Widney Manufacturing and Better Pathways, a Digbeth based charity, are proud to share news of their growing partnership. Adding social value to Widney’s supply chain, this partnership continues to bring much needed capacity and flexibility to Widney’s operations when and where they need it.
Our journey started in 2022 when Christine Hancock, Better Pathways’ GBSLEP growth advisor, recognised the potential for partnership between Widney Manufacturing and Better Pathways, clients she had been supporting separately for some time. Widney had wanted to find a partner to undertake much of its less complex assembly work, so the introduction proved timely.
Widney designs and manufactures bespoke products including vehicle windows, vehicle sun blinds, door handles for large vehicles, and telescopic slides, supplying worldwide to companies in construction, aerospace, banking systems, commercial vehicles and other market sectors.
Being freed up to deploy inhouse expertise and scarce resources on activities that only they can do is already proving highly beneficial for Widney’s productivity and efficiency, especially since Better Pathways is able to respond quickly to emerging pressures and achieve fast product turnaround times.
Production at Better Pathways has grown since the early days of the partnership, increasing from 3 different parts assemblies to 8 now, with more in the pipeline.
This expansion has been made possible by a process of continuous review and improvement, building trust and confidence in each other’s approaches:
- the Widney team supports product line set up and training
- standard operating procedures and ‘job sheets’ are agreed for every job
- Effective communication overcomes issues as they arise
- Dedicated account management and close operational relationships ensure that everything runs smoothly
In addition to the benefits outlined above, our partnership provides Widney with:
- Positive publicity of supporting a community charity
- Quality services, right first time
- Competitive pricing
Better Pathways is now a full, respected and professionally engaged partner in Widney’s supply chain.
Our work with other manufacturers
Better Pathways’ high performance compliance scores, which are consistently above 95%, demonstrate the value that an organisation like Better Pathways can bring to the manufacturing sector. Better Pathways continues to enjoy equally mutually beneficial and impactful partnerships with Unicrimp, Samuel Heath, Lion Picture Framing, Marlux Medical, Upergy, Niglon, Bailey Products, Cerro EMS, and Clevedon Fasteners, for whom we fill, pack, label, hand-assemble and rework wholesale medical equipment, electrical accessories, cleaning instruments, ironmongery kits, fabricated metal products, taps and valves, nuts, bolts, nails, screws and batteries.
We look forward to many successful years ahead working alongside Widney Manufacturing, our current customers, and those we are yet to meet. If you are reading this and will be at the UK Metals Expo in September, we wish you a successful two days and will hope to meet you there.
For more information about our fulfilment (and signage and woodcraft) services please email naseemt@betterpathways.org.uk or call Nas on 0121 726 2752
