Robust UK are thrilled to welcome Steve Clayton into the Operations Director role.
“I joined Robust in late March, at an exciting and critical time as the company was in the midst of relocating from it’s existing home in Longton to the fantastic new factory in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
“Whilst the opportunities and potential this significant investment [£6m] offered were certainly appealing, it was clear from the off that there were issues and challenges that needed addressing too. Being a pragmatic problem solver, I relished the most important task of all which was starting to define the business improvement direction,” says Steve.
Steve was more than qualified for the job, bringing with him a wealth of manufacturing experience and successes, including Supply Chain, Operations and Manufacturing roles at both manager and director level with companies including Perkins, Caterpillar and Unipart. Having started his career with a rigorous apprenticeship programme in diesel engineering and manufacturing at Dorman Diesels, he gained invaluable hands-on experience which he says provided him with “a solid foundation in technical skills, along with an appreciation for quality and precision in production processes.”
Fast-forward 20 years and Steve’s knowledge of manufacturing, combined with strong departmental and cross-functional team management experience, mean that he’s already made a huge difference to Robust, with more improvements to come. He says, “For the first six weeks with Robust, my priority was transferring existing equipment to the new factory and overseeing the effectiveness of the new machinery, whilst ensuring we still fulfilled orders on a daily basis. We’ve also reorganised our Production, Materials, Logistics and Planning departments with changes in leadership and additions to the team following both internal and external appointments”.
Reflecting on his first few months with business, Steve says “I’d like to thank everyone for their warm welcome, openness, and engaging discussions. We’re clearly all united in wanting to improve our production processes in both the short and long term, and it’s wonderful to see such passion for our safety and security products!
“I’m incredibly confident that with the changes already made and with more to follow, we will continue to improve our production and performance and achieve key milestones in operational efficiency; all for the benefit of our valued customers.”
