COMMERCIAL SAFETY & SECURITY
UAP : LEVERAGING UK EXPERTISE AND CHINESE MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE TO DELIVER INDUSTRY- LEADING INNOVATION
» FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS OF UAP Ltd , 25 years ago , the company ’ s business model has always been to engage with customers in the UK , design innovative products around their requirements and work collaboratively with manufacturers in Asia to deliver the best possible quality at the most competitive price .
Overseas manufacturing is nothing unusual , but UAP ’ s commitment is that every item it sells will provide exceptional value , not just an attractive price . To keep that promise , the company does things a little differently . And , as UAP has grown - to a £ 22 million business with more than 6000 products in its range and a team of 180 people – the company ’ s product development expertise , quality management systems and talented staff , have all played a critical role in allowing it to scale up while continuing to raise the bar for the locks and ironmongery sector .
On The Ground Expertise in China
In the early days , most of UAP ’ s manufacturing partners were in India but , over the past 25 years , the company has worked in partnership with factories in China , which adhere to UAP ’ s exacting quality and compliance standards , along with the company ’ s focus on staff wellbeing and fairness . To ensure the supply chain delivers against all these criteria , not only does UAP ’ s leadership team make regular visits to the Far East , which will resume now that travel restrictions have been eased , but the company also has a Far East supply chain
Pan Huiyi
manager , Pan Huiyi , who is Chinese and based in China .
Pan has wide-ranging business experience in China and has worked for UAP for the past 12 years , after originally meeting UAP CEO , David Jennings , when she was employed by her previous company . After working for UAP on a freelance basis to help the company source products and supply chain partners , she took on a full time role . And now the company is opening an office and establishing as a trading company in China to implement further supply chain efficiencies and enable it to grow the Chinese team . Indeed , two additional members of staff have recently been appointed in China : purchaser , Dean Lu Guohua and administrator , Dandan Li Xudan .
Pan explains : “ Chinese manufacturers are used to doing business with companies from all over the world , so it ’ s not unusual for them to work to strict quality and compliance standards and undergo regular visits and audits from their customers . Even with systems and
John McLoughlin
protocols in place , however , it can be hard to manage manufacturing at arm ’ s length or negotiate with partners when there are language and cultural differences .
“ My presence on the ground in China and my knowledge as an experienced Chinese business person means that I can ensure UAP has much tighter control of pricing , quality , product development lead times and production schedules , enabling much greater transparency and reliability for UK customers .”
Pan ’ s day-to-day remit for UAP is diverse and plays an important role in ensuring that UK stock levels are maintained at optimum levels to ensure supply chain reliability for UAP ’ s UK customers and wholesaler networks .
“ I am in constant communication with our Chinese manufacturing partners ,” Pan continues , “ making sure that their production schedules are aligned to UAP ’ s requirements and that the cost of manufacturing remains within the pricing strategy for each product .
“ In China , there is a complex delivery chain that usually involves traders as intermediaries between the commissioning brand and the manufacturer . Our strategy is to manage our relationships with the factories direct , and we can only do that if we have a Chinese office .
“ That direct contact is a big advantage for us , with a more formal UAP presence in China , we ’ re not only able to communicate with our factories direct , but we can also nurture those relationships to ensure we have loyal and committed manufacturing partners .”
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NOV / DEC 2021
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