Since its formation over half a century ago, Castle Precision Engineering has constantly evolved to offer a variety of manufactured products to its extensive client base.
With particular interest in the aerospace industry, Castle have drawn on SMAS’s resources as they seek to become the first Scottish company to become part of the SC21 improvement programme.
The challenge
An integral aspect of Castle’s business model is its role as a supplier to the UK aerospace sector.
To assist the business’s growth, and open up further opportunities within this industry, the company recently received sponsorship from one of their prime aerospace customers to register for the UK Aerospace, Defence and Security industries SC21 Supply Chain Improvement programme.
SC21 aims to improve the competitiveness of the aerospace and defence industry by raising the performance of its supply chains. Castle is the first company to undertake the SC21 manufacturing excellence assessment following its formal roll-out in Scotland.
The company
Established in 1951, Castle is an innovative manufacturing company producing precision components for a number of important and highprofile sectors including:
- Automotive
- Aerospace
- Defence
- Energy
At their site in Glasgow, the company has Computer Numeical Control (CNC) production facilities, which it pioneered in the UK, and the sprawling factory - measuring 90,000 sq ft – is home to over 60 major CNC machine tools.
This gives Castle the ability to produce a broad spectrum of products across various fields.
How SMAS helped
As a recognised SC21 training partner, SMAS were able to guide Castle through the improvement process.
This included a thorough pre-assessment by a lead practitioner, followed by the manufacturing excellence assessment.
Castle’s managing director, Marcus Tiefenbrun, explained: "SMAS went through our processes and capabilities and looked for evidence of where we did, or did not, make the standard required for SC21.
"We had been doing a lot of the best practices for 10 to 15 years. However, what we had maybe not been doing was fully documenting our activities.
"So, although our implementation scored the highest scores ever experienced, our recording techniques displayed areas of improvement."
Outcomes
The company was able to identify key opportunities for improvement - conclusions which have since been incorporated into the company’s Continuous Sustainable Improvement Plan.
Meanwhile the commitment from Castle to progress with continuous improvement is abundant. Marcus explains, that being part of the SC21 programme is "formal recognition for what we [Castle] are doing."
He added: "Being the first company in Scotland to be awarded SC21 bronze excellence award is a great achievement for us and we must thank the SMAS team for their valuable contribution in helping us achieve it."
Marcus concluded: "We’re a company that’s committed to high quality standards. Combine that with our ambition for growth and this programme was right up our street."
Castle Precision also went on to win The Manufacturer of the Year in November 2010.
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