Muller Holdings, which employs 90 people at its headquarters in Cleobury Mortimer, has achieved the ‘International Automotive Task Force’ (IATF) 16949 standard – a standard that is now being used by main car manufacturers and Tier 1s when awarding new contracts.
This replaces the TS approval and is vital to the company’s desire to build on over £7 million of orders it currently holds supplying CNC machined and high-volume parts for use in heavy duty braking systems, engines, electronics and door brackets.
The process took just 12 months, from initial planning to mobilising the quality team and ensuring that everyone knew what was expected of them to ensure the 21 changes in specification were successfully met.
Explains Muller South Wales MD Stephen Lock: “IATF replaces TS in September and is a lot more risk based, covering risk evaluation and analysis within all aspects of the business. We recognised the need to achieve certification within a fairly narrow timeframe and set out plans to achieve this by carrying out a gap analysis and introducing new procedures and process controls that bridged the ‘gaps’.
“Comprehensive training plans were also rolled-out to get buy-in across all of our four sites in the Black Country, Shropshire, South Wales and Worcestershire. The end result has been worth it, with the IATF certification achieved before many of our major customers.”
The IATF standard, which is held by all of its four UK sites and the factory in Manesar in India, puts the firm in a perfect position to not only retain existing automotive work, but also explore additional contracts. The approach is already paying off, with £300,000 of new orders recently secured with Wabco and THK Germany.
Photo Caption: (l-r) Adam Cunningham, Stephen Lock and Paul Bethell (all Muller Holdings)
