Award winning Clayton West turbo firm gets a big boost
A COMPANY providing replacement turbocharger kits has been given a boost after calling in the experts.
Melett Ltd, founded in 1995 and based at Clayton West, teamed up with the Manufacturing Advisory Service to improve efficiency and productivity.
The company, which has won the Queen’s Award for Industry in 2006 and again this year, exports 85% of its kits and replacement parts to customers in more than 90 countries, including China.
Its products are used in turbos for cars, trucks and off-road vehicles. Ten years ago, only 5% of vehicles were fitted with turbochargers compared with about 60% today.
Recent expansion has led to three new jobs being created at Melett, taking the number of employees up to 18. The firm is also on target to increase turnover this year from £4.4m to £6.4m.
Managing director, Ian Warhurst, who acquired the business in 2002, said: "We work in an industry which has been plagued with low quality products and wanted to demonstrate to customers our commitment to quality by achieving ISO 9001 accreditation."
Through Business Link, Melett discovered it could get expert advice from MAS consultant Emma Eastwood.
The firm undertook a 10-day MAS manufacturing improvement project and implemented a quality management system covering the entire firm’s ISO 9001 requirements.
Ms Eastwood also supported managers and staff in developing their knowledge and understanding of how the quality management system related to their jobs – and ensured that it reflected customer requirements and more efficient working practices.
Mr Warhurst said: "With assistance from MAS, formalising the management system has allowed the company to grow at a rapid pace and helped us to speed up the process of getting new products to market."
He added: "We may well turn to MAS again in the future to assist us with setting up a workshop, which will enable us to carry out assembly and balancing of turbocharger assemblies."
MAS is a national Government initiative delivered by a network of independent organisations that have been contracted to deliver MAS for their region.
The Yorkshire MAS is jointly funded by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund. It is managed and delivered by the business development division of YFM Group.
MAS aims to provide a direct route for manufacturers to get advice and consultancy support on-site to improve their manufacturing operations and become more competitive achieve long-term competitiveness.
Over the years, YFM’s business development division has managed some £30m of grants to deliver practical help, mainly to manufacturers.
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