Article Date: 20-09-2009
Merc have recently been accepted in Cohort 6 of the prestigious North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) Aerospace Supply Chain Excellence (ASCE) programme and were allocated a mentor from local Aerospace Prime Contractor Aircelle Ltd who will advise and coach the company on their journey towards World Class Manufacturing status.
ASCE was first launched in 2006 with backing from the North West Regional Development Agency and several industry primes including AIRBUS UK, BAE Systems and Rolls Royce PLC. Developed in conjunction with SC21, the ASCE programme is the first coordinated 
approach to supplier development in the UK Aerospace Industry. The ASCE programme will grant Merc access to targeted training programmes to cover specific business areas, and expert coaching to assist the implementation of improvements into Merc.
Says Mr Nuttall, MD: "Despite the Doom and Gloom talks that have been commonplace in all industry media for the past year, there is still wealth to be found in the British Aerospace subcontract manufacturing market.
At a time when rationalizing the Supply Chains and bringing work back in-house seem to be the order of the day, Merc have decided to enjoy the quieter period to gear up to the next step of the company’s corporate transformation plan, with a new focus on ‘workforce optimization’, Brand re-alignment, supply chain excellence, and a move towards an innovative culture.
ASCE will help us to reach the next level on our journey to World Class"
With a mindset of prospering through the current recession, Merc has now fully integrated ASCE into its company-wide Corporate Transformation plan, and the hard work is starting to pay off. Merc’s personnel have made constant efforts to improve customer satisfaction and their provision of world class manufacturing services has not gone unnoticed by the Market leaders of the aerospace sector.
Continues Mr Nuttall, MD: “Merc have just come back from the DSEi (Defence Systems and Equipments International) tradeshow in London with more than 75 promising leads, including a significant number of enquiries from the military side of the Aerospace market, notably for the supply of missile components. “
Merc already benefits from a long history of manufacturing parts for the Aerospace Industry, having specialized in the military side of the Aerospace market for over 35 years, and the company has been involved in the prototyping and development of prestigious projects such as the ASRAAM missile, Javelin, Rapier, and the 1000lb Bomb.
Continues Mr Nuttall: “The high interest we received on our stand shows that our efforts to improve our services to World Class levels have enabled the company to secure its rank amongst leading precision engineering companies for the Aerospace and Defence sectors. ASCE will be our new flagship in our aim to achieve World Class Manufacturing Status.”
In order to showcase all their supply chain improvements and innovations, Merc will be exhibiting at the AeroEngineering Conference in Manchester, 10-11 November 2009, stand 302.
