Concept to delivery
A one stop manufacturing service….to suit you
Design for manufacture
80% of product manufacturing costs are determined by the design and are locked in early in the process.
Often, our clients involve us from the outset, as team members, to ensure effective design for manufacture. This reduces design changes, so improving lead time. By simplifying tools and processes, cost is minimised and variability reduced.
Supply chain
We operate across the entire value chain. We design the process to suit the product; considering inputs such as volume, demand profile, product variety and lead time.
We help to determine the supply chain strategy: location, stock type, stock volume and transport.
Cost reduction
Our extensive experience and knowledge allows us to eliminate inappropriate tool construction and unnecessary tolerances.
We bring commercial acumen to every project. We focus on adding value as defined by the customer.
And we have an ingrained culture of Continuous Improvement and Cost Reduction. We look for improvement across every manufacturing cycle.
Prototyping
We prototype appropriate to circumstances. We use established local suppliers for speed and low cost overseas suppliers where cost is the driver. We cover all types of prototyping from 3D printing of products or tools to fabrication and machining.
Tooling
Is critical to a successful, high quality product. We manage the procurement, sign-off and life cycle of all tools. Typical lead times for injection moulding or die cast tools are 5 to 6 weeks to the first shot.
Through design-for-manufacture we aim to produce cost-effective and robust tooling. We manage all aspects of tooling whilst the customer retains the ownership.
Testing and quality control
We perform many elements of product approval testing in-house, such as cycle testing, and we use external accredited test houses for specialist requirements.
In process sampling inspection and testing is carried out using AQL standards to ISO 2859-1:1999.
We manage part traceability through unique batch codes.
Sourcing
We have a global sourcing network with sourcing experts based in the UK, Europe and China. We have many established tier 2 relationships built up over the last 20 years to complement our own in-house capabilities. This wide range of capabilities enable us to supply true turnkey solutions.
Specialisms
Our core production and manufacturing specialisms include: sheet metal fabrication, laser and plasma cutting, CNC sheet forming and tube bending, CNC machining, welding – robot and manual, powder coating, high pressure aluminium die casting, gravity zinc die casting, plastic injection moulding, component sourcing and validation, mechanical and electronics assembly and in-line testing.
We manage supply to worldwide locations, clearly communicating schedules to our customers. We can supply to order or from vendor managed inventory local to the customer; keeping lead times and MOQs low.
Is a reflection of our True North approach – to strive for Always Better. We are constantly engaged with our customers investigating and researching new processes or materials to deliver improved quality and cost reduction.
“The range of capabilities True North provides, and the breadth of what they do for us, is considerable. Whenever I ask them if they can do something the answer is almost always “Yes, probably, leave it with us,” and they sort it. I trust them to deliver the goods because they do.”
Stephen Chapman, Product Engineering Manager