South West manufacturer achieves prestigious award

23rd Apr 2009

Righton, a leading metals supplier, has become the first company in Cornwall to achieve the prestigious national supply chain award - Supply Chain for the Twenty First Century (SC21).

The Saltlash-based supplier of aluminium, stainless steel, high performance special alloys, industrial plastics and composites, recently achieved the coveted industry accreditation by raising the performance of its supply chain.

Andy Gauler, sales director at Righton, said: “As an established raw materials supplier into safety-critical markets, we recognised the need to align our products and services more closely to the requirements of our existing and potentially new customer base.

“Developed by the UK aerospace and defence industry, SC21 is designed to accelerate the competitiveness of the sector and it has very much afforded us the opportunity to understand the needs of our customers more effectively and allow us to develop key supply partnerships.

“As a new player in the aerospace sector, with no immediate potential of a prime sponsor, we recognised that we would have to be a self starter and engaged the services and help of the MAS.”

The MAS supported Righton through the SC21 process after an initial business diagnostic was carried out to establish an overall performance benchmark. An improvement programme was devised to address the issues highlighted, such as business strategy aligned with SC21 requirements, lean awareness training and continuous improvement tools for a number of nominated facilitators of the programme.

Martyn Pearson of the MAS-SW, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Righton. The company recognised the need to develop closer working relationships with customers and, at the same time, increase its business performance and competitiveness in the marketplace. SC21 provided the ideal opportunity to add value to the development of the business and the relationships with existing and new customers.

“Achieving supply chain improvement is critical to the continued competitiveness of the UK aerospace and defence industry and SC21 aims to accelerate the process. With international competition increasing, the participation of companies of all sizes throughout the UK supply chain is crucial to delivering real results from this modernisation programme.”

David Proctor, CADI Chairman, added: “I would like to congratulate Righton’s and, in particular, Andy Gauler on achieving the much coveted SC21 Bronze Award. Righton’s has been a very active and supportive member of CADI and has demonstrated its commitment to the SC21 programme from the very beginning. This is a first for Cornwall and I hope to see more of our SC21 Signatories follow in Righton’s footsteps over the coming year.”

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