Automotive quality certification awarded to Hartlepool facility

Stadium’s Hartlepool plant is positioned as the primary European manufacturing centre of excellence within the group’s worldwide operations, and has recently been subject to major investment, which has included the transfer of £1million worth of high-tech equipment to the factory to create a dedicated technology-focused production facility for wireless solutions, power products and electronic assemblies.

The 6,000m² site has been earmarked an additional £250,000 key investment this year to further enhance quality and delivery for customers through improved advanced technology, lean techniques, and specialised supply chain initiatives.  Stadium has also committed to further up-skill the current workforce through broadening the certified on-site IPC-A-610 and J-STD training, the leading standards for excellence in electronics assemblies.

Attainment of the ISO/TS16949 certification at the Hartlepool site aligns the European operations with the Group’s Manufacturing Centre of Excellence for Asia in Dongguan, South China, which is already certified to this standard, and places Stadium in a position of strength to target diverse applications across the automotive sector worldwide. The addition of ISO/TS16949 enhances the ISO9001, ISO14001, TS16949, SC21, RISQS and ISO13485 accreditations and approvals already offered across the Group’s global manufacturing footprint.

Chris Short, UK Managing Director at Stadium, commented: “We are fully committed to providing world-class manufacturing facilities to support the Group’s customer focused, design-led technology proposition.”

Short added: “This latest accreditation at Hartlepool will increase our scope for growth in the automotive sector and other markets, and provide customers with complete assurance of quality in all of the end-to-end solutions we deliver.”