Pictured: Tim Clark, head of production operations at Atlas Composites

Derbyshire manufacturer Atlas Composites is pressing ahead with its expansion plans after receiving support from a major business support project.

The Ilkeston based firm, which employs 60 people, is on course for rapid expansion after benefiting from funding from the East Midland Development Agency (emda) to deploy the Supply Chain for the 21st Century (SC21) programme. 

Aerospace and defence manufacturers across the UK are working together through the SC21 programme to increase productivity and stay at the forefront of global competition. 

The industry-led campaign is aimed at transforming how the UK does business by accelerating competitiveness and cementing vital relationships between customers and suppliers and is managed in the region by The Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA).

Atlas Composites designs and manufactures a diverse range of carbon, kevlar and glass fibre composite components and has benchmarked its performance against the required standards of the aerospace and defence industry through the SC21 programme. 

Shaun Moloney, managing director at Atlas Composites, said the number of businesses recognising the benefits of using SC21 is growing by the day.

"The first benefit we received from SC21 was it enabled us to benchmark our performance against other companies in the industry," he said. 

"We used the SC21 tool kit to identify our company's strengths, as well as opportunities to improve manufacturing within the business.

"The MAA also helped us by creating a cluster of companies in our region which all deployed SC21 themselves, then came together to learn from each other - with funding from emda allowing us to bring in the expertise of TPT Consultancy and Training. 

"Working within the SC21 framework will help Atlas Composites achieve the highest quality and the best delivery record, when combined with the expertise and hard work put in by our own team in coming up with innovative solutions and processes at the cutting edge of technology. 

"We're delighted to be involved in such a forward thinking programme where the UK's aerospace and defence industry can move forward together." 

Tim Holmes manager for the Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA), said Atlas Composites are reaping the rewards of being part of a collaborative project.

"The East Midlands cluster led by the MAA is made of five firms across the region and has been held regular meetings together over the last 18 months," he said. 

"The cluster has been hailed as a national benchmark of best practice and after deploying SC21 Atlas Composites is achieving consistently high quality and delivery scores and can prove to potential new customers that it has what it takes to compete globally."