It’s easier to stick to your principles when they’ve been formed from experience and tested through tough times as well as the good times. These principles come naturally to us. We didn’t look them up and copy them down from some virtuous source. They just make good sense to us. Plain common sense.
Respect for people
At the core of everything we do is a respect for people. We recognize that everyone is differently positioned in terms of their market rate, the work that they do and their role in the supply chain.
But these differences in standing, position and market rate should have no impact on how people are treated. We live by this value and work hard to ensure it is reflected in everything we do.
Respect for the Environment
We value the environment. We attempt to limit the resources we use in every aspect of what we do, be it paper, production materials or energy. We study our manufacturing processes, our delivery patterns and our daily working practices with a level of intensity you would expect from any lean manufacturer trying to reduce waste.
We work with Veolia to help manage waste, so that cardboard, plastics and metals are all recycled. By being lean, and working with local suppliers, we also keep our production miles to a minimum. Our environmental management systems and practices have recently been accredited to ISO 14001.
Humility
Only through humility can we continue to learn. We may have a depth of experience in tool-making, injection moulding, extrusion, working with difficult materials, decoration and assembly, but unless we approach all these disciplines with humility, we will never get any better.
New technologies are being developed all the time and we have the modesty to test them with an open mind.
Openness, transparency, honesty
We value openness, transparency and honesty. We implement this by communicating clearly in our internal and external communications. Our responses to RFQs, our purchase orders, progress reports and internal assessments, emails and presentations are written in plain English…to deliver the plain truth. We look for signs of this when we interview new recruits. We look for people who present the good, without hiding the not so good… and without gilding the lily. On the other hand, we’re careful to avoid unfettered bluntness – that doesn’t always encourage teamwork.
Teamwork
We seek to build teamwork. This means we expect our employees to actively work together within the management structure we have created, making themselves available to help, whenever necessary, for the good of the company. That doesn’t mean we expect our employees to be here all day and night, seven days a week. But there will be times when longer hours and extra days will be required to meet the needs of our customers.
Accountability
Finally, we align all these values with accountability. That means taking responsibility for our actions, admitting our mistakes (and showing we learn from them), taking corrective action and living up to our commitments.
