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Welcome back to the NCA blog where we bring you the latest developments from our company and offer insights from our experienced teams. In today’s blog we examine a topic that helps define our philosophy as a business – the ancient Japanese concept of Kaizen.

Kaizen is a concept that refers to on-going or continuous improvement. The definition of kaizen comes from two Japanese words: ‘kai’ which means ‘change’ and ‘zen’ meaning ‘good’. The Japanese philosophy was first introduced by Toyota over three decades ago in the 1980s and has since been adopted by thousands of businesses around the world. This streamlined transformation encourages a culture of improvement that gradually increases quality, efficiency, and profitability.

So, what is kaizen exactly? In many industries, Kaizen can be traced to statistics – the all seeing metrics by which one can measure the efficiency and effectiveness of a business. Through careful and continuous monitoring of production it is possible to create a baseline to use as a foundation upon which to improve results. Whatsmore, employees are given the tools to be able to take real ownership of their tasks and can feel empowered to suggest ideas that deal with common problems and offer improvements.

Because executing Kaizen requires enabling the right mindset throughout a company, 10 principles that address the Kaizen mindset are commonly referenced as core to the philosophy. They are:

• Let go of assumptions.
• Be proactive about solving problems.
• Don’t accept the status quo.
• Let go of perfectionism and take an attitude of iterative, adaptive change.
• Look for solutions as you find mistakes.
• Create an environment in which everyone feels empowered to contribute.
• Don’t accept the obvious issue; instead, ask “why” five times to get to the root cause.
• Cull information and opinions from multiple people.
• Use creativity to find low-cost, small improvements.
• Never stop improving.

Central to this concept at NCA Ltd is, quite literally, the idea that each and every team member is a cog in the bigger workings of our company. We believe that those closest to each job or task are ideally situated to understand how the work can be improved and made more efficient.  We believe that by tackling issues head-on, they aren’t allowed to persist and grow into bigger challenges. This grassroots approach delivers incremental improvements that add up to big wins. And it is the incremental gains that are so important when providing our range of services to companies. Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of how we work can lead to both a reduction in turn around and costs. 

Recently, we were awarded ISO 9001 certification. which further demonstrates our commitment to Kaizen. A key component on which the standard is issued is based around the streamlining of processes throughout a company, with the objective of bringing down costs, creating new opportunities, meeting regulatory requirements, and helping our team to expand into new markets in which clients demand ISO 9001 certification.

Marginal gains and constant improvement are at the heart of NCA Ltd and our commitment to providing the very best precision machined pieces. From R&D to full scale production and machining, our experienced teams are on hand to assist you with your projects. For more information and to discuss your requirements, contact our team on 01928 790209 or via nca@ncaltd.co.uk. 

Welcome back to the NCA blog where we bring you the latest developments from our company and offer insights from our experienced teams. In today’s blog we examine a topic which is often discussed amongst suppliers and clients – that of an OEM.

What Is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)?

An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) can be defined as a company whose goods are used as components in the products of another company, which then sells the finished item to users. Traditionally speaking, an OEM will produce parts for business to business commerce. Often the parts purchased from an OEM will be more expensive than those purchased from another company who can reproduce the same components. 

In recent months, NCA Ltd have seen an increase in businesses turning to our suite of services (including acrylic engineering, plastic machining and our CNC Routing services) when looking for replacement parts. OEMs in the industries in which we operate are usually based in Germany or Europe and, with Brexit and an increase in custom delays, are making it increasingly difficult for UK businesses to acquire the parts and components needed for their businesses. 

Why choose NCA for your replacement parts and engineering needs?

As an engineering firm that holds  ISO 9001:2015 NCA Ltd meet the international standard and our company’s management system conforms to the requirements specified in the standard. This means that as a company abide by the rules of the standard to create efficiencies by aligning and streamlining processes throughout our company, the objective of which include: bringing down costs, creating new opportunities, meeting regulatory requirements, and helping our team to expand into new markets in which clients demand ISO 9001 certification. 

What does this mean for the end users?

Changing supply can be an intimidating task with many factors to consider. At NCA Ltd our experience and knowledge of our work enables our team to support any company (both large and small) to make the switch from one supplier to ourselves. As such, we are able to effectively and efficiently create parts and components that conform both to the highest regulatory standards to ensure the smooth and seamless integration into your business. For more information and to discuss your requirements with a dedicated member of our team, contact NCA Ltd on 01928 790209 or via nca@ncaltd.co.uk. 

Welcome back to the NCA blog where we bring you the latest developments from our company and offer insights from our experienced teams. In today’s blog we examine a topic which has become increasingly visible within the last few months – the importance of holding a quality certificate.

A quality certificate is of great importance to both the vendor/ supplier and to the purchaser – sourcing company. Independently assessed and granted, a quality certificate is both a reward to the maintenance and implementation of high standards to the producer and offers assurances to the buyer.

As one of the leading providers of plastic and acrylic engineering, it is of great importance to both our teams and clients to ensure that the work we provide is certifiable to industry standards. As such, quality management certification has assisted our teams to implement systems and controls that help to ensure fewer defects and more, high-quality consistency in our methods of production. Central to our approach is our commitment to each client to uphold scalable, manageable and consistent standards.

Within most industries there are certification programs that set the standards of quality and management – the industries that we work in are no exception. The codified, quality standards that we adhere to have been developed over time to reflect the needs of each industry and the application of the products produced. By implementing these quality standards, the teams at NCA have become certified and can reliably demonstrate to our clients that our practices and products conform to a higher level of quality than those of companies who are not certified. 

ISO Certification

ISO (The International Organisation for Standardisation) certification is one of the world’s most important manufacturing standards.  ISO describes the importance of its certification as follows: “For consumers, conformity of products and services to international standards provides assurance about their quality, safety, and reliability.”

Certification, as defined by ISO, refers to the issuing of a written certificate by an independent organisation that has audited a company’s management system and verified the system conforms to the requirements specified in the standard. The auditing body then records the certification in its client register, making the business both certified and registered. This means the quality management of a company has met the standards set by the international community.  In particular, NCA Ltd have ISO 9001:2015.  ISO 9001:2015 specifies requirements for a quality management system when an organisation:

1. needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and
2. aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

All the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 are generic and are intended to be applicable to any organisation, regardless of its type or size, or the products and services it provides.  ISO 9001:2015 defines the guiding principles that we as manufacturers use to create efficiencies by aligning and streamlining processes throughout our company, the objective of which include: bringing down costs, creating new opportunities, meeting regulatory requirements, and helping our team to expand into new markets in which clients demand ISO 9001 certification. 

NCA Ltd are extremely proud to be able to meet the requirements of such certification. It follows our exacting ability to maintain and raise standards, provide excellent and scalable quality items and to improve our own practices and efficiencies as a business. All of which enable our flexible, dedicated and experienced teams to offer the very best to our clients. For more information about our acrylic machining services and engineering, contact our team on 01928 790209 or via nca@ncaltd.co.uk 

Welcome back to the NCA blog where we bring you the latest developments from our workshop and offer insights from our experienced teams. In today’s blog we examine a topic which is extremely close to our hearts both professionally and personally – the recycling of plastics.

Why is recycling of plastics so important?

Capturing waste plastic and channelling it into efficient recycling and recovery routes is widely recognised as a key way to reduce costs and environmental impact across the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors in particular. The recyclability of plastic is also one of its key strengths as an extremely resource-efficient material and used plastic should ideally be regarded as a valuable resource rather than ‘waste’. 

Recycling plastic:

• Provides a sustainable source of raw materials to the industry
• Greatly reduces the environmental (especially the CO2) impact of plastic-rich products
• Minimises the amount of plastic being sent to the UK’s landfill sites
• Avoids the consumption of the Earth’s oil stocks
• Consumes less energy than producing new, virgin polymers
• Embeds the right values and behaviour to reduce human impact on the environment

Did you know that?

• 86% of plastic packaging is recovered  
• 77% of plastic drinks bottles are recycled   
• 50% of plastic packaging is recycled  
• 78% of post-consumer plastic is recovered
• 59% of all plastic bottles are collected for recycling*  
  • * includes all plastic bottles, such as shampoo and bleach bottles, etc.
• 32% of all plastic is recycled

A Responsible Producer

Under the extended producer responsibility (EPR) system, the plastics industry pays money towards our recycling costs via what is known as a Packaging Recovery Note (PRN). Packaging Recovery Notes and Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) are issued by recyclers and exporters as proof of recycling, which are bought directly from them (or via compliance schemes) by the supply chain.

How is plastic recycled?

Once the plastic is collected and sent to a recycling centre, it is typically separated into different polymer types, which are then separately shredded (and impurities like paper are removed), then melted back into polymer pellets. These pellets are then sold on to be used in new products.

At NCA Ltd we are fully committed to the recycling of plastics used in all of our services where possible. As one of the UK’s leading plastic machining companies, we firmly welcome all forms of recycling to build a greener, more sustainable future for all. 

Welcome back to the NCA Ltd blog where we bring you the latest developments and insights from our company. In today’s blog we look at a pertinent issue that affects many suppliers and companies across the UK: Single Sourcing. 

Single sourcing can be defined as “the result of a very conscious decision usually made by the Procurement or Purchasing department. Only one supplier is awarded business for a particular component, part or material even though there are other suppliers that can provide that same supply.” Indeed, single sourcing is an issue that has appeared in numerous articles recently – especially pronounced in the UK with both Brexit and the Covid-19 crises. According to a recent article on Insead Knowledge:

Globalisation of trade and decades-long innovation in supply chain networks have resulted in significant benefits for all stakeholders – greater efficiencies, lower costs, greater access to markets to name just a few. Yet, Covid-19 has exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains. Dispersed supply chains offer more possibilities for shocks to penetrate and spread, and practices such as “just-in-time” and single sourcing can amplify shocks and lengthen recovery time.

Single sourcing thus exposes a company to market shocks and disruptions that can be easily avoided through the opening up of tenders and sourcing from various suppliers What’s more, the risks of single sourcing are not just amplified through global events. Single sourcing makes it harder for procurement to keep their company competitive and, in periods of tight supply, the buyer may be at a disadvantage in being able to ask other suppliers to accept orders. The impact of single sourcing can also be felt in the reputation of the company as other, equally able, suppliers may lose interest in trying to compete for the business if they see that a sole-source situation is likely to persist. Compounded by volatile world events, if the single supply does experience financial problems or is bought out, then there can be no guarantee that contracts will be fulfilled and that the supplier will have enough agility to navigate a new landscape in which they find themselves. 

As a procurement officer, moving towards sourcing and finding a new supplier can look intimidating. However, through careful planning, research and both reviewing the performance of the incumbent supplier whilst exploring other options it is possible to create a strategy to start on-boarding potential new businesses and build new relationships.