Member Article

Sweet sound of music for Rega

The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) has helped Rega Research Ltd to meet the demand for its range of innovative Hi-Fi products that are all designed and manufactured at its custom-built facility in Southend.

The award-winning company employs 74 people and has a turnover of over £6 million. Founded in 1973, it is now recognised as a world leader in the design and manufacture of value-for-money, high quality turntables and a range of other products including speakers, CD players and amplifiers.

“Demand for our Hi-Fi equipment has partly been fuelled by people, including the younger ‘iPod’ generation, who have discovered that listening to music on our equipment sounds better than anything they have ever experienced before,” explained Rega Research accountant John Tozer.

With turnover growing by 50% in recent years, the company recognised the need to implement a MRP (material resource planning) system and turned to MAS for support.

“Previously, we had relied on spreadsheets for our stock control but needed to introduce a more sophisticated system to help us to deal more efficiently with the increase in orders,” explained John.

“The MRP is still a ‘work in progress’ but we are already reaping the benefits, including being able to ensure we hold correct stock levels of crucial parts and also safeguard against tying up money by overstocking.

“MRP is also playing a vital role in the capacity planning of production, which allows us to provide better feedback and information on delivery dates to our customers,” he added.

John worked closely with MAS Advisor Barrie Hughes, who became a regular visitor to Rega whilst the system was being installed.

“Barrie was very encouraging and helpful from the first day he walked into the factory. The combination of his in-depth experience and insightful approach put everyone at ease straight away. He also ensured that all members of staff were fully trained and ready for the changes ahead.

“When the current recession began to bite, many of our competitors ‘battened down the hatches,’ but we took a conscious and deliberate decision to do exactly the opposite. We hired new sales staff and brought out a range of innovative new products that paid dividends.

“Continued innovation and providing quality, cost effective products allows us to keep ‘one step ahead’ of our competitors and has always been at the heart of our ethos. Bringing MAS in when we did was certainly the right decision. Barrie showed a genuine interest in our products and manufacturing techniques and we would certainly turn to the organisation again for advice and expertise in the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .