An SBT promotion STADCOSTADCO An SBT promotionStadco, the leading internationalsupplier of body-in-white products andservices to the automotive industry,won the ‘Manufacturing Excellence’category at the 2014 Shropshire BusinessAwards.The award, sponsored by Barclays, goes tothe manufacturing company that bestdemonstrates continuous improvement toachieve world-class manufacturing standards.The judges looked for evidence of:• an engaged workforce that hasdeveloped (or clearly developing);• a culture of continuous improvement; and• a company that clearly understandsproviding value to the customer.Stadco was challenged to demonstratethese attributes through showcasing itsleadership, manufacturing processes, newproduct introduction, development, salesand marketing, purchasing and all-roundbest practice.One of the judges said that receiving theManufacturing Excellence award goessomeway in recognising the fantasticachievements that Stadco have made insuch a short timeframe. What particularlyimpressed the judges was the cohesivenessdemonstrated throughout the whole of theorganisation.Managing director Chris Fisher said “Thewinning of this Manufacturing ExcellenceAward is a direct reflection of every person inthe organisation. Everybody engaged withthis business over the last few years hasplayed a part in winning this, and I thankeveryone. We can all be quite rightly proud.“We are in a process of creating a learningorganisation, a business that drives tocontinuously improve, learns from what wedid yesterday and commits to do it bettertomorrow.“This award is recognition of what we haveall achieved so far and should encourage usInvestment is keyto do even better tomorrow, we cannot able to stamp up to 3,200 parts per hour. Theafford to sit back on our laurels and become initial two presses are currently being installedcomplacent.”with volume production due to commencequarter 4 2014. Presses 3 and 4 will beAmongst the fascinating history of Stadco is following on 12 months later.the fact that it is one of the oldest companiesin the UK, celebrating more than 200 years Stadco has been involved in a range ofsince its incorporation in 1812. However, far recent high-profile programmes, includingfrom looking backwards the organisation has the Jaguar F-Type, for which it manufacturescontinually evolved and is now one of the the major panels and closure assemblies.largest suppliers of Body-In-White productsand services to the UK automotive industry. Recognising that its employees arefundamental to its success Stadco isIt is recognised as providing world-class committed to finding, recruiting and trainingcapability, particularly in the manufacture of the very best personnel. A high performancealuminium products – now widely used by culture is driven by a competency-basedcar companies to save weight and improve technical and behavioural framework whichfuel economy. Across its sites in Castleis linked to performance and development.Bromwich, Telford, Shrewsbury and Powys,Stadco produces some of the mosttechnically challenging panels andassemblies on a vehicle.Stadco is building upon the continuedsuccess of the UK automotive sector, havingcommitted £40m since 2011 in the lateststamping and assembly technology. It hasrecently won major new contracts which willinvolve work going into both its Shrewsburyand Telford facilities and see employeelevels exceed 1,100 during 2015. Stadco willhave created 400 new jobs in the UK since2010, of which 200 will be required during2014 and 2015.Shrewsbury’s investment will see the installationof flexible automated cells capable ofproducing 260,000 assemblies per year acrossa range of vehicle models with productiondue to start in the fourth quarter of 2014.Stadco’s Telford plant is installing four of thelatest generation transfer press lines. Eachline is capable of exerting a force of 2,000tonnes and combined the four press lines areto Stadco growthStadco has committed more than £100,000 days by 30%. Stadco is a licensed provider ofduring 2014 to training and development. IOSH managing safety. During 2014 everyThis includes initiatives such as; Institute of employee in the company will attend aLeadership Management training for 70 firstlinemanagers and an 18 month programme training programme.‘Don’t Walk By’ behavioural-based safetyof Six-Sigma training for employees. They arealso firmly committed to those starting their Stadco is also committed to its environmentalmanufacturing career too, with apprenticeship, profile and footprint, with annual targets forundergraduate and graduate programmes. energy reduction of 5%, and a 90% recyclingtarget on schedule to be achieved by theA priority for the organisation is the safety end of 2014.of its employees with a commitment tocontinuous improvement across itsContinued investment in its people and themanagement system, including training, very latest equipment will see Stadcoincident investigation and risk reduction continuing to grow and enhance its positionstrategies. A Zero Harm initiative has so far as one the UK’s leading suppliers to thereduced accident rates by over 25% and lost automotive industry.10 S H R O P S H I R E B U S I N E S S T O DAY S H R O P S H I R E B U S I N E S S T O D A Y 11
INFRASTRUCTUREA grounded approachdon’t have to tell me aboutthe qualities of Shropshire,” says“YouPaul Kehoe, the chief executiveof Birmingham Airport, as he gazes overthe runway from the giant panoramicwindow in his top-floor office.“The Iron Bridge, Shrewsbury and the RiverSevern, Much Wenlock and its Olympicconnections, the aerospace museum atCosford – I consider it all an important partof the product we are offering from here.”That no doubt comes as music to the earsof tourism marketing bosses, but lookingthe other way, just how strongly are thepeople of Shropshire connecting with thesecond city’s fast-growing airport?The answer is, not nearly as much asofficials feel that they should. Of the ninemillion passengers who passed throughthe terminals in the past year, fewer than200,000 of those came from the county.“That’s not enough,” Paul says bluntly. “Weneed to reach out to the Shropshire areamore, and improve that.” But he knows thiscould be easier said than done.The 55-year-old, who has been at the helmin Birmingham since 2008, acknowledgesthat travellers in many parts of Shropshireview Manchester as their first-choice hub.By CARL JONES“If you can avoid the M6 and go up theA49 or A41 through Whitchurch, it is asquick going that way as coming down tohere.“So Shropshire is tough for us. There’s theease of the M54, but when you get tojunction 10 you often find yourself stopped,or stop-start. It doesn’t help that it’s just southof the toll road. If it was the other side, wemight have more of a fighting chance.“It helps us that the railway network pointsin our direction. The new Shropshire-to-London service can certainly work for us,if it stops at Birmingham International. It’scertainly easier than getting a train up toManchester.”He continues: “What we’re selling fromhere are attractions and facilities whichare probably within an hour’s travel. It’sfair game for us to say that anything withina 60-mile radius can be claimed as aBirmingham product. So our leisure offeringwould include the likes of Ironbridge, TheWrekin, Shrewsbury, and Cosford aeromuseum.“But equally so would the i54, Telford newtown, and Donnington army base from abusiness point of view. We’re selling thateconomic engine that is one hour’s radiusaround Birmingham.”Trial flights from China are beingintroduced to Birmingham over thecoming months, and Paul believes it couldpotentially open up a huge new businessmarket for the region.“The likes of the Chinese think Englandand London are one and the same, sosomehow, we have got to get a point onthe map up here that they can relate to.“Much Wenlock might be famous asthe birthplace of the Olympic games,but on a map which hardly even showsBirmingham, how are we going to brandourselves? And so, even though some ofthe outlying districts don’t always like it, inthe end we just call it all Birmingham.“When I came here, I did think it wouldbe easier to sell to the 4×4 driving,Shakespeare-loving, chocolate-eatingperson because of the way the webcould help to connect those local brandstogether. But that has been the biggestchallenge, connecting with the worldusing the great brands that we’ve got.“We’ll keep trying on that one, but Ihaven’t cracked it yet.”Paul Kehoe has, however, ‘cracked’quite a lot in the six years since he tookover Birmingham’s top job, when the UKaviation industry was in the doldrums.He was no stranger to the aviation sector,having started his career as an air trafficcontroller, and recalls his early trainingintroducing him to Shropshire, throughstints at RAF Shawbury.He then worked for a variety of companiesin the industry, including British Aerospace,Serco, and TBI plc, before becomingmanaging director of both Luton andBristol airports.It’s difficult to ‘lose’ an airport the size ofGatwick, but that’s essentially what hadhappened within months of his move toBirmingham.“Yes, in the year 2009–10, about 35 millionpassengers stopped flying in the UKsystem as the recession began to bite,” hereflects. “That’s the number of passengerswho go through Gatwick.”“We’re currently in a growth phase, butthree or four years later we are still downfrom that point by an airport the side ofStansted, which has 18 million passengers.”Against that backdrop, it’s little wonder heconsiders his six-year tenure at the headof the West Midlands’ leading airport as achallenging period of his career.Mother nature hasn’t helped either. Hecasts his mind back to April 2010 whenthe eruption of the Icelandic volcano❝If you look at thegraph showingloss of airportpassengers . . . we’veactually been theleast affected of UKairports. So, wehaven’t done such abad job.❞PAUL KEHOEEyjafjallajökull closed airspace for ninedays. “We lost the best part of two millionquid in revenue through that,” he reveals.“We’re now at the back end of thelow-cost airline revolution phase. When itreally got going in the early 2000s, it wassomething Birmingham really didn’t reallytake a part in.“So, when we had our best year, in 2008–09, with 9.6 million passengers, it was whenRyanair turned up and put lots of trafficthrough. That was just before we had lotsof airline failures like Bmi Baby and othersthat came and went.“Ryanair, Flybe and Monarch have alldone reasonably well, and there is a boomat the moment, with Birmingham growingat about four per cent, but I still think themarket is incredibly challenging.“Although we’ve bounced back and justhad five months of growth, with both Apriland May this year being record months forus, I’m still a tad nervous of the market asa whole.Shock“The airport had a relationship with BritishAirways going back 60-odd years whichwas very fruitful, and we as a companykept other players out of the marketbecause we loved British Airways so much,so when they left us in 2007 and pulled outof UK regional markets, I think it was a bitof a shock to us.“The loss of BA was a psychological blowto the community and the airport, anda financial blow to the airport company.It was horrendous. We never went intoloss making, but we have been workingour way back to serious profitability sincethen on the back of low-cost traffic as werebuild our business.”So much of what happens at Birminghamis out of the control of the airport12 13
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