Member Article

PP Electrical appoint black belt in Six Sigma

One of the UK’s fastest growing manufacturers has appointed a black belt six sigma specialist to help it oversee significant expansion in domestic and international markets.

Len Palmer has joined PP Electrical Systems, a provider of electrical, electromechanical and electronic assemblies and control systems, as its new Operations Director.

The former technical apprentice will be given the task of reinforcing world-class performance across the company’s 220-strong workforce and ensuring it can cope with plans to double turnover to £50m by 2015.

He will work with the firm’s existing Six Sigma community to ensure lean processes complement state-of-the-art automation in cable preparation and testing at its Cheslyn Hay factory.

“This is an extremely exciting time to be joining PP Electrical Systems,” explained Len, who has spent more than 20 years working in high-profile positions within the automotive industry.

“We currently work with 12 of the World’s No1 machinery manufacturers across industries, including food processing, semi-conductor and machine tools. All of these sectors demand critical connections and it’s our job to supply them.”

He continued: “PP Electrical has grown into a total manufacturing solutions provider, offering customers the opportunity to access cable harnesses and electrical systems right through to complete machine builds…it’s all about moving up the value chain.

“One of my main roles will be to ensure that all of our processes are built to achieve flexible production and that any new starters are quickly trained to embrace ‘lean’.”

Len, who has also completed an MBA with the Open University Business School, started his career at a high precision castings business in the West Midlands.

From there, the industry expert has enjoyed senior positions at Johnson Controls and Amphenol, where he ran facilities in the UK, Europe and a start-up operation in Chennai, India. Prior to this latest role, he was Operations Director at wiper system specialist B Hepworth.

Tony Hague, Managing Director at PP Electrical Systems, was delighted with the appointment: “Len is a major coup for our business and will bring with him unrivalled experience of setting-up and managing world class manufacturing facilities.”

He continued: “Even though there is some uncertainty in the current manufacturing climate, we’re keen to plan for the future and to keep growing.

“His knowledge of six sigma will be invaluable if we are going to achieve our desire to double the size of the business whilst continually meeting the quality and delivery expectations of our global customer base.”

PP Electrical Systems has recently launched a new brochure and website (www.powerpanels.uk.com) to drive its sales growth, with new orders already secured in medical and renewable energy.

For further information, please contact 01922 419109 or follow @pp_electrical on twitter

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .