Hull-based thermoplastics company Bridgewood has become the first UK supplier of its kind to receive prestigious accreditation from global machinery giant Caterpillar.
Bridgewood UK, one of the country’s leading producers of thermoformed plastic components, picked up a silver award in the Caterpillar Supplier Quality Excellence Process (SQEP).
The business, based in Ferry Road in Hessle, supplies products to Caterpillar (CAT) at more than 10 of its facilities across four continents of the world.
Caterpillar is itself the world’s biggest construction equipment manufacturer, and sells machinery, engines and other products to customers everywhere.
The new accreditation comes as a major boost to Bridgewood, and it has become the first UK thermoplastics company to receive the title.
Richard Clynes, managing director at Bridgewood UK, said: “Being accredited to CAT SQEP Silver is the culmination of several years focus and collaboration.
“Caterpillar has been one of our major customers for the past 20 years and during this time, we have always strived to improve the quality of our performance.
“This may sound like the end of a journey, but in reality it is even tougher to keep this status than it is to gain it in the first place. There will be no let-up in our drive and focus.”
The award identifies companies which demonstrate excellence in their commitment to quality.
To achieve CAT SQEP status, businesses are subject to various world-class supply performance metrics over a 12-month period, and must achieve excellence in quality, delivery and cost.
Only a small number of suppliers have received the award, and Bridgewood is the only UK thermoplastics supplier to have achieved this accreditation, and the highest scoring accredited plastics supplier in Europe.
A spokesperson at CAT said: “Through the CAT Silver award, we have identified and qualified Bridgewood UK as a world-class manufacturer and supplier in thermoplastics.
“This marks the next step in our relationship with Bridgewood UK and we look forward to continuing to work with the company to maintain this coveted status.”
Bridgewood is a strategic supplier to CAT, supplying into more than ten facilities across four continents.
It implemented a number of operational changes over a three-year period to ensure the high performance standards required for the SQEP award were achieved, affecting design and development, production, admin and distribution departments.
Bridgewood UK will now be evaluated on a monthly basis to maintain the CAT SQEP accreditation.
