BIT Programme Benefits International Manufacturer of Hygiene Products

The clients are an international manufacturer of hygiene products who employ up to 100 people in there UK site and more worldwide.

Initial discussions with a member of the NLC employer engagement team were followed by an Organizational Needs Analysis which indicated a potential requirement for BIT or PMO. A site audit by an NLC specialist BIT Consultant, highlighted areas within the factory that could be improved with the implantation of a BIT programme. The company had moved into the premises over the last two years and the production area had grown organically, as a result machines and areas were not assigned the most suitable spaces within its confines. Over the period more machines were added and machines taken out therefore only utilising the best spaces available at the time.

The Audit was taken on the shop floor areas of the factory, the highlighted the following main areas for improvement:

• Improve the FSU utilisation inside the warehouse and goods in area.

• Move machinery more centrally located to avoid over processing of goods.

• Create Standard Operating procedures for machines and processes which were needed for the training of new staff in wet wipes and headwear divisions.

The need for dedicated goods areas in processing  was evident so the implementation of workplace organisation 5s procedures were also recommended thus reaching  the conclusion that the BIT course would be a more suitable way forward than the PMO course.

Using a method of 5 one day workshops supported by observations and assessment on the job, the BIT programme was delivered to 49 staff  in commencing in Oct 08 over a period of ten weeks with 5 groups evenly spread within the production areas. Within those 5 groups a total of 15 improvements were made and quantified using the 7 DTI measures of performance.

Group1
The 1st improvement provided a 34% improvement in DSA delivery schedule achievement, the team carried out a diagnostics of the area to be improved which involved a thorough examination of the manufacturing process and calculation of the DTI measures of quality, cost and delivery. The systematic approach provided a focus for the improvement activity.

The 2nd improvement identified labels not being put in the correct locations which was causing damage to them, an action plan was agreed and the team obtained permission from management to implement the changes and produced SOP`s to standardise the process improving the quality by 16%.

The 3rd improvement involved the goods in area, stock was not clearly identified as to which order was for which customer the team took on the process improvements to heart by painting lines on the floors to indicate lanes and improving the booking stations whilst still allowing deliveries to continue, the team also arranged for more storage racking in goods inward to reduce the need for repacking damaged boxes from the forklifts reducing costs which before the improvements were on average costing £8.75 per day.

Group 2
The 1st improvement involved carrying out a diagnostics in the store and mixing area, they identified that the area was in need of organisation they agreed an action plan to improve the FSU which at the current rate was £0.904k/m2 and after completion was £1.0809k/m2.

The 2nd improvement the breaking down of machinery in wet wipes currently costing an average of £280 per month, a diagnostics was made and an action plan set in place which when complete reduced this to £0 by implementing TPM Total Preventative Maintenance which enhanced the running of the machines and the need for stoppages in the case of breakdowns.

The 3rd improvement in the store and mixing area involved a thorough examination of the processes upon which an action plan was set to stop chemicals spillages. The team obtained permission from management to implement the changes and implemented new SOP’s for the processes involved and new equipment was purchased.  Overall the improvement saved 5% on delivery and £340 per month on wasted raw material.

Group 3
The 1st improvement was to improve the FSU in headwear a diagnostics was again carried out and an examination of the processes identified areas of improvements. The team improved the workplace organisation and identified the company was storing hardly used print negatives in large cabinets along with heavily used negatives, the team located a different area for the storage of the negatives and moved the cupboard from the working area thus freeing up valuable working space.

The 2nd improvement identified that there were no SOP`s for any of the processes so an action plan was set in place and SOP`s produced for all machines the team obtained permission from management to introduce the changes identified when rewriting the SOP`s.

The 3rd improvement identified that the kanban area was poorly organised the team re configured the area to aid the collection of production material thus making a saving in wasted time. An improvement was made in the delivery time from 6.5 mins to 3.49 mins and a cost of £3.79 to £2.03 per week.

Group 4
The 1st improvement diagnostics identified a machine was not in use but taking up valuable space, the team obtained permission from management to implement the changes red tagged the machine and maintenance moved the machine to a dedicated storage area thus improving the FSU.

The 2nd improvement identified that the layout of 2 machines could be improved without increasing cost or lead time but have a significant impact on productivity thus improving FSU and process time of the product.

The 3rd improvement identified a machine that uses a wet solution was being used in headwear an action plan was submitted and implemented to all production staff. The team arranged for movement of the machine to wet wipes and the permanent feed was plumbed in by maintenance which reduced the turn around time for new batches of mix.

Group 5
The 1st improvement identified a machine that was not used and subsequently obtained permission from management to implement the changes thus improving the FSU.

The 2nd improvement involved moving a machine from one end of wet wipes down to the filling machine reducing the process steps from 9 to 5.

The 3rd improvement identified that the layout of the log, filling and shrink wrapping machine produced to many steps a working cell was implemented which allowed the operators to start and finish a process without returning items to stores the steps were reduced from 7 to 4.

Overall results
As well as the three improvements made  by each team as part of the BIT programme, many more ideas were raised to management for improvements after the course was completed.  Overall a combined saving on FSU of £9.100k/m2 and an average annual cost saving of over £7,000 per year just with the 15 improvements implemented and many more to come with the improvements left with the company.

The client expressed  there satisfaction with the course and the procedures used to implement the changes providing a good grounding for future improvements.