Valve manufacturer increases supply efficiency

Truflo Marine Limited, a high integrity valve manufacturer for Seawater Solutions, has experienced the benefits of investing in a dedicated quality team. The team have been assigned to supporting the supply of valves to BAE Systems – Submarine Solutions for the prestigious Astute Nuclear Submarines currently under construction in Barrow-in-Furness. The initiatives outlined below have greatly assisted Truflo Marine in achieving a marked reduction in recorded defects, resulting in an increase in supply efficiency.

A dedicated quality assurance team has been put in place who have devised a systematic customer focused approach to data collection and ‘root cause analysis’. By communicating effectively through the supply chain, with regular audits and site visits, the team have developed strong long-term relationships with their supply chain.

The team have strengthened Truflo Marine’s processes and procedures via structured review and training to ensure the key critical to quality requirements for both documentation and hardware is fully understood and verified to the correct standard. A focus on continuous improvement, supported by the EFQM Business Excellence Model, has resulted in an extended period of zero defects.

Rob Watson, Truflo Marine’s Technical Director would like to thank BAE for their continued support as this exciting project progresses. ‘Applying traditional SPC & QA methodology to this supply programme is very difficult. The large number of unique configurations compared to the small number of units shipped over a long period makes conventional techniques ineffective. Managing the supply chain helps to minimise the number of variables and allows us to concentrate on root cause analysis.’

Truflo Marine, Tel: 0121 327 4789

Published: 31st March 2010