Last week at a Supply Chains for the 21st Century (SC21) event held at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, Kuehne + Nagel achieved the highest possible “Gold” performance standard as suppliers in the aerospace and defence industries.
They join Denroy Plastics Ltd, Moyola Precision Engineering Ltd, A&G Precision Engineering Ltd and Wincanton Bicester in holding the Gold standard.
With approximately 76,000 employees at some 1,300 locations in over 100 countries, Kuehne + Nagel is one of the world's leading logistics companies. Its strong market position lies in the seafreight, airfreight, contract logistics and overland businesses, with a clear focus on driving value chains and building a customer excellence culture through people, expertise and technology.
Kuehne + Nagel’s Gold performance was awarded in relation to their work for Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil. Kuehne + Nagel originally joined the SC21 programme in 2017 after encouragement from Leonardo to participate. From the programme, Kuehne + Nagel have experience benefits such as leaner processes, waste reduction, workforce motivation, improved workforce skills, improved use of internal business information and improved customer relationships.
The SC21 programme aims to support SMEs who supply major manufacturers such as Airbus, Babcock, BAE Systems, Bombardier, Leonardo, Rockwell Collins, Rolls Royce and Thales, helping the whole of the UK’s aerospace and defence industries raise their ability to compete in international markets.
The SC21 programme is coordinated and governed by ADS, the UK trade association for the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors.
ADS Chief Executive Paul Everitt said:
“Congratulations to Kuehne + Nagel on achieving the Gold performance standard. They have made tremendous progress since they joined the SC21 programme back in 2017 and it’s great to see their improvements and commitments to achieving supply chain excellence rewarded.
“The SC21 programme has demonstrated proven benefits for suppliers and customers in our sectors, improving the processes and relationships within companies. We hope to build on this through the recently launched SC21 Competitiveness and Growth programme, which provides direct funding to companies to help them raise their productivity and deliver world leading competitiveness.”
Jerry Prideaux, Supplier Development Manager at Leonardo Helicopters, said:
“Kuehne + Nagel’s application of SC21 principles in support of the Kuehne + Nagel Production System has resulted in a world class culture of continuous improvement, with considerable, measured performance and relationship benefits to Leonardo Helicopters.”