Abstract
The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) was formed in 1942, with strong support from the major engineering institutions, as the Army's professional repair and recovery corps. Its role has progressively broadened into that of an integrated support organization involved in the whole equipment life cycle: besides repair, its key processes now span engineering policy, fleet management, redesign and modification, spares procurement and future design influence. The past three years have seen radical restructuring and innovation throughout the organization, both in response to wider government and departmental changes and in order to provide a better service to the Army at less cost. Underpinning these changes is a strong ‘total quality’ ethos throughout the organization. REME has entered its second half-century committed to continuous improvement, both in peace and on operations.