Sony Pencoed crowned Britain's Best Factory

The Sony Pencoed site became first Welsh winner of the Toyota Material Handling Factory of the Year crown at a finals ceremony attended by over 300 manufacturing leaders. The site reinvented its entire manufacturing ethos to meet make the switch from TVs to low volume, skill-intensive camera systems. Sony Pencoed's expertise is internationally renowned with camera systems made in South Wales beaming images to billions on Sky, CNN and the BBC. Sony's relentless commitment to product quality and lightning quick production speeds have also helped win manufacturing deals back from China. The plant had enjoyed a 50% increase in orders thanks to a "visionary" management move into contract manufacturing, which has seen the Raspberry Pi mini-computer won back from a Chinese rival.. Dr Marek Szwejczewski, BFA judge and director of the awards, said: "Sony Pencoed has a highly skilled workforce, state of the art electronics manufacturing equipment and processes, and a focus on innovation, especially process innovation." Dr Szwejczewski added: "The story of the Raspberry Pi move from being manufactured in China to Pencoed is testament to the site's ability to manufacture high quality products and its design and manufacturing expertise. The site's manufacturing and design engineering capabilities meant that the factory was able to produce a volume product at the required price point." Sony Pencoed beat off competition from 13 other factory finalists at the awards, which were attended by over 400 manufacturing leaders. Click here to see the full winners list.