Agricultural equipment manufacturer and packaged gas and offshore handling expert RITCHIE, demonstrated the techniques it has employed to prepare for sustained growth through continued improvement when John Swinney visited its plant in Suttieside, Forfar recently. Following his meeting with RITCHIE, Mr Swinney stayed at the Suttieside plant for a meeting with a small group of members from Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce.
RITCHIE illustrated for Mr Swinney the improvements it has made to its plant, which have helped the company remain competitive in the demanding agricultural and oil and gas industries. These included progress on its lean manufacturing system, robotic welding, forward thinking HR techniques and product developments including semi-domestic wind turbines for use in rural environments.
"We would be the last company to set ourselves up as a paragon for manufacturing," explained Tony Walker, managing director. "However, RITCHIE has been in existence since 1870 and in that time has reinvented itself to succeed through several challenging periods. The current economic climate only reinforces the reasoning behind our most recent set of improvements. Our objective is always to exceed our customers' expectations while maintaining costs at an acceptable level."
RITCHIE's visitor, John Swinney, is a Scottish National Party politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament for North Tayside. He was the National Convenor of the SNP between 2000 and 2004. Swinney was previously a Member of Parliament for Tayside North, before taking the same seat in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections. In 2007 he achieved the largest constituency vote for any candidate in Scotland.