Just 12 years ago SAM Mouldings was founded in Antrim, Northern Ireland, by its managing director Sam McCrea and his wife, Julienne, who is director of business excellence. Since then, their business has become the UK market leader in MDF mouldings, with a 19% share.

“We are convinced that a major factor in our success is the introduction of innovative management techniques, based on high standards of quality and excellence,” said Mr McCrea.

The company also sets great store by its FSC certification. This was, to some extent, customer led, with enquiries from key accounts in the UK. SAM Mouldings had already carried out its own market research, however, and was aware that more people were looking for chain of custody certification. “We were already sourcing only FSC-certified material but had not taken the final step ourselves,” said Mr McCrea.

Last year the company upgraded its quality management system to ISO 9001:2000 with BM TRADA Certification Ltd, and it invited the latter to work with it to introduce FSC. “Very little change was required in operating procedures to integrate a chain of custody procedure,” said Alasdair McGregor, who carried out the FSC assessment for BM TRADA. “The two systems dovetail perfectly and the annual audit will be able to be carried out at the same time – a benefit that appeals to Sam McCrea in his drive for ever greater efficiency.”

Achieving FSC is an important part of the company’s environmental strategy, said Julienne McCrea. “We believe it is important to preserve the world’s forests through good forestry practice and that we all have a part to play. FSC certification means that we can be seen to be demonstrating our responsibility.”

Key accounts manager Gerard Wilson said giving good service means being one step ahead of what customers want. “We have already seen an increase in demand for FSC material and that is heartening. The system can only work well if it is embraced right the way along the supply chain,” he said.

SAM Mouldings’ environmental commitment is shown further in its energy recycling plant, which supplies over 40% of the factory’s electricity. MDF sawdust waste is sucked into silos where it is compacted and fed into a furnace, then incinerated at ultra-high temperatures to remove toxic elements.

Product range

SAM Mouldings manufactures a range of MDF architectural mouldings such as skirting boards, architraves and door frames, selling solely through timber and builders merchants, including the national chains. Some 96% of its production is exported to mainland UK, which it claims it can service “faster and more cost-effectively than competitors”. “We believe we have set new benchmarks in fulfilling orders in time and to a consistently high quality,” said Mr McCrea.

In 1996 SAM Mouldings began working with Investors in People and two years later started working with the European Business Excellence Model. It says it is no coincidence that since then it has increased its workforce by 400%, its turnover by more than 600% and net profits by 750%.

The model comprises nine categories – leadership, policy and strategy, people management, partnership and resources, processes, customer results, people results, society results, and key performance results – and SAM Mouldings has embraced it wholeheartedly. It won the Northern Ireland Quality Award in 1998, the UK award in 2000 and last year achieved the European Quality Award, “stealing the glory” from other finalists including Siemens, Bosch and Renault.