The Scenario
This client is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of equipment used in hospitals within
the National Health Service and around the world. Following a review of manufacturing
operations, it was decided to relocate to a new factory in Ireland. WBS was tasked with
reviewing the proposed move and managing the entire relocation project. The issues
identified were therefore:
- Moving the existing manufacturing facilities in the UK to Ireland, while maintaining existing high service levels globally
- Reducing the level of non-value add activities within the current operation
The Review
The project began with a WBS Company Assessment, analysing the methods used by the
client to fulfil global demand. In the process, the supply chain was assessed from end-toend,
from forecasting and planning, to manufacturing and shipping.
The Findings
Several areas of inefficiency were highlighted by the Assessment, including:
- Inconsistencies across similar manufacturing operations
- Excessive handling and moving of product within the manufacturing process
- Inconsistent product quality
- Unreliable equipment
The Recommendations
WBS recommended a series of initiatives to address the problems:
- A Future State Vision, encompassing:
- New factory layout, incorporating Lean flow principles
- New improved manufacturing processes
- A standardised approach to common activities across various product ranges
- Specifications for replacement machinery
- A series of steps for the achievement of specific savings and benefits:
- Elimination of unnecessary, duplicated tasks
- Reduced handling of product
- Reduced distance traveled
- Reduced number of machines required to perform certain processes
The recommendations also took into account costs, labour requirements and timescales for
implementation.
The Mechanism
It is usually easy to identify what needs to be changed when things are going wrong. It is
much harder to actually make the changes that are needed. Making changes that lead to
sustainable improvements requires a consultative approach, involving everyone affected by
the process, in every area of the organisation.
To achieve this deep level of effective change, WBS creates an implementation team made
up of WBS consultants, and representatives from the client’s own people. In this instance,
the client created a project team organised into three main groups:
- Manufacturing Processes – detailed evaluation of the processes involved in the
manufacture of the products to be transferred, incorporating material flow, process
steps, equipment used, inspection points, and levels of material handling
- Planning & Design – evaluating demand for individual products, and establishing
demand patterns and volumes; this included calculation of required floor space for
equipment and each process step, as well as designing the layout to ensure minimal
and simplified material movements
- Organisation Structure – determining the headcount required within the new operation,
and creating the appropriate organisation structure.
The Benefits
Over a 12-month implementation period, which incorporated a lead time of nine months
for new equipment, efficiencies and cost savings were achieved in four key areas. Material
handling was reduced by 57%; reductions in non-value added activities of 25% were made;
the number of production personnel required was reduced by 19%; and the distance
travelled by products was cut by 34%. A further 35% increase in equipment utilisation was
achieved by standardising activities across product ranges.