A COMPANY which provides quality and recruitment services to automotive, aerospace and rail manufacturers has secured a contract with one of the world’s leading sports car brands.
Smart Manufacturing Solutions, SMS Ltd, will provided highly skilled engineers to Bugatti in Croatia and Italy.
The company – known for the Veyron, Chiron and Centodieci models, all of which are famously owned by footballer Cristiano Ronaldo – is launching an electric supercar and has contracted the services of SMS to fill a gap in the skills market which it requires to produce the vehicle.
The first cohort of electrical engineers have already been sent to Croatia, with a second cohort following as operations scale up in both Croatia and Italy.
Adam Smith, co-founder and director of the Seaham-based company, heads up the recruitment arm of the business. He said: “This contract has come about through an existing relationship we have with an Operations Manager at Bugatti. Our senior management team supported him whilst he was in a previous role, and he sought out our team after the excellent service he received prior to joining Bugatti.
“Initially, we’ll be supplying a small cohort of highly skilled electrical engineers, which will then be followed by a second cohort.
“We anticipate this will lead to other projects within Bugatti as there’s a real shortage of technical expertise within the electrical engineering field overseas, however that’s one of our specialities and we know we can meet demand from Bugatti.”
SMS, which is based at Seaham Grange Industrial Estate and works with clients across the country, started with just three people when it launched in November 2020, when the country was in the thick of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Today, it employs a team of 13 office staff and 10 offsite management employees, while also having over 100 quality inspectors working on a sub-contract basis within OEM’s and Tier One manufacturing firms across the North East region.
Growth has been rapid for the firm, which was founded by Adam alongside Craig Wood and Pete Williams, with plans to increase turnover to over £3m by expanding its client portfolio, staff and inspector headcount.
Currently the business counts the likes of Gestamp, Marelli, Magna, Cummins Engines, Dyer Engineering and Katmex among its clients.
Pete and Craig came up with the business idea after the two worked together in the Midlands, and were frustrated at the lack of support quality containment companies were offering.
Craig said: “We fully understand our industry because we worked in it, we lived and breathed it for many many years, and this has really accelerated the growth of our business.
“From launching just two years ago, we’re now on track to achieve £3m-plus turnover and have secured contracts with some real big hitters, particularly within the automotive industry.
“This latest contract with Bugatti is certainly our biggest in terms of brand profiling and we hope will act as a springboard to us securing more contracts internationally.”
SMS offers expert solutions which enhance production and quality levels for its clients. This is supported via an app which enables SMS to accurately record client data. This also ensures that SMS is now fully paperless with all operating processes supporting their environmental vision and Net Zero targets.
The company provides a managed service of experienced team leaders and inspectors, who are integrated into companies to quality-check parts before they’re packed ready for distribution or sequenced onto line.
Through its recruitment arm, SMS sources the very best in current and future talent and fully vet them to ensure they’re placing the right people with the right positions. The thorough process also involves internal managers from the team pre-interviewing the candidates before sending them over to their clients.
Source: LECC
