Case Study
In 1985, Lea Ronal, a chemical company in Buxton, Derbyshire, approached us to develop a Copper analyser for use in the printed circuit board manufacturing industry. This was followed closely by a Nickel analyser, and then a Nickel + pH analyser.

The success of these analysers led on to the development of a 3 Channel analyser, which automatically analyses and controls the flow of Copper, Caustic, and Formaldehyde in the PCB manufacturing process. This prototype, which was made in 1986, is still in daily use in a factory in Scotland. Further models of the 3 Channel were developed and a 4 Channel developed which also analyses Stabiliser. IBM at Portsmouth was one of the end customers, and other models are in use in Russia Italy and the USA.

Mark II of the Copper and Nickel + pH analysers were developed in 1990, and in 1999 we developed the EN3. This is a Nickel + pH analyser with digitally operated settings and controls, alarms and data-logging facilities which may be downloaded to a P.C. or a simple data printer.

During 1999, Lea Ronal was taken over by Shipley Ronal, based in Coventry. Argus still supply Shipley with these analysers, and the sales are going from strength to strength.

An unsolicited testimonial from Lea Ronal is attached:
"Lea Ronal (UK) plc 24th September 1996

Dear Geoff, I have recently established a system to rate the performance of our suppliers.

Each supplier will be scored for various attributes, both subjective and objective, with particular attention to Quality, Delivery, Price and Administrative efficiency. The various criteria are weighted to produce an overall score and categorise suppliers as A1, A, B, C or D.

I would expect all suppliers rated to be attaining an A or A1 grade and where possible we would look to rationalise the supplier base so as to stop dealing with suppliers who score a C or D. We emphasise that the reason for this rating is to try to improve performance and ultimately our supplier relationship. This is a two-way arrangement where any constructive criticism of the way we deal with your company would be welcomed.