TDK-Lambda News

Lambda, the leading power supply manufacturer, is pleased to announce further successes at the North Devon Manufacturing Association (NDMA) Awards 2008. The most prestigious awards of their type in the region, they provide an opportunity for manufacturers of all sizes to gain recognition for their efforts during the past 12 months.

Following last year’s coveted ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ award, Lambda was presented with three awards – Apprentice of the Year, Trainee of the Year and Best Transformation of the Year – at the ceremony which was held in March at Cedars Inn in Barnstaple, Devon. The event, supported by the South West Manufacturing Advisory Service, was attended by over 130 people from leading businesses in the South West.

For their individual achievements Dan Lawson was awarded “Apprentice of the Year” and Lee Bird “Trainee of the Year”. Dan joined Lambda as an assembly operator and after gaining an A-level in Maths was offered an apprenticeship. Through the local college, he gained an HNC with Distinction – his project named SCRAP (Sense, Capacitance, Relay Automation Project) achieved considerable time savings during design verification testing (DVT). Progressing his education further, Dan is currently in the final year of a foundation degree course.

As a trainee technician at Lambda, Lee Bird has already attained an NVQ2 certificate in Performing Manufacturing Operations – he improved the test cable storage system and implemented a Kaizan system within the working areas to improve overall efficiency and creating significant time savings. After gaining success in his GCSE Maths and English, Lee is now enrolled onto the BTEC National Award and has transferred from the shop floor to DVT.

The “Best Transformation of the Year” award was presented for Lambda’s Bluesky II initiative, the second phase of an ongoing project to further move the company from a product to process based manufacturing organisation. This year, Lambda has implemented semi-automated production flow and manufacture, which has resulted better utilisation of labour and equipment resources, resulting in significant reductions in inventory, defects and waste in people and material movement.

Phil Scotcher, General Manager, Lambda CP attributes the company’s continuing success to: “A very determined and self-motivated team of employees with growing expertise in a multitude of disciplines. We have achieved considerable success this year both as individuals and project teams – a winning attitude that has enabled Lambda to become the technology leader it is.”