Rimstock is Britain’s leading alloy wheel manufacturer, supplying some of the world’s most prestigious automotive brands — including Lotus, Alpina, BMW and McLaren. Based in West Bromwich, its engineering plant specialises in the advanced manufacturing of forged and cast aluminium wheels. These are for OEM’s, motorsport, defence, concept and aftermarket sectors.
Like many automotive manufacturers, Rimstock has faced challenges in recent years. Brexit-related uncertainty and stricter emissions targets increased pressure to stay competitive through innovation and exceptional quality. To tackle these challenges, Rimstock began its digital transformation journey, starting with the paint facility and focusing on one critical area: quality audits.
Turning Quality Audits Into a Competitive Advantage
When Mike Wise joined Rimstock as Operations Manager, he noticed that staff manually completing paper-based inspection audits slowed the business down. Each returned alloy wheel created extra costs because the team had to rework or remanufacture it. For a company built on quality, this was unacceptable.
Fortunately, Mike had experience with WorkfloPlus from a previous role. He introduced it at Rimstock to digitalise quality audits and compliance processes. This move ensured the company could prove every product leaving the plant met the highest standards.
WorkfloPlus now captures detailed process data for Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA). For example, paint line characteristics are measured to identify where failures occur. As a result, Rimstock continuously improves production quality.
Before digitalisation, quality audits relied on paper checklists. Staff often filed them late, and documents could get damaged or lost. This made external audits slow and risky. Now, real-time data eliminates these delays.
How WorkfloPlus Delivers Better Quality Audits
By using WorkfloPlus with tablets, Rimstock’s technicians follow step-by-step digital work instructions. They log who completes each check, when they do it, and upload supporting photos. This creates a robust, traceable audit trail while keeping compliance data instantly available.
Technicians quickly found WorkfloPlus simple to use. Each audit now takes less time, and Rimstock increased inspections by 125% across 15–20 workflows per week. In addition, updates to workflows happen immediately as new parts come online.
Mike explains:
“Our European customers rely on visual proof of product quality. With WorkfloPlus, we can share high-quality images instantly. Since introducing it, quality issues have dropped significantly. The system even helps us identify and challenge any third-party handling or transit damage with confidence.”
As a result, Rimstock reduced its return rate (ppm) and achieved measurable ROI. Real-time data enables tighter quality control and makes compliance and accountability simple.
Expanding Digital Quality Control
Rimstock recently appointed a Quality Manager to lead the next phase. The team now focuses on control plan audits, examining every detail of the paint facility and identifying gaps. They use WorkfloPlus to share performance data across the business.
Mike adds:
“Next, we will integrate WorkfloPlus with our ERP system to expand improvements across the entire plant. Within two years, we aim to create a fully connected manufacturing environment where quality, productivity, and data work together.”
By turning manual audits into a connected, data-driven process, Rimstock ensures consistent excellence. This digital approach enables the company to meet customer expectations while driving operational efficiency and quality.
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