Home: Issue 1 2013 › Protect & serve
Protect & serve
06/03/2013 | Channel: Engineering
Great strides have been made by HITEK to improve its operational efficiency and customer service delivery
HITEK Electronics Materials Ltd is the UK’s only distributor of military-approved electronic shielding material. Its core business comprises the fabrication and delivery of conductive gaskets for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) shielding, a market the company has been in since its foundation in 1985. The years have also seen a diversifying of the product portfolio, however, into radar absorbent materials (RAM) and high performance adhesives. Based in Scunthorpe, the UK, the company has 21 employees.
HITEK is a nimble company that prides itself on being able to say ‘yes’ to its customers and can do this because of the combined knowledge the staff have of the niche products and their innovative approach to gain solutions when it comes to problem solving for the customer.
Staff at HITEK thrive on a challenge of bringing together new technologies to be able to provide the customer with a consistently high standard of service.
Managing director Jim Lawton talks in more depth about HITEK: “We don’t create the raw materials – they are manufactured by world-leading producers. HITEK is an approved fabricator and distributor of products utilising those materials. We are primarily focused on the UK, with approximately 70 per cent being military applications. There is only one standard for shielding products when operating in that sector – MIL -DTL -83528 – and it means we cannot just go to a Chinese supplier in order to get a cheaper product. We buy from world-leading material producers and supply to more than 1000 live accounts ranging from tier two or three right up to the primes. We have a strong relationship with every customer and that is where SC21 comes into the equation.”
HITEK joined the aerospace and defence supply chain improvement programme SC21 in February 2010 following a presentation at the Northern Defence Industries (NDI) conference by David Hood of The Excellence Partnership. Impressed by the potential SC21 offered, HITEK chose to work closely with David in order to gather the necessary data and set up the systems that would aid the company in improving its organisation.
Two important changes highlighted by Jim that have occurred are larger monthly management meetings and the creation of relationship management matrices (RMM). Monthly management meetings now include the ‘huddle’, which brings together not just managers butthe entire company so that all employees are updated and moving forward at a level pace. It also means anyone can bring their ideas and views to the entire company. RMM , meanwhile, is currently in the process of being established but once complete will entail customers answering a set number of questions that have been designed to provide the best feedback on HITEK’s performance. The company can then work on improving its weaknesses whilst maintaining its strengths.
“HITEK is a small company but we make products that are critical to the performance of some very expensive pieces of equipment,” Jim says. “They need to be right and to be with the customer on time. The SC21 tool has helped us hit those targets. Furthermore it lifts our profile. We are not just working with tier companies now but with primes and they are recognising HITEK as a good partner.”
HITEK has also set up a sister company, HITEK-nology Solutions Ltd, which provides an on-site services and facilitates the application of the innovative CorrosionControl and Prevention materials within the HITEK product range. HITEK has used its experience of supply to the military market to help protect high value assets using a low cost, long-term solution.
In December 2012, the company hit the SC21 bronze award level. Quoting a passage he previously wrote for David Hood, Jim highlights what the programme and the award means to HITEK: “Our company has always been proud that it continually makes improvements and doesn’t have a cumbersome bureaucratic process for making any changes. SC21 allows us to plan these changes efficiently and allows us to look back comparing where we were, where we are, and where we want to be in the future.”
Investment into production equipment and a bigger office area means infrastructural changes have been made alongside operational changes. The company has been busy with a high volume of orders during the past two years and combining operational with facility optimisation has been important in helping it deliver the high quality and efficient service the company was known for even before its taking up of SC21.
HITEK’s core shielding business is not a market where a great deal of product development occurs: the material and concepts have been around for decades and have yet to hit their limits. It is important, therefore, that the company continues to develop in other ways so as to remain at the forefront of the market. At the heart of this progression is an ongoing strengthening of customer service. The role of SC21 in guiding these improvements is essential.
“We do our best to maintain close relations with customers and that is where RMM plays a big part, helping us achieve repeat business with clients ranging from tier three to primes,” explains Jim. “With this ethos we are looking at investing in new technology and production equipment so we can exceed their expectations. It may be offering a syringe of pre-mixed adhesive instead of a tin that requires the user to mix, for example. They didn’t ask for that but we are offering that to them in order to make their own work more efficient. With SC21 we can see where we were and how we’ve progressed and now, looking to the future, going above and beyond customer expectation is the type of steps forward we are looking for.”
HITEK Electronics Materials Ltd
Employees 21
Products Military-grade shielding materials
HITEK is a nimble company that prides itself on being able to say ‘yes’ to its customers and can do this because of the combined knowledge the staff have of the niche products and their innovative approach to gain solutions when it comes to problem solving for the customer.
Staff at HITEK thrive on a challenge of bringing together new technologies to be able to provide the customer with a consistently high standard of service.
Managing director Jim Lawton talks in more depth about HITEK: “We don’t create the raw materials – they are manufactured by world-leading producers. HITEK is an approved fabricator and distributor of products utilising those materials. We are primarily focused on the UK, with approximately 70 per cent being military applications. There is only one standard for shielding products when operating in that sector – MIL -DTL -83528 – and it means we cannot just go to a Chinese supplier in order to get a cheaper product. We buy from world-leading material producers and supply to more than 1000 live accounts ranging from tier two or three right up to the primes. We have a strong relationship with every customer and that is where SC21 comes into the equation.”
HITEK joined the aerospace and defence supply chain improvement programme SC21 in February 2010 following a presentation at the Northern Defence Industries (NDI) conference by David Hood of The Excellence Partnership. Impressed by the potential SC21 offered, HITEK chose to work closely with David in order to gather the necessary data and set up the systems that would aid the company in improving its organisation.
Two important changes highlighted by Jim that have occurred are larger monthly management meetings and the creation of relationship management matrices (RMM). Monthly management meetings now include the ‘huddle’, which brings together not just managers butthe entire company so that all employees are updated and moving forward at a level pace. It also means anyone can bring their ideas and views to the entire company. RMM , meanwhile, is currently in the process of being established but once complete will entail customers answering a set number of questions that have been designed to provide the best feedback on HITEK’s performance. The company can then work on improving its weaknesses whilst maintaining its strengths.
“HITEK is a small company but we make products that are critical to the performance of some very expensive pieces of equipment,” Jim says. “They need to be right and to be with the customer on time. The SC21 tool has helped us hit those targets. Furthermore it lifts our profile. We are not just working with tier companies now but with primes and they are recognising HITEK as a good partner.”
HITEK has also set up a sister company, HITEK-nology Solutions Ltd, which provides an on-site services and facilitates the application of the innovative CorrosionControl and Prevention materials within the HITEK product range. HITEK has used its experience of supply to the military market to help protect high value assets using a low cost, long-term solution.
In December 2012, the company hit the SC21 bronze award level. Quoting a passage he previously wrote for David Hood, Jim highlights what the programme and the award means to HITEK: “Our company has always been proud that it continually makes improvements and doesn’t have a cumbersome bureaucratic process for making any changes. SC21 allows us to plan these changes efficiently and allows us to look back comparing where we were, where we are, and where we want to be in the future.”
Investment into production equipment and a bigger office area means infrastructural changes have been made alongside operational changes. The company has been busy with a high volume of orders during the past two years and combining operational with facility optimisation has been important in helping it deliver the high quality and efficient service the company was known for even before its taking up of SC21.
HITEK’s core shielding business is not a market where a great deal of product development occurs: the material and concepts have been around for decades and have yet to hit their limits. It is important, therefore, that the company continues to develop in other ways so as to remain at the forefront of the market. At the heart of this progression is an ongoing strengthening of customer service. The role of SC21 in guiding these improvements is essential.
“We do our best to maintain close relations with customers and that is where RMM plays a big part, helping us achieve repeat business with clients ranging from tier three to primes,” explains Jim. “With this ethos we are looking at investing in new technology and production equipment so we can exceed their expectations. It may be offering a syringe of pre-mixed adhesive instead of a tin that requires the user to mix, for example. They didn’t ask for that but we are offering that to them in order to make their own work more efficient. With SC21 we can see where we were and how we’ve progressed and now, looking to the future, going above and beyond customer expectation is the type of steps forward we are looking for.”
HITEK Electronics Materials Ltd
Employees 21
Products Military-grade shielding materials