Articles
SC21: CQM Announces Support for Aerospace & Defence Supply Chains
CQM Training & Consultancy backs UK Aerospace & Defence growth with SC21 alignment and skills support
CQM Training & Consultancy today announced a dedicated support offer to help Aerospace and Defence manufacturers and their supply chains achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold performance recognition under the Supply Chains for the 21st Century (SC21) programme, delivered through the Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) Framework.
The announcement comes at a time when the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space sectors are adding over £42 billion a year to the economy – a 64% increase over the past decade, and exports continue to rise strongly. Recent government and industry initiatives include more than £250 million for green aerospace technologies, a new 10-year industrial strategy, and hundreds of millions of pounds earmarked to boost technical skills and defence workforce capability.
At the same time, the sector faces acute productivity and capacity pressures, with skills gaps in advanced manufacturing, engineering and digital disciplines increasingly cited as a constraint on competitiveness.
SC21: raising performance across the aerospace and defence supply chain
SC21, led by ADS, is the UK’s flagship improvement programme for aerospace and defence supply chains. It provides a structured framework to help organisations improve quality, delivery, business excellence and customer relationships, with recognition at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels for consistently high performance.
As an ADS member specialising in Lean Six Sigma, continuous improvement (CI) and leadership development, CQM Training & Consultancy is uniquely placed to help organisations translate the SC21 model into practical change on the shop floor, across supply chains and in supporting functions.
“SC21 recognition is fast becoming a standard expectation for aerospace and defence suppliers who want to be trusted partners in global programmes,” said Andy Cheshire, Managing Director, CQM Training & Consultancy. “Our role is to help organisations build the systems, skills and behaviours that sit behind those Bronze, Silver and Gold awards – so performance improvements are real, measurable and sustainable.”
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Turning the SC21 framework into real performance gains
Over more than 30 years, CQM has supported over 10,000 learners and 1,000 organisations, delivering more than £100 million in annualised savings for clients in 2024 alone through project-based improvement. Drawing on this experience as well as close working relationships with primes and tier 1 suppliers across the industry, CQM’s support for aerospace and defence organisations on their SC21 journey typically includes:
SC21-aligned diagnostics and roadmapping
- Mapping current performance in quality, delivery, cost and customer metrics against SC21 expectations.
- Identifying process bottlenecks, variation, rework and waste across manufacturing and support processes.
- Co-creating a realistic roadmap to Bronze, Silver or Gold recognition, tailored to each organisation’s size, maturity and customer requirements
Lean & Six Sigma training linked to SC21 KPIs
- Accredited Lean Six Sigma Yellow, Green and Black Belt programmes built around real business projects that target SC21 metrics such as right-first-time quality, on-time delivery and lead time reduction.
- Practical CI tools – value stream mapping, problem solving, root cause analysis, standard work, SMED, 5S and visual management – applied directly to aerospace and defence contexts.
- Coaching to ensure that projects deliver measurable improvements that can be evidenced in SC21 performance submissions.
Leadership and culture to sustain performance
- Leadership development programmes that help managers move from firefighting to proactive performance management.
- Training in coaching, daily review routines and tiered visual management so leaders at every level can sustain gains and drive continuous improvement.
- Support to create a culture where data-driven decision-making, cross-functional collaboration and “right first time” behaviour are the norm.
Supporting SMEs across the supply chain
- Flexible delivery models tailored to the needs and budgets of SMEs within the ADS Supply Chain Solutions Framework.
- Help for smaller suppliers to integrate improvement activity with customer requirements, audits and certification journeys, avoiding duplication of effort.
- Practical support to build internal capability so SMEs can maintain Bronze, Silver or Gold status year-on-year, in turn supporting tenders and winning work as a result.
“Many suppliers know SC21 is important, but they’re already stretched delivering against demanding order books,” added Tom Reading, Business Development Manager, CQM Training & Consultancy. “We meet them where they are, whether that’s early-stage Bronze preparation or sustaining Gold-level performance and help them use Lean Six Sigma and CI to hit SC21 targets while freeing up capacity and reducing cost.”
Supporting the UK’s Industrial and Skills Agenda
The UK aerospace sector continues to grapple with a large global aircraft backlog and supply chain constraints, while defence and security demand is rising in response to a more contested world. Government and industry are responding with major investments in greener aerospace technologies, defence industrial capability, robust sovereign supply lines and technical skills – including hundreds of millions of pounds for training, innovation and supply chain productivity.
CQM’s offer directly supports this agenda by:
Boosting productivity and resilience – using structured improvement projects to release capacity, reduce scrap and rework, and improve on-time delivery, supporting both national security and export growth.
Aligning with SC21 and ADS priorities – helping member and non member companies strengthen customer-supplier relationships, collaborate more effectively and contribute to the overall competitiveness of the UK aerospace and defence ecosystem.
Building trusted supplier status – supporting organisations to achieve SC21 recognition that demonstrates reliability, quality and delivery excellence. These are vital credentials that strengthen tender submissions and improve prospects of winning contracts from primes and Tier 1 suppliers.
“As an ADS and now SCS member, we see SC21 not just as an award scheme, but as a practical way to align operational excellence, skills development and strategic growth,” said Cameron Hobson, Group Marketing Manager, CQM Training & Consultancy. “By combining our Lean & Six Sigma and leadership expertise with the SC21 programme, we help organisations turn national investment and sector growth into real capability on the ground.”
Summary
Aerospace and Defence manufacturers and supply chain partners interested in accelerating their SC21 journey from first diagnostic through to Bronze, Silver or Gold recognition and beyond – can contact CQM Training & Consultancy for an initial conversation.
For more information, complete our Contact Us form below, or reach out to our friendly team via enquiries@cqmltd.co.uk or 0114 281 3747