AWS Group believes momentum for SC21 as ‘flagship vehicle for change’ in defence and aerospace sectors is growing

SC21 (Supply Chain for the 21st Century) is a program set up by the former SBAC (Society of British Aerospace Companies) – which now exists within A|D|S, the body which promotes the interests of the Aerospace, Defence and Security sectors. SC21 is designed to accelerate the competitiveness of the UK’s Aerospace & Defence industry by raising the performance of its supply chains.

At the conference, Berridge argued that issues of quality, through life cost, structure of the industry and political demands require all stakeholders in the industry – MoD, Primes, Tier Ones and SMEs – to change. He said: “SC21 is the flagship vehicle for change, since it embraces everything we need to address - systems, quality improvement, accreditation, benchmarking, management commitment, waste, lean manufacturing, business excellence through EFQM, customer relationships etc…”

He continued: “SC21 is not just a systems approach but a way of working. It enables companies to maintain a competitive position and should be seen as a benefit not a cost.”

AWS was awarded its original Silver Medal status in the SC21 program back in March 2008, and the re-assessment in August this year has confirmed Silver status again for the company. This not only proves AWS as one of the leaders in the program, but also that this is a sustainable program to adopt.