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Cambridge’s Carl Zeiss NTS wins top business award
November 24, 2011
Carl Zeiss NTS wins Autodesk Award for Innovation in Products and Processes at the Manufacturing Excellence Awards
24 November 2011
Cambridge-based Carl Zeiss NTS was rewarded for its efforts in product innovation at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence Awards, held in London last night (Wednesday 23 November).
The award ceremony was compered by Alistair Campbell, and attended by Mark Prisk MP, Margaret Beckett MP as well as a host of other top business names.
Stephen Tetlow, Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said:
“Carl Zeiss NTS’s win is hugely encouraging for manufacturing in Cambridge and UK manufacturing more generally.
“The Manufacturing Excellence programme is not just about celebrating manufacturing success around the country, but about providing practical advice for businesses to support them on their journey during these difficult economic times.”
While Allister McBride, Director of Sales and Marketing, Carl Zeiss NTS said:
“The introduction of new techniques and innovations coupled with a solid ‘go to market’ strategy has resulted in significant market growth in both Asia and globally.”
Carl Zeiss NTS won the Autodesk Award for Innovation in Products and Processes at the Manufacturing Excellence Awards.
Carl Zeiss NTS is a global manufacturer of scanning electron microscopes based in Cambridge, and in order to compete with competition from Japan and the US, the company has focused on introducing innovative techniques and operating procedures to improve efficiency and productivity.
The importance the company places on innovation is demonstrated by the fact that the company devotes 10% of turnover and over 25% of its staff to this function. Carl Zeiss NTS also has successful collaboration projects with industry and Universities, and devotes much of its efforts to improving its software controls – a critical part of ensuring its products are world class.
One of the key growth strategies for the company has been to establish its products in China and the Far East. The company therefore decided to design products specifically for this market and to improve its distribution channel through a new local subsidiary. Orders from China now represent 20% of total units produced.
Carl Zeiss NTS currently has a large backlog of orders, so recently there has been a strong focus on reducing that backlog, and in the past 12-18 month the company has introduced a vast array of new techniques and operating procedures to improve efficiency.
Impressively, the company’s flagship product, the EVO series of electron microscopes, is built on a single piece flow line and is the company’s strongest financial performer whilst offering the lowest commercial price to customers.
Judges were also impressed by the company’s system where apprentices are rotated into different departments in order to show, and inspire, them about the different types of research and development projects the company is involved in.
Carl Zeiss NTS has a long and prestigious history which was started by the nephew of Charles Darwin in 1865. Originally a spin-off out of Cambridge University, the company is now part of the global Carl Zeiss group.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence programme is the most successful and long established manufacturing support programme in the UK, and the only one that provides a detailed benchmarking and assessment process to help improve manufacturing businesses.
As part of the Manufacturing Excellence programme, companies can get a free consultancy package worth £20,000. Companies that enter are asked to conduct an in-depth self assessment and those who complete one or more of the eight parts receive a free, bespoke and confidential benchmark report. The best companies in each module receive a free visit from a team of expert assessors who verify the audit responses and offer practical advice and suggestions for the business. The winning companies in each category then receive an award at the Manufacturing Excellence Awards.
Manufacturing Excellence is supported by PwC, Autodesk, PP Business Improvement, The ERA Foundation, Lombard, WMG, Arup, and Barclays Corporate.