The delivery of high quality products is the driving force at Scorpion Mouldings. As Tim Brown found out from managing director Simon Whitham, with over 35 years experience in technical plastic moulding and plastic injection component manufacture, the company has developed a strong reputation for reliability and customer focus.
Based in Buckinghamshire, Scorpion is a privately owned family company developing injection mould tools and manufacturing precision plastic components. The shop floor of Scorpion is populated with up to date computer controlled moulding machinery, robotic product handling equipment and automatic materials handling equipment, all of which ensure both quality and repeatable product manufacture and delivery.
The Scorpion operation has been accredited to standards ISO 9001 and the strict automotive standard TS 16949. Whitham says that adhering to those standards, particularly the more stringent TS 16949, ensures not only quality but also customer satisfaction.
“We run the business to that standard (TS 16949) as a whole because the automotive requirements are so tough.
By satisfying those we ensure absolute customer satisfaction on all projects.
The standard also has more of a broad focus which ensures not only quality but also monitors cost and delivery – effectively the whole operation.” The company’s in-house injection mould tool capabilities provide Scorpion with the ability to offer the best level of service and client involvement. “We focus very much on customer service and try and build multilevel close customer relationships so we can best understand their needs at least as well as they do, if not better,” says Whitham. “By keeping that completely in-house we are able to liaise with a client’s product designers and suggest opportunities for improvement in terms of cost reduction, raw materials, stability or quality.
Importantly, we have very short lead times and are able to convert a design in to an injection mould tool and then a plastic part very promptly.” Scorpion specialises in small and medium sized technical plastic mouldings but has the capacity to cater for the manufacture of product quantities as small as 500 up to well over 100,000. Currently some of the sector areas of focus for the business include automotive components, electronics and telecommunications infrastructure. As a result of its close association with these industries, Scorpion and has developed a particular focus on lens production as used in automotive lamps, telephone windows or electronics screens.
“We are certainly lens specialists,” says Whitham. “Because of the experience we have had over the years, we are very aware of lens requirements to ensure superior quality. We probably have the only reflex testing facility outside of an OEM or major tier one supplier in the country. We are actually able to test the light reflection of reflex lenses in-house which ensures that the lenses always meet the customer’s specifications.” The need for quality assurance is well understood by all members of the Scorpion team. The experienced and technically trained staff provide a service which covers all aspects of development and manufacture of the company’s injection moulded products. As a result, the wide range of in-house capabilities allows Scorpion to not only reduce its unit prices and tool costs but also its lead times.
This capability is a culmination of Scorpion’s customer satisfaction focus and, as the company continues to grow and invest, its status as a leader in the injection moulding industry is sure to remain steadfast.
