Tods presented with WEAF Crystal Award

TODS PRESENTED WITH WEAF CRYSTAL AWARD

The ‘Crystal Globe’ – the highly respected award from the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF), in the category Competitiveness Improvement Programme (CIP) – has been won by Crewkerne-based composite engineering company, W & J Tod Limited (TODS).

The 2005 Competitiveness Improvement Award has been judged on the successful outcome of a Case Study into TODS robust strategy to maintain their long standing position as a key first tier supplier of composite products to one of the region’s largest aerospace corporations, AugustaWestland.

WEAF’s CIP programme was initiated in 2002, and is specifically designed to assist Small to Medium Enterprises (SME’s) to work to improve their performance, by a systematic approach to change, to allow them to compete in the supply chain in multi-national partnerships. The programme is funded by South West Regional Development Agency.

The objectives for the Award Winning Case Study - spearheaded by Christine Barry, Head of Quality TODS and Neil Kennedy, WEAF Lean Manufacturing Manager - set out to improve the supply performance and shared accountabilities between the two organisations, to enable 100% OTIF (On Time In Full) supply of components. In a concerted period of just a few months the outcome, in attitude and cultural development of both Westland’s and TODS teams, have achieved some outstanding results. Typically:

Team Building and Training completed successfully
Throughput time improved from 72 days to 20 days
Process, Failure Mode and Effective Analysis implementation
Moving from an eight month micro-managed plan, to an eight week fixed plan – agreed by all
Value added per person improved by 116%

On accepting the WEAF Competitiveness Award on behalf of W & J Tod Limited, CEO Simon Finch said: “This Award recognises TODS commitment to a continuous improvement strategy and ultimate customer satisfaction.”