Kirkstall Precision Engineering from a small family-run business to a leading supplier for global household names
Leeds-based Kirkstall Precision Engineering has transformed itself from a small family-run business to a leading supplier for global household names in medical, veterinary, aerospace, motorsport, food, energy and textiles.
In 2018 the company launched a five-year strategy to facilitate its transformation, which began with investing in a new MRP system. An intensive period of due diligence, led by Operations Director Iqbal Bahia’s team, generated a shortlist of three candidate solutions. Two were determined to be too large, unwieldy and expensive for it, as an SME, albeit an ambitious and fast-growing company.
The solution
It opted for Access MRP, which is specifically designed for SMEs that are seeking to grow and step up a league. It helps to improve all aspects of production, including inventory management, quality control and traceability, by providing improved visibility, predictability and control. It quickly improved inventory and WiP management by integrating barcode scanners with the system. All material booked in or out is scanned and tracked, ensuring comprehensive logging and accurate, up-to-date information.
The majority of Kirkstall Precision Engineering’s manufactured products were, in 2018, related to elective surgery. After enjoying 30% growth in 2018 and 10% in 2019, Covid-19 had a severe impact; the order book dropped by half within days. The company pivoted to supply the Ventilator Challenge UK, the organisation established to build ventilators for the NHS, and won work in other sectors, including general engineering and food and beverage.
Kirkstall has embraced the enforced change of the Covid-19 emergency as an opportunity to further improve its production, management and control systems.
New Opportunities
We spoke with Iqbal Bahia, Operations Director for Kirkstall Precision Engineering on our Access Podcast on how they’ve managed to remain operational and secure new business with Rolls Royce.
Iqbal discusses how a 50% drop in orders overnight in March 2020 pushed Kirkstall Precision’s Board of Directors to curate an effective 3-point action plan to succeed in the months ahead. To find out more, click on the video link below:
