Friday, 11th May 2012
East Midlands based Atlas Composites are commencing celebrations to mark 15 years at the forefront of UK Composites Manufacturing with a nostalgic look back over the last decade and a half in composites.
a nostalgic look back at 15 years of Atlas Composites
1997, aside from being the year in which Atlas Composites was formed, proved to be a memorable year for a number of other historical reasons.
Tony Blair swept to power in a landslide general election to become the youngest British Prime Minister of the 20th century.
Scientists in Scotland were responsible for the birth of Dolly the sheep, the world’s first successfully cloned mammal.
Formula One looked like being the biggest casualty of a cultural shift which was to see tobacco advertising banned in televised sport…which in F1′s case was to stand for a whole week!
Fortunately for Atlas Composites, a fledgling UK composites manufacturer collaborating with several leading Formula 1 race teams of the day, a late change of policy made F1 exempt from financial advertising constraints, which may just have inadvertently turned out to be the one of the most telling components in Atlas Composites’ 15 year history.
Atlas Composites original Belfield Street site in Ilkeston
Since inception in 1997 Atlas Composites has built a reputation for excellence in the design and manufacture of composites structures for Motorsport, Satellite Communications, Energy Saving Solutions and more recently composites for Aerospace and composites for military and MOD related programmes.
In March 2004, and with the economic outlook prosperous, Atlas Composites had outgrown their initial 3,450 sq ft Belfield Street site and were to relocate to a 25,000 sq ft state-of-the-art manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Ilkeston that now houses 68 employees, one of whom is Quality Systems Manager John Davie who joined Atlas Composites in October 2001, and who retires at the end of May as one of its longest serving employees.
Reflecting on his 11 years with Atlas Davie explains “I joined Atlas from Rolls-Royce plc to initially manage the Quality and Inspection department at the Belfield Street site as part of a relatively small team of approximately 18 – 20 people. As our Aerospace Engineering client base grew my Quality Systems Management role became more involved and additional staff were brought in to oversee and develop our final inspection process to an AS 9102 compliant standard”
Having originally attained AS 9100 accreditation in 2005, Atlas Composites were one of the first UK composites manufacturers in August 2011 to secure the prestigious AS 9100 REV C accreditation – the Quality Management Standard required to meet the rigorous demands of flight critical applications for commercial and military aircraft, both fixed and rotary wing.
Atlas Composites 25,000 sq ft composites manufacturing facility
Commenting on a critical period of strategic change in recent years Atlas Composites MD Shaun Moloney explains.
“Achieving AS9100 Rev C recognition not only gave us a competitive advantage to strengthen our existing relationships with the likes of Airbus, Bombardier Aerospace and GKN Aerospace, it also instilled a confidence in a relatively new breed of customers such as MBDA, Cooper Antennas and Rolls-Royce plc in moving forwards with Atlas Composites as a trusted supplier for next generation aircraft composites.”
Atlas Composites are also currently working towards SC21 Bronze recognition, a change programme designed to accelerate the competitiveness of the UK aerospace & defence industry.
Today Atlas Composites have a turnover approaching £4 milllion per year and provide a complete concept to component service, manufacturing a diverse range of carbon, glass and kevlar fibre composite components and tooling for some of the worlds most dynamic and forward thinking aerospace companies.
Despite undergoing a sustained period of intensive growth Atlas Composites, as was the case way back in 1997, have maintained an innate ability to respond to high-pressure lead times, a virtue which still sees them retain their original composites in Formula One roots.
Not content with resting on their laurels the Atlas Composites team are still continually striving for improvement and have a clear mission statement, to become the supplier of choice to the worldwide aerospace composites industry over the next 15 year period.
Judging by their list of aerospace customer approvals that includes the likes of Airbus, Agusta Westland, BAE Systems, Bombardier, GKN Aerospace, Lockheed Martin UK Insys, MBDA, Meggit Thermal Systems, Nordham and Thales, Atlas Composites might just be following the map to success to achieve their goal.
Pictured above right – A look back on 15 years in composites manufacturing composites for motorsports, Atlas Composites Laminating Supervisor Graham Smith gets behind the wheel of a 197 Jordan F1 race car.
END OF PRESS RELEASE
Atlas Composites would like to thanks all our customers past and present for their continued support over the last 15 years.
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LEGAL NOTICE
The above press release is issued by
Atlas Composites Marketing Department,
Peregrine House,
Merlin Way,
Quarry Hill Industrial Estate,
Ilkeston,
Derbyshire,
DE7 4RA, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1159 931 68 61
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Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
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Please contact the Atlas Composites Marketing Department to request permission from the copyright holder to alter, transform, or build upon this work.
Terms and Conditions available on request. Copyright © 2012 Atlas Composites. All rights reserved.
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