Sony UK Technology Centre (UK TEC), manufacturer of professional and  broadcast camera systems, has been crowned  Britain’s best factory at the 2013 Best Factory Awards (BFA).
As  well as winning the prestigious accolade of BFA Factory of the Year, Sony UK  TEC has also won the Best Electronics & Electrical Plant Award and the  Innovation Award. The site also received a Highly Commended in the Energy  and Environment Award.
Now in their 22nd year, the Best Factory Awards recognise   manufacturing excellence in the UK and bring  together the leading manufacturers in Britain to share best practice and  celebrate their achievements.

  Following a tough  application process and an intense site audit, the Pencoed-based business is  the only Welsh organisation to have won the prestigious award since the awards inception in 1991.   Sony UK Tec has beaten stiff competition which ranged from large  high-tech organisations such as Siemens, Fuji and Bosch to small-medium sized  manufacturers of hand crafted mattresses, teabags and material for airbags.
Director of the Best Factory Awards, Dr Marek Szwejczewski said: “Sony’s facility in Pencoed is a high performance plant in every  sense.  It has a highly skilled workforce, state-of-the-art electronics manufacturing equipment and processes, and a visionary and proactive leadership  team, who are ensuring continued growth.  The factory’s unique combination  of skills meant that it recently started production of a range of professional  camcorders, the only factory in Europe to do so for Sony. The fact that global  production of the new Raspberry Pi mini-computer moved from China to Pencoed is  testament to the factory’s ability to manufacture high quality products.

  Dr Szwejczewski continued: “Our awards  aim to recognise and reward those factories that have quietly and consistently  improved their operations and created world class plants.  One of the  encouraging trends that can be seen among this year’s winners, is that manufacturing  is coming home. Several of the plants have been able to attract production to  the UK by offering competitive labour costs and improved flexibility by  compressing lead times, reducing set-up times and developing multi-skilled  workers.  This has given Britain’s best factories a competitive edge  compared to competitors in other countries, where flexibility is not valued and  employees are reluctant to work flexible hours or weekends.”

  Steve Dalton OBE,  Managing Director of Sony UK Technology Centre, stated: “We are overjoyed to  have to have won the esteemed BFA Factory of the Year Award plus two category  awards. This is the first time a Welsh organisation has won the accreditation  and it demonstrates we are excelling in our manufacturing techniques and  capabilities outside of England. 

“We were up against some  well-known and established manufacturing sites and to be named overall winners  is a huge achievement.  Myself and the rest of the team at Pencoed are immensely proud of this award.

“We have a  reputation for being a centre for manufacturing excellence and this award is  testament to this.  As a team our drive  and ambition to continue to innovate has meant we have been able to make our  processes and techniques more effective and efficient.  Furthermore,  the team’s loyalty, commitment and hard work to continuously help grown the  organisation has ensured we are exceptional in customer service delivery and  has encouraged new business opportunities by offering third-party manufacturing solutions as well as extending our own product  portfolio. 

“As  a site we are always searching to do something better today than  yesterday.  I am confident that our  commitment to innovation and improvement will put us in good stead to compete  with our competitors and ensure our site’s sustainability and longevity.  Our hope is that our success will  inspire other Welsh manufacturing companies and encourage  them to follow in  our footsteps."
Congratulating Sony UK Technology Centre for its outstanding  achievements, Economy Minister Edwina Hart said:”This is excellent news and a  fitting tribute to the hard work of the management and workforce who between  them have transformed the Pencoed facility. It has an international reputation  as a centre for manufacturing excellence and the highest quality standards  which has been further endorsed by winning these highly prestigious awards that  are well deserved.”