A CLEOBURY Mortimer machining specialist has become one of the first manufacturers in the UK to secure a prestigious new automotive quality accreditation.

Muller Holdings, which employs 90 people at its headquarters in Cleobury Mortimer, has achieved the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) 16949 standard - now being used by the main car manufacturers when awarding new contracts.

The new accreditation replaces the old TS approval and the process took the company 12 months to ensure it successfully met the 21 changes

Muller managing director Stephen Lock said: “We recognised the need to achieve certification within a fairly narrow timeframe and set out plans to achieve this by carrying out an analysis and introducing new procedures and process controls that bridged the ‘gaps’.

“Comprehensive training plans were also rolled-out to get buy-in across all of our four sites in the Black Country, Shropshire, South Wales and Worcestershire.

“The end result has been worth it, with the IATF certification achieved before many of our major customers.”

The company received a further boost with £300,000 of new orders recently secured with Wabco and THK Germany.

Mr Lock added: “The quality standard proves that we operate to the highest possible global standards and have measures in place that ensure production continues in case of any risk scenarios.

“It’s a great start to an exciting 2018, a year where we are looking to increase sales past £14m and where we are investing more than £500,000 into new technology.”