New ways of doing business

There was, previous to the BMW experience, some history of innovation in the company: buying companies with unique or market-leading products as well as designing and manufacturing some of their own, eg the PCB fasteners which can be seen on this video.

However, in the process of developing the aluminium alloy nut for BMW cars TR had to develop a unique thread cutting (tapping) process for the nuts. To test the nuts they had to buy their £30,000 tensile testing machine. To maintain quality assurance (G)TR had to develop their new three camera inspection system. So the development of these nuts brought a lot of change to the company, some of which had potential for the way in which the company continued in business.

TR had already seen a steady change in the way they did business and, partly as a result of the BMW experience, they have developed a firm commitment to innovation - working in new ways as well as designing and producing new products.

• TR's changing recipes for success

• Supply what's needed, efficiently (1970s)
  

• One-stop shop - source or manufacture and supply (1970s - 80s)
  

• Quality of product and efficiency of company (1980s)
  

• Branded products ('supply to spec') - eg Hank rivet bush - customer perceived branded product as reliable (1980s)
  

• Introducing 'inventory management' (G) - getting more closely involved with customer companies (1990s - which started with an IBM contract in 1985)

• Exclusive supplier partnerships, 'fit for purpose' (2000)

• Concentrating on the top end of the market (G)

• Brand awareness of further products receiving attention (2000)

• Innovation in fastener design, a) designing fasteners for specified applications and, b) getting involved in the earliest stages of product design to produce customised fastening methods/products for individual end products (2001).

Product specification to needs specification

Now, in 2001, things are changing again. Where a famous name mobile phone company might have originally made their own phones, they have mostly moved to other companies, sub-contractors, making their phones for them. TR might have supplied these sub-contractors with fastenings to meet their product specifications (no 4 above) and later gone on to manage their stocks as well (No 5).

The manufacturers are now simply specifying their needs, ie what parts need holding together and other 'specs' such as the stresses they have to resist and the size constraints (G) on the product. They do this at a very early stage in the design of the new product. As a result, TR get involved earlier and can be more creative, having a role in the overall design.

TR welcome the change, as it allows them to be more creative. It also means that special fastening approaches can be developed and this can lead to better products - smaller perhaps or quicker to assemble. They call this approach 'contract manufacturing' - it is very new and we will have to see whether it becomes common.

Cost-down evaluation example

R spotted that two screws, each with its own washer, were used to hold the battery cover in the Psion Series 5 handheld computer. They suggested that these be replaced with larger headed screws that did not need washers. This saved three seconds per computer in manufacturing. Psion use up to 50,000 of these screws each month.

If it saves 1p per screw - in assembly time and cost of the washer - estimate how much Psion save in a year. Click here for the answer.

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