During the visit, ADS NI received a detailed brief on The Exact Group’s work over the last 12 months and a tour of the facility, as well as observing its new Haas turning centre and two new Haas 5-axis Universal Machining Centre (UMC) in action, which the company only took delivery of in the last month.

Leslie Orr, director of ADS NI, said: “It was great to visit with the team at Exact and hear their journey to silver recognition in the SC21 Programme. What was of interest was, that they achieved a sustained 99% on performance and delivery on their rapid response orders, which is an extraordinary achievement. Rapid response has so many variables that it can be difficult to ensure those performance levels. They have demonstrated the agility that customers want.

“This company has also continued to invest in the last six months and have managed to buck the trend in these extremely challenging times for industry. In Northern Ireland, we are a powerhouse of advance engineering companies but with these serious challenges facing the aviation and aerospace sectors, as a result of this pandemic, it was quite wonderful to see how well The Exact Group has not just coped but grown during these last six or seven months.

“First and foremost, they have had orders which they have continued to deliver to their customers, but they have also put in an awful lot of work to achieve silver in this programme. The Exact Group has also obtained additional ISO accreditation in the medical sector allowing them to design and engineer a standalone sanitising unit and work in the medical sector.

“Stephen [Cromie] and his team have achieved great things and I continue to wish them and, indeed, every other company operating in this sector every success and, of course, my and my team’s support.”

Managing director of Exact Group, Stephen Cromie, added: “It certainly is a challenging time for the industry and there are many unknowns, but I don’t believe my team, or I are doing anything different to many of my colleagues in this industry. The Exact Group will continue to engage and deliver results for our customers; we will continue to innovate and we will continue to make this business even better than it is today. We would like to thank Leslie Orr and Robert Hutchinson from ADS NI for their time and support – it is very much valued.”

www.exactgroupni.com