Member Article

£75,000 saving for RDM following ISO14001 accreditation

A leading engineering solutions provider has demonstrated its green credentials by securing ISO 14001 at the first time of asking.

RDM Group, which employs 38 people at its headquarters on Bilton Industrial Estate in Coventry, took less than a year to secure the environmental accreditation and is now planning to use the systems it put in place to cut energy usage by 20% per year and take £75,000 of waste out of the manufacturing and operational process.

It will also help the firm deliver sustainability on major contracts with a host of automotive tier 1s and vehicle manufacturers and puts it in the shop window for future multi-pound opportunities in new vehicle models.

David Keene, Chairman of RDM Group, was delighted with the accreditation:

“We have always been committed to being ‘a green company’ and this was a way in which we could officially prove our credentials whilst also meeting customer expectations.

“ISO 14001 gave us a framework that formalised a lot of the existing systems we had in place. It took us less than a year to introduce and secure the standard.”

He continued: “It also provided us with some new ideas and ensured we got the full buy-in of all staff, from the Directors through to team leaders and workers on the shop floor. A real team effort you could say.”

Backed by support from Coventry City Council’s Business Sustain initiative, RDM Group put the reduction of waste and energy at the top of its commitment and this focused on enforcing waste management segregation and also re-using or recycling packaging where possible.

A ‘switch off’ policy and weekly meter readings have been introduced so it can make informed decisions on usage trends and are already paying dividends, with every member of the workforce receiving energy awareness training to instill a more pro-active culture across the business.

David continued: “ISO 14001 is a great business discipline and by giving it our full attention there’s no doubt we’ll enjoy a lot of operational and financial benefits.

“With the work we are doing in low carbon manufacture, it was only right that we should strive to achieve the best environmental performance and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

RDM Group was initially founded to provide engineering services to the automotive sector and this part of the business continues to bring in 80% of its total turnover.

Today, the company currently supplies a number of tier 1s and OEMs with wiring harnesses/looms, electronic ECUs, PCBs, plastic mouldings, trim and metal assemblies and part logistics management services.

Its team of expert engineers also offers an electrical and electronic design service and provides hardware design and embedded software capabilities.

David went on to add: “We have invested significantly in building our core engineering skills by diversifying into new markets, including telematics where we supply a suite of cutting edge hardware and software solutions for vehicle tracking, data logging, remote diagnostics and asset management.

“These cater for petrol, diesel and LPG vehicles and, increasingly, we are working to provide crucial data acquisition for electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle trials.”

He concluded: “The final part of the Group portfolio is RDM Meditec, a division created to provide a route to manufacture and market for innovative products that offer better standards of living and improved dignity.”

For further information, please contact David Keene on 024 7663 5818 or visit www.rdmgroup.co.uk

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