Borg & Beck Premium Quality Products, ISO9001:2015 Certified Company

QUALITY MANAGEMENT

The company takes important steps to ensure that the products supplied are of the highest quality, a quality that is representative of the brands’ position in the market. First Line Ltd understands every aspect of the products supplied and always provides customers with as much technical information and support as they need.

"It’s the strong longstanding relationships that First Line Ltd has with its manufacturing partners that enables the company to offer a consistent level of premium quality products, and more importantly it’s the robustness of the internal processes and experience of the staff that means everything that is supplied is going to be perfect for the application."
Dan Joyner – Managing Director

Borg & Beck products are produced all over the world by leading manufacturers of Automotive components. To uphold the brands renowned heritage, we only work with the very best manufacturing partners, all of which are ISO accredited, environmentally and socially responsible.

TECHNICAL CENTRE

A significant investment has been made in testing equipment for our on-site technical facility. This enables the specification, testing, comparison and inspection of components against OE and technical specification drawings and samples before a product is introduced, catalogued and released for sale. All references go through extensive quality control processes to approve the quality of product and application.

All Borg & Beck products are fully tested and certified following production by our manufacturing partners, however new introductions are under strict quality control as all new product deliveries are 100% cross checked until fully approved and switched over to random inspection. All products are batch coded for traceability to ensure that distributors can have total peace of mind when associating themselves with our brands that what’s in the box won’t let them or their customers down.

The most important benefit of the Technical Centre is that we have all the necessary testing equipment to fully specify Clutch components. This provides our engineers with the precise characteristics needed to specify and manage Clutch Components, a range that Borg & Beck was historically renowned for and a range that must remain competitive without compromise. Quite often we are called upon to provide unique Clutch solutions, as we have the ability to fully specify a new product to meet the demands required of it.

As the original supplier to the majority of British built cars up until the late 80’s, we are able to offer 40+ Clutch references for Classic vehicles dating back to the late 30’s, providing a solution for over 200 applications. One of our Borg & Beck Clutch engineers remembers burst testing the original Ford Escort Clutch Plate when it was introduced back in 1967! He has worked with Borg & Beck Clutch all his life.

ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED

First Line Ltd was one of the first companies in the UK aftermarket to have transitioned to the new ISO9001:2015 certification. The company was operating under the newly revised quality management system since June 2016 to ensure a smooth and efficient transition.

ISO9001:2015 is a certified quality management system, for organisations who want to consistently provide products and services that meet the needs of their customers and stakeholders.

The latest edition of ISO9001, ISO’s flagship quality management system standard, was published in September 2015 and has been revised to take into account today’s dynamic and globally interconnected world.

Used in more than 160 countries, the new world-wide standard ensures that there are effective and robust auditable processes in place to continually evaluate risks and opportunities, meaning that Distributors and Technicians that use our products can be completely confident that there will be a consistent level of quality maintained, backed up with exceptional customer service. This high level of assurance comes from knowing that the quality management is driven from the board of directors.

It’s important for Distributors and repairers to recognise this accreditation, as it serves to protect them from issues with product or inefficient service that could easily happen without an effective QMS and ISO9001:2015 certification.

"The new standard really means something and isn’t just a reactive system that was checked for conformance like the 9001:2008 standard. Everyone working for the company and all of our distributors can be really proud of what has been achieved here, as it demonstrates that we are committed to quality, we have a robust analytical tool embedded in the company and that our QMS is managed from the top down to ensure the business provides a consistent supply of product and service."
Dan Joyner, Managing Director

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CYBER SECURITY CERTIFIED

Cyber security consists of technologies, processes and controls designed to protect systems, networks, programs, devices and data from cyber-attacks. Effective cyber security reduces the risk of cyber-attacks and protects against the unauthorised exploitation of systems, networks and technologies.

Under the GDPR and DPA 2018, organisations must implement appropriate security measures to protect personal data - or risk substantial fines, therefore cyber security is a critical business issue for every organisation.

At First Line Ltd cyber security is a critical, board-level issue. We have implemented robust cyber security across all areas of the business covering people, processes and technology. Every employee is aware of their role in preventing cyber threats, especially as human error is the leading cause of data breaches.

Cyber-attacks continue to grow in sophistication, with attackers using an ever-expanding variety of tactics. By working alongside our Network and Security partners, we have ensured we have the required policies and procedures in place to constantly address these potential cyber security threats and have been reassuringly awarded with the higher Cyber Essentials Plus certification as evidence of this.

TECHNICAL BULLETINS

First Line Ltd is a family owned business that has been operating for over 35 years. We pride ourselves on being able to offer our customers the largest possible range of premium quality products, combined with the best levels of availability and exceptional customer service that only a family run business can provide.

With this commitment in mind, each and every member of our staff are dedicated to supporting customers with anything they may need, whether that's detailed analysis, local support, technical assistance and marketing solutions. The personal service that we provide has not gone unrecognised and is acknowledged through the extensive awards that have been won throughout the years.

To ensure that our products are correctly identified and installed, it is sometimes necessary to pass on additional information to aid in the process. There are two types of bulletin produced, the first being ‘Product Information’, this is created where additional information about the product must be understood at the point of sale. Secondly, we have ‘Technical Information’ bulletins, these are aimed at providing important information useful at the point of installation.

Anything that is deemed safety critical will be issued in the box with the product.

To see the full list of bulletins available sign up to our Marketing Hub via WebCat.

WEBCAT

ECE R90 FOR BRAKE PADS, SHOES, DISCS AND DRUMS

As a market leading supplier of Automotive Aftermarket components, you can rest assured that all Borg & Beck braking complies to the ECE Regulation 90 (R90) quality standard for friction materials. This standard is a legal requirement for both Car and Commercial vehicles and specifies the design, construction, performance requirements and test protocols for automotive replacement parts.

This legislation for Brake Pads and Shoes has been in force since 1999 and more recently has been updated to include Brake Discs and Drums, with Commercial Vehicle parts being compulsory on vehicles built from 2014 and on passenger cars from November 2016. Basically, R90 ensures that the braking products comply with the Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing of the OE product. It also ensures that components are integrity tested for: Thermal fatigue, High load, Performance, Friction comparison vs. OE, Conformity of Production, plus there are ongoing production checks to ensure consistency of product.

All braking products must display the certification code provided by the certifying agency, plus there is an ‘E’ reference in a circle which indicates which country they were certified, for example E1 is Germany and E11 is the UK. It is also a legal requirement to have traceability of product, therefore you will see other markings on the product as well.

The regulation was designed to guarantee that all replacement Brake Pads, Shoes, Discs and drums will provide equivalent performance (in terms of functionality, safety and efficiency) when compared to the original product they are intended to replace.

BLOCK EXEMPTION REGULATION

The Block Exemption regulation (BER) exists to protect consumer rights and provides the freedom to service and repair vehicles at any garage outside of the dealer network, in the independent aftermarket.

More importantly, changes to the BER in 2002 included clauses intended to increase choice when it comes to servicing of a new car. It clearly states that you cannot be obliged e.g. as a condition of warranty, to have your car serviced by a franchised dealer.

For the independent repairers, the regulation acts to secure open access to technical and repair information so that they can carry out any servicing or repairs in line with the manufacturers schedules and procedures and use replacement parts, as long as the products used are of matching quality to the OE product.

This is good news for the vehicle owner as it means that BER provides the flexibility to use any local garage, with the benefit of having reduced servicing and repair costs, which is much better value for money compared to the franchised network.

The range of Borg & Beck offers only premium quality products, all of which meet or exceed the quality requirements applicable for the use of spare parts for repair or maintenance of motor vehicles by authorised repairers, as defined in the Aftermarket Block Exemption Regulation (EU) No461/2010. They also comply with the requirements of articles 18 and 20 of Commission Notice no 2010/c 138/05 – Supplementary guidelines on vertical restraints in agreements for the sale and repair of motor vehicles and for the distribution of spare parts for motor vehicles.

Should you have any questions over the quality of Borg & Beck products or you are being wrongly informed about the nullification of your warranty due to the use of Borg & Beck products, then please get in touch via the contact us page.

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