Unipart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 UGC — The Unipart Group of Companies
- 1.1 The Unipart Way
- 1.2 UPDS (Unipart Programme Delivery System)
2 UGC in the community
3 Clients
4 External links
5 References

[edit] UGC — The Unipart Group of Companies

The Unipart Group of Companies operates principally in the specialist logistics market, providing third party logistics services.

Unipart's logistics division's customers operate in a range of sectors including telecommunications, automotive, information technology, retail, aerospace, rail, industrial and defence. The company is Britain's biggest car parts supplier.

Unipart's consultancy arm provides consultancy to other organisations in a variety of areas. Unipart's operations are delivered under the banner The Unipart Way.

UGC operates in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan, and its head office is based in Cowley, near Oxford in Oxfordshire UK.

UGC is one of the largest privately held companies in the UK.

[edit] The Unipart Way

"The Unipart Way" (based on learning from Honda, its own history and the Toyota Production System) is the name the company has given to its methodology. It involves a process of continuous measurement which is designed to lead to a reduction of wasteful activity, thereby ensuring the best deployment of time and resources.

Lean thinking is not without its critics. Most publicly, the work done at HMRC was censured by PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, who stated, "By reducing staff to nothing more than machines on the whim of consultants, the department is undermining the morale of staff who face imminent job cuts and office closures." ^[1] This is the second time lean has been publicly criticised: previously "The HMRC's Lean programme, which aims to improve efficiency, has already resulted in a work-to-rule and overtime ban among 14,000 civil servants." ^[1]

[edit] UPDS (Unipart Programme Delivery System)

UPDS is the Unipart Group's in house methodology for delivering projects and programmes on behalf of its clients. It was first devised in the late 1970s long before other disciplines such as Prince 2 were developed and has grown into an advanced and detailed system that is now being embraced by some of its external clients.

Although many of the group's project and programme managers are registered Prince 2 practitioners, UPDS continues to be the methodology for running projects within the group.

UPDS employs a belt-style grading system for its practitioners with the highest attainable being black.

[edit] UGC in the community

UGC has strong links with the local community and education, supporting many community initiatives and organisations.

In addition, Unipart has a strong affiliation with motorsport. In 2006, the company teamed up with Nigel Mansell and his sons, Greg and Leo, in a sponsorship deal in support of Nigel's son's career in Formula BMW.