASA products under licence.

Mr Woods added: "This will not only enable our partners to broaden the scope of their product range but will also open up opportunities for our advanced fastening technology in a number of new business areas."