Unicut Precision Conducts First Customer Survey
5 September 2013
As a manufacturer that prides itself upon its production facilities, technical capabilities, quality and service; Unicut Precision has now concluded its 2012 customer survey. In conducting the survey, Unicut promised to pledge £500 to charity if it received a feedback rate over 50%. Comfortably hitting this target, the Welwyn Garden City subcontractor has donated £500 to the local branch of the Banardos charity.
Commenting upon the reasoning behind conducting the survey, Unicut Precision's Sales Director, Mr Stuart Lawson says: "Whilst we all like to think that we have exceptionally successful businesses, the thoughts and opinions of the most important element of any business, the customer, is the key marker for how any business is performing. At MACH 2012, we set our stall out as the company with a 'Perfect Manufacturing Environment' with the ability to manufacture, assemble, package and deliver projects and components to JIT & Kanban schedules with impeccable quality levels."
"Whilst we have ISO quality standards, customer approvals and certificates that are backed up by the most advanced machine tools and technologies being used by highly skilled staff, we cannot be complacent with our position and must continually drive forward to deliver this 'Perfect Manufacturing Environment'. A key to any company's performance and something that is rarely measured is customer perception. By conducting this survey we can measure where we perform well, and more importantly see where we are not perceived to be performing to the standards we demand."
The Results
All active customers throughout 2012 received the brief three question survey. Of the 51% respondents, an astounding 86% of replies stated that Unicut is the preferred supplier for turned components. To obtain more detail on this leading question, the second question in the Unicut survey was a multi-choice question on whether Unicut was perceived by customers to be the 'first choice supplier' or whether it fell into the 'one of many suppliers' category for the provision of simple parts, complex parts and jobs below and above the 32mm diameter range. For simplistic parts, 33% of customers regarded Unicut as the first choice supplier whereas an impressive 50% of respondents regarded Unicut as the key supplier for complex components. This has given Unicut a clear indication that its investment in high specification machine tools has paid dividends with its ability to manufacture complex components.
Concerning the niche area of specific component diameters, 33% percent of companies surveyed, regard Unicut as the first choice supplier for parts below 32mm diameter with 18% seeing the company as a supplier of turned parts above 32mm. Historically renowned as a sliding head turning specialist, it comes as no surprise the company isn't seen as a prominent supplier of larger parts. However, it is expected that recent investments in Miyano multi-axis turning centres with diameter capabilities up to 64mm will enhance the provision for parts above the 32mm diameter bracket.
The final question asked customers how they would rate Unicut on its price, quality, delivery and response time. This revealing section noted almost 80% felt its pricing structure was standard for the industry whilst another 14% thought Unicut was the 'best in class'. With regard to quality, Unicut was delighted that an overwhelming 73% believed Unicut was the 'best in class' with another 23% stating the company provided the industry standard. This remarkable result is undoubtedly a statement that the company is continually exceeding the expectations of its customer base.
Focusing upon delivery and response time, 36% and 45% of customers respectively, felt that Unicut was the 'best in class' with another 59% and 36% feeling the company was meeting the industry average. With respect to the 5% of respondents feeling the company could improve its delivery and response times, the company has pre-empted this response by recently building a new packaging and dispatch department that is already improving the through-flow of its 1.5million parts that are produced each month.
Commenting upon the results, Mr Lawson concludes: "The fact that we have recently invested in a new dispatch department and new cleaning plant demonstrates that our internal audits and measures have identified areas for improvement - in line with customer perceptions. This can also be said of our investment in a 64mm capacity machining cell from Miyano to increase our capacity for larger parts."
"We are delighted that 86% of customers see us as their preferred supplier. In such a competitive industry, this is great news. Despite the results making very reassuring reading, as a manufacturer driving for perfection, our aim is to swiftly satisfy customers that have any concerns. We aim to rectify any blips in the results and not bask in the exceptional success - this is how we will achieve our 'Perfect Manufacturing Environment'."
