TMD Technologies Manufacturing Case Study
Electronics components manufacturer streamline back office
TMD Technologies Limited (TMD) is among the world’s leading manufacturers of microwave tubes, high voltage power supplies, and transmitters for radar and communications applications. We helped them improve their back-office operations by deploying no code digital tools and delivering technical training.
Defence and aerospace manufacturing demands precision. Not just in the components — in the systems that surround them too. When your products end up in radar systems and military communications equipment, there is no room for administrative errors. Supplier documentation that can’t be traced. Time records that don’t add up. Reports that take hours to pull together manually. These aren’t just inefficiencies. In this sector, they’re risks.
TMD understood that. The engagement focused on targeted, practical improvements to back-office operations — time tracking, supplier management, and data visualisation — without touching the core manufacturing processes that are already working.
Why incremental improvement beats a big-bang overhaul
The temptation with digital transformation is to treat it like a building project. Knock everything down and start fresh. New ERP. New everything. Six months of disruption.
That approach fails more often than it succeeds. For manufacturers operating in high-precision, high-stakes environments, the risk of disrupting core operations is too high. You don’t want your supplier management process to go dark for three months while a new system beds in.
The smarter approach is incremental. Identify the processes causing the most friction. Fix those. Build capability. Move to the next one.
For TMD, that meant three focused interventions: time tracking, supplier onboarding, and Power BI upskilling. Each one delivered standalone value. Together, they created a more visible, more efficient back-office operation — without requiring a single moment of downtime in manufacturing.
Quick wins that create lasting change
Helen Anderson captured it well: “sometimes it’s the incremental improvements and quick wins that can be hugely valuable.” That’s not a consolation prize. It’s a strategy.
When you give a team a tool that saves them real time — a time tracking system that takes two minutes instead of twenty, a supplier onboarding flow that runs itself — you build trust in digital tools. That trust makes the next improvement easier to adopt. And the one after that.
This is how digital maturity actually develops in manufacturing businesses. Not through a single transformational project, but through a series of well-chosen, well-implemented improvements that compound over time.
Approach
Reviewed operational processes relating to business wide productivity. Worked closely with key individuals from Operations providing technical specialism & industry best practise.
Objectives
- Provide greater transparency to projects with time management tools;
- Streamline supplier management processes to save time;
- Upskill core staff so new tools are sustained within the firm.
Achievements
- Enabled a time tracking tool, facilitating employees to record time spent on tasks or projects;
- Reviewed supplier onboarding processes and recommended tools for automation around quotations and order acknowledgement;
- Provided upskilling for technical staff on Power BI to maintain solutions in-house.
Key results
- Implemented a time management tool;
- Reviewed supplier management process;
- Upskilled team’s digital skills.
FAQs
Why does back-office efficiency matter in precision manufacturing?
TMD Technologies operates in one of the most demanding sectors in electronics manufacturing: microwave tubes and high-power RF components for defence and aerospace applications. The precision required in the core manufacturing process is mirrored in the demands placed on back-office operations — supplier management, time tracking, and compliance documentation all need to work reliably and consistently in an environment where errors have significant consequences.
Deploying no-code digital tools in this context demonstrates that digital transformation does not require a complete system overhaul. Targeted improvements to specific processes — time tracking, supplier onboarding, data visualisation — can deliver meaningful value without disrupting the core manufacturing operation that the business depends on.
Helen Anderson’s testimonial captures the GoSmarter approach well: understanding that incremental improvements and quick wins are often the right starting point, and that upskilling the internal team to sustain solutions is as important as the technical implementation itself. Leaving a team with better tools and better capabilities is the outcome that creates lasting value.
What is the value of upskilling alongside implementation?
What is the difference between no-code tools and custom software development for manufacturers?
Custom software development means hiring developers to build something from scratch. It’s expensive, slow, and creates an ongoing dependency — every change, every bug fix, every new feature requires a developer.
No-code tools like Power BI and the GoSmarter platform are built to be configured by the people who actually use them. A production manager can build a dashboard. A quality manager can create a report. An operations team can automate a workflow — without writing a single line of code.
That changes the economics completely. Configuration replaces development. The team that owns the process owns the tool. Ongoing maintenance doesn’t require a retainer with a software house.
For manufacturers like TMD, this means targeted improvements can be deployed quickly, maintained internally, and adapted as processes change — without the overhead of a full IT function or an external development agency.
Go deeper
- No-Code Workflows for Metals SMEs — how to digitalise without an IT department
- AI for Metals Manufacturing — a plain-English guide to AI in manufacturing
- 10 signs your metal shop needs process automation
Get Off the Spreadsheets. For Good.
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