ANDY Thompson has no illusions about why MG Rover failed. "I have been round the Toyota plant, round the Nissan plant and round the Rover plant," he said.

"After that, you can understand why Rover went down.

"Automotive is the hardest industry in the world, but we have reacted, adapted and changed to it."

The collapse of Rover proved how tough it is to operate in the automotive industry, but Neyr UK, in Peterlee, County Durham - where Mr Thompson is plant manager -- is thriving in the sector.

It produces injection moulded plastic components for the likes of Nissan, on Wearside, and Toyota, in Derbyshire, plus Renault and Faurecia.

Its range, which includes cockpit modules, engine undercovers and body kits, is exported to France, Spain, Turkey and even Japan.

Mr Thompson, from Darlington, said: "The factory was set up by French industrial conglomerate Groupe Neyr in 1995, to supply Black & Decker, in Spennymoor.

"It originally turned over roughly £1.5m and employed 25 staff, but this grew to 50 as its client list extended to include Samsung and Peugeot.

Samsung's Wynyard plant closed last year, with the loss of about 400 jobs, and Black & Decker has scaled back its County Durham operations. But after being bought by Mecaplast in 2002, the Neyr plant's production became automotive, with Toyota now accounting for two-thirds of its output.

Turnover has grown from £3.1m in 2001 to £8.8m last year, and the workforce has grown by 50 per cent to 117.

Mecaplast is a multinational set up in Monaco by chairman Charles Manni.

He started 50 years ago, with three people and one machine in his garage. The group now has 34 plants in 17 countries, from Brazil and China to Japan and Tunisia.

It employs more than 7,500 staff worldwide and last year turned over £470m. The company still has a profitable factory in the principality.

The group invests about £9m a year in training and last month opened a learning centre at Peterlee, supported by East Durham Business Service, a partnership between Easington District Council and East Durham Development Agency. Staff will study NVQs in manufacturing and learn IT skills and conversational French.

"I want to have the technology and the skills behind our core business and not just in the high-level jobs," said Mr Thompson.

The investment in the workforce has helped reduce staff turnover to one per cent.

It has also reduced the number of goods returned by customers for not being up to scratch to under 200 parts per million.

Mr Thompson has cannibalised other ideas from a range of engineering philosophies to drive up productivity and cut waste, such as Kan Bans, Lean Manufacturing, and Ishikawa.

It has had a huge impact. Stock loss, 35 per cent nine months ago, is below three per cent and the warehouse and distribution system has been reorganised, pared down and made more efficient.

Mr Thompson said: "We can react fast to a new order and don't have to have a lot of stock in the warehouse. Every day is tough. We are at the cutting edge of customer control, planning and support."

The key to turning orders around quickly is the speed with which workers can change over the injection moulding tools.

The average changeover for a 200 tonne machine is now 11 minutes, and 35 minutes for a 2,000 tonne machine.

Mr Thompson said: "Our competitors are looking at an hour or two hours, minimum."

The reduction in turnaround time means orders are processed faster and cheaper. It has proved such as success that Mecaplast plans to roll out the Peterlee method of working across the group.

Guy Courbon, the group's executive vice-president, said: "We can change tools here faster than anywhere else. It is very important to us to use what has been done successfully in one plant for others."

Staff carry out an average of 530 changeovers a month and this increased flexibility has led to more orders.

"Our clients say jump and we ask how high?" said Mr Thompson.

The 35,000sq m plant is operating at capacity and more orders are looming. Next year will see it supply the Nissan X11E, Toyota Corolla 130L, Renault X83 P2 and Avensis 355L.

"We are not the largest in the group, but we are the first site to be truly lean," said Mr Thompson. "We are bursting at the seams and using every available piece of space."

He believes the plant is ready for expansion, but will have to persuade the executives in Monaco that there is a strong case for investment.

Alain Sarran, international operations director, concedes there is a capacity issue but both he and Mr Courbon have to weigh up investment against the company's other 33 sites, also clamouring for cash.

"This is the kind of problem I like," said Mr Thompson. "If anything, we have been too successful."