Member Article

Tyne Valley’s GMS expands premises to meet continued business growth

Tyne Valley-based supply chain management company GMS are looking to the future as they prepare to establish a 3,000sqft Technical and Quality Centre as an integral part of their Low Prudhoe headquarters.

The idea of a Technical and Quality Centre has been in the pipeline for some time but only now, with the company looking to further enhance their offering, will the vision become a reality.

GMS (Global Manufacturing Supplies) have turned over in excess of £11 million in the last 12 months, providing a supply chain management service to a variety of organisations – ranging from international blue chip clients, to small bespoke product owners.

Founded in 1998, the firm moved into a mixed-use property on Low Prudhoe Industrial Estate in July 2007, and acquired a second unit four years later in anticipation of the growth of the business.

Quality Manager Howard Tomlinson believes that the creation of the Technical and Quality Centre will streamline the company’s operations moving forward.

He said: “As the business has grown with new clients, the quality envelope has increased and we have needed to develop that specialist space to support and enhance the demands of our customers.

“So, all of our measuring equipment, all of our inspection tools – the whole quality area – are moving over to the new unit.

“It is important to create that dedicated working environment, in order to keep the technical side of the business separate to the administrative side.

“What we are showing here is that we are more than a trading company.

“We can verify quality – that is what sets us apart, and we are doing it on an impressive scale.”

In conjunction with the creation of the Technical and Quality Centre, GMS will gain certification for a PAS 99 integrated management system.

PAS 99 is the world’s first specification for integrated management systems – a means of rationalising the administration of an organisation’s internal processes, objectives and standards.

Among the systems brought beneath the PAS 99 umbrella are ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2008 – two of the company’s existing certifications, in quality management and environmental management respectively.

Mr Tomlinson believes that the creation of the Technical and Quality Centre will allow the company to maintain their PAS 99 system far easier, and with it, give confidence to both customers and potential customers.

He said: “From our point-of-view, PAS 99 is the way to go, and we can implement those procedures and controls better once we have the Technical and Quality Centre fully integrated.

“It will totally separate product development and realisation from administration – all of our parts can be kept, scanned and measured in one place.

“And that is good news for customers – because we will have a regime of constantly validating quality through scheduled box audits and inspections, while parts can be project-managed through Advanced Product Quality Planning.

“As customers’ expectations increase, we are moving towards meeting those expectations through our investments in quality and technology.

“It is about being true to our mission statement – through technological advancements we can further improve manufacturing techniques.

“Moving forward, we will get to develop our measuring technology further – but it will be a scheduled transition overall, fitted within the company’s business plan.”

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