HR Case Study: Toray Advanced Composites and People First HR Solution : Originally established in 1988, this Nottinghamshire based manufacturing business became part of Toray Industries Inc. in 2018.

Toray manufactures advanced thermoset and thermoplastic composite materials used in the production of lightweight structures for commercial, general aviation, military and unmanned aircraft. They also produce composites for the performance car industry, space exploration and the oil and gas industries.

Toray Advanced Composites has sister companies in The Netherlands and the US. They have been using People First since March 2019.

After years of using an array of Excel spreadsheets to record employee information and performance, Toray wanted a more efficient, reliable system and process. They wanted to store all key information about employees in one place – benefits, healthcare, names and addresses, salaries and disciplinaries. Monitoring performance more efficiently was a primary goal.

Head of Human Resources, Angela Savage had previously used HR systems in other companies. She embarked on a research process to find a system that would meet Toray’s needs.

Some of the systems Angela looked at were “overly complex”.

Toray Advanced Composites wanted to:

■ Move away from multiple spreadsheets holding different elements of employee information

■ House all employee information in one system – a system that was easy to use with information easily retrieved

■ Increase and improve the employee review process – to make it more formal and professional

■ More effectively record and measure employee competencies

“The social media-type ‘feel’ of People First has helped user uptake and engagement.” – Angela Savage

The system implementation and transfer of data from various sources went smoothly and quickly.

Toray uses People First to support their Aerospace Standards audit by showing how employees have met required competencies.

In 2021 an employee was promoted to a new position based on the competencies and succession planning scores in People First.

Using People First has improved the recording of information and significantly enhanced communication right across the business.

“It’s user-friendly and very visual.” – Angela Savage