The team at Unipart Powertrain Applications supported the Coventry Foodbank Easter Egg Appeal with a donation of 65 chocolate eggs


The team at Unipart Powertrain Applications supported the Coventry Foodbank Easter Egg Appeal with a donation of 65 chocolate eggs.

Part of a nationwide network of food banks working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK supported by the Trussell Trust, Coventry Foodbank provides three days’ nutritionally-balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis.

As a local Coventry employer, Unipart Powertrain Applications responded to the Easter Egg Appeal to provide eggs to families in crisis in the city.

Unipart Manufacturing employees took a two-day course in Mental Health First Aid training to support colleagues

Unipart Manufacturing employees took a two-day course in Mental Health First Aid training to support colleagues.

Focused on providing support to the workplace through adapted training and new resources, the new Mental Health First Aiders will be an additional layer of wellbeing for colleagues.

Unipart’s total employee wellbeing strategy Unipart WorkWell offers a range of support, including an employee and family assistance provider which is available to all colleagues and their family members with 24/7 confidential support.

A Unipart Digital Champion is using digital solution to support lateral flow Covid testing for employees


A Unipart Digital Champion is using digital solution to support lateral flow Covid testing for employees.

Testing process at the Unipart Logistics’ NHS Supply Chain Normanton site is being improved with 3D printed test tube holders.

Unipart runs asymptomatic Covid testing at a number of sites as an additional layer of health and safety for employees.

This is one example of how employees use The Unipart Way and digital technology to improve processes and ensure as many people can be tested as safely as possible.

Agile response to customer storage needs


The Unipart Logistics team in Cowley responded quickly and effectively to a customer storage request.

A premium automotive manufacturer asked the team to source an alternative storage media for a particularly large carbon fibre component, so more storage units could be release back into the supply chain.

Using the tools and techniques of The Unipart Way, the team designed a new type of stillage and improved the process by reusing manual handling equipment going out of use in another part of the site.

Insurers successfully inspected the solution, which now means the process has been reduced from a four- to a one-person task, meeting the customer request and improving efficiency.

Unipart Logistics team at NHS Coventry has introduced a digital, contactless reception innovation to make the site even more Covid-Secure

Unipart Logistics team at NHS Coventry has introduced a digital, contactless reception innovation to make the site even more Covid-Secure.

Visitors and contractors are invited by their host to complete a digital visitors sheet that enables a Covid-19 checklist to be completed remotely.

A photo of the visitor/contractor can then be uploaded, generating a QR code that is then scanned when arriving at the site, speeding up the registration process and increasing physical distancing.

Unipart’s employee engagement system maintains the unique culture of The Unipart Way


Unipart’s annual employee engagement survey was completed by 86% of the workforce in 2020, all in a Covid-Secure way.

In all divisions, employees are more satisfied with their jobs, and with working for Unipart, than in previous years. More than double the percentage of Unipart employees are actively engaged than in a typical UK organisation.

Unipart’s employee engagement system maintains the unique culture of The Unipart Way. 

Unipart Group Chairman and Chief Executive John Neill says: “The Unipart Way is a culture that inspires and enables employees to go the extra mile, actively seeking opportunities for continuous improvement in all that they do, for the benefit of themselves, the organisation and our customers.

“We would not be able to bring our Unipart philosophy to life every day for our customers, without having teams that are engaged at every level, from management to the shop floor.

“This is because we know that the more engaged and valued you feel, the more positive, productive and innovative you will be – and when you feel like that you will enjoy working and will deliver more for your customers and for Unipart. This is a true win-win situation.”

Unipart’s Digital Communication Cells fosters the culture of engagement by empowering employees at every level of the organisation to contribute to the success of the company.

Digital Communication Cells give employees the tools not only to deliver the best levels of service to customers, but in addition to actively be part of improving that service. They enable teams to work together across geographies, sharing best practice and making everyone’s personal growth part of the organisation’s growth.

Expert practitioners of The Unipart Way volunteered their skills to help Oxford Food Hub streamline their processes.

Oxford Food Hub found it saves more than £1m of surplus food a year from landfill after expert practitioners of The Unipart Way helped measure produce coming through the charity’s warehouse.

Volunteers from Unipart Logistics in Cowley worked at the food bank’s Botley site to weigh how much surplus food from local wholesalers and supermarkets is being redistributed free of charge to over 100 charities in Oxfordshire.

Over seven days Oxford Food Bank received 7.4 tonnes of surplus food with a retail value of nearly £20,000.

Accurate information about the amount of food redistributed will help Oxford Food Hub engage with the community and ultimately raise more much-needed funds.

Unipart is committed to supporting local communities where it operates.

Hayley Dry, Unipart Group Cowley charity committee chair, said: “We’re delighted to have Oxford Food Hub as our nominated charity. Improving efficiency and reducing waste are at the core of Unipart’s principles, expressed through our philosophy The Unipart Way, making our support of Oxford Food Hub a natural fit.

“Our Unipart Logistics colleagues in Cowley have already volunteered their expertise at Oxford Food Hub and shown we can add real value to their objective to redistribute surplus food to Oxford’s most vulnerable people.

“There is terrific enthusiasm amongst Unipart employees to raise money for charity and we will be encouraging them to fundraise for Oxford Food Hub.”

Oxford Food Hub redistributes fresh food with a short sell by date such as fruit, vegetables, dairy and baked goods, which makes it different from most other food banks which handle longer life goods. Their volunteers deliver this fresh produce to other charities, most of whom are cooking meals for their own clients, for example, homeless shelters, mental health charities, children’s groups, dementia clubs, hospices and schools.

Cathy Howard, Manager of the Oxford Food Hub, said: “We’re immensely grateful to Unipart for all their help, but particularly so for the data on our collections. This is hard evidence for the incredible achievements of our volunteers, who work tirelessly seven days a week to keep quality, unsold fresh food out of landfill”.

The team at Unipart Dorman used The Unipart Way to successfully remove 13km of plastic packaging from their supply chain a year.


Unipart Dorman is a world leader in design and manufacture of road and rail products, from LED railway signals to hazard warning lamps.

As part of Unipart Group’s overarching commitment to sustainability, the team at Unipart Dorman removed plastic packaging from signal heads which equates to 13km of plastic a year. Not an inconsequential amount.

The team began by designing plastic-free packaging for their North American Wayside Signals, then made a similar change to their UK signal packaging, with even greater impact.

Unipart Dorman already packed their products with shredded used cardboard boxes – which is both re-use and recyclable/biodegradable, and they are actively looking at further ways to reduce environmental impact.

Unipart Rail’s Richard Flanagan said: “We are aware we can use a lot packaging materials in our supply chain services sending thousands of products out every day to our customers around the world.

“With our customers we assessed the packaging of our signals and realised we could remove it completely without any effect to the product’s performance. We’re thrilled we can achieve such a lot with just one small activity, and we are now looking at other ways we can reduce single use plastics.”

Unipart Dorman’s team of electronic and mechanical design engineers deliver innovative world class patented products to operate in challenging environments of a safety critical nature and their expertise in LED Technology has resulted in the development of a series of industry firsts, including the Unipart Dorman ConeLITE, which is the industry-standard warning lamp for road hazards.

Culture Change Harder Than Rocket Science Says Unipart Chief


Neill told attendees at The Birmingham Business School Advisory Board Guest Lecture: “I have learned just how hard it is to bring about culture change, but I have also witnessed time and again the power of The Unipart Way to engage people and deliver transformational performance in quality, cost and delivery while, at the same time, bringing about culture change and inspiring innovation.”

In his presentation John Neill told the Unipart story, which began in the mid Seventies building a foundation for success despite a deeply troubled parent company and then creating the conditions for a successful buy-out in 1987.

Over the years, Unipart pioneered a wide range of innovative ideas including:

  • In the mid Seventies, before customer service was recognised as a vital drive of the automotive industry, Unipart introduced a guiding philosophy to understand the real and perceived needs of its customers better than anyone else.
  • The company used television and radio advertising to turn replacement car parts and accessories into one of Britain’s best known and most trusted brands.
  • At the buy-out, the company used a three hour theatrical show to launch an employee share ownership scheme that was then massively oversubscribed.
  • The development of one of Britain’s first corporate universities led to Unipart becoming recognised globally as a model for ‘learning’ companies, and gave rise to the creation of a massive knowledge management system and innovative approach to electronic coaching.
  • Unipart has become a benchmark for employee engagement and has extended this engagement culture to its operational locations across the globe.
  • A programme that recognises outstanding personal customer service has celebrated its 25th anniversary to make it one of the longest running employee programmes in the UK with more than 2,600 award winners.

The company’s customer base has grown from two automotive clients in the Eighties to now include many of the global blue chip companies from multiple sectors such as automotive, mobile communication, media, rail, retail, health and financial services.
• Unipart has developed one of the country’s largest consulting arms, Unipart Expert Practices, which is teaching the company’s proprietary approach to business improvement to clients in the public and private sectors.

As John Neill chronicled the company’s development over the past 25 years, he discussed the development of The Unipart Way which he described as ‘a philosophy of working that is underpinned by tools and techniques’ that drive continuous improvement.
“We know now that to become proficient in the Unipart Way requires unambiguous leadership from the top coupled with the willingness to engage in deliberate practice and painful hard work over many years,” he said.

Neill also talked about the challenges facing the NHS and said: “The solution is not another series of top down initiatives. What is needed is a radical change in culture. That is not rocket science; it is actually harder than that. It is a culture that inspires all the stakeholders in the system to focus on the needs of the end user and to be passionate about getting better every day.”

After the presentation, Simon Collinson, Dean of Birmingham Business School, commented: “Based on Unipart’s thirty year cultural transformation journey, and the work the company has done introducing The Unipart Way into so many clients, I’m convinced that it has a unique set of experience and a body of knowledge that can be transformative for other companies”.

 

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