The Manufacturer July 2010 issue

Celebrate Manufacturing for a Better Britain

www.themanufacturer.com July 2010 Vol 13 Issue 07

EntEr nOW

www.themanufacturer.com July 2010 Vol 13 Issue 07

Show time Farnborough prepares to show off the best of British

Having emerged from the recession stronger, leaner and with many new initiatives in place, UK Manufacturing is ideally placed to make a better Britain!

Established over 10 years ago, The Manufacturer of the Year Awards competition is specifically designed to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK Manufacturing. So enter today and showcase your achievements.

For further details visit www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Corporate Sponsor:

The categories this year are: Leadership and strategy Innovation and design World class manufacturing People and skills IT in manufacturing Supply chain and logistics Operations and maintenance Sustainable manufacturing SME manufacturer of the Year Financial services Advanced manufacturing And the winner of winners category: The Manufacturer of the Year

For further details contact Laura Williams on 01603 671323 or email l.williams@sayonemedia.com The winners will be announced at a black tie gala dinner and Awards ceremony at Chesford Grange, Kenilworth on Thursday 18th November 2010. If you are interested in sponsoring an Award, please contact David Alstin on 01603 671307 or email d.alstin@sayonemedia.com

Interview Brian Fleet MBE

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Special feature

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Are banks open for business?

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Finance and Pro Services

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External lean consultancy

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Leadership and Lean

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C O L L A B O R A T I O N f or S u cc e ss

www.themanufacturer.com/awards

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Airbus UK’s top man takes a bow

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Editor’s comment

The greatest Show on Earth For fans of super-jumbo jets, fighter aircraft, helicopters and UK advanced manufacturing, there is no better place to be this month than the Farnborough International Airshow.

Not only does this biennial event showcase some great examples of aeronautical end-product excellence, on the ground and in the air, but also exhibits the UK manufacturers behind the scenes. They feed the supply chains of some of the illustrious flying machines that will grace the tarmac and skies of Farnborough this month, including the peerless pair of Airbus A380 and Boeing Dreamliner 787, the Airbus A400M and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Our lead story is a round-up of eight exciting companies exhibiting at Farnborough who have stories to tell about survival, growth, R&D and collaboration in the aero supply chain. Profiles from page 92 provide more detail on companies like Moog Controls Tewkesbury, a specialist engineering firm to aerospace and general industry that makes servo valves and manifolds for flight control systems. HS Marston, a company founded in 1740 as a metalwear japanning business, now makes heat exchange and fluid transfer systems for modern aircraft. Two different companies becoming leaner to secure more contracts with the primes for high specification components.

The World Trade Organisation has just ruled that some of the subsidies Airbus received from European countries for the A380’s development were illegal. This landmark ruling follows six years of allegation and counter-claim between Airbus and its rival Boeing over government assistance, where a ruling on Boeing’s receipt of potentially uncompetitive US subsidy is expected next month. Both companies are hugely important to the UK aerospace industry, and Ian Godden, chairman of trade association A|D|S shares TM’s sentiments when saying: “It is sad that aerospace sectors in the West are distracting themselves with an internal dispute while countries like Russia and China are developing competitor aircraft. The trade dispute has the potential to tie- up existing market leaders while such newcomers take market share.” Our interview with veteran Airbus UK chief Brian Fleet MBE is on page 22.

In June TM spent five days at MACH, the manufacturing technologies grand showcase at the NEC. Despite the economic malaise, the show was very busy mid-week. “Several exhibitors spoke of £1m plus sales and sold up to eight machines at the show,” said Paul O’Donnell at the show organisers MTA. Small, positive signs that conditions for SME businesses are improving.

Will Stirling, The Manufacturer

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News and features 04 News

Manufacturing news

09 Special feature

2010 Emergency Budget Kingston Smith LLP dissects the Budget for manufacturers

11 Manufacturing appointments On the move

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Find out who’s heading where in manufacturing

12 The big picture

Making things is back in fashion Now is the time to highlight the importance of production to companies and the economy

13 Economics

Policy without perception Steve Radley reveals that UK manufacturers think climate policy is a burden on their business

14 The legal low down

Sentencing guidelines for corporate manslaughter Thomas Eggar LLP discusses the topic

15 Business as unusual

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Trash to cash

When it comes to the environment, regulatory compliance has long been an objective of manufacturers

16 Lead story

Farnborough International Airshow The UK’s best showcase for advanced manufacturing

22 Interview

Fleet departs after long haul After 36 years with Airbus, Vice President Brian Fleet MBE has taken flight.

26 How Do They Make That?

Tyre Retreading

Tyre re-manufacturing with Michelin

28 Leadership and lean

Leaning towards consultancy Jane Gray finds out what consultants need to consider before implementing a new lean project

34 Sustainable manufacturing Standard practice

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Can manufacturers afford not to seek a recognised environmental standard? Mark Young explores.

38 Special feature

Getting down to Business Intelligence Edward Machin finds that access to intelligent information beats instinct-based decision making time and again

Contents Finance and Professional Services 42 Hunting for finance in a tight market

Are banks open for business to manufacturers?

People and skills

In peak condition for staff productivity 48

Amano UK discusses the key methods of ensuring successful workforce management

Employee of the Month 51

David McCubbine of Marshall Aerospace

Special feature 52 Handling success

The upcoming International Materials Handling Exhibition C O L L A B O R A T I O N f or S u cc e ss

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Collaboration between universities and British manufacturing is crucial to innovation and the development of processes and products. Colin Chinery looks at some of the variations on offer in a fast-developing landscape.

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Supply chain and logistics 72

White knights of the round table

Edward Machin reports on the Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme’s latest get together

IT in manufacturing

Security – what security? 77

Simon Holloway looks into the shady world of IT security

IT News 85

Keeping you up to date with what’s new in IT

Special feature 88

MCT wins race to diversify

Will Stirling visits MCT, a company breathing new life in to motorsport engineering

MIA foreword 92

Martin Wright, chief executive, North West Aerospace Alliance

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Manufacturinginaction Sponsored by TBM Consulting Group

Factory of the month

94 Worcester Bosch Immitation or innovation Mark Young learns that Bosch Production System has provided ultimate efficiency against a unique way of working

103 HS Marston Ch-ch-ch-changes at the aero engineer 109 Minivator Scaling the stairway of global growth 115 Henkel Service across the board 119 Fine Tubes Fine times 122 Moog Controls Moog targets complete control

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Newsinbrief AUTOMOTIVE

One in eight UK citizens are planning to bring forward their car purchase to dodge the Chancellor’s VAT tax bullet, signalling an upbeat picture for the UK car industry.

Research among 2,000 people by GfK NOP in the wake of the emergency Budget reveals that almost 40% of British motorists are considering buying a new car in the next year. The budget announcement to increase VAT to 20% is likely to drive people to the forecourts earlier, particularly middle to high income earners.

Toyota’s Burnaston plant in Derby has officially launched production of the first Auris Hybrid cars. The Auris Hybrid is the first mass-produced fully hybrid vehicle in Europe and has the first hybrid engine to be made outside of Japan, which is manufactured at Toyota’s Deeside plant in North Wales.

Production of the Auris Hybrid will safeguard 400 jobs at the two plants.

Coca-Cola Enterprises has begun UK trials of an Italian-made Iveco Stralis Active Day 21-tonne truck running on compressed biomethane. It is the first compressed biomethane (CBM) powered commercial vehicle to be operated anywhere in the world

by Coca-Cola, and the first such Stralis model to be delivered in the UK. The initial trial involves a trio of Stralis vehicles and the results will be used to determine the long-term sustainable transport strategy of Coca-Cola in Great Britain. To support the investment, a liquid CBM refuelling station has been installed at Coca-Cola’s distribution facility in Enfield, Middlesex.

Gordon Murray Design has announced the specification and performance targets for the T.27 City Car, a pure electric drive vehicle.

The announcement marks an exciting leap forward in efficiency for electric vehicles and working closely with their powertrain partner, Zytek Automotive, a brand new, innovative, lightweight and fully integrated electric motor, control system and battery will be designed to ensure that maximum efficiency is achieved.

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POLITICS

A Budget for business Chancellor George Osborne’s first Budget has introduced an increase in VAT, a disappointing reduction in capital allowances and a welcome decrease in corporation tax. from 20% to 18%, while the Chancellor George Osborne’s allowance for longer-lived first Budget has introduced an assets will fall from 10% to 8% increase in VAT, a disappointing from April 2012. reduction in capital allowances Annual Investment Allowance to and a welcome decrease in fall to £25,000 a year to corporation tax.

April 2012.

From 4 January 2011, VAT Increase in the rate of capital will increase from 17.5% to 20%. gains tax from 18% to 28% The rise will generate more than effective immediately for higher £13bn a year by the end of this rate taxpayers. parliament. Zero-rated items – A new level of 28% for capital including food and children’s gains tax will be paid by higher clothes – will remain exempt rate taxpayers for disposal of from VAT over the course of this shares or property. parliament. Although health and “Among the tax rises of the international aid will be protected, most severe Budget for decades, Osborne said that reductions to there was definitely a focus on other government departments business growth,” said Bill Dodwell, totalling £17bn by 2014/15 a tax partner at Deloitte in London. equated to 25% cuts over the next “Companies will see a 1% annual four years. reduction in the corporation tax According to the EEF, the rate from today’s 28% level, manufacturers’ organisation, the starting from April 2011.”

Budget falls short of rebalancing David Brookes, tax partner economy. “Today’s Budget at BDO LLP commented: “It will may have given manufacturers come as some considerable relief much-needed clarity on how the to many entrepreneurs holding government will go about reducing assets with latent capital gains that the deficit, but the short-term the rate was not increased in more pressure to start tackling the deficit in line with employment income, means the Chancellor has only as had been widely reported in done part of the job of rebalancing the press. An increase to 28% is the economy,” said Terry Scuoler, significant but it could have been Chief Executive of EEF. far worse. Fear that the rate would Other business related changes: A Regional Growth Fund is to be increased to 40% or even 50% provide finance for regional has seen a number of wealthy capital projects over the next taxpayers hastily implementing two years. planning to capture the benefit of Corporation tax, currently 28%, the 18% rate.” is to fall by 1p in the pound a year for four consecutive years until it reaches 24%.

New firms outside south-east/east to be let off employer national insurance contributions, up to £5,000, for each of first The Budget made some changes for business 10 employees recruited. growth, while shaving capital allowances Capital allowances for the majority of plant and machinery assets to fall

ManufacturingNews TRADE

UKTI’s mission to China Some of Britain’s most successful manufacturers took part in a week-long mission to the biggest engineering market in the world — China.

The UK Advanced Engineering China Showcase, organised

by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), took place in Shanghai last month and included 30 UK companies and organisations.

Ian Godden, chairman of aerospace and defence trade association (A|D|S) and Paul Everitt, the chief executive of the automotive trade association (the SMMT), were also in attendance.

Among the companies which took part were Lotus Engineering, Rolls-Royce, motorsport specialists Prodrive, Airbus UK and GKN. The delegation met

major Chinese car and aerospace companies including AVIC, COMAC and China Automobile.

In 2009, China decisively overtook the USA as the world’s number one automotive market as vehicle sales reached 13.6 million. Chinese aircraft maker AVIC estimates China will increase its commercial aircraft fleet size to 4,233 by the end of 2028. This equates to demand for 3,796 aircraft According to Godden, “China has some hugely ambitious engineering projects. Among the most exciting are the plans to build up a Chinese family of airliners.”

AWARDS

MX: Two in a row for Leyland Leyland Trucks last month became the first company to win Best Manufacturer in consecutive years at the IMechE MX Awards.

The Preston-based truck manufacturer, part of the USowned Paccar Group, also collected the award for Business Development and Change Management, at the award ceremony in London on June 23.

The Manufacturing Excellence Overall Winner award was sponsored by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS). Newly appointed business and enterprise minister, Mark Prisk, was on hand to present the main award. He also gave a short speech on the importance of engineering and manufacturing in the new future economy.

MX is regarded as one of the most prestigious manufacturing award schemes in the UK. Congratulating Leyland, Mr Prisk, said: “The UK is renowned

for its high-value, advanced manufacturing products and solutions and we must ensure that companies, like those recognised by the MX Awards, are given the support they require to exploit their competitive advantage and thrive in an increasingly competitive world.”

Other winners on the night included Pipex, AESSEAL, Siemens Magnet Technology, Draeger Safety UK, ZF Lemforder, Contitech Beattie, Brother Industries, Proto Labs and MBDA UK.

MX Awards Leyland Overall Winner

Newsinbrief AUTOMOTIVE

The finalists of the Altran Engineering Academy have been nominated with last 11 candidates to present their project on July 13.

Two winners will have the great opportunity to enter a six month internship, in the UK and France, in the R&D departments of the Renault F1 Team.

GKN has announced ambitious expansion plans by establishing a new division, GKN Land Systems, which will cover high speed rail, military vehicles, offshore wind power and other opportunities. GKN Off-Highway, GKN Aerostructures and GKN Industrial and Distribution units will combine to form the new division with a revised mandate.

At a time of global conservation with a drive towards improved fuel economy the Morgan Motor Company has introduced a new concept for a sporting family, the Morgan EvaGT. The four seater Coupe takes its inspiration from the British sports saloons of the early 1950’s. Among these were the Bristol 400 series and the Frazer Nash BMW 328.

FOOD AND DRINK

The NHS watchdog NICE is calling for trans-fats to be banned from all food products produced in England. Trans-fats, which are often found in fast food as well as confectionery and biscuits have been shown to be damaging to health and justified its latest call for ingredient regulation as being in the public interest.

Food and drink manufacturers in the NorthWest have cause for greater confidence in the future of the industry after the opening of a new £2.7m training centre, the Eden International Dairy Academy. Billed as the most state-of-the-art facility of its kind in Europe, the facility was officially opened on Thursday 10 June at Reaseheath College in Cheshire. The new institution is the result of a collaboration between the dairy industry, the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing and the college itself.

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Newsinbrief AEROSPACE

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, the world’s only specialist aircraft tyre manufacturer, is celebrating its 100th birthday and will be using the Farnborough International Airshow 2010 to celebrate its centenary.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has recently strengthened its position in the global aircraft tyre marketplace with the acquisition of testing and aircraft tyre manufacturing equipment from the Yokohama Rubber Company. Dunlop are developing new products for aircraft including the Embraer E-Jets family, the Airbus A320, the Eurofighter and the Airbus Military A400M transport aircraft.

Airbus CEO Dr Tom Enders has been honoured with the degree of Doctor of Science by Cranfield University for his contribution to the aerospace industry.

Upon receiving the degree, Dr Enders said: “It is gratifying to receive this degree from a university that is so highly acknowledged for its continued commitment to the aerospace industry. I am proud of the links we have with universities such as Cranfield because these partnerships assist us in driving technical innovation and partnering in invaluable fields of research. In addition, it provides us with bright, motivated, talented graduates who develop the game-changing technologies of the future.”

ENERGY

Wave energy developer, Aquamarine Power, has announced that it has successfully raised an additional £6m of funding for the continued development of its Oyster energy generation range. This new generation of the device has a capacity of 800 kilowatts (kW) and is expected to deliver 250 percent more power than the original Oyster 1 with only a 50% increase in footprint. Oyster 1 has been undergoing sea trials at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney since November of last year and is connected to the National Grid.

This follows the recent unveiling of the design of its Oyster 2 device which will be built in Scotland later this year.

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AUTOMOTIVE

Rivalry revs up Budding engineers are gearing up for the IMechE Formula Student competition as the Formula 1 world championship hits mid-season.

In the midst of F1 excitement, competition is heating up between the budding F1 engineers of tomorrow in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Formula Student Competition.

From July 14-18 teams from leading universities across the globe will be pitting their engineering and motorsports skills against one another and establish academic superiority.

The competition, which last year attracted nearly 3000 people, demands that students design, build and race a single-seater

racing car around the prestigious Silverstone race track.

Competition for top class jobs in motorsport and engineering is fierce and this year partners such as Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, Shell and Airbus (UK) will be on hand to offer top career advice and support to help students start their career in the fast lane.

The 2010 competition has a record number of entries for all of its categories which include those designed and built from scratch (Class 1), a Class 2 design category and a low carbon Class 1A sector.

AUTOMOTIVE

Nissan launches new engine Production of an all-new engine that could create 200 new jobs over the next three years has commenced at Nissan’s Sunderland plant.

The contract to assemble the 2.0 litre petrol unit, codenamed MR, was secured in July 2009.

It followed approval for the first £2 million of a proposed £15 million investment package to upgrade Sunderland’s engine operation through to 2014. This package has been supported by a £1.94 million grant from regional development agency One North East.

Around 60,000 MR engines will be produced in Sunderland each year, immediately safeguarding 130 jobs and creating up to 200 additional posts by 2013 depending on market performance.

The engine, which is compliant with Euro 5 and 6 emissions regulations, will be available as an option on several models including the Qashqai and Qashqai +2, which are also produced in Sunderland.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan’s

Vice President of Manufacturing in the UK, said: “[This] marks an important new stage in engine production in Sunderland. In recent years our employees have focussed on improving the overall competitiveness of our engine operation so we are able to bring new business like this to the plant.”

The new Nissan MR Engine

ManufacturingNews GOVERNMENT

Cable to reduce red tape Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced an immediate review of 200 regulations that have yet to come in force and will cost £19bn to implement.

He detailed the first phase of the Coalition Government’s action plan to reduce regulation following the Prime Minister’s commitment to “re-open Britain for business”.

In addition to the new regulation review, the action plan involves the creation of a new Cabinet “Star Chamber” that will lead the Government’s drive to reduce regulation which is stifling growth, especially of small businesses. The Reducing Regulation Committee will be chaired by the Business Secretary and will enforce a new approach to new laws and regulations, ensuring that their costs are being properly addressed across the entire British economy.

A new “challenge group” will also be established to come

up with innovative approaches to achieving social and environmental goals in a non-regulatory way.

Cable also announced a “one-in, one-out” approach which would mean additional regulations can only be introduced when reductions in existing regulations can be made.

AWARDS

Siemens sponsors Sustainable Manufacturing Award:“We are pleased to be the new sponsor of The Manufacturer’s Sustainable / Low Carbon Manufacturing award.

As a provider of innovative technologies and green solutions for manufacturing companies, we are delighted to support this award which drives sustainability at the same time as improving productivity.” Juergen Maier, Managing Director, Industry Sector - UK and Ireland, Siemens plc.

SPACE

Cranfield University has begun making seven mirror segments for the for the world’s biggest telescope, the European Extremely Large Telescope. The E-ELT is a 42m diameter ground-based telescope made up of 1,000 hexagonal segments, each 1.4m wide and just 5cm thick. At almost half the length of a soccer pitch in diameter, the E-ELT is four to five times bigger than the largest optical telescopes operating today, and will gather 15 times more light. The mirror segments are polished to an atomic level of accuracy.

Vince Cable plans to cut growthstifling regulation

GOVERNMENT

Cuts in government spending The Government has cancelled the £80m loan set aside for Sheffield Forgemasters by the Labour government for a 15,000 tonne press.

Recently appointed Chief Treasury Secretary David Alexander has announced that the loan is to be scrapped along with a host of other projects.

Included in the cuts are the Future Jobs Fund (£290m), the continuation of a scheme which offers young people guaranteed training or a job after six months unemployed (£450m), £7bn worth of search and rescue helicopters procurement through the Ministry of Defence and £1.1bn for redevelopment of the A14.

Sheffield Forgemasters was looking to use the cash to buy a 15,000 tonne press to make forgings for new nuclear reactor

Newsinbrief

construction. This would have given the company a unique capability in Europe and would have directed money from all over the world into the UK. In a recent article in The Manufacturer magazine, the company inferred that they are the only UK company that have the capability to house such a facility.

Despite confirmation from Business Secretary Vince Cable that the coalition would honour the previous government’s pledge to provide financial assistance to Vauxhall, the carmaker has withdrawn its application for a government loan citing complications and delays.

LIFTING

Heavy lifting equipment specialists Modulift has revealed it is experiencing its busiest period ever and as a result is expanding production and distribution. “The number of enquiries for custom designed products has continued to grow, flouting the current economic slowdown,” says Sarah Spivey, Managing Director of Modulift. “In order to keep up with customer demand, we are expanding our engineering division in order to concentrate on research and product development.” sKILLS

Cogent, the Sector Skills Council for the science-using industries, has launched a series of Qualifications Prospectuses. The publications are aimed at tackling industry confusion as to where to find skills resources or support and which new skills are critical for business growth. The prospectuses include specific guides which set out the standards, qualifications, apprenticeships and awarding bodies relevant to sector groups.

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Datesfor yourdiary July Throughout July EEF is holding seminars focusing on the Equality Act 2010 throughout the UK. For further information visit www.eef.org.uk/events

5

The FDF is holding a Parliamentary reception at the Members Dining room at House of Commons. This event is by invitation only.

For further information contact Abigail Cross on 020 7420 7127 or abigail.cross@fdf.org.uk

7

MAS is hosting an inside industry visit to Muntons Malt. This will focus on green manufacturing and 6S. For further information contact Kevin Cassidy on info@insideindustry.co.uk or 0870 125 3311

14-15

The SMMT will be present at the LowCVP conference to be held at Twickenham. For further information email secretariat@lowcvp.org.uk

15

The ADS is holding a workshop focusing on CSO and CONDO. For further information contact Ann Higginson on 0208 878 9117 or AnnH@higginsonassociates.com

19-25

The Farnborough Airshow is being held at Farnborough airfield. For further information visit www.farnborough.com

22

MAS are supporting the South-West Innovation Forum, to be held at HP Laboratories in Bristol. For further information call Sheldon Ryan on 01275 370849.

27

The Institute of Operations Management is holding a 3 day seminar focusing on materials requirement planning in Corby. For further information contact Judith Bentley on 01536 740166 or pd@iomnet.org.uk

September Throughout September EEF is holding seminars focusing on the Equality Act 2010 throughout the UK. For further information visit www.eef.org.uk/events

6-17

The Manufacturing Institute, in partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, are holding a Lean Academy course to be based at the JLR site. For more information contact Emma Holt at emmah@manufacturinginstitute.co.uk

9 14-15

MAS North West is holding a workshop at SCA Hygiene UK in Skelmersdale. For more information call 0800 458 9585.

The SMMT will be in attendance at Electrochem 2010, to be held at the University of Wolverhampton’s Telford campus. For further information call 020 7598 1561

8

Manufacturingoutput Manufacturers report improvement A growing number of Britain’s manufacturers reported buoyant trading conditions over the past three months on the back of rising demand in overseas and UK markets.

The findings are according to a major survey published by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation and BDO LLP. The second quarter EEF/BDO ‘Manufacturing Outlook’ report reveals that the broad based recovery, which began at the end of 2009, has gathered pace. Output and orders balances hit their highest levels since the survey began in 1995, indicating that manufacturing’s contribution to the recovery looks set to continue over the coming months.

Greater confidence across the sector is starting to translate into recruitment. However, investment balances continue to lag as uncertainty about the strength of future demand, availability of internal finance and concerns around business change taxes combine to keep plans on hold. But a package of tax reforms in the emergency budget that continues to support growth will go some way to alleviating concerns.

According to EEF Chief Economist, Ms Lee Hopley: “The steadily improving trends in manufacturing look set to continue in the coming months and the upswing is being felt right across industry. Manufacturers are pulling in more export orders on the back of a recovering world economy and a better outlook for the domestic market is giving companies some confidence to recruit again. ”But manufactures are very aware that economic headwinds could still pick up again as there are still risks to a sustained recovery. Great importance is now being placed on the need to rebalance the UK economy.

In the short term this requires a Budget which delivers tax reform and deficit reduction in a way which provides some stability and gives manufacturers the confidence to invest.”

Over the last three months both output and new order balances were at record levels of +30% and +34% respectively (up from 8% and 2% in Q1.) The improvement in the orders balances have been driven by improvements in both UK and export markets. The balance on export orders of +23% is the highest on record. The balance on UK orders also rose to +24%, also a record with the improving picture reflected across all sectors and regions. Responses on employment over the past three months also turned positive in the second quarter and a balance of 15% of companies expect to recruit in Q3.

However, investment intentions remained flat over the past quarter, after seven consecutive quarters of negative balances. Our survey found that investment plans were being held back by a range of factors; in particular, 65% of companies cited uncertainty over domestic demand, 46% uncertainty over future tax changes, whilst over half cited lack of finance or decision by parent company.

Looking forward companies expect the positive outlook to continue with respective balances of +22% of firms expecting increased output and +20% expecting increased orders.

Specialfeature Kingston Smith LLP

The impact of the 2010 Emergency Budget on manufacturers During

his Budget speech, George Osborne told us that “Manufacturing as a whole will pay less tax”. Whether this is the case remains to be seen as there will no doubt be winners and losers depending on whether the reduction in corporation tax rates outweighs the capital allowances reductions.”

There were many headline-grabbing measures in the recent emergency Budget but not many appear to be of benefit to Manufacturers. On the tax front there were increases in VAT (from next year) and CGT (immediately) while corporation tax will be reduced over the next four years from 28% this year to 24% from 1 April 2014 (a potential benefit for manufacturers with significant profits).

Employers were given some relief, in relation to employees earning under £21,000, from the effect of the increase in the employer’s National Insurance Rates. This is in addition to the NIC “holiday” that will apply to new businesses set up outside the South and East of England after 22 June 2010. The actual starting date for the holiday is uncertain, but 6 September is the current proposed date. So for those thinking of setting up a new business this may encourage them to get started.

The increase in Capital Gains Tax is largely balanced, for business owners, by the increase in the Entrepreneurs’ Relief allowance from the first £2,000,000 to £5,000,000 of gains on qualifying assets (part of a business or shares in a trading company). Individuals realising gains on qualifying assets of up to £7,400,000 are likely to be better off under the new system. This may stimulate the serial entrepreneur and be of benefit to the manufacturer thinking of retiring, but it is of less interest to those trying to manage and grow their manufacturing business in these difficult times.

George Osborne showed, once again, that if there is one thing that no Chancellor of the Exchequer can resist it is fiddling with the capital allowances rules.

The changes proposed to come into effect from the April 1 2012 are: A reduction in the AIA from £100,000 to £25,000; A reduction in the main plant and machinery capital allowances rate from 20% to 18%; and A reduction in the “special” (i.e lower) rate of capital allowances from 10% to 8%.

The justification for the reduction in the rates is to align the rates more closely with commercial depreciation. The fact that it will increase tax take in the short term is, presumably, a welcome side effect!

The justification for the reduction in the rates is to align the rates more closely with commercial depreciation. While the headline rate of corporation tax is being reduced from 28% to 24% over four years, and the small companies’ rate is being reduced from 21% to 20% with effect from 1 April 2011, the changes to capital allowances rates means that larger companies, and companies with a high capital spend will see their tax base increase thus finding themselves no better off. It may also be a further disincentive for manufacturers to invest in plants in the UK. The Chancellor explained in his speech, that businesses would still be able to obtain a full deduction for their capital expenditure, but over a longer timescale. As an illustration, the number of years required to obtain relief for 90% of the cost of an asset at different rates is illustrated below.

Rate

25%

20%

18%

10%

8%

Number of years to obtain 90% relief

8

11

12

22

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The effect on companies spending more than £25,000 on qualifying assets is even more pronounced as expenditure between £25,000 and £100,000 which, until 1 April 2012, would qualify for an immediate write off. Relief for this expenditure will now be spread out over a number of years.

The Chancellor said that the £25,000 AIA would still mean that 95% of businesses would obtain an immediate write off for all annual capital expenditure. In cases where this will not be sufficient, businesses would be well advised to make what capital investments they can before 1 April 2012. As always, maximising claims by identifying all qualifying expenditure and allocating this to the correct pool is essential, particularly where buildings are being acquired. Also, the various 100% first year allowances, for energy efficient and environmentally beneficial plant or machinery (including low emission cars) should be used to the greatest extent possible. end

By Maureen Penfold, Partner, Kingston Smith LLP mpenfold@kingstonsmith.co.uk

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

9

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ManufacturingAppointments UK Appointments Andrew Jamieson RenewableUK

RenewableUK has elected Andrew Jamieson, ScottishPower renewables regulation and markets director, as the new Chairman of the UK’s renewable energy trade association. Jamieson has previously held roles in engineering, marketing and

financial planning. From 1997 to 2004 Andrew led ScottishPower’s investor relations department, communicating with institutional shareholders and analysts around the globe and replaces previous chairman Adam Bruce.

Charles Turner Fripp Design and Research

Fripp Design and Research announced the appointment of Charles Turner, managing director of Sheffield based knife manufacturer Durham Duplex, as non executive chairman.

Turner, who is also Chairman of Made in Sheffield, will assist in guiding the company through the transition from service delivery provider into manufacturing.

Ann Watson EAL (EMTA Awards Limited)

Leading vocational awarding organisation EAL (EMTA Awards Limited) is pleased to announce the recent appointment of managing director, Ann Watson, to the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB)’s executive board. FAB is the primary membership organisation for

vocational awarding bodies in the UK. Watson will join other executive board members in fostering positive relationships between awarding bodies and key organisations, as well as pursuing an ongoing dialogue with Government and agencies.

Volex Group has announced the appointments of Bill Davidson as its VP of quality & excellence and Louise Slavin as director of continuous improvement. Both based in Scotland, Davidson will be responsible for instilling a culture focused on excellence and customer satisfaction whilst Slavin will have worldwide responsibility for the company’s continuous improvement strategy.

The Centre for Food Robotics and Automation has appointed a new managing director to bolster its efforts in promoting robotics and automation within food and drink manufacturing industries.

Steve Blazye will work to raise the organisation’s profile, and will also work to bolster CenFRA’s relationships with both equipment manufacturers and food and drink industry experts through the development of the company’s Technical Advisory Group.

Paul Callaghan has been appointed as Chair of the One North East Regional Development Agency.

Callaghan started working as chair designate from 14 June to ensure continuity during the changeover period. He will formally take over from the current chair, Margaret Fay on 16th August and the appointment will run until 13th December 2012.

The former managing director of Nissan’s Sunderland plant, Colin Dodge, has been awarded a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list for his contribution to the UK car industry.

Dodge, who now sits on Nissan’s board of directors in Japan, described it as a tribute to every employee at the car plant where he spent the first 23 years of his Nissan career.

Infor, provider of business software for mid-market companies, announced that Soma Somasundaram has been named senior vice president, global product development, reporting to CEO Jim Schaper. Somasundaram is now the company’s highest-ranking R&D executive, responsible for defining overall software and technology strategies, as well as managing the design and rollout of the company’s suite of business applications and interfaces.

International Appointments Dassault Systèmes, offering 3D and Product Lifecycle Management solutions, has announced that Peter Bambridge has been appointed client executive CG CPG and retail to the Northern EMEA organization.

Bambridge joins Dassault Systèmes after three years as research director at Gartner Inc covering PLM and sourcing in the consumer goods and retail sectors, and more than 20 years of developing and delivering innovative enterprise solutions for retail and consumer goods customers.

International Business Systems, the leading application supplier for wholesale and distribution, announced that Stephen Thornton will take on the new position of executive vice president for the enterprise business.

To notify The Manufacturer of your company’s appointments, please contact Daniel George at d.george@sayonemedia.com and 01603 671300

11

The big picture Making things is back in fashion Professor Mike Gregory Institute for Manufacturing

Politicians of all persuasions are recognising the need to ‘rebalance’ the economy. Now is the time to highlight the importance of production to companies and the economy, says Professor Mike Gregory of the Institute for Manufacturing.

The

renewed focus on manufacturing at national level is encouraging companies to revisit the importance of production to their business. Many are now thinking twice before rushing to move their production overseas.

In some cases off-shoring, as it is known, may still be the best strategy. This includes those companies, for example, who need manufacturing facilities close to their overseas markets. However, many companies are now realising the strategic advantages that keeping control of their production can provide.

It may seem a straightforward decision to move your production to a low cost economy, especially if cost savings have to be made and significant investment in production facilities is required.

However, these arguments fail to take account of the major linkages that exist between production and other stages of the manufacturing value chain. Losing control of production to the other side of the world can have unexpected and serious consequences for design, service and, indeed, innovation more broadly.

The knowledge, skills, networks and relationships underpinning production may have taken many years to develop and offer important and hard-to-copy capabilities. The following are some of the ways that companies can gain advantage from keeping their production capability in-house.

Enriching innovation Strong links that exist between R&D, design and production can offer a range of benefits – from the rapid commercialisation of new ideas, to the development of radically new cost-saving production methods. A company’s ability to innovate quickly is partly determined by being able to test ideas in production, and by the interaction of designers and production engineers. Production can also be an important source of ideas to improve existing products and processes. Many high-tech companies use production as a means of delivering innovative solutions to meet their customers’ specific needs.

Providing a source of distinctiveness The know-how embedded in production can represent a distinctiveness that is hard for others to

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For more details visit: www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk

replicate. If you are the only ones who know how to make your products then you have an obvious competitive advantage. The strong UK presence in Formula 1 motor racing owes much to the production capability of companies at all levels in the supply chain.

Delivering customisation Customising products provides companies with an attractive option to differentiate their offering from competitors. However, mass customisation requires very short cycle times and agile logistics – something difficult to achieve if your production facilities are in someone else’s factory many thousands of miles away. A high-volume manufacturer of sophisticated hearing aids manages to achieve highly responsive, mass customisation for its end users, delivering a customised aid anywhere in Europe, just three days after the customer’s medical assessment.

Supporting through-life services Companies are increasingly selling services based on their products. A manufacturer’s in-depth knowledge of the production process means they can more accurately estimate the costs of throughlife services. They also have a unique opportunity to design for maintenance based on their experience in the field when building service systems. An increasing number of manufacturers are following this path, offering operational care packages throughout a product’s life.

Capturing value Innovation can take place at any point along the industry value chain – including production. This allows production to be viewed as an opportunity to capture value rather than just a capital and costintensive activity. Indeed production may be the best way to realise the value of a new idea by embodying it in products people can buy! And the UK remains very good at ideas.

At a time when manufacturing is in the limelight it is essential that we set out clearly the practical benefit of production to companies and indeed to the economy – and to think carefully before giving it away.

Economics Policy without perception Steve Radley, Director of Policy, EEF

Yet

a serious review of the current climate change policy landscape shows that they have a point. The effectiveness of policy must be judged against four tests. It must create clear, reliable and transparent incentives. It must ensure regulation targets the right places. Regulation must be simple and not administratively burdensome.

And it must take clear account of the impact on the competitiveness of those businesses subject to regulation. Climate change policy currently fails on all these points.

Manufacturers are subject to a confusing mix of regulatory sticks and incentives which are failing to address the unique challenges they face. They already have to pay the Climate Change Levy.

Some will be regulated by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and/or have a Climate Change Agreement (CCA). Many now also fall under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC).

The sum of all this policy? Confusion and mixed, muddied incentives. Policy overlaps are frequent and reporting requirements are not harmonised, creating immense complexity and administrative burden. This complexity serves only to confuse the very signals to change behaviour that policies were brought in to stimulate. In addition, policy is generally extremely blunt. It fails to take into account the work already achieved, the technological boundaries of manufacturing processes and the host of other barriers manufacturers face when trying to improve the energy efficiency of their operations. Perhaps most worryingly, government has yet to really grasp the cumulative impact of all this policy on the competitiveness and profitability of UK manufacturers.

In short, our analysis shows that the current direction of travel risks undermining a healthy and vibrant manufacturing base at a time when there is a growing recognition of the need for a rebalanced economy. Government needs to rethink how it regulates manufacturers in this area.

To start with, we believe that it should reform the Climate Change Levy (CCL) into a carbon-based tax.

A variable tax, set according to the carbon content of fuels, would begin to provide the right price signals

It’s hardly groundbreaking. Research conducted by EEF has revealed that many of the UK’s manufacturers think climate change policy is a burden on their business. You’d be forgiven for thinking manufacturers are whinging about extra costs and being forced to do something they’d rather not. to energy suppliers and energy consumers. It would provide a stronger incentive to energy users to reduce high-carbon energy and fuel use, use high-carbon fuels more efficiently and for electricity generators to invest in lower-carbon forms of energy.

As a first step users of energy, currently subject to the CCL, should be taxed according to the carbon content of the fuels they use. But the long-term goal should be to extend the carbon tax throughout the entire economy so that all society plays its role in tackling climate change. Government must set in train preparations for this as soon as possible.

Any reform of energy taxation must be accompanied by voluntary negotiated agreements which provide tax relief for industry, like the current Climate Change Agreements (CCA). While CCAs are supported by manufacturers and have proved to deliver significant reductions in carbon emissions, these agreements are ripe for further reform.

Government must recognise that each manufacturing sector operates differently and that individual, tailored solutions may be required. We want to see an approach which uses the carrot of tax relief to encourage improvements in energy efficiency – but in the context of what individual manufacturers are rationally able to achieve. We also believe government can go further to use these agreements to streamline other, existing regulation.

Competitiveness concerns must be taken more seriously. In particular, government must routinely consider the cumulative impacts of its policy on manufacturers’ ability to compete and remain profitable.

And, finally, we’d like to see a shake-up of the Carbon Trust to ensure that its advice and support focuses on the common barriers faced by individual manufacturing sectors. The Carbon Trust’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator is a welcome move in the right direction. Only by getting to the heart of manufacturing processes can the substantial cuts in carbon dioxide that government is seeking be made.

These are the messages EEF will be taking to government. It’s time for government question seriously whether they understand the impact that their legislation is having on a vital aspect of the national economy.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

13

The legal low down Sentencing guidelines for Corporate Manslaughter cases This column is a monthly feature, examining some of the legal headaches that manufacturers are currently experiencing.

It is written by Michelle Di Gioia at Thomas Eggar LLP, a leading legal adviser to the manufacturing industry

We had been warning our manufacturing clients about the Sentencing Advisory Panel’s (‘SAP’) proposal that companies charged under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 could be fined as much as 10% of their annual turnover.

This

could have potentially led to fines topping hundreds of millions of pounds. However, the SAP has now stepped back from linking fines with turnover.

The Sentencing Guidelines Council (‘SGC’) recently published its guidance for the sentencing of defendants under the Corporate Manslaughter Act and corporate defendants whose breach of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 was a significant cause of death.

The reason given for stepping back from linking fines to turnover is that it is not appropriate in view of the different financial structures and circumstances of organisations within the private and public sectors.

The guidelines recommend that the appropriate fine in the case of a conviction for corporate manslaughter is to be ‘measured in millions of pounds and should seldom be below £500,000’.

In the case of a conviction for causing death under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the appropriate fine ‘will seldom be less than £100,000 and may be measured in hundreds of thousands of pounds or more’.

The SGC explain what factors should be taken into account when determining the seriousness of the offence. For example, how foreseeable the serious injury was, how far short of the applicable standard did the defendant fall, how common the kind of breach of care is and how far up the organisation responsibility goes.

Other factors that aggravate the offence and which may justify a higher fine would include the number of deaths and serious injury caused, failure to heed warnings or advice, cost cutting at the expense of safety or deliberate failure to obtain or comply with relevant licences, assessment or

14

observation by independent authorities with a safety responsibility.

The guidelines also set out mitigating factors which judges should take into consideration, for example, a prompt acceptance of responsibility, co-operation with the investigation, genuine efforts to remedy the defect, a good safety record and a responsible attitude to safety.

The SGC also says that in addition judges should make publicity orders, requiring organisations to issue public statements including statements on their websites about their convictions, so that shareholders, customers and the local community would be made aware of the offence.

Furthermore, the SGC reiterate the need for the Court to consider making Remedial Orders if the necessary steps are identifiable with sufficient precision to render the Order enforceable.

These guidelines apply to all sentences after 15 February 2010 and have arrived in time for the first corporate manslaughter case which commenced in February this year and is due to come back before the court this July, so we will see what happens.

For more details contact: Michelle Di Gioia Associate, Thomas Eggar LLP michelle.digioia@thomaseggar.com

businessasunusual Trash to Cash Anand Sharma, Chairman and CEO, TBM Consulting Group

But

over the past decade, and the past five years or so in particular, more and more manufacturing executives have made environmental stewardship a core part of their company values. They are motivated both by growing customer demands for earthfriendly manufacturing practices and cradle-tograve assessments, and a genuine concern for the condition of the world we inhabit and that those who follow us will inherit. After all, as an environmental engineering manager at one of the companies that we work said in a recent conversation, “Who doesn’t want to create a better natural environment?”

As manufacturers have wrestled with doing what’s best for their customers, business profitability and the environment, some have found creative ways to overcome false tradeoffs between higher costs and green priorities. The environmental manager mentioned above works for a manufacturer of construction, agricultural and other outdoor equipment. They cut, bend, weld, clean and paint hundreds of tons of steel every year. By combining their operational excellence initiatives with a proactive green program, the company has made dramatic waste and operating cost reductions.

Like a lot of manufacturers, they have had recycling bins in production areas for many years.

But when a process improvement team analysed their actual recycling practices by spreading out the previous day’s rubbish on a tarp, they found that 70% of what was being sent to the landfill could be recycled. The company has since reduced offsite waste disposal by over 760 tonnes per year. They did it by adding segregated recycling bins on carts that operators empty after every shift, defining new recycling procedures and re-training everyone, reducing the number of rubbish bins, and generally making it easy to recycle and inconvenient to toss stuff away. Supervisors have reinforced the recycling habit by making it a part of each work area’s weekly 5S audit. The percent of total waste sent to the landfill has fallen from more than 60% to less than 30%, and it’s still falling. Increased

When it comes to the environment, regulatory compliance has long been the sole objective of many manufacturers. Anything more would just increase operating costs. So the thinking goes.

recycling has yielded $230,000 in annual disposal fee savings and recycling credits.

“It hasn’t been any additional work,” the environmental manager reports. “If you’re going through a kaizen event and you’re thinking about eliminating waste, it doesn’t take any longer to think about eliminating green waste as well as processrelated waste. It’s been embraced very positively by our employees.”

Much of this company’s environmental progress can be attributed to changing how people think.

In addition to the seven wastes familiar to anyone applying lean manufacturing principles, trainers now talk about applying the three Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) to the seven green wastes: energy, water, materials, garbage, transportation, emissions and biodiversity. Continuous improvement teams make the opportunities more visible by mapping the amount of energy and water consumed, the amount of scrap generated, and how much pollution is emitted at each stage of the value stream. After applying such techniques to analyse a part-washing line at one of the company’s plants, subsequent process improvements reduced water usage by 20% in the first year and by 55% to date, saving more than $114,000 annually.

I tour manufacturing facilities on a daily basis and see hundreds of opportunities like this one to extend waste-elimination initiatives to environmental priorities, and save money at the same time. Energy and waste disposal costs are only increasing.

Check your rubbish bins. You may be surprised to find how much money you are throwing away.

It’s impossible to write about industry and the environment without mentioning the oil still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s ruptured well at press time. Blame will ultimately fall somewhere between a highly improbable series of unanticipated events, hubris and the global thirst for petroleum that encourages deepwater drilling. From more responsive abnormality management to redundant fail-safes and total risk analysis, this man-made ecological disaster will shape industry practices for decades to come and hopefully prevent such a natural and economic disaster from ever happening again.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

15

Foreword by AIDIS SMES – the backbone of UK aerospace Despite the economic downturn, this year’s Farnborough International Airshow has seen a sell out of exhibition space and promises to be yet again a showcase for the UK’s leading advanced manufacturing sectors of aerospace, defence, space and security – with the Airbus A400M and Boeing 787 Dreamliner both taking centre place. Together these four sectors employ over half a million people in 9,000 companies, contributing £60bn (~$90bn) a year to the British economy.

For the first time in the history of the show, all the UK aerospace regional bodies will be located in Hall 1. This demonstrates the strength of the supply chain in the UK and the diversity of the UK’s SME community which is the foundation of the UK’s position as number one in Europe and only second to the USA in aerospace and defence.

Every single large aerospace or defence equipment contract is underpinned by the hard work of hundreds of SMEs. For example, the UK has more SMEs than France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Norway put together in defence alone, so it is easy to understand why they form the very backbone of the industry in this country.

The Farnborough International Airshow, itself a world-leading event, is an opportunity to showcase these best of British qualities to the world, alongside our global partners that we welcome to the UK year-on-year. All of us at A|D|S look forward to promoting these innovative and world beating companies in what is undeniably one of the busiest global trade shows.

Graham Chisnall Managing director, Commercial Aerospace & Operations, A|D|S

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FARNBOROUGH UK’s best showcase for advanced manufacturing Very soon, the fields and villages of north-east Hampshire will resonate to the deep roar of an Airbus A400M and A380, and the supersonic crack of fighter jets. The Farnborough Airshow is here.

The

world’s biggest open air trade show returns to its biennual UK-base, having spent much of last June in Le Bourget Airport near Paris. The 2010 International Airshow hosts 1356 exhibiting companies to date, 37 fewer than in 2008 when the show was last in the UK, but the exhibitors will occupy the same physical footprint as that in 2008. Show organisers FIA say that around 65-70% of the exhibitors are involved in manufacturing in some way.

The lower numbers this year is partly explained by industry consolidation. SMEs, so important to UK aerospace, have been through tough times. Many of them also supply parts to the automotive sector, which has suffered badly until recently, but better stability in that sector now bodes well for SMEs working in both aerospace and automotive. Overall, the sector has survived the recession well, and A|D|S, the industry’s trade association, says this is mainly due to UK aerospace learning from experiences in previous downturns to make itself leaner and more robust.

The primes and Tier One companies have survived very well, with delivery rates stable and recently even increasing – recently both Airbus and Boeing have announced increases in their rates of production for narrow bodies. The two biggest aircraft on display are largely made in the UK; 25% of the value of a Boeing Dreamliner is made here and 50% by value of the Airbus A380 (both when fitted with Rolls-Royce engines). See the interview with Brian Fleet on p22.

A selection of companies exhibiting at the Show, featured below, give their own reasons to be cheerful and Graham Chisnall, managing director of Commercial Aerospace & Operations at A|D|S, provides a positive foreword to this Show preview round-up.

Leadstory Farnborough International Airshow 2010

Making survival its business – Aero Sekur The safety equipment maker Aero Sekur, specialists in safety systems and advanced flexible structures, returns to Farnborough in 2010. The company will highlight its flotation and external life-raft system capability and reveals a new concept in shock absorption/flotation systems.

The theme for the Air Show will be an integrated package for ‘survivability’. One design initiative on show is a shock absorption system to increase the survival level of helicopter crews in the event of forced landing, either on land or water. This new development for the aviation industry complements Aero Sekur’s liferaft system that ensures that crews survive both crash landings and any ensuing wait for rescue services.

Aero Sekur’s Non Pyrotechnic Inflation System (N.P.I.S.), as used by leading helicopter manufacturers will also feature. The company, an Anglo-Italian firm based at Farnborough, has continued to grow across the aviation, space and defence industries. This diverse market strategy gives business stability and enables transfer of technologies between specialist areas.

Aero Sekur’s CEO, Mark Butler, says: “We are continuing steady growth into the international market with activity well under way in Asia and USA. Earlier this year we established a working

collaboration in India, supported by a presence at the A|D|S office in Bangalore”.

In 2009 the company looked at developing a manufacturing facility in Oxfordshire, but now it is looking at other expansion opportunities. “The European markets remain important to Aero Sekur and we are currently consolidating our UK interests into a combined manufacturing and administration facility,” says Butler. “Europe’s aerospace market has clearly been hit by the economic downturn but I share the industry optimism that recovery will be rapid.”

Customers, press and political delegations are invited to visit Aero Sekur on Hall 4, stand B8.

Engineering students are welcome on family days, when career advice will be offered by student peers.

Dreamliner shows off its UK provenance – Boeing The super-jumbo jet builder When the Boeing 787 Dreamliner touches down at Farnborough for the 2010 Airshow, many of the UK-based companies that have contributed to the development of the all new aircraft will come together to celebrate their achievements.

Big parts of the UK’s aerospace community including GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce, Messier-Dowty, Cobham, GKN, Ultra Electronics, Eaton Aerospace, Claverham, QinetiQ and the AMRC (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) have all played a key role in this global collaborative programme.

The flight test pilots will be sitting on seats manufactured by the IPECO Group in Southend-on-Sea. The flight deck seats, of which there are three designs for pilots, co-pilots and crew, have been put through a

programme of stringent testing to make certain that they meet industry requirements for safety, and those of the pilots who will ultimately be using them.

The aircraft will land using an undercarriage manufactured in the UK by Messier-Dowty of Gloucester.

The Dreamliner is the first to use an advanced titanium alloy for this structure, which was greatly helped by research conducted at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at Sheffield University, a facility established with Boeing’s sponsorship. Materials science researchers at the AMRC worked for over 18 months with engineers at Messier-Dowty to develop the optimum machining processes to be used in the manufacture of the landing gear.

Eaton Aerospace has designed, developed and manufactured the fuel subsystem pumps that deliver fuel to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

The engines, built in Derby, contribute to the fuel efficiency of the aircraft while considerably reducing the engine’s noise on the ground. “On a Rolls-Royce powered Boeing 787, over 25% of the aircraft by value has been manufactured in the UK,” says Nick West, communications director at Boeing UK. “The 787 programme is creating news skills and generating new manufacturing and maintenance processes that overall will provide a multi-billion pound benefit to the UK.”

17

Lead story Farnborough International Airshow 2010

Acquisitive Drallim buzzing about growth prospects The versatile SME Drallim’s Aerospace Division goes back 50 years, with the “Cargo Aids” brand of equipment serving military and civil aviation.

Today the company offers an extended range of products and services including cargo handling equipment, chain lashing, webbing and strapping solutions, quick release couplings, cables, control rods, seat tube and floor pan fittings. The new ‘HAWK’ hook has just launched with loadings of up to 4,500kg.

Following the acquisition last year of Likeprod Engineers, the company now offers a broad range of ground support equipment, custom-manufactured for very specific requirements. In May this year Drallim acquired Horsell Electrics, who manufactures

commercial lighting and already supplies airport terminal lighting.

“We can expect new aviationfocused products to appear in the near future,” says Drallim’s managing director Dave Mooney.

Drallim Aerospace is an industry-approved manufacturing company with exceptional QA standards and offers manufacturing and maintenance services under EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) approvals, covering EASA Part 21/ EASA Part 145, and design services under AS9100.

It focuses on the challenges of making custom applications and re-engineering projects, solving unusual, obsolescence-related and Urgent Operational Requirement problems.

“We see the Farnborough Airshow as an excellent opportunity to launch the

Dave Mooney (left) & Richard Ainsworth

formation of the Drallim Aerospace Division which marks another step forward in our growth plans,” says Mooney. “We will demonstrate that we are innovative, professional engineers offering quality niche solutions and that Drallim is a modern, flexible, responsive manufacturing business that has grown steadily through the recession by offering exactly what our customers want, made in the UK and at a sensible price point.”

Drallim Industries is in Hall 4, stand FT18

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres expands East and West The tyre maker and retreader Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, the world’s only specialist aircraft tyre manufacturer, is using the Farnborough International Airshow 2010 to celebrate its centenary and launch its first products for the ATR42 and 72 turboprop aircraft.

More than 880 ATR aircraft have been delivered to date and the strengthening of the company’s position in the regional airliner sector with these products is the latest in several expansions at the Birminghambased manufacturer. These have included the opening of a new distribution and retreading facility in China in November 2009, and investment in new testing and production equipment.

The facility in China operates as Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres Company Ltd, and is a joint venture with Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Ltd (HAECO) and Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (TAECO). Based in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, the operation has site and product approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and repair-station approval from EASA. The China plant is already enabling the company to compete effectively in Asia-Pacific and is attracting interest from regional airlines. Mandarin Airlines became the first company to sign up, with a three-

18

year contract to support the Taipei-based carrier’s fleet of eight E-190/195s.

Back at home, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has fortified its place in the global aircraft tyre marketplace with the acquisition of testing and aircraft tyre manufacturing equipment from the Yokohama Rubber Company. In 2009, Yokohama, which has a strong reputation in Japan for radial and bias aircraft tyres, announced that it was withdrawing the Yokohama brand name from the aircraft tyre sector.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres acquired Yokohama’s new tyre manufacturing and testing equipment in February, which is being delivered now (late June). The move will improve Dunlop’s manufacturing capacity and further increase its range with new products such as radial main tyres for the Boeing 777.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres is exhibiting in Hall 4, stand C14.

Fuel tank specialist moves on composites When Paul Knight, head of business development, joined Cambridge-based Marshall Aerospace, it was considering whether to develop a composites capability internally or acquire a business.

Several factors meant an acquisition made more sense, including cost of new plant, time-to-market, and latent intellectual property. “We employ many design engineers, some with limited experience of composite structures. We could tick the theoretical box, but we couldn’t tick the manufacturing engineering box,” says Knight.

Paul helped to identify Slingsby Advanced Composites as the best candidate. Marshall Aerospace was very interested in the company’s capabilities and particularly their work in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market. Slingsby had built the entire airframe structure for the BAE Systems Herti UAV, as well as the wings and T-tail for the Mantis UAV. “It was not only a good fit from a markets & technology perspective, but also from a corporate values point of view,” says Knight. Slingsby was turning over about £10m, was profitable and the acquisition completed in December 2009.

Marshall Aerospace is developing a new auxiliary fuel tank (AFT) system, which will incorporate some of Marshall Slingsby’s composite capabilities. “If the study is successful, it will become an integral part of our future supply chain of AFT systems,” says Knight. The acquisition has allowed Marshall to access new markets, so the composite element of the new generation of tanks could provide a new lightweight range extension for future long range VIP aircraft. Marshall was recently awarded their first contract with Airbus for these AFTs, where normally it had provided them exclusively to Boeing.

Marshall – developing a new part-composite fuel tank

World Class Manufacturing Award Sponsored

by Applied Angle

Calling for entries: Is your company making quantified, sustained progress towards being world class?

This award will go to the manufacturing company or plant that, in the opinion of the judges, best demonstrates that it is trying to achieve world class manufacturing standards – generally understood as scoring a minimum score (from 95%-98%) on an absolutely true measure of efficiency. Judges will look for evidence of benchmarking against best practice and will examine measures like lead times, customer returns, work content, labour minutes per unit, inventory levels and cycle times, checking that action has been taken to improve these.

Such improvements cannot be achieved overnight, but we are looking for companies that have already made quantified, sustained progress towards being world class, and those who have made an impressive start in this commitment.

enter at www.themanufacturer.com/awards

A composite approach — Marshall Aerospace

Firth Rixson’s growth curve goes Stateside The rings and forgings specialist Firth Rixson Limited is a leading provider of highly engineered rings, forgings and specialist metal products for the aerospace market.

The company is renowned for being the world’s largest aerospace ring manufacturer, a market leader in the <20,000 Ib aero-engine discs sector and also a provider of cast and wrought superalloy solutions worldwide. Firth Rixson supplies to aero-engine and airframe OEMs and their subcontractors in more than 40 countries. Substantial growth is evident through acquisitions in the USA and UK, growing operations in Continental Europe and China, and a new closed die forging facility under construction in Savannah, Georgia.

The new site, Firth Rixson Forgings LLC, Georgia, is the most significant expansion in the company’s history, with the construction of a 200,000 square foot closed die forging operation. As an addition to the three closed die forgings facilities already established, the new site will produce turbine discs for both narrow and wide body aircrafts, as well as major military engine platforms.

With financial strength from the ownership of the private equity firm, Oak Hill Capital Partners, strong management and significant acquisitions, Firth Rixson continues to succeed in an expanding global economy.

See Employee of the Month, page 51 Firth Rixson

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Process Enhancement and Product Innovation From a technically trained, application engineering sales team Anixter gives you a competitive advantage in your marketplace, thanks to the partnership principals which we have adopted with leading global sealant, adhesive and tape companies: • Partners that are at the forefront of technological advancement in the adhesives industry • A comprehensive product range which is being continually developed, to provide you with ongoing benefits • AS9120 Quality Management Systems Approval for Aerospace • Excellent customer care and relationship building ethics reinforce our status as a leading adhesive products distributor

For further information on how Anixter can help you in manufacturing, please visit www.anixter.co.uk/AST

Anixter and Sika • Working together in partnership Our partnerships with leading manufacturers are essential to Anixter’s success, and we are proud to have recently been awarded ‘Sika Distributor of the Year 2009’.

Commenting on this achievement, Stephen Hearn, General Manager of Sika Ltd., said, “It is a testament to the determination and successful strategy that in such a challenging year, Anixter achieved a 30% growth in 2009. I would like to congratulate them on their achievement and award Anixter with the Sika Industry ‘Distributor of the Year 2009’.”

About Sika A global company with a worldwide network of subsidiaries active in the fields of speciality chemicals for Construction and Industry. Sika is committed to quality, service, safety and environmental care. Our world-leading products are all proven solutions based on our core capabilities in sealing, bonding, damping, reinforcing and protecting.

Developing innovative products and solutions has made it possible for Sika to grow throughout its first century, and we will be celebrating our 100 year anniversary in 2010.

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Products available from Anixter

About Anixter

Sealants – we have strong relationships with all of the key sealant manufacturing companies, which means that you have access to the most advanced sealing products in the market. This includes intumescents, Polysulphidebased sealants and Polyurethane sealants.

The world’s leading supplier of communications products used to connect voice, video, data and security systems.

Anixter is also the leading provider of electrical and electronic wire & cable, fasteners and other small components to build, repair and maintain a variety of systems and equipment. We bundle our products with our innovative Supply Chain Services to take the cost out of our customers’ business processes and ensure they get the right product, the first time.

Adhesives – we stock a wide range of proprietary adhesive products, maintained in temperature-controlled environments, to ensure consistent quality and maximum shelf life. This includes epoxy adhesives, Methacrylate adhesives and Polyurethane adhesives.

Tapes – we offer the latest tape technologies, including a variety of temporary and permanent adhesive tapes which are suitable for a wide range of manufacturing, protection, maintenance and repair applications.

Anixter also offers a range of films, foils and tissues, and has the flexibility to create bespoke products for customer-specific applications.

Anixter Limited 3 Edmund Road, Sheffield S2 4EB Tel: 01142 755884 Fax: 01142 757169 Email: adhesives@anixter.com www.anixter.co.uk

Lead story Farnborough International Airshow 2010

Getting you home when all else fails – Meggitt Avionics The avionics specialist Meggitt Avionics has recently expanded its comprehensive range of 3-inch cockpit instruments, which provide pilots of civil and military aircraft with all the information required to fly the aircraft in the event of a primary instrument system failure.

The integrated Secondary Flight display entered service in 2010, has proved very successful and is the third generation of Meggitt Avionics’ wholly solid state product family, with which the company shook up the avionics the market in 1990.

In designing this new product, the company took into consideration several key features requested by customers along with ease of manufacture and inservice support.

From the outset, lean manufacturing and minimal parts count were designed into the products to achieve strict target weight, power, material cost and build parameters. This, says Stephen Fletcher, sales manager for Asia-Pacific, has resulted in an instrument which has proved highly attractive to existing and new customers.

Long term agreements with key suppliers have also proved effective in controlling costs from the start and, more importantly, providing cost-base stability in the medium to long term.

Rigorous design process means that the integrated Secondary Flight Display is shorter, lighter and, in service, Meggitt claims, more cost-effective than the current generation of flight instruments. This has led to selection on rotary wing, business and military combat training aircraft worldwide. “The biggest potential for the instrument is the export market and Meggitt Avionics expects significant growth in offshore sales,” says Fletcher.

Meggitt Avionics’ existing range of instruments display flight, engine and threat information to pilots, in addition to air data measurement instruments in international service.

Meggitt has a chalet at Farnborough this year, and will be on show in row C, stands 13 – 14

ISO recognises Isle of Man’s strength in numbers – IOMAC The engineering consortium The Isle of Man Aerospace Cluster (IOMAC) is part of the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) and comprises 16 companies, providing a framework for facilitating collaboration between the Island’s high-tech and aerospace organisations.

IOMAC are exhibiting within the NWAA stand at the Farnborough International Airshow, and is the first time the IOMAC has attended the event. Cluster members Bladon Jet, Tritec Tools and Target Aerospace, plus the Isle of Man Government, will be on hand to discuss the Cluster’s ‘one stop shop’ proposition for design and manufactured solutions.

The Cluster’s launch in 2007 has proven mutually beneficial for members and their customers.

For example, IOMAC has played an important role in the development of the UK’s aerospace supply chain, working on big global projects for Airbus, Boeing and BAE Systems.

Target Aerospace Director, Simon Radcliffe, is enthusiastic about IOMAC. “Our aim was to provide a local, high quality service to the Island’s aerospace customers, applying the latest technologies and reacting quickly to the sector’s changing demands,” he says.

“We now have the expertise and experience to compete with any company in the UK.” Director of Tritec, Steve Riding, says: “Our membership of IOMAC has enabled us to implement a bold investment plan that has shifted our core activity away from toolmaking towards the manufacture of precision components for our aerospace customers. With the support of the Isle of Man Government and working closely with our customers within the Cluster, we also gained accreditation to EN9100:2003 and ISO900:2000 in 2008.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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Fleet after long haul

After 36 years with Airbus, senior vicepresident Brian Fleet steps down this month

From apprentice to vice-president in three decades is not your everyday manufacturing story. But as Edward Machin discovers, Airbus UK’s outgoing top man Brian Fleet MBE doesn’t exactly do run-of-the-mill. He’s not too shabby at Monopoly, either…

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Officially

stepping down this month, July 2010 marks the end of Brian Fleet MBE’s 36-year innings at Airbus Broughton. The Airbus senior vice-president and Head of Centre of Excellence for Wing and Pylon has been responsible for four European sites and involved in wing design, development and production on every aircraft in the Airbus family. Just how did a local boy climb the slippery pole from factory apprentice to manufacturing top brass?

“Any progression, be it career or otherwise, can be attributed to a combination of many things,” says Fleet, 54. “Being in the right place at the right time inevitably means having the tenacity to seize opportunities and make the most of them. Every now and then we are all given a key to the door; it’s up to you what you do with it.”

Tanned and casually dressed, Fleet highlights the retirement in 1984 of George Allen, Broughton’s then production control manager, as his career-defining

Interview Brian Fleet MBE

moment. Asked to take the reins, and becoming a departmental head in the process, he went from overseeing 10 engineers to managing a plant served by 500 men and women. The company’s youngest executive by two decades, Fleet had celebrated his 27th birthday only weeks before.

Before the beginning ‘A’ levels secured and all set to study mathematics at university, “With my sister already in higher education and costing our parents a fair few shillings, I realised my attendance would be a further drain on their coffers,” he says. Responding to an advert by Hawker Siddeley Aviation — nationalised during the early 1980s to become British Aerospace — in a local paper, the aspiring engineer applied for the company’s HND in Aeronautical Engineering/Computer Science programme. Although highly over-subscribed, and no doubt a barometer of what was to come, Fleet made the grade. It was 1974.

“The only problem was that when the holidays came we had to go back to work, whereas my friends got to kick about without a care in the world. On the upside, they weren’t being paid at the end of every week, so that helped ease the pain somewhat!”

Qualifying in 1979, Fleet was awarded with Hawker Siddeley’s Engineer of the Year. With this moment of glory, however, came a sobering realisation. “I was in competition with my colleagues, many of whom were friends,” he explains. “So I worked that little bit longer, tried that little bit harder. I would pester my boss to give me new and challenging tasks as soon as I had completed my last one, and generally made a nuisance of myself.

After all, the best way of achieving recognition is to get recognised.”

Man management Enjoying life in the company’s systems department, he nonetheless applied for a position at Shell as a project leader. Loathe to lose its rising star, Hawker Siddeley dangled the carrot of a newly-created management training programme before Fleet, having earmarked him as its first candidate.

Accepting the fast-track scheme, and as if the gods were smiling down on him, three months into his training the programme planning manager resigned. Asked to step in, the 24-year old Fleet was appointed to the management team, where he stayed for three years until the previously mentioned executive opportunity, with company car to boot, came calling.

And the secret(s) to his success? “While demonstrating a great deal of maturity, intelligence and application for my age, I never over-committed to something that couldn’t be achieved on the deadline we had promised. This built up a level of trust in me by the company’s senior management,” says Fleet. It sounds so simple.

[On the A380] Any delays experienced were not caused by Broughton. We promised to deliver the wings on a certain date, and did so to the required level of completeness Brian Fleet MBE

A Monopoly on success Would he say, for those starting out on the company’s apprentice scheme — UK manufacturing’s biggest scheme, and which he re-instated after a temporary freeze — is it realistic to believe that they, too, can emulate Brian Fleet’s career trajectory?

“What I did is much more difficult today, I accept that. It wasn’t the norm in my day, clearly, but when an opportunity presented itself I was lucky enough to be there and had the wherewithal to seize it with both hands,” he says.

“However, I have no doubt that if you are good enough, together with a strong degree of tenacity, you will eventually get that opportunity. And don’t forget that we all have more disappointments than successes in our work; it is simply that my competitive nature meant and means that I have to win — be it in business or playing Monopoly with my children.”

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Aisle take this one…

In 1995 Fleet took a director’s job at British Aerospace’s Royal Ordnance small arms ammunition business, upon the advice that he wouldn’t make the Airbus top position without outside experience. He was then appointed managing director of Heckler and Koch in 1998, before returning to Broughton the following year.

With such a glittering career, does he find it hard to pick out high points at Airbus? “The launch of the single-aisle A320 is still right up there,” he says. “We were a cottage-type industry, building 50 aircraft a year at most. The A320, which remains the backbone of virtually every commercial fleet in operation, kicked Airbus into a different gear and led us to produce close to 200 aircraft annually in the 1990s.”

“It was particularly significant for the site’s [Broughton’s] development, too, given that there were numerous companies at BAE Systems, as well as across Europe, trying to secure the programme.

It continues to be fundamental to Broughton’s long term security — our bread and butter, in other words — and which still pays 70 per cent of the wages here, in spite of flagships such as the A380.”

Fight or flight With a genesis stretching back to 1999, the Airbus A380, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft — boasting a wingspan longer than the Wright Brothers’ first flight — has been lauded and, in some quarters, chastised in equal measure. Fleet, as manufacturing director for the UK, was instrumental in the project. “Responsibility for designing the initial business case and getting the capex approved, managing the facilities and bringing the programme online to schedule – the buck stopped with me.”

Biography Brian Fleet MBE

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1974

Joins Hawker Siddeley Aviation as an engineering apprentice

1979

Awarded Hawker Siddeley’s Engineer of the Year

1995

Moved from the Airbus division management team to another branch of the company, becoming director of the Royal Ordnance small arms ammunition business

1998

Appointed managing director of Heckler and Koch in Germany

1999

Returned to Airbus as senior vice-president

2003

Awarded an MBE for services to Commercial Aerospace and a Gold Alumni Award for Further Education from the Association of Colleges

Present

Brian is chairman of both the North Wales Aerospace Group and the SBAC Enterprise Excellence Board.

I would pester my boss to give me new and challenging tasks as soon as I had completed my last one, and generally make a nuisance of myself Brian Fleet MBE Having been invited to Toulouse with Airbus’s senior executives for the A380’s maiden flight in 2005, he instead chose to remain on Broughton’s west factory floor. “To stand shoulder to shoulder with our guys and watch it take off — so quickly, so quietly, so serenely — on the wings that we built here remains the greatest thrill of my working life,” says Fleet, a flicker of genuine emotion betraying his otherwise unflappable demeanour.

While clearly a profound moment for those at the company, was this initial elation tempered by the frustration of production delays to the aircraft, resulting in a 26% drop in the share price of its parent company, EADS, and the departures of EADS’s chief executive Noël Forgeard, Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert and A380 programme manager Charles Champion? “Not at that point, given that they weren’t prevalent until exposure to the marketplace,” he counters. “Moreover, any delays experienced were not caused by Broughton. We

Interview Brian Fleet MBE

promised to deliver the wings on a certain date, and did so to the required level of completeness.”

“You learn more from mistakes than you ever do from your successes. That said, and in technological terms, with the A380 we were pushing boundaries further than we ever had before. Is it surprising we had challenges with some of these? I would argue not so. And when you look at technologies in military programmes, which can come in up to ten years late, in relative terms we missed our timescales by two years. It can never be justified, however, and we must make allowances for the integration of technology in our future projects as opposed to disappointing our customers for two years.”

Into the sunset…

Scheduled to enter service in 2013, the Airbus A350 is one such project. A mid-size, wide-body aircraft, it will be Airbus’s first model for which both fuselage and wing structures are made primarily from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. “Moving from basically a metal basher to composites on the A350 is a major change for us, both in the design and the manufacturing technology we are utilising here,” says Fleet.

“Further, the A350 is a pivotal programme for the UK, and we won it because Airbus at Broughton and Filton have demonstrated over the last four decades that we can bring these huge programmes to fruition

— on time, on cost and on quality. The benefit to UK plc is that we are commercial aerospace, and by giving the second, third and fourth tier companies the opportunity to work on these projects we can support an additional 135,000 UK jobs while adding £15bn to the country’s balance sheet every year.”

I never over-committed to something that couldn’t be achieved on the deadline we had promised. This built up a level of trust in me by the company’s senior management Brian Fleet MBE

And so, with a lifetime of service in the pursuit of aviation excellence, what does the immediate future hold for Mr. Airbus? More Monopoly, perhaps?

“After 36 years of devoting myself to the company, the rest of my life will be spent with my wife and family,” he says.

“I’m going to do a lot of traveling, and have five holidays booked before the year’s end. I’ve built these wonderful aircraft; now I’m going to fly on them to see the world for my enjoyment!”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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y e h t o d w Ho e that? k a m

Tyre retreading

Michelin has grown to become the largest tyre manufacturer in the world. Its Stoke-on-Trent factory produces retreaded truck and bus tyres that offer the same characteristics and longevity as a new tyre – indeed it considers the tyres made at the site to be a ‘mirror of new’.

The

process essentially involves taking the original inner structure of a tyre, known as a casing or carcass, repairing it as necessary, and rebuilding the exterior of the tyre. Using this process, the factory produces two different products: Remix and Encore, the difference between the two being the number of times the tyre has been resurrected.

“A new Michelin truck tyre has two lives,” says factory manager, Peter Marsh. “The first life uses the existing tread to a pre-defined depth. The tyre is then re-grooved which gives a new life to the original tyre.

When the re-grooved sculpture has completed its service, the Michelin carcass can then be rebuilt as a Michelin Remix branded tyre. This adds a further two lives to the original tyre and includes a second regrooving. The Michelin Remix tyre can then be rebuilt for a second time as a brand called Encore which can give a further life using the new moulded sculpture followed, where possible, by a third re-grooving. This gives us the potential for a fifth and sixth life.”

Stage 2: The original tread is removed The next stage of the process involves removing the remaining tread sculpture, creating a specific profile and surface finish on the resultant machined area to which the new tread will be built. With the remaining tread removed the casing repair process commences with highly skilled specialists examining and preparing any damages for repair as necessary.

Stage 1: Checking for damage Once a used tyre arrives at the Stoke-on-Trent site, it is rigorously checked to ensure its integrity and suitability for retreading. Initially it is checked under oblique light by a skilled technician who, at the same time, removes any debris such as stones or nails. Several machinebased non-destructive tests are then carried out to further examine and confirm the integrity of the casing for retreading. These tests include a capability to minutely examine the internal structure of the casing.

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Stage 3: External treatment of the tyre Following preparation a process is then applied to the exterior of the tyre to assist in the bonding of new rubber to form the new tread.

Stage 4: Casing repair The casing is now ready for the repair of any damage found earlier in the process in preparation for the addition and build up of new products to create the new retreaded tyre.

Stage 7: Finishing Following the curing process, the finished tyre is trimmed where necessary to remove any mould flash before passing through a series of non-destructive tests and examinations to prove its conformity to specification, and conformity to the industry standard - Reg.109, before being despatched to customer.

Stage 5: New rubber is laid on to the surface of the tyre New rubber is then applied to the external surfaces of the tyre, using a machine to build the replacement tread rubber to a predetermined profile. This is followed by the renovation of the sidewall of the tyre.

Stage 8: The fished tyre is then tested on various machines One of the tests on the Hawkinson machine involves examining the tyre for any invisible pin holes in the tyreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s casing by attempting to pass a high voltage through the circumference of the carcass.

Stage 6: The tyre is then moulded in the curing press The tyre is then moulded and cured at high temperature and pressure in a curing press. It is during this process that the new tread pattern is formed under pressure in the mould.

Stage 9: The tyre is then fully inflated for testing Finally the tyre then undergoes rapid inflation testing in a blast proof room to ensure the integrity of the finished product.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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One of Simplerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consultants gets his team involved with lean principles

towards consultancy When a company whispers the suggestion of a new lean project it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take long for business consultancies to descend with promises of transformation.

Jane Gray finds out from lean consultancy providers and clients about what consultants need to consider before prescribing the right medicine and what manufacturers need to do to get the most out of their investment.

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Leadership and Lean

Number one reason for consultancy failure According to Jon Armstrong at Simpler, a misunderstanding of leadership roles by strategy makers is the foremost reason for consultancy efforts failing to gain traction. “Leadership – or lack of - is the single biggest reason I see for failing to achieve improvement goals. Many CEOs have reached their position because they are highly effective at delegating and managing teams. Leading a lean implementation is not something you can delegate. There must be tangible support and active engagement with the project at the most senior level. We insist that at the start of the project the leader is present to put it in the context of business objectives. They must also recognise successes that the project achieves – to support the teams but also so that they can really understand what change has been made.”

GKN’s Peter Watkins agrees that leadership is fundamental to sustainable lean. “I’ve seen it a lot of times. Leaders thinking that consultants have come in to do something for them. They also tend to believe that lean is something for other people in the organisation but not for them. This is not the case.”

He adds: “At GKN we have not allowed consultants to get involved in any of the implementation or ‘doing’ of improvement work. Their purpose has been to help develop leaders at all different levels with the skills to move us forward as an organisation in the long term.”

The

lean consultancy marketplace is teeming and it is often difficult to differentiate the effective providers from the pedlars of empty business improvement rhetoric. And with so many manufacturers now being well versed in lean methodologies, tools and principles senior management frequently ask, what exactly can external expertise add to in-house experience? So why do organisations seek external help?

What the consultants say...

Jon Armstrong, managing director at Simpler, had the following to offer: “The primary reason to seek external help with any lean or transformation programme is to bring experience in to the fold.

Engaging, as the Japanese say a sensei – one who has walked the path before – enabling the

confidence to pursue more significant change with less risk.

There is also the benefit of a new perspective and fresh eyes to be considered. However skilled and experienced in leading business transformations you might be, new perspective can always add something extra. Every company and industry has its paradigms and it is crucial to try and think beyond these to achieve step change. We find this even within consulting – work with one industry or sector for too long and you find that you ‘go native’, which is why all our consultants constantly work with a range of clients across sectors.“ Andy Spooner, business development director at operational excellence consultants Suiko, says: “The appropriate use of consultants can give companies real benefit. Reasons for

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engaging consultants vary, from contracting out the ‘hit squad’ to buying in the ‘know-how’ to develop internal capability. In Suiko’s experience the best investments are where there is a good cultural fit and both parties have a common understanding of value.

There are bound to be internal preconceptions about external consultants from the workforce whose ways of working are likely to be affected.

Companies need to try and engage this workforce early on to create positivity and motivation about change Andrew Downie, AB World Foods Defined objectives and a clear scope are crucial to success. The client needs assess how they want the relationship to work for them. A feasibility study can help clients do this — developing a practical way for working together and clarifying where the business is

The Manufacturer.indd 1

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19/05/2010 13:43:19

now and where they want it to go. Success requires a collaborative approach.”

What the companies say Mark Dash, automation solutions manager, Bosch Rexroth, is a key player in the Lean Factory Group, an innovative project that brings supply chain partners into a collaborative group – including partners like SSI Schaefer, SICK and Orgatex – so that their shared products and processes are completely aligned for better total efficiency and effectiveness. One of the seven partners that comprise the group is Leonardo Consulting and Dash says: “Consultancy and knowledge training is very important to the Lean Factory Group. As members we all have our individual products or services and apply them to factory situations, naturally we tend to focus on our own scope as part of the overall system, which can often mean we aren’t aware of the overall picture and the changes taking place. This is where having the consultancy is important, their role is to see the bird’s eye view and communicate, with reason, to the team. Knowledge is always best acquired from an impartial source such as a trainer, and again this gives the Lean Factory Group credibility and a balanced approach to any problem.”

Leadership and lean

Andrew Downie, head of manufacturing at AB World Foods, acknowledges that: “We could not have achieved the level or speed of change that we have without Suiko’s help. They trained us to use tools to identify and solve problems and have allowed £500,000 in cost to be driven out of our processes. This improvement was important to make quickly when our existing family-owned company was absorbed by AB Foods and the bar was raised significantly as far as expectations around manufacturing performance were concerned.

The key to the success we have had with our consultants is that we went into the relationship open minded and prepared to change. There are bound to be internal preconceptions about external consultants from the workforce whose ways of working are likely to be affected. Companies need to try and engage this workforce early on, to create positivity and motivation about change. To support this internal effort it has been very important that Suiko is fundamentally behaviour-focussed – working with employees at all levels to introduce improvement through individuals rather than through impersonal tools and systems.”

Seeking total independence These testimonies form a positive case for getting external help in either focussed projects or enterprise-wide initiatives. However, although Jon Armstrong has stated that effective consultancy lowers the risk of implementing an improvement project, external consultancy clearly represents a significant cost, and indeed a risk in itself.

Avoiding this risk – incompatibility of styles and poor return on investment – is among the many reasons why some companies have chosen to avoid using consultants and focus harder on developing in-house lean talent through training. Kent-based brewers Shepherd Neame, who recently won an IQPC Process Excellence Award for their inventory reduction project, feel strongly that this approach is better for sustained improvement over time.

Tom Falcon, production and distribution director at Shepherd Neame, says: “We often look to recruit people with new skills to develop existing functions. We have trained employees to do what, in many cases, a consultant would have been commissioned to do because we wanted to build on those skills internally and not lose them once projects are completed.”

Falcon is himself an example of Shepherd Neame’s approach to building independent capability. A six sigma black belt with experience in process transformation for logistics, he stepped into a job with Shephard Neame that had traditionally been held by a brewer. “The board recognised the opportunity for a change in focus from product quality and consistency, which is, fundamental, to tackling supply chain and efficiency challenges. Shepherd Neame was not specifically

looking to avoid external consultancy. However because of the skills and experience I could bring to the company, this need was mitigated, particularly in the early stages of the programme.”

In general, even those companies who have used external consultancy effectively are working towards a dream of independence. British engineering group GKN, for example, has taken pains to develop an internal strategy for a very organic culture of continuous improvement that is enterprise-wide.

Peter Watkins, global lean enterprise and business excellence director at GKN describes the lean structure they have achieved. “The enterprise-wide initiative now provides hundreds of site continuous improvement leaders, executive leaders, plant leaders and value stream leaders and we are launching a business process excellence development program for over 1,000 functional site level leaders. Eight global continuous improvement leaders have supported and developed the training centrally so that it is tailored to the organisation.

The implementation is supported by six divisional lean directors and seven regional continuous improvement leaders.

We could not have achieved this without external help but we do not want to rely on them for progress. The key thing at every stage has been to find consultants who really teach – not just run kaizen events – this can be very hard!

Peter Watkins, GKN

We could not have achieved this without external help but we do not want to rely on them for progress. The key thing at every stage has been to find consultants who really teach – not just run kaizen events – this can be very hard!”

Some lean experts, however, believe that the goal of independence from external help is unachievable. Jon Miller of Gemba Research for instance blogged on TM’s website on June 3 that consultant-free lean was one of the hallmarks of ‘fake lean’. “While I encourage clients to envisage the day when they are self-sufficient in lean, I will never guarantee that they can continue to sustain, grow and overcome new hurdles without additional outside help. Whenever a client says, “In a few years when we no longer need consultants...” it’s time to remind them that the moment when they no longer see the need for the teacher is when that need may be the greatest.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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UK Manufacturing must thrive Finally it appears that the manufacturing sector is a key priority for government. It is almost impossible to pick up a newspaper without a government spokesperson stating that “a strong manufacturing base is essential for the future prosperity of the UK.” UK companies that make and export products are starting to get the attention they need, but are we doing everything possible to support this with investment, incentives and best practice?

There

is a view that UK manufacturing is in terminal decline and that only low cost economies like China have real prospects for building substantial manufacturing industries. Western economies may hang on in some high value, complex manufacturing areas such as aerospace, defence and automotive manufacturing but sooner or later they will lose even that to lower cost economies. Of course the reality is rather more complex but the basic premise could well come to pass over the next 10 years.

If UK manufacturing is to thrive then what will be the building blocks for success and how will it compete against low cost economies such as China and India? Early indications in sectors like the automotive industry are that China and India will buy up what is left in the UK and absorb our expertise and knowhow.

For example, Tata, the Indian conglomerate bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford in 2008 and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation bought MG. From a UK manufacturing point of view does the fact that increasingly our manufacturing base is foreign owned really matter? So far foreign ownership appears to have been a good thing, bringing investment into the country.

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For example, Jaguar’s model line up has vastly improved under Tata ownership and the same is true of Land Rover where sales in March were up 60pc on last year breaking its previous sales record of 10,600 cars set in March 2006.

British engineering companies like Lotus are launching exciting and ground breaking cars such as the Evora Coupe and a hybrid version, see opposite, with a range of 300 miles and a 0-60 time of less than four seconds, which was unveiled in March at the Geneva Motorshow. In spite of the recession foreign investment in our automotive industry appears to have provided both confidence and inspiration to an industry that not long ago looked to be on its last legs. It will be interesting to see if Swedish based Volvo enjoys a similar resurgence under Chinese owners Geely. The ever present danger for the UK, of course, is that production will eventually be moved to the investor’s home country.

Whether this is the eventual outcome will largely depend on what we do now.

are the conditions that most businesses need – a competitive tax regime and a skilled and innovative workforce.

A competitive tax regime requires government to wise up and gain a genuine understanding about what makes modern manufacturing competitive. The EEF March report “tax reform for a balanced economy” covered this comprehensively. For the most part these were simple actionable recommendations that could be implemented quickly without costing large sums of money when you consider the likely benefits to manufacturing as a whole. Some of the key recommendations were: Modernise the capital allowances regime

Creating the right conditions for manufacturing growth

The second area is skills. This again requires an attitudinal shift and some financial investment and incentives.

The UK manufacturing sector has inherent strengths

The key thing the Government can do is to create the right conditions for manufacturing growth. These

Make R&D tax credit easier to claim and reflect a wider range of costs Create a more sustainable capital gains regime Reduce the headline rate of corporation tax over time Prioritise areas for simplification that will genuinely reduce burdens on business

Bourton Group

in innovation and there is a real demand for skilled engineers.

The success of Formula 1 in the UK is a prime example of UK engineering strength and the household appliance manufacturer, Dyson is looking to double the number of engineers at its Malmesbury headquarters to 700 (The Manufacturer May 2010) yet young people in the UK still have a sense of apathy towards a career in manufacturing. This forces companies to either recruit from abroad, which is costly, or persuade an aging workforce to stay on which may prove damaging in the long term.

The relentless pursuit of excellence for the customer However, it is not just down to education and government policy.

Manufacturing companies need to play their part by investing in their engineering talent while supporting and encouraging wide spread adoption of proven methodologies for product and process excellence such as lean, six sigma, and design for six sigma (DFSS). If the bedrock of UK manufacturing is going to be around innovation and the ability to manufacture sophisticated high value products, then we are going

to have to lead the world in the ability to make complex products more simply and cost effectively than anyone else.

DFSS for example allows engineers to build in reliability at the design phase rather than ‘test out’ failure at the prototype stage. The savings in time and cost through using this approach are proven and yet engineers in many companies, persist with an over reliance on a ‘test out’ approach. Lean sigma approaches are similarly underutilised in UK manufacturing.

Furthermore many companies take a piecemeal approach. This causes adoption and application to be patchy and skilled lean sigma practitioners thin on the ground. If we are to lead the world in making complex high value products then eliminating waste and process complexity in our design and manufacturing facilities should be central to our manufacturing philosophy.

regain that status then government, the education establishment and manufacturing businesses all need to play their part. Foreign companies like Tata see the value of what we have to offer and have invested accordingly but perhaps it is time we decided our own future before others decide it for us.

About the Author

Looking to the Future Now is not the time for business as usual we need to sow the seeds of the UK’s next industrial revolution by focusing and building on what we do best. We remain a strong manufacturing nation but no longer a great one. If we are to

Stuart Smith is Managing Director of Bourton Group and its subsidiary company The Six Sigma Group www.bourton.co.uk Tel: 01926 633333.

For more information please visit: www.bourton.co.uk

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Standard

practice

With the numbers of fines and the amounts being charged for non-compliance of environmental regulations increasing year on year, can manufacturers afford not to seek a recognised environmental standard? Mark Young explores.

In

an age when there is arguably no bigger buzz word than ‘environment’, a recognised badge of honour in the form of an environmental standard is a fantastic way to fly your own kite and differentiate from competitors more inclined towards ‘greenwash’ than good practice. Moreover, many large companies are committed to only working with suppliers that have environmental accreditation.

More importantly, though, the repercussions for not meeting environmental regulations could be crippling — both from a reputational and fiscal perspective.

In February this year, the Environment Agency became one of the first regulators to be given civil powers to issue monetary fines, order firms to clean up any environmental damage they have done or cease operations that are harmful to the environment. It is also retained its power to bring criminal proceedings in more serious cases.

Costly mistakes The Red Bull Company may assert that its energy drink gives you wings, but it was brought firmly back down to earth last year when issued with a record £271,800 fine for failing to meet its requirements to recover and recycle packaging waste and register its compliance with the Environment Agency between 1998 and 2006.

Companies with annual turnover of more than £2m and handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year must register with the Environment Agency or a compliance scheme. Each year, the company must also provide evidence of payment for recovery and recycling of a specified proportion of their wood, aluminium, steel, cardboard and plastic packaging.

In March this year, Young & Co Brewery Plc was ordered to pay £30,751 for committing the same offence in 2007 and 2008. The company had acted properly before, and said its failure to register had been an oversight but its requests to do so retrospectively in January 2009 were dismissed.

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Earlier that month, Barnsley based cosmetics producer McCallum Manufacturing Limited was fined £15,000 for emptying face cream residue, washed out from 45-gallon mixing vessels, into a drain that led to a nearby pond. The pond water had turned a milky-grey colour and smelled of sulphur as a result.

Similarly, Devon-based chicken processing company Two Sisters was made to pay £62,000 in fines and costs after treated waste from the site’s effluent plant that was discharged into the Spratford Stream over an eight month period was found to have up to 24 times the legally permitted levels of ammonia.

Fool-proof Manufacturers might say due diligence can mean incidents like these are avoided, but Max Linnemann, environmental sector manager for NQA – an independent certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) – says an environmental standard is the best way to make sure. He says the incidents described above would have been very unlikely to have occurred had the organisations involved had an environmental accreditation.

“Part of implementing a standard properly is to make sure you’ve addressed all of the applicable legislation,” he says. “If you’re a manager or director and you have responsibility in this area, a standard is certainly going to put yours and your shareholders’ minds at rest.”

NQA audits two major environmental standards: ISO14001 and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Linnemann says while the two are much of a muchness, the former is more popular in the UK while the latter is more widely adopted on the continent.

The standards are a checklist style guide to implementing an organisation-wide Environmental

Sustainable Management System (EMS), and involve monitoring and reducing the impact on the environment from any operations which a company can control and ‘over which it can be expected to have an influence’.

The ‘Legal and Other Requirements’ section of ISO14001 asks, among other things, ‘Has a procedure been established and implemented to identify and have access to applicable legal and other requirements… which your organisation subscribes to that are directly applicable to the identified environmental aspects?’

‘How is this procedure maintained?’ it continues. In the Competence, training and awareness section, the question is posed: ‘How does your organisation ensure that all persons working for them...are competent to undertake the tasks that can cause significant environmental impacts?’ It all sounds simple, but simplicity is far removed from error proof.

If all of the 100 or so clauses along these lines are ticked off, a company can feel confident that it will pass an audit and hopefully therefore avoid a fate akin to the ones described earlier.

Linnemann says it is important to choose an auditor that is itself accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) such as NQA or the British Standards Institute. UKAS enforces stringent objectives which an assessor must complete, including spending a minimum amount of time performing checks and obtaining a high level of documentary evidence to prove satisfactory standards are in place. Unaccredited companies are not bound by these same conditions and, though they might be cheaper, selecting such a company may not necessarily guarantee that things are indeed being done correctly and this means firms could still unwittingly be flouting laws.

Sustainable Manufacturing Award Sponsored

by Siemens

Calling for entries: Does your business deliver a sustainable manufacturing strategy that does more than simply reduce your carbon footprint?

This award will be given to the manufacturing company or plant that, in the opinion of the judges, best demonstrates how it has improved its environmental performance and reduced its carbon footprint. This may take the form of a single highly effective initiative, or a wide ranging portfolio of smaller improvements. For example, switching to a renewable energy source, or increasing energy efficiency through simple but demonstrable methods such as minimising unnecessary lighting; re organising the shop floor to save energy; powering down equipment that will be dormant for periods of time; reducing packaging and designing recyclability into its products.

In standards we Trust Environmental accreditation could also save you money — by selling recycled and waste materials for instance, or by reducing energy use. The Carbon Trust Standard could help to this end. Whereas many energy based standards only require management systems to be in place, the Carbon Trust’s involves demonstrating carbon emissions have actually been reduced and that the company is committed to reducing them year-on-year.

In the Carbon Trust’s words, the standard ‘provides pertinent management information for the continued development of a robust carbon strategy. The Standard quantifies a robust carbon footprint, benchmarks performance and identifies areas of improvement saving some organisations significant costs.’

What’s more, the Standard is recognised as an early action metric in the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) and achieving it increases league table ranking, resulting in greater financial benefits in the introductory phase.

“Business leaders who have sound carbon management strategies in place stand to prosper both now and in the future,” says Carbon Trust Standard

enter at www.themanufacturer.com/awards

manufacturing

general manager, Harry Morrison. “They stand to sell more, forge better business relationships and attract more committed workers. The Carbon Trust Standard allows businesses that have achieved certification to talk with integrity about what they have been doing to reduce their carbon emissions. Achieving the Standard shows that they are taking serious and credible steps to manage their carbon footprint.” Manchester United Football Club calculates that the Standard has helped it save £235,000 in total energy use in seven months.

Obtaining the Carbon Trust Standard can be combined with other standards too. For instance having ISO14064 – the energy management module of the ISO14000 family – is sufficient to demonstrate effective measurement is taking place.

So not only could obtaining an environmental standard stop you losing your money, it could make you money too. Given the costs of getting it wrong and the rewards for getting it right, environmental standards could well be something manufacturers can ill afford to overlook.

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Achieving sustAinAbility – the role of stAndArds There is increasing moral and social pressure on companies to operate sustainably. Moreover there’s a very strong business case for it, too. Here, we look briefly at how manufacturing companies can work towards sustainability, and the benefits they can gain from doing so. our first job, of course, is to define sustainability. this isn’t easy to do, as it means different things to different people. it’s generally agreed, however, that the term now has a broader meaning than it did just a few years ago. today, sustainable operation can have a positive impact on more than the environment – it can also help an organisation improve staff performance as well as enhance productivity. in short, sustainability is about the planet, people and profit. but, though it’s true that sustainability represents a real opportunity for manufacturing companies, it’s also true that it’s not easy to achieve, as it involves improvements in many areas, including health and safety, energy footprint and waste disposal. yet, despite the difficulties, many manufacturing companies are having a real success in the move towards sustainability, and as a result, are enjoying significant business benefits. this begs the question: how are they doing it?

“ We are often asked who audits us, and are proud to say BSI.” Steve Parry, director of development and Quality, Metflex the answer to this question, in large part, is through the adoption of standards. Many organisations are now electing to comply with national and international standards that have been developed by experts to provide a best practice framework for managing various elements of business operations. And the advantages are considerable, primarily because these standards provide a structured and systematic framework that enables the identification of operational issues, and put controls in place to manage and monitor organisational concerns. but the benefits aren’t just internal. they’re external too. by demonstrating their implementation of best practice standards through third-party certification, organisations not only give assurance to management that effective and efficient processes are in place and are being

raising standards worldwide™

adhered to, they also provide independent, confidenceenhancing, evidence to stakeholders such as shareholders and customers – helping to attract and retain investors and put the organisation in an even better position to win new business for the future. but it’s not only standards that help organisations achieve sustainability – training, too, can play a real role. to embed sustainable operation in organisations, staff need to understand the changes required in behaviours and attitudes. once they do, there will follow significant benefits to the business and the environment, and they will feel more encouraged to support the necessary changes. training can also play an important role in reviewing whether the implementation has been effective.

Kitemark and product testing, too, can play an important part in the development of a truly sustainable organisation, by ensuring that products and services meet safety and performance requirements and that, with regular re-assessment, they continue to do so. bsi offers a wide range of services to support you in your efforts to achieve sustainability and many companies, throughout the world, are benefiting from working with us. take laminar Medica, for example, a global business which specialises in shipping systems used by the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. When the company wanted to implement bs ohsAs 18001 (health and safety management), it chose to work with bsi – with the result that certification was achieved in less than a year. or take Johnson Matthey, a worldwide precious metals and advanced materials company. since working with bsi to achieve iso 14001 certification, the company has seen many major benefits, including a 13% reduction in energy used (per product shipped) in the two years following implementation of the standard. yet another company – uK-based shades of comfort, a provider of outdoor smoking solutions – worked closely with us to achieve iso 9001 certification in just nine months, a process that has made a real difference to its business growth. “i believe we’re now in an excellent position to grow when the global financial climate improves,” said the company’s sales and Marketing director, tony Peters.

recycling â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AlWAys the best WAy? is recycling always the most sensible way to minimise environmental impact? not any more. consider, for example, a car engine. When, at the end of its life, it needs to be scrapped, energy is required to collect the car, remove the engine, crush it, extract the metal, smelt the metal, reform it into iron ingots and then use this to manufacture a new steel product â&#x20AC;&#x201C; possibly another car engine! yet all this effort could be avoided if we can turn the old engine into a new engine without completely destroying it. this is called remanufacturing, a field in which the uK now leads the world with a new standard (bs 8887-220:2010) which defines the processes by which used product is turned, through a series of manufacturing steps, into a like new product.

For more information or to order a copy of the standard, visit http://shop.bsigroup.com/bs8887-220

If you would like to know more about how standards contribute to sustainable development, a whitepaper can be downloaded at www.bsigroup.co.uk/manufacturing To find out more about training, product testing and certification, contact BSI on 0845 080 9000 or visit www.bsigroup.co.uk

Getting down to

Intelligence Investigating the oft-murky world of BI, Edward Machin finds that access to intelligent information beats instinctbased decision making time and again. Luck, after all, remains the idol of the idle…

Online

analytical processing; data mining; business performance management; benchmarking, text mining; predictive analytics. Business Intelligence, it is fair to say, continues to cover a multitude of sins — not all of them deadly, you’ll be glad to know.

And yet, since IBM researcher Hans Peter Luhn defined BI in 1958 as, “The ability to apprehend the inter-relationships of presented facts in such a way as to guide action towards a desired goal,” its application predominately relates to query and reporting: turning data into information through an interface that enables users to produce, manipulate and view the results so as to provide insight into the performance of their organisations.

According to IT research house Gartner, more than 35% of the top 5,000 global companies regularly fail to make insightful decisions about significant changes in their business and markets. The inference, plainly, holds that it is for Business Intelligence — and its information, processes and suite of tools — alone to save the day.

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But just who are these caped crusaders? And what of their ability to consolidate a disparate collection of information into something approaching critical — and, ultimately, empowering — organisational knowledge?

Objects of desire One provider aiming to rescue companies from the blazing tower of blind decision-making is SAP, the German software behemoth with more than 100,000 installations worldwide and turnover of €10.671bn in 2009. Acquiring the French BI specialist, Business Objects, in early 2008, “What set them apart from other BI vendors in the market was its breadth of portfolio,” says SAP’s Richard Neale.

“While the company was arguably the global leader in traditional reporting tools, it simultaneously offered a broad range of technologies such as analysis, integration and functionalities to address the reliability of any given data — not to mention financial applications around business planning, consolidation and risk/access control.”

Specialfeature Business Intelligence

QlikTech’s ten BI pitfalls to avoid in the new decade 1. Failure to identify a clear business goal The value of BI implementations can be very simply measured in terms of return on investment, but start with vague, intangible goals and your project will lose momentum.

With a tool like QlikView, you can expect a tangible return. Indeed, IDC’s recent survey revealed that manufacturing companies that use QlikView report on average a 21% increase in employee efficiency, 23% improvement in business agility and 4% improvement in cash flow.

2. Failure to recognise that BI also requires change management The success of a BI project largely depends on how engaged business users are in the process. Ignore them at your peril: a workforce that isn’t fully appraised of and involved in plans for change is likely to resist the unfamiliar.

So get buy-in early. Those quick wins will give the perception of project success and speed up adoption. Don’t get hung up on the technical details of the project, but rather focus on educating the people who will be using it. BI 2.0 technologies are in a better position to drive change management because they lend themselves to speedy deployment and they’re intuitive to use.

3. Failure to involve the people you need to change BI used to be owned by the finance and IT departments, but in the new decade everyone, from boardroom to factory floor, should be free to access the information they need. This ‘self-service’ approach is taking over from the traditional BI 1.0 model which focused on delivering static reports

— predefined by IT — that were out of date almost as soon as they were issued and only met the needs of a handful of elite power users.

4. Failure to enable real-time transparency Quite simply, if you don’t know where you stand, how can you improve? A lack of visibility leads to procrastination, excuses, missed opportunities and a culture in which no-one is accountable or prepared to put their head above the parapet and take action. Transparency should therefore be at an individual, rather than departmental level.

5. Failure to take action Visibility without action is futile. But when projects take a long time to implement, momentum is lost and it can be all too easy to stop acting on the valuable information that’s being produced. It is the responsibility of director and CXO-level leaders to demonstrate their commitment to acting on intelligence.

6. Losing control BI is such a powerful tool that organisations are often simply overwhelmed by its potential. Try to concentrate on what’s relevant and useful rather than just measuring, recording and disseminating data for the sake of it, and remember not to lose sight of your objectives: the intention is to distil your raw data into meaningful, actionable information, not to create even more.

7. Lack of continued executive sponsorship High-level input is required to keep projects on course and everyone

With the majority of data that drives BI now originating from manufacturers’ ERP and transaction systems, there exists the potential for disengagement between internal strategy and execution within the business.

Indeed, this is not a new phenomenon. The latter has traditionally been disconnected from the planning nerve centre of an organisation — where BI reigns supreme, what with its serving to analyse and report on how the business performs at a macro level.

“By closing that gap, as we do, internal processes are rendered seamless,” Neale explains.

“As such, you can move effortlessly from the senior management deciding on a strategy to the implementation of a business process which enables execution. When you do so the loop is complete, in that you have to measure the outcome’s performance, which in turn affects your ongoing organisational strategy.”

Power players Although maturing healthily for so youthful a discipline, the use of Business Intelligence

involved motivated. The most progressive BI strategies are in a state of constant development: rather than building towards one ‘big bang’ they are ingrained in a culture of continuous improvement.

In this ‘incremental steps’ approach communication is critical, regardless of how good or bad the news is.

8. Deploying inappropriate technology BI 2.0 tools put the impetus for change in the hands of the user. Spearheaded by QlikView — described by Gartner as ‘the most performant BI tool on the market’ — this new breed of self-service technology is better able to support a people-focused deployment because it’s simple to use and its benefits are immediately apparent.

9. Failure to employ a practical and simple implementation framework Carefully selecting the right technology will go a long way to overcoming potential problems, but it is still essential to implement it simply and pragmatically. Small, agile, focused projects are less likely to eat up resources and goodwill, so focus on single goals and make sure they’re appropriately resourced. Remember: you’re aiming for a fast goal delivery, not a technical delivery.

10. Taking the path of least resistance Effective BI strategies mean embracing change. They mean tackling issues and questions you know need answering – but are almost too frightened to ask. They sometimes force you to make tough decisions or require you to overcome resistance from people and departments who are protective of their data, which means the road to complete adoption can be tricky to negotiate in places.

nonetheless remains, on average, low: 25% of employees within an organisation having access to the technology. Perhaps more than any other factor, technical barriers greatly restricted accessibility, with the classic notion of a BI user being a codesaturated geek churning out reports impenetrable to the majority of his or her colleagues.

“The most prevalent trend within industry during the last five years or so has been the focus on producing environments which incorporate greater ease of use for those at every point along the frequency of use scale,” confirms Neale. “While catering for your traditional power users, the new generation offerings equally apply to the employee who might only need to use the tools once a week at most.”

With the speed of change in twenty-first century business showing no sign of abating, in many cases companies can only react to issues rather than proactively planning for them — a sudden decline in machining reliability within the manufacturing area, for instance.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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Special feature Business Intelligence

Pervasive BI

Virtually real

Whereas certain vendors offer a one-size-fits-all approach to BI, the Business Objects suite offers a broad range of front-end tools through which SAP presents structured information to users, be they casual or otherwise. This ensures that if — and, realistically, when — such an event does occur, the maximum number of relevant parties within the company are comfortable with handling the data produced as a result.

In other words, says Neale, SAP looks to put easily digestible information into the hands of employees throughout an organisation, given that each body under that umbrella is making business decisions of some description. “BI’s overriding purpose is to improve decision making by providing employees with information so they are not simply working on gut feel — pervasive Business Intelligence, we call it” “Everybody has email and a phone; we see no reason why the same shouldn’t apply to BI. Moreover, those companies which employ pervasive business intelligence are proven time and again to be more robust in terms of efficiency, profitability and time to decision. It’s not rocket science, after all!”

Historically, such endeavours remained very much an offline, back office function, with transaction ERP systems processing data for population in a database or warehouse, and to be used offline. In recent years, however, analytics has become ever more integrated into the business process itself, allowing optimal decisions to be made in virtual real time — and genuinely becoming part of the business process as a result.

“Moreover, any business problem where a decision has to be made can be improved, providing the right data is available, with the use of business analytics,” says Miles. “Analysing data — and considering the gamut of trends and patterns — will therefore give you a competitive advantage when it comes to making decisions for your organisation.”

Where do SAS and Miles see the future going for business analytics? “The next big thing, which is already here, really, is an analysis of textual and unstructured data,” he says. On any given database, a manufacturer will hold a raft of information regarding the way its products and processes operate in practical terms — structured data, in other words.

“But you will almost certainly have additional data which is more unstructured in nature: what people are saying about your products on review sites and forms they have filled in, for example,” says Miles.

Tomorrow’s news…today Although wildly successful in its own right, not all those in the marketplace advocate the use of query and reporting metrics alone. Enter SAS, the Business Intelligence market’s largest independent vendor — used by, among others, 92 of Fortune’s Top 100 companies in 2009.

“The disadvantage of this traditional approach remains its reward-looking nature. It is telling you what has happened, which is clearly useful to an extent, but wouldn’t it be more advantageous to read tomorrow’s newspaper today?” asks Laurie Miles, head of business analytics at SAS. “Moreover, a recent IDC report found that more organisations purchase SAS for these requirements than the next 16 vendors combined, which tells its own story.”

In essence, predictive analytics utilises the same data that companies consult for query and reporting, but employs it instead to make predictions for the future: forecasting demand and calculating failure, for example — thus optimising a company’s production processes, so the theory goes. Miles cites the example of IBM, which would have previously collected all the data for its manufacturing operations, reporting on the production output, how many deficiencies the chips had, their yield weight, and so on.

“What the company has been able to do by using SAS is significantly improve the yields from their chips by detecting deficiencies earlier in the manufacturing chain and predicting where problems may occur,” he says. “By analysing that which occurred last week and understanding why it happened, companies of all shapes and sizes can build models based on a range of future scenarios and change things accordingly to ensure better yield performance, to name but one.”

BI’s overriding purpose is to improve decision making by providing employees with information so they are not simply working on gut feel Richard Neale, SAP

Guts for Gartners “Collating how external parties feel about your company and its products can not only give businesses a key insight into the sentiment of their vendors, end customers or supply chain partners, but also from a product development perspective what they can be doing better and building upon going forward.”

Given that both sets of data can now be accessed, integrated and analysed, accuracy of reporting can regularly exceed 95%. While there will naturally be business problems where the numbers may be less, and echoing SAP’s Richard Neale, “The real point here is that they will always be better than that which you would achieve by using instinct and gut feel alone,” says Miles.

So there you have it. While the approaches may differ, in BI’s information-rich world there remains but one constant: seeking to base company-critical actions on impulse, voodoo or gut alone entirely negates tactical, operational and strategic decisionmaking, whichever you slice it. Goodnight and, as they say, good luck.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

41

Hunting atightmarket

Brian Steatham MD of Rodmatic (right)

Banks say they are open for business to manufacturers, but do they really understand the working capital needs of small firms trying to get going after a punitive two years? Borrowing terms can be harsh for companies with orders but no new assets to offer as security. Meanwhile HP options, while expensive, suit some firms as few of them demand personal guarantees. Brian Davis reports.

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As

the first post-recession green shoots appear, many manufacturers are trying to secure finance for new capital equipment. In a preshow survey for the MACH trade show in June, over 83% of respondents said they planned to invest up to £250,000 in new machine tools. However, depending on the proposition, many firms have hit a brick wall when they approach banks for lending, so have had to find alternative sources of funding for new technology investment.

Despite well-publicised schemes like the Enterprise Finance Guarantee – loans which are supposed to address the needs of SMEs ‘with a workable business proposal but lacking sufficient security to borrow money from approved lenders’ – many companies felt put upon to provide personal guarantees, despite decent order books and a reasonable asset base.

“The high street banks haven’t got a clue about our industry or the machine tool market,” says Jason Nicholson, joint managing director of Unicut Precision. The Welwyn Garden City-based precision engineer employs 30 people and sought to buy three CNC multi-axis lathes recently, costing around £500,000. “We went to the asset lending division

Finance and professional services

of ING, rather than deal with a high street bank.

They didn’t ask for a personal guarantee, but simply scrutinised the residual value of the machine against the deposit we put down.”

Much like a mortgage, the bigger the deposit you put down, the better the deal. Unicut put down a 25% deposit and the company boasts a very strong asset base of blue chip equipment. “We have track history, but the criteria for loans are always narrowing,” adds Nicholson. “Two or three years ago we could get approval over the phone, now there’s a lot more diligence.”

Indeed, the Federation of Small Businesses’ latest monthly survey showed that a quarter of all respondents are dissatisfied with support offered by their high street bank. What’s more, the level of complaint rises as the number of business managers in charge of the account increases. While 26% of firms reckon they have a good working relationship with their bank manager, 46% complain that their bank managers are not placed locally.

The latest survey tracking credit conditions for manufacturers from manufacturers’ organisation EEF, published in June 2010, doesn’t pull its punches either. “Signs of substantial improvement in credit conditions for business are taking longer than hoped for to emerge,” says EEF chief economist Lee Hopley. “Some companies are still feeling pressure from both the rising cost and falling availability of credit, but the numbers appear to be coming down gradually.”

Hopley maintains: “Though the proportion of companies reporting rising fees and interest rates on existing lines of borrowing is starting to come down slowly, access to new lines of borrowing remains a problem for some companies – with a fifth reporting a decrease in availability.” According to the Access to Credit survey, almost 35% of companies have seen the cost of finance increase, one fifth have seen access to new lines of borrowing decrease, and just under a third have seen the cost of new borrowing increase.

Business looks to HP finance Many companies are looking to specialist HP companies rather than bank-related borrowing.

“It’s difficult or impossible to increase the amounts you want to borrow from banks, and most are decreasing it,” says Brian Steatham, MD of turned parts manufacturer Rodmatic. Consequently Steatham favours HP deals, “and the more you can put down at the start, the better the deal is.” Over the last 12 months, Rodmatic purchased an Eagle lathe and a CNC vertical mill from Dugard for about £140,000 in total. The three-year HP deal was at a flat rate of 8% APR and there was no need for a personal guarantee.

Graham Dewhurst, director general of the Manufacturing Technologies Association, says: “Over the past two years many banking companies withdrew from leasing. But there are still good

niche companies, like CNC Capital and Close Asset Finance, who understand the market and will lend against good assets.” As a rule of thumb, he says it helps to have good up-to-date equipment since a lot of second-hand equipment has come onto the market in the last 18 months, and the residual value has been affected.

Dewhurst considers that the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme has been a help, but he is concerned that it is only useful for raising finance to

We invest in people not machinery or premises.

Banks tend to just look at the asset base of a business. It’s very expensive when you come out of the bank sector as nobody is prepared to underwrite Richard Evans, Mechatronic support businesses manufacturing goods destined for the domestic market. The EFG scheme is not open to companies whose goods and services are sent for export, as this is deemed non-competitive under EU rules. “This is not the biggest area for many companies in our sector, as a lot of the end-users are exporters,” says Dewhurst. “One of the biggest issues for UK banks is the requirement for performance guarantees. We have also seen a significant reduction in the amount of relationship banking in recent years.”

Undoubtedly today’s finance marketplace for SMEs in industry has been favourable for niche players like Close Asset Finance. Their Manufacturing Finance Division operates mainly in the machine tool sector.

Managing director Steve Gee says: “We’ve been open for business throughout the credit crunch, supporting manufacturers who’ve faced lots of problems with banks and invoiced discounting companies. We are not a balance sheet lender but look at the asset value.

We understand the resale value of the second-hand market, and are concerned what a machine will do for a company moving forward.”

At a time when many SMEs operating in the manufacturing sector lack cash and/or an adequate credit rating due to the recession, Close Asset Finance has developed a Sale and HP Back product to ensure companies with a viable business can move forward with fresh investment. An existing asset can be used as collateral to enable the company to invest in new equipment. Existing assets can also be used to raise working capital to inject into a business.

Admittedly, Sale and HP Back doesn’t come cheap and interest rates can run up to 20% or more.

“Everything is negotiable,” says Gee. “The rate reflects the risk. However, a very strong company

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Finance and professional services

will get a good rate, and sometimes we can be the cheapest in the market.” The model certainly works, as Close Asset lends £7m-£8m a month on average.

“The SME gains new technology and is able to secure a valuable order which may otherwise have not progressed,” he remarks.

If at first you don’t succeed – switch lender John Cable, managing director of C&M Precision, used the services of James Clist, director of CNC Capital to secure £200,000 of funding for a new Citizen Machinery multi-axis sliding head turning machine. CNC Finance arranged a deal with the Bank of Ireland which required no deposit, just the VAT. “Business is now going mental,” he quips.

CNC Capital deals exclusively with the machine tool market. “For several years lines of credit for working capital have been eroded as banks encouraged customers to take out term loans, and used their own finance houses,” says Clist. “We provide alternative competitive sources of funding which leave existing lines of credit for working capital untouched. We have links with overseas finance houses that have an appetite for the machine tool business, we have provided funding for some very progressive SMEs and OEMs, and our rates compare favourably with high street banks.”

Lending, including that for capital investment, is what we do, so there is absolutely no reason for us to turn down a credit-worthy lending proposition Graeme Allinson, Barclays Corporate Bespoke automation provider Mechatronic favoured another source to beat the credit squeeze. “We were trying to raise £500,000 for up-front finance to design, build and manufacture automation for International Automotive Component’s Birmingham plant, for use in producing interior mouldings for the new Baby Range Rover,” says managing director Richard Evans.

Despite a compelling case, their original bank couldn’t help, so they switched to NatWest who offered some EFG support. “This was about a third of what we wanted, and 20% was underwritten by personal guarantee in accordance with Government dictate,” Evans adds. Still short, Mechatronic was unable to close the contract. Evans found the solution through David Crampton, a funding broker in the West Midlands. He introduced Evans to Investbx, a company that matches investors to SMEs and administers the Birmingham City Council’s Loan Fund (see below), who was immediately more positive than the banks. Following a rigorous assessment, they

offered £250,000 with match-funding of £200,000 from personal funds.

“Negotiations are still underway with Automotive Components, but now we can offer sufficient debt financing,” says Evans. “We sell brain not brawn, investing in people not machinery or premises. Banks tend to just look at the asset base of a business. It’s extremely expensive when you come out of the bank sector as nobody is prepared to underwrite.”

Local authorities lend a hand Birmingham City Council launched the £10m Business Loan Fund in January 2010 to offer loans to solid and profitable SMEs who were previously unable to access funding. Investbx client relationship manager Andy Povey says: “We will take a higher risk profile but only invest in strong businesses.

There are no specific guarantee requests but each loan will be judged on its own merits.”

Regional development agency Advantage West Midlands is also taking applications for Grants for Business Investment. Support is available through the European Regional Development Funds from 10% for medium-sized enterprises in Tier 3 areas, to 35% for small enterprises in a Tier 2 area “subject to standard offer conditions but not personal guarantees,” explains Phil Baron, Grants for Business investment policy manager. The funding is designed to create more jobs or safeguard existing ones, but the bulk of funding must come from private sources.

The final word goes to the banks. Graeme Allinson, head of UK manufacturing at Barclays Corporate insists that “Barclays Corporate is always looking to lend money. Following the worst recession for decades, banks are inevitably scrutinising all lending deals more closely and pricing for risk accordingly. But fundamentally lending, including lending for capital investment, is what we do, so there is absolutely no reason for us to turn down a credit-worthy lending proposition.”

In terms of SMEs, Barclays to date has administered more than £165m in EFG loans, and the scheme has now been extended to March 2011. Barclays also recently released £150m in new funding for UK SMEs through the European Investment Bank loan support scheme.

Similarly, Stephen Pegg, a spokesperson for Lloyds TSB Commercial Operations, claims: “About 10% of our lending is for manufacturing, and nearly half our annualised lending growth (of 8%) has been in this area. We are very keen on manufacturing.

Lloyds accounts for 29% of EFG loans, and 20% of EFG has gone to manufacturing and production.

Nevertheless, the loan guarantee scheme is still the minority of our loans. It is aimed at businesses which are viable and meet all a bank’s normal criteria, apart from lacking sufficient security.”

He admits the banks are mandated by the Government to apply their ‘normal’ criteria for EFG, which often demands personal guarantees by the owners and/or directors.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

45

Funding lifeline for manufacturers in need of capital growth The evolving economic landscape has seen a shift in the type of financial products employed.

Gone are the days when the only options to fund growth were traditional banking loans and overdraft facilities. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) has emerged as a recognised method of funding working capital requirements and expansion strategies. This flexible funding option presents many advantages for the UK’s manufacturers and should be considered alongside the range of other financial products in the market place.

Whilst

ABL’s popularity is growing, too many businesses do not yet recognise the potential of this facility or understand how it can form an essential part of their cash flow strategy, particularly under current market conditions.

An ABL facility is equally effective in supporting organic business growth as it is in funding significant events, including management buy-outs and buy-ins, mergers and acquisitions, and refinancings. ABL facilities help management teams leverage assets from the business’s balance sheet, including the receivables book, inventory (stock in hand), plant and machinery, and freehold property. By securing loans against these assets, firms can unlock greater funding capacity and secure the necessary headroom to support future business growth. The positive

46

impact on cash flow is is one of the key attractions for companies in switching to a debt structure which embraces ABL facilities.

An ABL facility will generally have a revolving credit limit that allows the business to draw fluctuating amounts as its working capital cycle dictates.

The actual amount of lending available is based on an agreed advance percentage of the accounts receivable balances and any inventory a business holds. Unencumbered plant and machinery and real estate assets are funded to an agreed percentage against external valuations, on an amortising term loan. An ABL structure requires the lender to monitor and audit these assets on a regular basis.

As a result, an ABL facility can provide larger lines of credit than would be available through more

traditional lending products where the key analysis is the ratio of debt to the earnings of the business.

Recent quarterly figures released from the British Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) show total sales from firms financed by asset based finance have increased by eight per cent since March 2009 to £49,371 million.

One example of a UK manufacturer which has successfully employed an ABL debt structure is All Metal Services (AMS), a world-leading specialist in stockholding, processing and supplying raw materials to the aerospace and defence industries and other high technology enterprises.

AMS provides speciality material processing including plate cutting and profiling, surface machining, billet preparation, tube and extrusion cutting, sheet guillotining, plastic coating and kitting services. The company is one of the largest distributors of aircraft-grade aluminium to the global aerospace industry.

AMS was established in 1974 and employs around 300 staff. It has sites in London, Birmingham, Bolton, Bristol and Belfast, in addition to facilities in France, China and India. With a customer base spanning 35 countries worldwide, AMS is truly a global player in the aerospace industry.

Its customers have access to one of the most comprehensive stock ranges in Europe, currently valued at USD 50 million, with probably the widest selection of American

RBS AMS supplies and cuts metal for the global aerospace market

specifications held outside the USA. Annual revenues exceed USD 180 million.

RBS Invoice Finance and the RBS Corporate Banking team worked together to tailor a complete funding solution to support the company’s management team in its acquisition of the business. The RBS funding package comprised an ABL component, funding against debtors and stock, alongside other senior term debt facilities. This structure demonstrates not only how ABL can be used to support acquisition plans, but also highlights how it can be used in conjunction with traditional banking lines. Using this joinedup, partnership approach enables RBS to tailor bespoke solutions which address the specific financial and business needs of our customers.

Terry Stocker, Managing Director at AMS explained: “The RBS team worked under significant time pressures

to provide a complete funding package that met our requirements for the acquisition.

Their approach was innovative, incorporating an ABL funding line along with traditional loan facilities. Since the acquisition we have strengthened our relationship with RBS, who always provide essential support and advice as the business grows and moves into new markets.”

The support provided to AMS is just one example of how ABL funding can be used to support development and growth. RBS is committed to educating manufacturers about the benefits of employing this innovative funding line. A business will not necessarily flourish just because it has a better product than its competitors or the best method of distribution. To grow, businesses require cash flow ABL is fast becoming the product of choice for many to

ensure good working capital levels. Given the lower regulatory capital requirements of ABL when compared to traditional overdraft lending, it is not surprising to see businesses increasingly exploiting their balance sheets to access this form of funding to free-up cash flow. We’d encourage anyone who is curious to find out what ABL can do for their business to contact us for more information.

Chris Hawes Head of Portfolio Management and Structuring RBS Invoice Finance Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7672 2593 Mobile: +44 (0) 7780 957 616 e-mail: christopher.hawes@rbsif.co.uk Mark St John Qualter Head of Corporate Invoice Finance, England and Wales RBS Invoice Finance Tel: + 44 (0) 161 862 8531 Mobile: +44 (0) 7769 242267 email: mark.qualter@rbsif.co.uk

Security may be required. Product fees apply.

YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

For further information please visit www.rbs.co.uk

47

2010 Fifa World Cup opening ceremony, image courtesy of: www.shine2010.co.za

for staff productivity For many businesses, the first whistle of the 2010 World Cup signified one of the biggest challenges in managing staff productivity. Matt Wheeler, product and marketing director at Amano UK, which designs and manufactures time and workforce management systems, discusses the key methods of ensuring successful workforce management regardless of the sporting calendar.

48

People and skills

World Cup fever having hit the UK with full force this summer, the debate on staff productivity also kicked-off in businesses across the country. The 30-day tournament ushered in a new set of challenges for employers, but rather than game over for another four years, this is just the beginning of a run of major sporting events culminating in the London Olympics 2012 that will test the Nation’s employers and highlight the importance of successful workforce management.

A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) indicated that many employers were ill-prepared for the challenges of maintaining staff productivity during the recent World Cup in South Africa. According to the poll of 1,000 employers, nine in 10 firms had not developed a policy to manage employees who fail to show up for work during the tournament. Just 5% of organisations had drawn up a policy, leaving a great number of employers at risk of heightened levels of staff absenteeism.

Keeping score of staff absenteeism Further research by the CIPD revealed the average employee absence is 7.4 days per year with a cost of absence per employee per year of £692. Only 41% of employers monitor the cost of employee absence and under half of employers have a target in place for reducing absence. Evidently, absenteeism is already a huge cost to businesses, but throughout major sporting events, many employers could see an increase in unscheduled absenteeism if they simply ignore it.

Pushing on regardless may also reduce productivity in the long term – both through the temptation among die-hard sports fans to ‘pull a sickie’, but also through festering resentment and damaged morale among all those who simply want to feel part of something exciting. Whether it’s during Wimbledon, October’s Ryder Cup in Wales, or the rapidly approaching 2012 Olympic Games, businesses that are prepared to offer their workforce greater flexibility are likely to reap the benefits with a happier and more productive workforce.

Team talk - flexibility and accountability When talking team tactics, the need for flexibility and accountability is a key player in ensuring effective workforce management. The methods will vary from business to business, but there are some crucial areas to consider when ensuring staff productivity.

Effective scheduling in advance of any big event, sporting or otherwise, is important to ensure optimum staffing and skill levels are available when needed. To ensure your team stays committed to a common goal, advance planning and transparency is also essential. In addition, employers must ensure that the needs of the business are not held to ransom by providing sufficient cover and ensuring steady productivity levels.

People and Skills Award Sponsored

by Kronos

Calling for entries: Is your company delivering the highest levels of workforce development and focusing on engaging with the wider community?

This award will go to the manufacturing company or plant that, in the opinion of the judges, best demonstrates how, through recruitment, training, labour relations, HR systems or educational liaison initiatives, has increased productivity, while improving employees’ opinions of the value of their contribution. Judges will also factor in companies’ contribution to an improved public perception of manufacturing itself and the diversity of careers that manufacturing offers.

enter at www.themanufacturer.com/awards

With

Greater commitment from staff can also be ensured by empowering them to manage their own timekeeping, especially during exceptional circumstances such as a World Cup or Olympic Games. By allowing a fair working-life balance for employees, both morale and staff retention can be improved and overtime costs and absenteeism reduced. By authorising employees to take ownership of their productivity, you can maintain the same high levels of commitment and, as a result, protect the wider needs of the business and the bottom line.

A survey of 100 HR Directors carried out by XpertHR found some businesses were employing flexible working policies especially for the World Cup, helping to reduce the risk of heightened absenteeism and loss of productivity. 67% of respondents planned to alter working practices and enable flexible start and end times to allow staff to watch important games. Other tactics being put in place included

49

People and skills

extended lunch breaks (49%), last-minute requests for annual leave (44%), or time in lieu (16%).

However, businesses have typically been nervous about adopting flexible working schemes and recent research highlighted the main perceived disadvantages of flexible working to be limited interaction between key workers, lack of management control over employees and security and confidentiality of information.

Yet research also showed that nearly half of organisations surveyed saw flexible working as the key to higher staff productivity. During any event, where the risk of unscheduled absenteeism is a serious threat to productivity levels, time and attendance software systems can therefore offer handy solutions.

Ready, set, go – technology and measurement But even after reducing absenteeism, how do employers know if their staff are being productive during the working day?

With the continued need for improved efficiency, productivity and cost control, there is now a need for time and attendance systems that can track complex working patterns and analyse realtime data that will help businesses to accurately measure impacts on profit. To ensure that the action on the pitch, court or track does not have a negative impact on the bottom line, it is crucial

for businesses to possess the technological infrastructure to facilitate more flexible and mobile working patterns for their workforce.

Flexible workforce management systems will help businesses to synchronise time and attendance with activity tracking and holiday and overtime management. Access and permissions can be tailored to allow a ‘self-service’ element, perfectly suited to those periods when sport takes over the TV and effectively managing staff time becomes a top priority.

With the ability to manage your workforce around specific shift patterns, rosters and schedules, time and attendance software systems can help to maintain business output and therefore provide a true return on investment; reducing overtime and recruitment costs as well as increasing the focus on ‘core’ business activities.

Planning for productivity Whatever challenges the sporting calendar may bring and no matter what systems are in place to support flexible working, the proof that it works is in the planning.

By planning carefully, businesses can ensure they continue to run effectively while offering flexible working options that will both boost morale and staff productivity. So even if you can’t control the success of your sporting heroes, you can guarantee you won’t be scoring an own goal in the management of your workforce.

Register now for the 2010 Manufacturing Performance Masterclass See how leading manufacturers are achieving...

13th OCTOBER Heritage Motor Centre Warwickshire (J12 off M40)

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VISIT WWW.MPM2010.CO.UK OR CALL 0117 920 9405 TODAY FOR SPEAKER & AGENDA DETAILS AND TO BOOK YOUR PLACE Chaired by Peter Willmott:

50

Sponsored by:

In Media Partnership with:

David McCubbine Marshall Aerospace David is a lead design engineer for Marshall Aerospace’s Technology, Products & Services group and for the last year and a half has been working on a project to develop new fuel tank inerting systems. The project is now bearing fruit and Marshall is developing a brand new fuel tank inerting product which it is looking to sell to a number of civil airlines. This product generates inert gas on board the aircraft and delivers it into the fuel tanks to enable the civil aircraft operators to meet recently mandated FAA legislation.

Having

been involved in the project since its inception eighteen months ago, David was initially part of the team that set about understanding the technology and then designing new products. He is now working with cross functional teams across the design, manufacture, installation and planning departments to ensure concurrent engineering methods result in manufacturing techniques which are compatible with assembly and that installation can happen smoothly.

“The challenge of coming up with a new idea and taking it from concept to product, using all of the high end technology that we have at Marshall, is definitely the most rewarding part of this job,” says David. “It’s all very good sketching something out on paper but when you see that design as a product sitting in front of you it is a great buzz.”

The challenge of coming up with a new idea and taking it from concept to product, using all of the high end technology that we have at Marshall, is definitely the most rewarding part of this job He feels it’s an exciting time to be involved in aerospace engineering. “As designers and manufacturers in this industry, we have a lot of work cut out for us,” he says. “We’re now at a time when aeroplanes need to be as light weight and efficient as possible and the only way to do so is to reengineer all of the different components in terms of materials, size and they way the work.

“We spend a lot of time reducing the weight of existing components and systems that are already coming off the production lines and this involves collaborations between the design and manufacturing departments to come up with new ideas and techniques.”

One project David is currently working on to this regard is developing bonding systems to replace mechanical fastenings. This will also bring cost benefits as well as improved efficiency.

Other major projects David has worked on at Marshall range from aircraft avionic upgrades and aircraft rebuild and repairs and these projects included stints in Switzerland and Holland. Also, over the course of a year, he undertook secondments to other areas of the business including commercial, marketing and business development, manufacturing, and production.

CV in brief – Phil Windred, David McCubbine Managing Director of Marshall Aerospace’s Age: 28 Technology, Products & Services group, Employment: says “We’re very Marshall Aerospace graduate scheme excited by our Marshall Aerospace lead design development of an engineer inerting system which Education to date: is making full use of BA Honours degree in Aeronautical Marshall’s aircraft Engineering at Loughborough, engineering and including a placement year certification skills. undertaken at Marshall Aerospace.

David has played a key role in developing our concept and has proven himself to be one of our most able young engineers with a great future ahead of him.”

Just started a second degree in design, manufacture, and business management.

Hobbies: Football, Cycling, Flying – Marshall sponsored PPL scheme

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

51

Handling success

As well as a vast range of counterbalance and warehouse forklifts, IMHX will showcase products and services from right across the logistics industry.

The International Materials Handling Exhibition, organised by Quartz Publishing & Exhibitions, is one of the UK’s top 10 largest trade shows. With nearly a third of the show’s visitors involved in manufacturing, Quartz will be working with The Manufacturer as its media partner for this sector.

Event

director, Rob Fisher, is justifiably proud of the International Material Handling Exhibition (IMHX), which will open its doors from 16-19 November at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. Held every three years, it is the undisputed leader in UK logistics events, showcasing the products and services of over 300 exhibitors and attracting over 19,000 visitors during its 4-day tenure at the NEC. The 2010 event is once again set to feature all the industry’s major players, with exhibits from right across the supply chain – from forklift

52

trucks and automated handling systems, through stretchwrappers and pallet racking, to software systems and capital financing solutions.

Logistics – a key discipline The UK logistics industry is worth more than £74bn per annum and employs a staggering one in twelve of the nation’s workers. It is at the forefront of the country’s economic growth – after all, everything manufactured, assembled and produced here is dependent on having the right supply chain and logistics infrastructure in place. “Companies need to ensure that raw material is available when needed,” says Fisher, “and that finished goods arrive at the marketplace in the right location, at the correct time. In between, stock needs to be stored, tracked & traced and delivered line-side on demand.

Inventory levels are critical: too much stock cripples cash flow and the balance sheet, while too little can mean not having that vital component on site, which can see production grinding to a halt and haemorrhaging cash along the way. “Simply put,” concludes Fisher, “getting your logistics operations right can save millions.”

Specialfeature IMHX

Everything for the modern warehouse under one roof at IMHX As well as a vast range of counterbalance and warehouse forklifts, IMHX will showcase products and services from right across the logistics industry.

In response to the ever-increasing support for the show from the automated sector, this year’s IMHX will feature a special pavilion hosted by AMHSA (Automated Material Handling Systems Association).

Many of the automated system suppliers at this year’s show are exhibiting for the third successive time. “Taking place only once every three years, IMHX has to be a key consideration in our marketing plans,” says David James, managing director of Knapp UK Ltd. “It is undoubtedly the biggest UK materials handling show, in terms of footfall and exposure.” Adds Bob Jane, business development manager (systems group) for SSI Schaefer: “The show allows us to achieve a number of sales and marketing objectives at once – direct sales, databasebuilding, corporate hospitality, market research, brand awareness and product demonstration.”

Other special features within IMHX 2010 include a pavilion for members of the Food Storage and Distribution Federation (FSDF) and an Environmental Zone – sponsored by Shell Gas (LPG) – where visitors will be able to offset the CO2 from their travel to the show, at no cost to themselves, using a carbon calculator. “The environmental issues within the logistics sector are mainly driven by the major retailers which now really drive carbon reduction not only through their own business but also through their supply chain,” says Fisher. “The Environmental Zone is designed to inform those responsible for logistics and transport within their business of the most recent developments in environmental efficiency and carbon reduction and assist them to implement those initiatives.”

Show timed right for recovery There can be no doubt that 2009 was an annus horribilis for Britain’s materials handling industry.

Figures from the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) reveal that orders for forklifts fell 33.6% last year, consolidating a 14.5% fall during 2008. However, James Clark, secretary general of BITA believes there are now reasons to be optimistic. BITA’s latest economic forecast – prepared by independent consultancy, Oxford Economics – provides evidence of heartening trends, with orders for counterbalance trucks expected to increase by over 15% during 2010 and those for warehouse trucks by almost 8%. “The note of optimism in the latest forecast,” says Clark, “arises from the overall improvements in the economic climate since the last forecast. GDP increased in Q4 2009 after six consecutive quarters of decline, with improvements in all the key forklift truck consuming sectors. Manufacturing activity rebounded in the second half of the year driven by exports and restocking. Meanwhile the service sector rose in line with GDP in the fourth quarter and even construction output rebounded in Q3 2009.”

With the economic downturn renewing the focus of UK industry on cost reduction, many handling suppliers are marketing innovative solutions that will minimise logistics costs for production plants and distribution centres. Most IMHX exhibitors are confident that the exhibition’s November date will allow them to benefit from the recovering economy. Simon Emery, managing director of Crown Lift Trucks UK Ltd, says, “IMHX seems to be timed right to ride the tide of an improving market. Most economic forecasts are predicting improvement in the fourth quarter of this year and 2011 being the year of upturn, so a November exhibition should exploit that.” Sally Baker, marketing manager at Briggs Equipment, distributor of Cat lift trucks, is equally optimistic, commenting that there are “some very hot sectors” and that the future looks brighter. “Not only has Briggs won some key orders already in 2010,” she says, “but the pipeline is also looking very encouraging.”

Having commissioned research earlier this year among previous IMHX visitors, the show’s organisers are equally confident. A reassuring 71% of respondents said that they had plans to purchase new logistics or materials handling equipment in either 2011 or 2012, with 92% of those that answered this question stating that their visit to IMHX would influence their buying decision. Almost 65% of respondents said that they expected to spend up to £250,000 on new logistics and materials handling equipment in 2011, with nearly 15% expecting to spend in excess of £1m. Over 47% of respondents planning to purchase equipment in 2011 expected to have a larger logistics and materials handling budget than in 2010, with a further 40% expecting to have about the same budget in 2011 as they have had this year. Naturally, the IMHX team was delighted that two-thirds of respondents agreed that the show is the best place to find new suppliers of logistics and materials handling equipment.

The Manufacturer: media partner for manufacturing UK manufacturers work in highly competitive markets and are constantly looking to cut waste and cost wherever possible. The IMHX team believes that, for many businesses, logistics is one area where substantial efficiencies can still be achieved. “IMHX provides visitors with a unique opportunity to engage with suppliers who can help improve their materials handling and logistics operations and ultimately save them money,” says Rob Fisher. “Investment in new technology and innovative processes can deliver massive savings, with return on investment often achieved within a couple of years. We are delighted to be working with The Manufacturer magazine to help deliver the show’s and our exhibitors’ core messages and we will be looking to encourage manufacturing executives across the UK to visit IMHX 2010.”

To find out more about IMHX and to register for your free priority pass for the UK’s premier logistics event, simply visit www.imhx.biz

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

53

C O L L A B O R A T I O N f or S u cc e ss

Collaboration between universities and British manufacturing is crucial to innovation and the development of processes and products. Colin Chinery looks at some of the variations on offer in a fastdeveloping landscape.

55

Back to school

“O

bscure” and with academic

When formally launched at the end of the year it

performance metrics that “don’t

will be the only purpose-built hybrid powertrain

generally speak to business

testing facility in Britain not owned and operated

demands.” This was CBI director-

by an individual automotive company. Part of the

general Richard Lambert speaking at the University

Birmingham Science City initiative, it will provide the

of Bath School Of Management earlier this year. The

region with a state of the art test and characterisation

target of his stricture? The operational relevance to

facility for hybrid vehicle powertrains.

British manufacturing of research output from UK business schools.

Lambert of course is an authoritative voice on

One of six English Science Cities, the BSC is a strong

the cruciality to the British economy of academia-

partnership of public, private and research sectors

industry collaboration. His 2003 Report was

using science, technology and innovation to drive

a landmark on the issue, and seven years on

prosperity and quality of life.

interaction between universities and manufacturing is impressive and increasingly productive.

“The USP of the Science City collaboration is that although we are the custodians of this equipment

And the driving force is the focus Lambert

in the universities, it is part of the contract that we

finds missing in much business school-industry

make this equipment available to local industries,

interaction - the ‘What’s in it for the manufacturer?’

and that we go out and tell them about it,” says

relevance: Ideas into Application. Among

Professor Pam Thomas.

current examples of thriving academia-industry

56

Driving Prosperity

Professor Thomas is director of the Science

collaboration is a unique £2.28m Vehicle Energy

City Research Alliance, a collaborative research

Facility for the Midlands.

programme between the Universities of Birmingham

C ollaboration f or S u cc e ss

and Warwick, and funded by Advantage West

Manufacturers are increasingly recognising the

Midlands and the Higher Education Funding Council

benefits of working with universities like Cranfield

for England and Wales.

to develop their ideas at reduced risk and cost to

“We don’t wait for them to come to us, and have six business engagement managers on the project

their organisation.

Universities can provide ready-made

to go out and tell industry in a pro-active way what

environments for testing and researching ideas to

is here, how they can access it. And then we are

ensure they are viable technologies for deployment

obliged to make it open to them. It’s often said of

in the marketplace; businesses gain an insight into

university-manufacturing interactions that we don’t

current research and future developments.

work on a fast enough or flexible enough time scale.

Within the university sectors there are of course

Well this is a fast track into using the latest state of

disparities of approach, positioning and delivery.

the art equipment and technology.”

“The biggest difference here I believe is that we

Cultural disparities between academia and

look at a project with an industry as a far more

manufacturing have been another barrier. But

long-term relationship development - I call it a

attitudes have moved on, and Professor Richard

complete package,” says Rajkumar Roy, Professor of

Dashwood of WMG at the University of Warwick

Competitive Design and head of the Manufacturing

says British industry engaging with universities is

Department at Cranfield University.

no longer an issue. “It’s actually something that works quite well.

The big companies like Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems all have active engagements with universities, and our university has long standing relationships with Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Motors.

“In the building I’m in at the moment we’ve got the Tata

Universities are very keen to talk to industry.

That’s our job Professor Richard Dashwood, academic director and Professor of Engineering Materials, Warwick University

European Technology Centre two floors above me and Corus Automotive Research base on the floor below.

Wealth generation

It’s acknowledged that universities have a very

“From the outset Cranfield has been working

important role to play. I think you’ll find that most

with industry, solving industrial problems and

industries have reduced the amount of corporate

wealth generation. That’s really what our remit

research they are doing themselves and are farming

is. And in that process, and as a post-graduate

this out to universities and leverage so much

university, we research what is necessary to

Government funding.”

support wealth creation and support industry. So

Lambert, says Professor Mike Gregory, head of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of

our focus is very much applied research - that is the differentiator.

Cambridge, showed that while the willingness of

“For example, when you come in and work

universities to engage with industry had increased

with my team I don’t just sell one small individual

dramatically, it is essential to make industry aware

project. I’ll say ‘let’s sit down and understand what

of the opportunities. “What has happened since

you need. Maybe you don’t need a research project,

is that universities have become arguably much

maybe you need some consultancy or short courses

better at presenting themselves to industry. If I was

or maybe you just need to train your people up and

looking at the developments since Lambert it would

we can help you with the relevant programme.’ It’s

be the growth and professionalism of university-

a whole package approach and it works.

industry links.”

Critical impetus

“Investment in manufacturing research should focus on excellence. We have to careful not to dilute whatever pot of money we have to everybody and

Collaboration as a critical impetus for UK

make it very democratic but at the same time very

manufacturing was a theme emphasised by speakers

ineffective. So promote excellence, focus on a few

at the recent National Manufacturing Debate,

key areas and pump money into that to become

organised by Cranfield University.

significant globally.”

57

C ollaboration f or S u cc e ss

For Richard Dashwood, academic director and Professor of Engineering Materials at Warwick, an important feature that differentiates his university

IfM students on a post-graduate Masters course in Industrial Systems Manufacture and Management at a Mars factory in Peterborough. Image coutesy of Institute for Manufacturing

from others “is that we believe very much in market pull.”

Technology push “A lot of universities sit there and will develop technologies and ideas, and once they’ve developed them will go to industry, tell them what they have done and ask whether they are interested. And of course you can develop a lot of technologies that nobody’s interested in. I call that technology push.

“We tend to engage with industry and the funding bodies very early on in our processes to identify the problems that need solving, look at the potential solutions and then write our research projects around that. So it’s very much a case of early engagement with industry, and market pull over technology push.”

The Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) is a division of the Cambridge University Department of Engineering, and Peter Templeton, chief executive officer IfM Education and Consultancy Services, sees two factors distinguishing it from other academic departments working in the field. perhaps economics or government policy specialisms.” And that in

If I was looking at the developments since Lambert it would be the growth and professionalism of universityindustry links

itself presents structural

Professor Mike Gregory, head of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge

University’s four year

and funding challenges which tends to inhibit the multi-disciplinary process taking place, says Templeton.

Loughborough sponsored IMechE and IET accredited MEng programme in Innovative

“One is that rather than concentrating on a specific, tightly-focussed subject domain,

developed in collaboration with a consortium of

we’ve set out to understand the full life-cycle of

sponsoring companies, including Rolls-Royce,

manufacturing. This extends from markets and

Bentley, and Caterpillar.

technologies through strategy, product and process, design, production and supply, network design

High flyers’ route

and operation, and on through life service. All this

This is a high flyers route, aimed at ambitious

within an economics and policy context. We have

career-minded students with an eye on becoming

about 180 people conducting research across policy,

tomorrow’s manufacturing leaders. A key feature

management and technology areas.

is that each registered student has the opportunity

“Most universities would approach that

58

Manufacturing Engineering is a unique course

to be sponsored by the consortium for the duration

very broad subject domain with input from the

of their studies, followed by a dedicated route to

engineering department, the business school and

employment after graduation.

Lean Thinking Education Education & Events 2010

COURSES MSc in Lean Operations Exclusive 2 year part time executive Masters Degree

Short Courses & Training • 10 day Principles of Lean Thinking • 3 day Lean Leadership • 1 Day Lean Games Day • TWI (Training Within Industry) Training • Project Based Learning • Bespoke Training & Research Projects • Lean Competency System – accredited in-

house training programmes

‘Excellent delivery and style. Extremely useful and thought provoking’ LERC student

‘I saw lean applied from exhausts to nuclear fuel rods, to the ordnance survey. The quality of teaching is very high with subject experts attending the sessions to provide a different perspective’ MSc Lean Operations student

Annual Conference LERC Conference – 6 July 2010 Keynote speaker Mike Rother, author of Toyota Kata

‘Everyone genuinely wants to share knowledge. The spirit that exists between the class and the various lecturers has been first class’ LERC student

The Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC) LERC is the leading centre for lean thinking in Europe. Founded by Prof Peter Hines and Dan Jones in 1994, it set up the first ever Masters programme in lean operations in 1999. LERC specialises in applied research, teaching, knowledge transfer and training. For more information, email info@leanenterprise.org.uk or tel 029 2064 7028.

www.leanenterprise.org.uk

Lean Enterprise Research Centre

LERC & Industry Collaborations Award Winning University Collaboration The Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC) is one of Cardiff Business School’s leading research and executive education centres and is the School’s largest contributor of applied research and executive education.

F

companies to academic partners.

The company identifies a dedicated project Associate to work on a specific issue, who is mentored by an academic partner. KTPs usually last around two to three years, during which significant gains can be made.

Benefits for Businesses are: Access to qualified people to spearhead new projects Access to experts who can help take your business forward The development of innovative solutions to help businesses grow

ormed in 1994, LERC is

the often invisible and hard to

a Shingo prize winning

emulate aspects of successful lean

recipient and is one of

organisations, namely strategy

Europe’s leading lean

and alignment, leadership and

education centres, its MSc in

engagement. The book is available

Lean Operations being the first

for download at the LERC website.

dedicated lean learning Master’s

Increasing competitive advantage Improving performance through improved business operations Increasing profitability

education and collaborative

World Renowned Teachers, Researchers and Thought Leaders

project work. In 2009, a lean

LERC has long been known for the

‘flow’ programme LERC designed

quality of its teaching and research

for Bombardier won their Annual

staff. John Bicheno, Director of

in annual profits before tax

Accomplishment Award, its

the MSc Lean Operations, is an

The creation of three genuine

process designers praised for their

Amazon best seller. His book,

depth of knowledge and rigour

The Lean Toolbox, has been

of methodology. The work has

used by companies worldwide

been identified as an area of best

as a reference point for all things

practice within the group.

lean. John Darlington is a Lean

course in the world.

LERC has a long heritage of industry linked research,

Business performance outputs vary considerably but on average, the business benefits that can be expected from a single KTP project (typical duration 1-3 years) are: An increase of over £220,000

new jobs An increase in the skills of existing staff

LERC & the Shingo Prize

Co-Founder, Peter Hines, has

Leading the Way in Company Hosted Executive Education

been influential in the emerging

The MSc in Lean Operations,

LERC’s Dr Pauline Found and

field of Lean and Green and

LERC’s flagship course, offers a

co-founder, Peter Hines, were

Visiting Professor John Seddon

unique opportunity for Master’s

recently recognised as Shingo

is widely known for his work on

level education. The first ever lean

Research and Professional

Systems Thinking.

thinking degree for practising

Publication Prize Recipients for

Accounting thought leader. LERC

operations, production and

– Thriving, Not Just Surviving.’

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

The book uses the Lean Iceberg

LERC has developed strong

leading global companies. One of

Model, which in addition to lean

partnerships with businesses

the unique aspects of the scheme is

process management, offers

in the UK through Knowledge

that many of the sessions are taught

a method of bringing about

Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).

in company locations, enabling

sustainable change by addressing

KTPs are government backed

a highly contextual and practical

their publication ‘Staying Lean

60

programmes which link

manufacturing managers, the course has attracted students from

Companies benefit from sending

applied research. Many research

This has often led to breakthroughs

several lean change agents on this

projects involve working with

in process thinking, and ultimately,

course on a rolling basis, often

organisations in the application of

cost and efficiency savings.

supported by a lean champion

lean techniques or in developing

on the MSc Lean Operations. In

and adapting tools to new

to a need to develop lean

Initially developed in response

addition, several companies add

circumstances. In particular, LERC’s

experts that could drive through

bespoke or supporting courses or

research explores the implications

implementation programmes in

opt for in-house accreditation

of applying the lean approach to

organisations and their supply

(see Lean Competency System

the whole value stream and across

chains, the manufacturing stream

training below).

industries and sectors.

has proved highly successful and

LERC has also led the way in

Projects generally last from

has been oversubscribed each year

terms of Lean Leadership training,

one to three years, though we

since its launch. A new stream –

with courses attracting teams of

regularly undertake a number of

the service stream – has also been

change agents from all over the UK.

shorter pilot projects. Funding

added to the portfolio and has

This course can be run as a bespoke

for research is obtained directly

attracted retail and distribution

course in teams of eight or more.

from sponsoring organisations,

students, as well as service operations managers.

Companies represented on the course have included Westinghouse, Ford, BAE Systems, GKN, GSK, MoD, Johnson & Johnson, Bombardier, Rolls Royce and De Beers to name but a few.

Newer courses include Lean

which include businesses,

and Green, Lean Accounting and a

government bodies and other

new Lean Games Workshop. More

research agencies.

information is on the LERC website.

Lean Competency System Accredited Training

The Lean Management Journal LERC publishes case studies and

The Lean Competency System

research findings in its Sayone

(LCS) is a lean qualifications

Media collaborative journal, The

system, set up originally to

Lean Management Journal. Set up

accredit company in-house

in 2009, the journal is the first of

thinking, as opposed to the

training systems. It is now also

its kind in the world, dedicated to

‘one methodology fits all’

available for individuals on a

the enhancement of learning in

approach adopted by many

direct-entry basis.

the area of lean thinking.

Benefits to Companies include: A 360° perspective on lean

consultancies and other

It aims to provide a structured offering a practical oriented

Europe’s Leading Lean Conference

opportunities to implement

hierarchy of lean qualifications

LERC offers an annual ‘Innovations

lean thinking

– or “learning ladder” – around

in Lean Thinking’ conference in

which employees can develop

Cardiff in the first week of July

their lean thinking skills, or for

each year. It invites the highest

an organisation to develop a lean

calibre speakers. This year on

lean champions at the

competency strategy for

6th July, the keynote is Mike

highest level

its workforce.

Rother, author of Toyota Kata and

training organisations.

Practical ‘real world’

Significant networking opportunities The opportunity to develop

The opportunity to host a

lean qualifications system,

LERC is currently working with

Learning to See. An unmissable

course module and kaizen

several companies to develop their

opportunity for lean networking

event, led by LERC staff.

lean training expertise in-house

and learning.

using LCS, examples of which

The LERC conference DVD 2009 is

include Mars Dubai, KPMG, Virgin

available to order online

Media, SAP, Unipart and various

www.leanenterprise.org.uk

Bespoke and Public Short Courses LERC has offered short public courses for nearly ten years. Its

Cardiff Business School

approach to learning to take place.

service organisations.

Principles of Lean Thinking course

Applied Research

is now a recognised industry

LERC’s research approach has

standard for the dissemination of

a number of dimensions and

key lean thinking concepts and has

encompasses the traditional

attracted global representation.

academic activities as well as

For more information please visit: www.leanenterprise.org.uk

61

The industrial consortium of sponsoring companies

International reputation

plays an active role in the development and delivery

The University is home to one of Britain’s top

of the course, providing lecture material, projects

engineering and computing faculties, the

and company visits, and involvement at the

Faculty of Engineering, with an international

interviewing and selection stages.

reputation for teaching and research. And

The core fundamentals, says Jon Petzing, senior

the overall aim of the programme is to equip

lecturer in Metrology at Loughborough’s Wolfson

participants with the knowledge and skills needed

School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,

to create forward looking, innovative and dynamic

“Are academic excellence and industrial relevant?

manufacturing organisations.

How do we achieve that? We make sure the

“The MSc has been running since 2007, and

companies are there and the students are seeing them

this year will be our fourth intake of the course,”

as early as possible, realising why we are doing it, and

says Stephanie Abraham of the University of Leeds.

that it is not an academic exercise. It’s about preparing

Originally put together in conjunction with Yorkshire

the new tranche of engineers for the future.”

Forward and MAS Yorkshire and Humberside, it is

Manufacturing Leadership is the subject of a high

based on a traditional MBA type of education and,

quality programme offered by a business school

says Abraham, would be considered a ‘sector specific

that would pass Richard Lambert’s industry relevant

MBA’ outside of the UK.

test - Leeds University Business School (LUBS). The

“The course takes people from manufacturing,

Executive Masters in Manufacturing Leadership

engineering, technology type organisations and

addresses the needs of manufacturing professionals

provides them with the theory and means of looking

facing the challenges of fast pace technological

at their own organisation, industry, market and

progress, and is organised in conjunction with the

competition. While primarily for organisational

University of Leeds’ Faculty of Engineering and the

benefit, the individual obviously gains a lot on a

Keyworth Institute.

personal level.”

IfM students on a post-graduate Masters course in Industrial Systems Manufacture and Management at a Mars factory in Peterborough. Image coutesy of Institute for Manufacturing

62

C ollaboration f or S u cc e ss

The challenge for SMEs

why I emphasise the need for some sort of regional

But while university collaboration is part of the

support for these companies.”

everyday mindset of companies like Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems, it is often viewed as distant and

At Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, Peter Templeton has been working in the area of

unattainable by SMEs. “I don’t blame them,” says Professor Roy. “The problem is about available resources for SMEs to think forward.

They are so tied and fighting day-to-day to survive that they haven’t got the space to think about future developments. They don’t even have the time to come

The notional charge for taking part, covering administration is £500 typically. For this you get engagement with fertile minds Jon Petzing ,Senior lecturer in Metrology, Wolfson School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University

and have a meeting in a university and think about what they should be doing next year and how they

SMEs since 2001. One objective is to codify and

can reposition.

package knowledge in a form accessible to SMEs,

“I’m generalising here somewhat; there are a lot

and disseminating these tools at workshops and in

of small companies that are doing very well with

education modules. “We’ve worked with well over

Cranfield. But it’s more of an intervention approach

500 smaller companies and one of the key issues we

rather than them coming in and spending time

have found is that senior managers work within the

with us. And the majority do struggle, which is

business as well as on the business,” he says.

A high quality programme offered by one of the country’s leading Business Schools in conjunction with the University of Leeds’ Faculty of Engineering through the interdisciplinary Keyworth Institute.

Designed to meet the needs of manufacturing professionals who face the challenges created by the fast pace of technological progress, the globalisation of markets and the pressures for sustainable development.

The uniqueness of the programme is provided by the combination of cutting-edge theory in business and engineering with its practical application in the context of personal and organisational development. This combination is achieved by a strong academic input supported by practitioners from leading technology and manufacturing companies and creative teaching approaches.

For further details and an application form, please contact: T: + 44 (0) 113 343 3735 E: s.abraham@leeds.ac.uk W: www.manufacturingleadership.leeds.ac.uk

63

C ollaboration f or S u cc e ss

Effective and accessible

“One output of this process is how the senior

“For example, they might be working as head of

management team sees the priorities. And this will

operations or on the design and development side

often show that it has a diverse set of views, with

or in sales and marketing. This means they have very

perhaps the MD seeing quality being very important

little time to focus on strategy and capability issues.

and others seeing it as less important. We would

Business support tools for SMEs therefore need to be

then facilitate discussion about communication

very effective and efficient and accessible.

within the senior management team.”

“The second need we found is to be able to prioritise, and make sure that any support or intervention is aligned with the priorities of business, and this is really important. So we have built up a tool set which effectively helps

We have to be careful not to dilute whatever pot of money we have to everybody and make it very democratic but at the same time very ineffective Rajkumar Roy, Professor of Competitive Design and head of Manufacturing Department, Cranfield University

our practitioners to engage with SMEs in a way where we go in for a very short intervention

‘How well is the business doing?’

but have a big impact

Continues Templeton, “Another output is the

“The first intervention is with the prioritisation

performance of the capabilities; innovation, supply

tool. We do a factory tour, talk to people across the

management, demand generation etc, and we can

business, and in this process identify how the firm

say how well is the business doing in these areas.

competes. Is it on the basis of price, quality, and

Then we plot those elements on a performance

delivery or on a form of distinctive customer value,

importance matrix to identify the high priority

for example product or service leadership?

areas which are performing less well. This then

“Then we will ask what the relative importance of the business constraints is? Are they constrained by demand, by supply base, by cash, plant and

informs the development of an action plan to improve the business.”

For the SME the bottom line impact can be

equipment? Then we assess through a structured

impressive. Last year, for example, IfM collaborated

questionnaire how the capabilities that underpin

with a specialist supplier in the auto sector, revising

how they win business are performing.

its business strategy. The result was a year-on

Sustainable Manufacturing

A sustainable future in manufacturing It is now widely accepted that manufacturing industries have a major contribution to make in the preservation of the earth’s environment system. Cranfield University’s Dr Peter Ball and Professor Steve Evans outline how Cranfield is addressing this challenge through a focus on research and education.

O

perating sustainably can make organisations more competitive, more flexible in a fast-changing world and more likely to attract loyal customers and employees.

Increasingly, organisations are focusing on the promotion of renewable material use, lower energy use, remanufacturing and waste minimisation, creating a wealth of new products, processes and business models. ©iStockphoto.com/sorbetto

“Sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” World Commission on the Environment and Development

Examples include using reusable packaging, reducing use of production equipment in periods of least demand, and using more energy efficient devices. Water conservation is another obvious area. Companies are reducing their water demand and there are examples of companies harvesting rainwater with low investment, saving significant sums in water for the cleaning of facilities. Use of condensers to recover water from steam systems and return it to boilers can also save energy.

While this demonstrates a reduction in environmental impact, the complexity of the problem and the differences in individual systems and diversity of views makes it difficult to identify widely

acceptable courses of action.

Universities have an important role to play in shaping appropriate and effective wider courses of action.

Environmental experts have made significant contributions already, but there is a need for experts concerned with industrial design and operations to use their knowledge to develop more sustainable industrial systems.

Collaboration Indeed, at universities such as Cranfield, well known for its research in both the manufacturing and environmental sectors, academics are building on the opportunity for collaboration between environmentalists and industrialists to develop effective strategies that address the larger industrial system as a whole.

In a major report on industrial sustainability entitled ‘Towards a sustainable industrial system’, Professor Steve Evans of Cranfield University, lead author of the report, nicely sums up the role of manufacturing in creating a sustainable future, “The industrial system is not just part of the problem, it has to be part of the solution.”

www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/tm

Sustainable Manufacturing

One example of collaborative research in this area is the THERM project currently being undertaken by a number of companies and Cranfield, with funding through the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), The research project aims to create modelling and simulation tools to enable manufacturing operations to identify how waste products from one area can be effectively harnessed as inputs to other areas. The target is to achieve 30% improvements in material efficiency and energy and to disseminate these across a broad range of UK industry.

Pioneering education In acknowledging these challenges, Cranfield also recognises the need for skilled professionals with the ability to blend manufacturing operations concepts with the values and techniques required to minimise environmental impact.

Dr Peter Ball, Senior Lecturer in Manufacturing Operations, commented, “Whilst there is increasing focus in industry on the adoption of low carbon technologies and on measuring the carbon footprint of operations, there is a lack of skills and knowledge in applying current manufacturing techniques around emerging technologies to become low carbon.”

to lead projects that will reduce non-renewable material use, energy use and generation of waste.

Cranfield, ranked 3rd in the UK for the impact of its research in aeronautical, mechanical and manufacturing engineering by the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and home to the UK’s second largest Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre (IMRC) is well placed to deliver up-to-date knowledge and skills to the next generation of manufacturing engineers able to run competitive and efficient manufacturing organisations and with an understanding of environmental issues.

Mike South, Director of Jonathan Lee Recruitment Group, and a member of the Industrial Advisory Panel for the course, said, "We have frequently been unable to identify suitable candidates to fill key vacancies demanding a depth of understanding in sustainability.

This course is a pioneering step forward, and its students will undoubtedly make a major contribution to developing greater sustainability in industry."

Peter is also Course Director for Cranfield’s new MSc in Sustainable Manufacturing. The course draws on Cranfield’s leading research in manufacturing, natural resources and sustainable systems to provide graduates with the ability to combine manufacturing design and operations concepts, tools and techniques with the values, thinking and techniques required

www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/tm

Students on the programme engage in sustainable manufacturing projects sponsored by leading manufacturing organisations from a range of sectors. Projects have included reducing energy consumption and waste to landfill for a leisure equipment company, using material, energy and waste flows in an aerospace company and creating a knowledge hub for green production.

The manufacturing industry has evolved through the need to constantly develop to stay ahead of the competition and to adapt to technological change, in order to survive. Those organisations that take the opportunity now to plan for a sustainable future will be better placed to adapt to new forces and indeed benefit from them.

Dr Peter Ball is Senior Lecturer in Manufacturing Operations and Course Director of the MSc Sustainable Manufacturing.

E: p.d.ball@cranfield.ac.uk Professor Steve Evans is Professor of Life Cycle Engineering.

E: steve.evans@cranfield.ac.uk

©iStockphoto.com/mrfotos

Courses for manufacturing professionals Bursaries up to £5000 + fees*

Cranfield University is ranked in the top three UK universities for the impact of our mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing research**. We operate one of the UK’s largest Innovative Manufacturing Research Centres, and are focused on applying knowledge to address complex real-life industrial issues.

Exclusively postgraduate, we offer a range of internationally renowned full and part-time programmes, many accredited by professional institutions, for manufacturing professionals and highly motivated graduates seeking to advance their career:

• • • • • • • • • •

MSc Sustainable Manufacturing MSc Operations Excellence MSc Manufacturing Consultancy MSc Management and Information Systems MSc Knowledge Management for Innovation MSc Global Product Development and Management MSc Enterprise Systems and Implementation MSc Engineering and Management of Manufacturing Systems MDes Innovation and Creativity in Industry MDes Design and Innovation for Sustainability

We also offer funded PhD and MSc by Research opportunities and an exclusive portfolio of specialist short courses.

T: +44 (0)1234 754086 E: appliedsciences@cranfield.ac.uk W: www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/tm * Full time students only, conditions apply, details on application ** Research Assessment Exercise 2008 (RAE)

Register for our next open day www.cranfield.ac.uk/openday

WorldFirst Hybrid Westfield Racing Car Launches at Goodwood Festival of Speed WMG Research Engineer Stephen Lambert unveiled the WorldFirst Hybrid Westfield racing car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July introducing electric hybrid cars to club racing. The car performed two runs each day on the famous Goodwood hill climb and was on display in the FoS Tech pavilion.

The WorldFirst Hybrid Westfield Racing car showcases an innovative drivetrain, which, is capable of propelling the vehicle from 0-60 miles per hour in under 4 seconds.

This incredible acceleration is achieved through the use of an innovative four-wheel drive system which increases the available traction. A formula one style “push to pass” button controls the power generated by the two 75kW motors which, in turn, use a formula one style inboard suspension to drive the front wheels independently of the 195bhp turbo charged engine, a first for Westfield Sports Cars.

The innovative battery package, manufactured using advanced e-manufacturing techniques allows cool air to flow around the individual lithium – ion cells and therefore the batteries can both be run at higher powers whilst achieve a longer burst in power Stephen has worked with project partner EOS in developing this technology which allows the batteries to be situated within the tight packaging constraints of the Westfield Sportscars Chassis. Project partner and Managing Director of Potenza Technology, Paul Faithfull said “The knowledge gained and transferred by working with WMG has led to the robust design and manufacture of reliable battery solutions which could potentially be used in many platforms.”

By working closely with the project partners a system that performs to the highest standards of motorsport has been achieved. It is possible to run the car in electric only mode and in fact, collaboration partners Westfield Sportscars and Potenza technology have used the knowledge

that Stephen has gained from the development of this hybrid, to also develop a new all electric racing car (the Westfield iRacer).

WMG Principal Fellow, Dr Steve Maggs, said “Following the success of this prototype, there is potential for the system to be rolled out for production and sale by Westfield Sportscars. In fact, the system that has been developed is pioneering in that it can be fully integrated into any motor vehicle and therefore has numerous potential exciting applications for the future of both motorsport and the automotive industry”.

Principal Teaching Fellow Dr Steve Maggs and researcher Stephen Lambert

The road to Low Carbon Vehicles For 30 years WMG has been at the forefront of using new materials, challenging conventional thinking to help business and industry develop innovative products. Concerns about the environment and use of natural resources have been embedded in our research for many years. Driven by a research team which combines both industrial and academic experience, WMG’s research expertise ensures delivery of innovative solutions for our partners. WMG has had a strong relationship with the automotive industry, having collaborated on a number of high profile projects.

In 2003 WMG launched the £72M Premium Automotive R&D (PARD) Programme, which was supported by Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and JLR with the purpose to improve the design and manufacturing capability of the West Midlands automotive supply base. At its height a multi-disciplinary team of over one hundred professional engineers and academics worked on nineteen separate Glen Turley taking a digital projects within WMG. Several hundred laser scan of the Jaguar XF companies of all sizes were involved, from the largest partner JLR, through major Tier 1 suppliers, to numerous smaller operations. The programme has delivered over 640 business assists, 5700 jobs safeguarded and introduced over 270 new products and processes.

The success of the PARD Programme has led to the launch of two new Premium Vehicle Centres of Excellence, jointly funded by AWM and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Premium

Vehicle Lightweight Technologies Centre is focused on finding new and innovative ways to reduce the weight of cars, thus reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The Premium Vehicle Customer Interface Technologies Centre is a unique research and development facility that provides companies direct access to the latest product evaluation technologies and processes along with the expertise to identify solutions appropriate to real world engineering problems.

The impact of the PARD programme and ongoing contribution of the Premium Vehicle Centres of Excellence helped contribute to the creation by the Government of the Midlands Low Carbon Economic Area for Advanced Automotive Engineering in February 2010. Lord Mandelson, the former Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, launched the Economic Area and the £29m Low Carbon Vehicle Technology Project which is funded by AWM, ERDF and industry.

This collaborative research and development project is set to shape the future of passenger transport. The aim is to develop and validate a range of new technologies, which will result in the significant reduction of CO2 emissions from automotive vehicles. Fifteen workstreams will be delivered by the project partners WMG, Jaguar Land Rover, TATA Motors, Ricardo and Zytek, supported by Coventry University, MIRA, Cranfield University and Midlands based supply chain companies. WMG is leading on three workstreams: Power Electronics, Lightweight Structures and Human Machine. The first prototypes should be ready by 2012, with full manufacture of vehicles featuring low carbon technologies by 2013/14.

For more information on the project visit go.warwick.ac.uk/wmgmanufacturing or contact Project Director John O’Connor on j.o’connor@warwick.ac.uk

World class research the key to UK competitiveness Never has the need to collaborate been greater than in the current economic climate. Britain finds itself in a position where if it wants to continue to compete on the world stage, it has to be able to offer new innovative products. This is the key to international competitiveness and will enable our recovery from recession.

So why do we continue to try and solve problems in isolation, surely two heads are better than one? Doesn’t it make sense that we work with partners who can help us discover and deliver ground-breaking solutions to real world problems?

Historically, British industry has not fully engaged with universities, but business leaders must start to recognise the value that research adds to their business. Growth requires world class products and processes, so we must make the most of the talent and vision that lies within our academics and work together to achieve our economic goals. The UK HE sector is one of Britain’s global strengths with universities up and down the country developing our future leaders and entrepreneurs.

The Technology Strategy Board has a budget of £1bn over three years for applied research, to support UK business and drive technologyenabled innovation.

For thirty years, WMG has been carrying out world class research to improve the competitiveness of companies through the application of value adding innovation, new technologies and skills deployment, bringing academic rigour to industrial and organisational practice.

An academic department within the University of Warwick, we were founded on our collaboration with industry and business. Our success is the result of cutting edge research and effective knowledge transfer working with companies on a global scale.

We have always seen the match between industry/ business and academic research. Companies within the automotive, aerospace, defence, healthcare, energy & utilities, food & drink, construction and pharmaceutical sectors have been collaborating with us to produce innovative products and processes since 1980. Of course there are times when they have taken a risk, but they have enjoyed the rewards of commercial impact and company growth that working with us has given them.

The world does not stand still and we are outward focused with our finger on the pulse, developing applied research in prominent fields such as digital technologies. Our Digital Lab researchers are using digital technologies to train surgeons via virtual surgery and creating software that will combat child obesity. We are working with creative industries and media companies to develop applications ranging from serious gaming to architecture and low cost house building.

Not only have we been collaborating with industry/ business and government, but we have seen more than 24,000 individuals studying on our education programmes, with over 6,000 Masters degrees awarded and the close involvement of over 500 UK companies. These industrial partnerships have enabled the Group to develop into a major industry focussed research centre. Our efforts have been rewarded and last year we were one of 21 winners of the Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.

So you see we do have the talent, skills and expertise of workers, researchers and scientists, let us embrace collaboration and work together to showcase what Britain can offer the world. For more information and collaboration opportunities visit go.warwick.ac.uk/wmgmanufacturing

C ollaboration f or S u cc e ss

revenue growth of 3%. “This doesn’t sound a

“So I would suggest come to a university, meet a

huge increase, but in the context of everyone else

few people, find those you like and want to work

declining it was a pretty good performance,”

with. Those who understand and empathise with

says Templeton.

SME constraints and are personally motivated to

“Initially they took on five people, and only last

work with SMEs. Find the right match and then it will

week another five. So against the trend of the auto

work. And universities should promote academics

sector they were able to increase employment as

who are interested in supporting SMEs, go into

well as improving profitability.” At Loughborough,

SME forums, meet people who are positive thinkers,

taking part in activities at the undergraduate

future-thinkers, and in this way develop a network.”

level is, “Hugely cost-efficient,” says Jon Petzing.

It is now very easy and convenient to go on a

“The notional charge for taking part, covering

computer and identify the centres of excellence

administration is £500 typically. For this you get

in the UK, says Professor Dashwood. “Then you

engagement with fertile minds and it’s a great

need to engage these universities, and not just

way of trying ‘What If?’ scenarios and throwing

one. Talk to a number and get the information

ideas around.

you need. Universities are very keen to talk to industry. That’s our job and we will always spend an hour or so talking if we feel there’s a potential research activity to come out of it. And companies should not be looking to fund it alone; they should be looking at matched funding at least from one of the many agencies providing it.”

Not only but also And academiamanufacturing interaction aside, the Cranfield conference speakers identified the growing importance of another area of collaboration: links between smaller organisations and large “We’ve seen many companies benefit hugely

multinationals. The latter can use the focused

from doing this sort of thing. And the further

skills and technology of smaller organisations,

you go through a degree programme the better

which in turn benefit from the expertise and

the students become because their intellectual

contacts of the larger business to improve their

knowledge grows. Some very chewy problems are

own offering.

tackled and an awful lot of this goes straight back

“Elsewhere in Europe we have seen large

into the company ready for further development.”

companies supporting small companies in the

Advice for SMEs

to take our small companies with us, and people

“The first thing is to find the right people within a

like Rolls-Royce are already doing it. They have a

university,” says Dr Roy. “University collaboration

strong local programme where they allow some of

is based on individuals and their entrepreneurship.

their facilities to be used by local SMEs.”

You must understand that in academia not everyone

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neighbourhood,” says Professor Roy. “We need

Universities and manufacturing; manufacturer

is keen to work with SMEs – they have enough

with manufacturer. In the advice of the novelist E.M.

resources to work with big boys.

Forster: “Only connect.”

GOLD Programme for a Golden Partnership Goodrich understands the value in forging a strategic relationship with educational institutions. For a number of years, Goodrich has worked with WMG to source high quality, industry specific, post graduate programmes for employees.

During the last twelve months, Goodrich has pro-actively sought to further develop this relationship. The Company now partners with WMG on postgraduate education programmes as well as on bespoke management development. WMG delivers modules on the Goodrich Operational Leadership Development programme (GOLD) via a number of tailored interventions that add real value to Goodrich’s management and leadership capabilities.

business. The WMG partnership delivers one of the highest value development programmes currently available.”

WMG has effective relationships with over 500 global companies in all sectors, including aerospace, automotive, construction, pharmaceutical and more. WMG Professional Programmes delivers part-time educational programmes at postgraduate level to over 1000 individuals per year, and has satellite operations in Hong Kong, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa with Russia due to open in 2010.

If you would like further information on how Professional Programmes would help your company, please visit go.warwick.ac.uk/ wmgptmasters/themanufacturer or call us on 02476 573 038.

Alongside this, Goodrich recognises the opportunity to leverage the relationship it has with WMG to help strategically combat the various demographic and skill base shifts that the business is facing in the future.

Dale Ballinger, Vice President and General Manager for Goodrich Engine Control and Electrical Power Systems Services (and WMG Parttime MSc Student), recognises the need for collaboration within the industry and how Goodrich is working with WMG to achieve this.

“One of the key principles of Goodrich’s People Philosophy is Training and Development. Our people differentiate us from the competition and give us competitive advantage in the market place. Investing in our people through development programmes such as the partnership with WMG is critical to our future success. WMG’s applied academic training is directly relevant to our business needs and allows for immediate application of newly acquired knowledge and skills throughout our

Participants of the Goodrich Operational Leadership Development (GOLD) programme, in partnership with WMG

Industrial collaboration in Supply Professionalism Zeneca first started to collaborate with WMG in 1994, with the aim of creating new educational interventions intended to develop their operations personnel from across the globe. This partnership led to the launch of the Manufacturing Professionalism Programme, a tailored education programme designed to fit the needs of the company, which received its first intake of students in 1997. Zeneca subsequently demerged into AstraZeneca, Syngenta and Avecia and the programme continued to be a success culminating in 2007 with a celebration of its 10th Anniversary.

The Programme has continued to evolve, keeping pace with ever changing business needs and new thinking, and has recently developed into the Supply Professionalism Programme (SPP). The Programme incorporates significant new material with the aim of instilling professionalism across the supply chain. The existing companies also recognised the benefit of opening the Programme up to new partner companies and WMG was soon able to welcome the first participants from PZ Cussons and WL Gore in 2006. In 2010 there were new participants from Diageo and further engagement with new companies is a high priority for the Programme.

“University collaboration through the SPP is a vital part of AstraZeneca’s strategy, equipping participants with the key competencies required to engage with the complex and dynamic business world”, said David Smith, Executive Vice – President Operations, AstraZeneca SPP focuses on the capability development of managers in Supply organisations. It focuses on several key pillars of broad education such as managing Strategy, People, Operations, Supply, Compliance,

Performance Control, Product Life Cycle, and creating the environment within which innovation can flourish.

The strategic alliance between the organisations involved and WMG has resulted in SPP being fully integrated within the companies’ capability development strategies. The programme has, to date, delivered significant business and personal benefit to more than 300 individuals.

Participants come from all over the globe to get the ‘Warwick SPP experience’. The multicultural nature, along with the ever increasing diversity of the participating companies involved provides a rich experience for all participants.

In 2009, WMG received the Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education which was awarded for long-term continued partnerships with industry supporting competitiveness through people development.

For Further information about SPP and WMG Professional Programmes, visit our website go.warwick.ac.uk/wmgptmasters/themanufacturer email wmgptmasters@warwick.ac.uk or call us on 02476 573038

New heat exchanger design modelling and testing at HS Marston, working with the University of Wolverhampton and SME Advanced Chemical Etching

White knights

of the roundtable Launched in 2006 by the Midlands Aerospace Alliance and funded by industry, Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund, the £3.4m Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (ATEP) seeks to enhance competitiveness for the region’s aerospace supply chain companies through the development of technology. Edward Machin reports on the organisation’s latest roundtable meeting.

72

TM – For those unfamiliar with your remit, can you provide an introduction to ATEP, its aims and why such work is necessary in the West Midlands.

Neil Rawlinson – Director of Strategy and Innovation, Aero Engine Controls: The programme is primarily aimed at supply chain collaborations, seeking to get technologies developed further down to the smaller businesses in that chain, mentor the companies in how to manage and utilise the technology effectively and take it through to their products.

Dave Dawson – Engineering and Technology executive, Rolls-Royce: The majority of those who have been bidding for ATEP funding have been very receptive to it — no matter which stage of organisational development they may be at.

Of course these companies are aware of their shortcomings, but also the things they have to offer which can be of benefit to OEMs. ATEP, for me, is a way to help bridge those gaps.

We believe the SMEs will continue to learn more about the requirements of the OEMs, especially

Supplychain and logistics

where they are trying to get to in the 10 or 15 year timescale, and hopefully it will clarify what it is they need to do to get that capability to market.

Peter Knight – Operations director, ITP Engines: Having noticed that a lot of the smaller companies are not especially good at presenting themselves and their projects in a coherent and structured way, we also add value by helping them look at their projects so that they take the germ of a good idea and turn it into something workable.

Many of these guys are still learning the languages spoken by industry, government and academia — something companies higher up the supply chain have been doing for decades. So we can help by offering a programme of deep mentoring and sustained engagement so as to walk them through the processes and steps required to sell their products effectively.

TM – How much of ATEP’s work focuses on establishing a collaborative environment for like-minded SMEs? David Dawson: Developing a network is key. If you have a strong network then you’re more likely to win sponsorship from big business or direction and support in kind. That gives you a better chance of building your technology and, ultimately, getting a route to market.

Des Barnes – Business development manager, Castlet: Speaking from an SME perspective, I agree. While collaboration lies at the heart of what we do, a lot of the smaller companies haven’t traditionally done so in the past. They might

have had customers who they’d supplied to, but the ATEP project is trying to generate collaboration between not only the prime and the customers, but also the universities and other SMEs that they work with on a project to improve their product base. Once we can install that collaborative way of operating with our business development activity, the organisations can take that onto the next programme and start reaching self-sustainability.

Neil Rawlinson: We are able to sponsor the companies on their first or second forays into this type of activity — ensuring that they learn the skills needed to do the work and, more importantly, get those skills embedded so it becomes a sustainable process as Des highlights.

A project is typically one to two years, and because you have a large business at the end of the chain that has learnt some of these lessons, their skills and capabilities start to percolate down.

TM – How prominent a role does academia play in the ATEP programme?

Pat Wheeler, Professor of Power Electronics – Nottingham University: Firstly, I think the language barrier that was mentioned is something that many academics are guilty of. That said, a number of the projects that have gone through ATEP thus far have had universities fundamentally embedded in them as part of the knowledge transfer exchanges, which is central to this work. It’s pointless academics sitting in our ivory towers dreaming up wonderful ideas if they don’t get out and create benefit for the parties and organisations which have invested.

A new heat transfer surface developed by Meggitt Control Systems and two local SMEs tested at the University of Birmingham

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EntEr nOW

Celebrate Manufacturing for a Better Britain Having emerged from the recession stronger, leaner and with many new initiatives in place, UK Manufacturing is ideally placed to make a better Britain!

Established over 10 years ago, The Manufacturer of the Year Awards competition is specifically designed to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK Manufacturing. So enter today and showcase your achievements.

For further details visit www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Corporate Sponsor:

The categories this year are: Leadership and strategy Innovation and design World class manufacturing People and skills IT in manufacturing Supply chain and logistics Operations and maintenance Sustainable manufacturing SME manufacturer of the Year Financial services Advanced manufacturing And the winner of winners category: The Manufacturer of the Year

For further details contact Laura Williams on 01603 671323 or email l.williams@sayonemedia.com The winners will be announced at a black tie gala dinner and Awards ceremony at Chesford Grange, Kenilworth on Thursday 18th November 2010. If you are interested in sponsoring an Award, please contact David Alstin on 01603 671307 or email d.alstin@sayonemedia.com

www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Supply chain and logistics

Carl Burton – Director of engineering, HS Marston: Our ATEP project was partnered with Wolverhampton University, part of which entailed an employee from the university undertaking CFD computer modeling for us on our heat exchangers.

We have now expanded this with Birmingham University, and for the price of a sandwich and a coffee we get excellent consultancy work, as well as the other associated benefits.

In industry you can be guilty of not seeing the wood from the trees, so it’s particularly beneficial to get out of the office and meet academics. You often end up with a very powerful one plus one equals five relationship, and it is levering that benefit to the region that is critical.

Neil Rawlinson: Another thing we are doing within the Midlands which has proven useful is the creation of networks for SMEs around particular technology areas. We bring together the smaller companies with involvement from Nottingham University — thus giving the academics a fresh perspective as to what they see their problems and issues are, rather than just the Rolls-Royces or Airbuses.

TM – Do you find that the companies communicate more openly in such a forum?

Stan Payne – Midlands Aerospace Alliance: Absolutely. It stands to reason that the SMEs have a different mindset and set of problems to the larger businesses, which makes the two-way interaction of the technology networks that we’re establishing with the University of Nottingham — precision engineering and composites, respectively — so critical.

Des Barnes: Given that composites remains an embryonic industry, one of the key issues is skills. Having this network around the universities means that the academics can understand in great detail what the end user requirements are.

The SMEs benefit from engaging with like-minded businesses, which they otherwise may not do, but also networking with the university which has significantly more funds — a self-perpetuating network, in other words.

TM – How, if at all, does your work seek to attract the engineers of the future?

Pauline Pinney – Aerospace Cluster Manager, Advantage West Midlands: Companies have historically complained of a migration in terms of new graduates migrating to the South East regions, as well as the fact that a large number of engineering graduates are not staying within the industry.

It is about providing an element of gap-funding that might not have taken place without some sort of public intervention. The ATEP successfully identifies programmes and companies which have the exponential ability for commercial and technological exploitation, and it is certainly something that we support from a regional perspective.

Pat Wheeler: Obviously we want our students to go and do jobs in industry — anything that makes what we teach and how we think more relevant is

fantastic. It’s great talking about electrical systems in a morning lecture, with the 787’s first flight having been on television the previous night. But that’s only part of the picture: we need to attract more 17 and 18 years olds into engineering and again harness that excitement that applied research provides, which our involvement in ATEP helps us to promote.

Dave Dawson: We also want things like TICs and more university involvement tied into what industry requires. Getting those two, for starters, would be a big help in retaining capabilities in the UK. TM – Where does the future lie for ATEP and similar national projects?

Des Barnes: This group clearly fills a gap if you look at the national picture from an aerospace perspective. Where we fit in is by getting the wider roadmap drilled down into the smaller businesses that don’t necessarily have a voice and allowing them to integrate — not necessarily in the flagship projects, but in smaller ones where they can learn the skills so that when the next big project rolls around they could potentially be a partner.

SMEs have a different mindset and set of problems to the larger businesses, which makes the two-way interaction of the technology networks that we’ve established with the University of Nottingham so critical Stan Payne, MAA

Carl Burton: If you consider labour rates, the West Midlands has a very good demographic. As part of a US company, for example, we are seeing the medium-to-low costs in the region, so we have to exploit that. There is a great deal of high intellect here; coupled with our reasonably good labour rates, especially compared to the States, it is something we must use to our advantage.

Neil Rawlinson: There are ideas for further sources of funding on the agenda in seeking to make the project more sustainable. Moreover, we want to make sure that it is not just the West Midlands which is benefiting from these programmes. As well as the East Midlands, we would like to roll out this model across the country, and have been in dialogue with a number of other regions and with the new government to establish similar projects across the UK. It is fair to say that the ATEP programme has established a lot of credibility thus far, and while the economic and social benefits are clear to see, we need build from this platform and continue the project’s work. Feel free to check back in six months!

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

75

76

IT in

manufacturing

Simon Holloway looks into the shady world of information security and explores some ways to stay safe

We

live in a world now that whatever you read you are bound to come across the word “security” in some form. This word covers a whole gamut of meanings so let’s go back to basics for a simple definition: Security is about freedom from doubt, anxiety, fear, risk or danger; safety. It also has associated with this meaning the context of confidence in that freedom.

Now if we then added the little word of IT in front, we have one of the bains of the IT manager, as Nigel Stanley, Bloor Research’s Practice Leader for Security explains: “IT security comprehensively covers the whole remit of protecting and defending business or organisational systems and data from unwelcome attacks or intrusions. This large area includes protection from the outer edges of the security domain such as handheld devices through to network perimeter, inside threats and local defenses. It looks at the ever growing threats, many of them new and innovative. It includes use of firewalls, data loss prevention, data encryption, antimalware, database protection, identity management, intrusion detection/prevention, content management/

filtering and security policies and standards.”

But why should you be concerned? Business Link in its guide to IT Security states: “The security of business IT systems has never been so important. Businesses rely more and more on IT to support their activities, and this makes them increasingly vulnerable to threats from hackers, viruses and even their own staff. Having the correct information at the right time can make the difference between success and failure for your business.

Effective security can help you control and secure information from malicious changes and deletions or from unauthorised disclosure.”

The manufacturing sector has harnessed the power of IT to underpin improvements in productivity, process efficiency and higher quality supply chains. Like every other industry, the sector also has to cope with a sharp increase in flexible working arrangements and growing security challenges. Ravi Pandey, senior vice president and UK head of NIIT Technologies, explains: “IT managers are alarmed about the increasing use of social networks and social media by employees while at work. Research has shown that employees using applications on social networks while at work is the largest single security concern for IT managers and when staff members download unapproved applications, this can lead to the infections of systems via viruses. With many organisations outsourcing their IT, it is essential all due diligence is carried out.”

Dave Mount, Technical Director, UK & Ireland of NetIQ, says: “Enforcing security policy is a challenge for enterprises. IT process automation can step in and ensure that there is a consistently applied and controlled procedure for managing access to critical data and applications. It is this capability to sustain the highest levels of security without deviation that underpins the role of ITPA in network security. This not only delivers a secure environment but also ensures an organisation complies with prevalent information governance requirements.” Real prevention starts from having in place robust identify management systems that are consistently applied and controlled.

Understanding the Standards The key standard for IT security in the UK is BS ISO/IEC 27001, the main objective of which is to

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builT onon MicrosofT DynAMics nAV nAV A TecTurA TecTurAsoluTion soluTion builT MicrosofT DynAMics

IT in Manufacturing Award

Calling for entries: Have you shown ROI from a well designed, planned and implemented IT strategy or project?

This award will go to the manufacturing company or plant that, in the opinion of the judges, best demonstrates that it has made significant progress in designing, implementing and successfully operating an information technology infrastructure spanning all its business processes, which is able to show returns on the investment it has made in doing so.

What should I be aware of that is new for this year?

Corey Nachreiner, senior security analyst at WatchGuard, has put forward the following predictions for 2010: Social Networks: The #1 Malware Source – Neilson Online says social networks have become more popular communication tools than email. Social networks by their very nature are gathering places, which tends to imply increased levels of trust. Lastly social networks leverage complex, Web 2.0 technologies that can suffer serious security vulnerabilities.

Third-Party Programs Get Owned – OS vendors have fixed most of the obvious flaws so the code in their popular client applications for web browsing and email is more secure, and the patch cycle is well established and often automatic. Nachreiner sees that hackers will target 3rd

enter at www.themanufacturer.com/awards

help establish and maintain an effective information management system. The standard covers all of the main security issues from a manager’s viewpoint and goes into significant depth in explaining good practice. The standard is divided into ten main sections each of which is key to maintaining security.

These are: Security Policy – explains what an information security policy is, what it should cover and why your business should have one.

Organisational Security – explains how information security should be managed in a business.

Asset Classification and Control – assets include the information itself, computers, software and even services.

These could all be valuable and need to be managed and accounted for.

Personnel Security – personnel issues such as training, responsibilities, vetting procedures, and how staff respond to security incidents.

Physical and Environmental Security – physical aspects of security including protection of equipment and information from physical harm, keeping key locations secure as well as physical control of access to information and equipment.

Communications and Operations Management – appropriate management and secure operation of information processing facilities during day-to-day activities. This specifically includes computer networks.

Access Control – control of access to information and systems on the basis of business and security needs.

Access control is concerned with controlling who can do what with your information resources.

System Development and Maintenance – some businesses develop their own software. This part of the standard deals with the issues that are associated with the design and maintenance of systems so that they are secure and maintain information integrity.

Business Continuity Management – addresses the maintenance of essential business activities during adverse conditions, from coping with major disasters to minor local issues.

Compliance – concerns business compliance with relevant national and international laws.

party applications such as Adobe Flash, Sun Java, and Adobe Reader.

Smart Phones Get Hammered –A smart phone is simply a mobile phone that has all kinds of extended PC-like services, such as web browsing, email, and sometimes even word processing. They increase your phone’s attack surface. Now add to this scenario the number of smart phones in use. Nachreiner predicts that every popular smart phone will suffer at least one attack during 2010.

Data Loss Prevention Makes Big Gains –As technologies that directly protect data – things like local hard drive encryption and DLP (data loss prevention) solutions are adopted by SMBs. Windows 7 Suffers Critical Zero Day Vulnerability – Windows 7 reversed some of Vista’s security capabilities.

Nachreiner expects at least one critical, zero day Windows 7 exploit to surface in the next 12 months.

Cloud Computing: Half Haven, Half Storm – Nachreiner expects at least one major cloud service security breach, which will bring some of a number of the security issues I raised in the previous article on Cloud computing security issues to a head. On the other hand, cloud-based security solutions will thrive in 2010.

Mac Threats Double – In 2009, Apple fixed hundreds of vulnerabilities in its OS and supporting products and Apple users began to see increased examples of Mac malware Nachreiner believes that. Mac users should expect to see twice as many Mac threats in 2010.

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© Copyright Columbus IT. All rights reserved.

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IT in manufacturing

Security Officer Project Leader for all security related matters Physical Security

People Security

Data Security

IT Security

Access to Building

Permanent Staff

Trade Secrets

Networks

Physical Assets

Contract Staff

Employee Data

Remote Sites

IT Hardware

Partners

Database

Remote Users

Vehicle Fleet

Third Party Employees

Customer Data

Application Security

IT Manager and Team Human Resources

Website

Opterations Manager Security Staff

Visitors Special Events Security

Intranet IT Manager and Team

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Documentation and Work Procedures Emergency Response Plans Business Continuity Plans Disaster Recovery Plans Operations Manager IT Team HR

Human Resources Security Staff

Best Practice Security Framework for Enterprise Figure: Security Policy Framework (Source: VigiTrust Ltd) Poisoning The Information Well – Nachreiner expects major SEO (search engine optimisation) poisoning attacks to surface in 2010, and he suggests you remain wary of your web search results.

This sounds like a big headache. So what how can you ensure your organisation is adequately and effectively protected?

Getting the ground rules in place It is important to have an effective set of policies and procedures in place which are constantly kept up-to-date. They are crucial to implementing an effective information security strategy. They should be viewed as the glue that holds all aspects of information security together, without them each aspect of information security would be a collection of disparate parts. For policies to be effective, they must reflect the organisations’ specific requirements. But the key is to identify what you are vulnerable to and concentrate on that.

Pandey explained that NIIT conducts a vulnerability assessment in order to highlight vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit in an organisation’s system. There are a number of consultancy companies who provide similar services.

So where can you go to to find guidelines to help you get started? Business Link has issued a number of useful introductory texts that provide some good basic advice. The Information Security Forum (ISF) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that supplies authoritative opinion and guidance on all aspects of information security. It has produced a Standard of Good Practice and as a basic guide I have found this a useful starting point. This presents a comprehensive set of practical and measurable

information security-specific controls. The main aspects covered are: Security Management (enterprise-wide) – high-level direction for information security, arrangements for information security across the organisation, and establishing a secure environment.

Critical Business Applications – requirements for securing business applications, identifying information risks and determining the level of protection required to keep information risks within acceptable limits.

Computer Installations – the design and configuration of computer systems, management activities required to establish a secure computer installation and maintain service continuity.

Networks – network design and implementation, management activities required to run and manage secure networks, including local and wide area networks, and voice communication networks.

Systems Development – the application of information security during all stages of systems development, including design, build, testing and implementation.

End User Environment – local security management, protecting corporate and desktop applications, and securing portable computing devices.

What ever size of organisation you are, your information is a critical resource that you have to protect. But not all information is equal in importance, so you do need to understand what information is critical to your business, and also what information you share with external sources, such as customers, suppliers and partners. You also need to set up some basic security levels, such as locked room for servers, user ids and passwords, security entry cards. Always remember that security needs to be actively managed in your organisation.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

81

ERP road to Riches Mark Young finds out how a leading UK producer of baked goods has used the implementation of new enterprise resource planning software to act as the driver for change and the catalyst for a better ways of working.

Rich

Products is a global food producer with 7,500 employees and annual turnover of $3bn. Its UK arm supplies leading supermarkets and high street coffee shops with sweet bakery goods which it makes from sites in Hampshire and Worcestershire. Rich UK has doubled its turnover to £30m in four years with the ambition of ingraining change into its culture.

Before embarking on its change initiatives, the company identified what it needed to be working towards. “We need to be world class at innovation, customer service and delivering products,” says Rich UK’s supply chain manager Steve Brown.

“We don’t need to be world class at the speed with which we raise an invoice or how attractive our purchase orders look. The things that set our business apart are the flair, the innovation and the product.”

Industry–specific factors which make efficiency even more important in food and drink production. In baking, stock shelf-life is typically four to six days so

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effective stock control is vital. Over-producing and holding stock is therefore not an option — order lead times are day one for day two.

Unleashing the beast Until January 2009, Rich Products had been running an MRP system which consisted of an accounting package with a manufacturing module from a different vendor attached to it. No further IT development was being carried outby either software company and the system did not include a host of features that over time the company had realised it needed to secure the optimised efficiency it sought, including forecasting, fixed asset control and holistic inventory control. In addition, data extraction was slow and unreliable and the interface was not user-friendly enough to teach staff how to use it properly.

So Rich UK sought a fully integrated ERP system; one which included a single repository for all business information, enabled management

Casestudy Rich Products

decisions to be made based on data, and encapsulated all business processes; from orderto-cash, procure-to-pay, and throughout the manufacturing process.

Before implementing a new ERP system, the company evaluated all of its processes to ensure that it would not simply be implementing a new system based on broken ways of working.

“We looked at our business processes as they were and went through a massive change management programme to eliminate inefficiencies,” says Brown. “The last thing we wanted was to customize a new system to a process which was determined by the old, ineffectual system. So we went through everything, took out any duplicated efforts and introduced the RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed) against all our standard operating procedures.”

To do this, experts from Rich Product’s US parent company were brought in and some of Rich UK’s employees were trained in process mapping.

All of the stakeholders in each process were involved in qualitative and quantitative research in how to streamline these business needs. “It was this initiative that really put change into the hearts and minds of our people, meaning we were then primed for the benefits that a better IT system could provide.”

The company then set on the journey to introducing the ERP software it had chosen — Microsoft Dynamics AX with Columbus IT as its partner. The software was chosen based on best practice guides from other global companies in the Rich group that had already found high flexibility in the product. “We found that certain other products are more rigidly structured and this means tailoring the business processes to the ERP system,” says Brown. “Dynamics AX can be scoped to the way our business runs.” As for the partner, Rich Products felt that Columbus IT offered the best option in terms of the business consultancy, configuration and after-service support for the solution. Brown adds: “We were impressed with the industry expertise that Columbus IT could offer, the number of manufacturing customers they already had and we felt confident that they understood our business requirements fully.”

Two Columbus consultants worked on the project for six months leading up to going live; this involved customising the product, running pilots on processes and training key users. “That half year’s preparation culminated in a weekend of blood, sweat and tears across the team as we changed from the old system to the new,” Brown adds.

Then, at 2am on January 5 the company began to manufacture through Dynamics AX and it has never looked back.

Mary Hunter, managing director of Columbus IT, says: “Rich Products are a great customer to work with. They have a clear vision around

manufacturing excellence and I am delighted that through our expertise in manufacturing and the benefits achievable through the functionality and flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics we are helping turn their vision into a reality.”

Reaping the rewards Rich Products UK has enjoyed numerous benefits from the new system: raw materials inventory has been reduced by 10%; On Time In Full (OTIF) service levels have increased by 1% to 98.5%; and indirect headcount — those not involved in manufacture — has been reduced by 15%.

“We now have visible stock. Whereas before people had to go around counting things and we’d get an update perhaps once a day, now the system updates in real time,” says Brown. “We also don’t need to run such intensive stock taking procedures at month end and we’ve been able to take out large quantities of safety stock because we know what we’ve got and what we need.”

Yield figures are also live which means any problems can be identified quickly and amendments made.

Employees report that they are able to do their jobs more effectively. For instance, Theresa Pickard, finance manager, says: “Since the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX in 2009, the finance department have experienced a number of time saving benefits. This has directly resulted in reducing the time required to complete our month end process by one day. We find AX to be a user friendly system with a wide range of easily accessible reports.”

Part of the efficiency drive was to give ownership and accountability of certain core processes to specific individuals. This requires cross–functionality, something Microsoft Dynamics provides. The system allows disparate groups of people to work together and have the same visibility. For instance, Theresa wouldn’t usually be able to view orders as they are placed so could not effectively manage the order-to-cash process but the new system allows that visibility and thus allows her to own the process.

The efforts have been recognised externally too. The company was made Bakery Supplier of the Year in 2009 at the Bakery Industry Awards, sponsored by Sainsbury’s.

Overall, the biggest benefit is not the specific changes that have occurred, it is the fact that change is now possible. “It’s about working smarter, not harder,” says Brown. “We had to change. If we didn’t, the last 18 months could have been very difficult for us. In tough market conditions, knowledge is power. Our ambition was to find new ways of looking at things and inspire better ways of working which are beneficial to everyone within the business. Dynamics AX is the platform which has liberated us to make that happen.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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Seeing old IT challenges in a new business light.

Disruption or deliverance?

Seek out the business opportunity within the challenge.

Business change is inevitable – but how you adapt to it dictates how competitive your manufacturing operation can be.

That’s why the most progressive CIOs partner Avanade: delivering new levels of innovation and agility to help them reduce costs and deliver global supply chain advantage.

With our joint Accenture and Microsoft heritage, Avanade is uniquely placed to help you keep your eyes on the horizon, and your feet on the ground. Using the Microsoft platform as a springboard for delivering business results, we’ll help you adopt a pragmatic approach that makes change less daunting, combined with a visionary attitude that puts real triumph within reach.

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IT in

manufacturing

ITnews..

ERP

SAP helps Ghana improve extractive industries transparency Business software provider SAP and GTZ GmbH, acting on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, announced a partnership to support Ghana in meeting the global standard for transparency in the oil and mining industries, as set by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

SAP is donating an enterprise performance management solution, which the Ghanaian Ministry of Finance will use to monitor and analyse payments and revenue flows from its hard minerals industry, as well as from future oil and gas production.

SAP and GTZ met with the Ghana EITI National Steering Committee, a multi-stakeholder group comprising representatives of Ghanaian Ministries, revenue agencies, mining companies, the Minerals Commission and representatives of Ghanaian civil society. Project scope, governance and the implementation timeline were agreed upon.

Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Finance, Seth E. Terkper, said: “The EITI process is a useful tool in augmenting the government’s efforts to improve existing structures on accountability and transparency. Successfully introducing an IT system to the EITI process will be a very significant addition to the process in Ghana.”

RECOGNITIONS

Planview in the Magic Quadrant Enterprise-wide portfolio management solutions provider, Planview, was recognised in the Leaders Quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management.

The Gartner report included 31 software vendors that provide IT project and portfolio management (PPM) solutions in its review and quadrant profiling.

The solutions were evaluated across more than a dozen criteria points.

Greg Gilmore, president and chief operating officer of Planview, commented: “Planview brings a singular focus to the portfolio management marketplace. We are excited to be recognised as a leader in this market, but we never lose sight of the fact that our success is only possible because of the success of our customers.”

ERP

SYSPRO delivers in record time with Microsoft K3 Business Technology Group announced that, with the help of Microsoft, it has developed the new Workflow Solution for Syspro 6.1 in six months rather than three years.

Syspro has used Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 to speed up the development of custom workflows. New graphical design tools were used to create a solution based on Windows Workflow Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation.

The Microsoft tools made the development phase simpler and reduced the need to write code, allowing Syspro to lower its development time by 80% – taking the product to market considerably faster. The new workflow software will integrate with Syspro’s ERP system and other applications and data sources.

Howard Joseph, managing director of K3, said: “The solution includes an integrated workflow designer. SYSPRO customers will use the designer to create custom workflow activities that execute with the ERP software or external applications. Customers will also be able to monitor workflows and generate reports to see how long it takes to complete each activity.”

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ITnews..

CAD

Planit succeeds at MACH MACH 2010 was a great success for the design and manufacturing software supplier Planit.

The company showcased its software brands on a 140-square-metre stand in the CAD/CAM zone at the exposition in Birmingham. After watching a demonstration, a visitor to the stand agreed to purchase Radan 3D and Radraft.

Simon Lee, Planit’s regional director, commented: “We invited them to our stand, and were delighted when they made specific plans to visit us. And even more delighted when they agreed to take Radan to convert their customers’ designs.”

Lee believes that having a large stand with all the three Planit brands – Radan, Alphacam and Edgecam – helped show the company’s position as a global supplier.

He added: “We found we were being prequalified with people getting information about us from the internet. It meant that when they came on to our stand they already knew that using our software can improve the productivity of their machine tools, shorten design and manufacturing time, optimise material usage and deliver high quality goods and services to their customers.”

Planit stand at MACH

PLM

Dassault Systèmes Acquires Exalead 3D and Dassault Systèmes has acquired Exalead, a provider of Search Platforms and SearchBased Applications (SBA) for consumer and business users, for approximately €135m.

Exalead’s customers come from different industries, for which easy access to information is essential, such as banking, retail, publishing, business services, life sciences and consumer services.

Its platform is designed to apply advanced semantic processing to Web-scale data volumes and usage.

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It provides information search, access and reporting to more than 100 million people, including SanofiAventis, the World Bank, Friendster, Lagardère Active and ViaMichelin.

Exalead co-founder, François Bourdoncle, said: “With our realtime search, natural language capabilities, Exalead provides a unique Web user experience. The combination with 3D represents the next generation of information technology for lifelike experiences.

With Dassault Systèmes there will be a considerable increase in the number of people benefiting from our technology.”

François Bourdoncle, founder and CSO of Exalead

IT in manufacturing

INDUSTRY TRENDS

B2B integration vendor market worries IT managers Sterling Commerce research reveals that IT managers are wary about the IT vendor landscape and are re-thinking their B2B integration strategies to make the most of opportunities.

While 78% of the 600 senior IT decision makers questioned believe the recession is at least half over, 41% are re-thinking their B2B integration strategy due to uncertainty in the B2B integration vendor landscape.

Just over half of the respondents believe this uncertainty puts their business at risk, either through their trading partner integration or by disruptions to their supply chains. Financial stability is still the main criteria for choosing a B2B provider for 38% of companies.

SALES & OPERATIONS PLANNING

Steelwedge expands in Europe Cloud-based sales and operations planning solutions provider, Steelwedge, has established a European headquarters in Birmingham to support growing demand from international manufacturers.

Glen Margolis, CEO of Steelwedge, said: “Our presence in Europe positions us to satisfy

the need for collaborative S&OP technology beyond North America and provide better service to our multinational client base. Large scale manufacturing companies around the world are increasingly turning to Steelwedge to control spiralling supply chain costs and manage fluctuations in demand.”

John Sookias was appointed managing director for the EMEA region.

BUSINESS WIN

Euroclad Facades turns to Preactor Planning and scheduling software company, Preactor International, announced a business win with Euroclad Facades Limited.

Part of the Euroclad group, Euroclad Facades specialises in the manufacture of weather resistant

skins for buildings. It has plans to double the size of its current operation.

The company turned to Preactor 200 in a bid to improve forecasting accuracy, the flow of work through the manufacturing process and to reduce the time spent updating an Excelbased system.

Mike Paley, Euroclad Facades’ operations manager, commented: “We initially scheduled production using a spreadsheet we had developed.

As the business and the number of orders grew it became evident that the system wasn’t intelligent enough to do all that was required of it.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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MCT wins race to diversify Deep in the Oxfordshire hills, the engineering talents of a team of motorsport experts and an American petrolheadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investment has breathed life into an ailing Formula One engineering company. Will Stirling visits Menard Competition Technologies.

Quality control of piston head

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Specialfeature Menard Competition Technologies

Motorsport

is a fickle business. Partnerships form and break, teams can be created and disbanded within a year, sponsors come and go and engineers switch teams constantly. The upshot is that it produces a certain type of company and businessman; part-manufacturer, part-entrepreneur, and allsurvivor. Menard Competition Technologies (MCT), an engineering manufacturing company based in the north Cotswolds, was borne out of such a colourful background. It now supplies race engines to Superleague Formula, a new motorsport series involving premier league football clubs; Norton, the British motorcycle marquee which returned to the UK from the US in 2009; and has several discrete manufacturing contracts for clients in aerospace, defence and mainstream automotive. A fortuitous partnership with US racing supremo John Menard in 2002 has helped regenerate redundant engineering expertise, forming a new company that is showing how motorsport companies can successfully diversify into new markets.

A motorsport survivor “Your readers won’t know my name, but they’ll have heard of Tom Walkinshaw, Ross Brawn, Derek Warwick and others from those glory days,” says MCT’s managing director and driving force Kevin Lee of the early days at Benetton where he cut his Formula One teeth. Before then, he worked for Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) on, among others, the Le Mans V5 project for Jaguar. Walkinshaw took the strong core of that world champion sportscar team over to Benetton in about 1992, and promptly won the Formula One 1994 championship with Michael Schumacher.

“Benetton took a slightly different approach to F1 – they decided not to go the classic sponsorship route, but bought a whole team,” says Lee. “It originated as the Tolman Formula Two team, and moved into F1 in the mid-1980s. They were possibly the first sponsor to buy a team and run it that way.”

Walkinshaw fell out with Benetton and set up on his own, looking to relocate his TWR programme that was based on an ageing industrial estate in Kidlington to a site that would bring the diverse parts of an F1 team together. In early 1995, he bought the current site in Langley, which is the highest point in the area, and an ex-British Telecom national training centre and military radio station during World War II. Lee and his team set about turning it into a functional motor engineering facility. “We’ve retained all the original stone buildings, and made the best use of what was here and added to it.” Soon after setting up the facility, Walkinshaw got involved with the Ligier team at Magny-Cours in France and his Langley-based team supported Ligier in terms of design and manufacturing.

Finding the relationship with Ligier trying, Walkinshaw bought the Arrows team in 1996 and relocated it here from Bletchley. Lee and team

began a five-year journey to make Arrows GP more competitive, but by 2001 the team was struggling to get sponsorship and Lee took a fixed term contract with Toyota Racing in Cologne for three and a half years. On his return to the UK he got a call from Daniele Ordeto who was setting up new F1 team, which became Super Aguri in 2005. By this time, US group Menard Inc had bought the Langley site for the purpose of developing race engines, when TWR and Arrows went down in late 2002. Based in Indianapolis, Menard Inc – a US nationwide home improvement, garden centre and electrical outlet – is owned by John Menard, who made his fortune in the DIY business. A self-confessed motorsport nut who had previously driven race cars and bikes semi-professionally, John’s son Paul Menard is a successful competitor in the top Nascar league, and is sponsored by Menard.

Niche expertise pays dividends Today, MCT has successfully transformed into a versatile precision engineering and manufacturing company, using its motorsport heritage to good effect while leveraging this reputation to pick up business in non-motorsport sectors. Its main client is to build race engines and through-season support for the Superleague Formula, the 12-venue European race series that kicked off in August 2008 with a field of V12-powered 750hp single-seater race cars bearing the colours of the world’s leading football teams.

3,200 components go into an MCT Superleague Formula engine, most of which are manufactured

by MCT

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Special feature Menard Competition Technologies

Piston quality control at MCT

Nearly the entire V12 engine is manufactured at MCT, which uses an inventory of 20-odd precision machine tools including two Matsuura MAM72-35Vs and several twin pallet full CNC machining centres to make the blocks, pistons, heads, valves and other parts.

MCT also has the contract to deliver 1,000 engines for the Norton Commando series motorcycles over the next 12 months. Again, most of the manufacturing machining is done in-house at MCT, where, for example, the Norton valve guides get pressed within the cylinder head for best accuracy. Much of the inspection and testing is carried out on the premises. “First-offs would be inspected by us and all racing products get 100% tested here,” says Lee. The Norton engines also receive a BS inspection, and in 2008 MCT was classified to BS EN ISO 9001. Some of the components are simulated but physical testing is required for all race parts.

An 800bhp V12 engine pump Richard Noble’s Bloodhound SSC is a high profile engineering project that intends to smash the world land speed record in 2011 by hitting 1,000mph.

It plans to achieve this using a Eurofighter jet engine burning high test peroxide, which will be pumped into the jet using an MCT-built 800bhp V12

engine. The pump has to move a ton of peroxide to the rocket catalyst in 22 seconds at 1200 psi of pressure. There is no money in the project for MCT, Lee says, but it gives them good publicity.

“Richard Noble talks about a lost generation of young people in engineering. He’s pushing hard to use Bloodhound as a tool to promote engineering to school kids. We’re delighted to be involved.”

Last year MCT had to lay off about 10% of the workforce (45 today), but word of their high profile work has got out and the company has diversified into jobs for aerospace, defence and automotive clients. The Motorsport Industry Association, which runs match-making initiatives between motorsport companies and sectors like defence and marine, has helped introduce MCT to a few potential clients.

While he can’t discuss clients by name, after a convoluted start to life Lee is upbeat about MCT’s future. There is vacant space on the site, and Lee presses the advantages for some companies, like composite firms, to be based here alongside them and within Motorsport Valley. “Culturally motorsport has a lot to offer other branches of engineering, e.g. delivery to tight production deadlines, VOR, and race engines are very efficient,” he says. “MCT is as busy as I’ve ever seen it and the next 12 months is looking very exciting.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

91

MIAForeword NWAA

Martin Wright Chief executive, North West Aerospace Alliance The development of companies in advanced manufacturing is accepted as essential to sustain and develop a successful manufacturing capability within the country as a whole, to compete in an ever increasing technological world.

M

anufacturing is back in fashion as a vital part of a ‘balanced’ economy.

Manufacturing creates true wealth, builds national knowledge and international prestige when it is part of cutting edge technology.

The development of individual company capability around the ‘eight pillars of manufacturing’ – Leadership & Strategy, World Class Manufacturing, HR & Skills, Logistics & Supply Chain, Design & Innovation, IT and Infrastructure, Manufacturing Operations, and Energy and Environment – forms the foundation for capability development.

In the NWAA Aerospace Supply Chain Excellence Programme (ASCE 1), these eight pillars equate directly to the 11 foundation processes which ASCE has demonstrated can be applied so successfully in the North West Aerospace companies.

It is recognised that the first priority is leadership within a company. Providing the framework for successful company capability development has to be based on whole workforce commitment, a recognition that only the best will lead to success and that continually evolving through improvement

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and adaptation to the developing market place is reliant on confident empowered leadership throughout a company. This provides the platform for sustained improvement based on the recognised pillars.

Companies on the NWAA ASCE programme in the North West have embraced the need to develop through detailed and intensive application. ‘Initiatives’ based on single process development such as lean have been shown to be insufficient and only ‘whole company’ transformation through commitment as a long term company strategy, provides for effective, sustainable improvement.

Public funding investment in narrow support programmes are short term fixes, inefficient in use of funds, and cannot deliver the pace of change needed to match the ambitions of developing economies.

Any company embracing this commitment to development will

create opportunity. Trends in advanced manufacture point to longer term supply arrangements based on performance. Creating a culture of change and improvement is the sure way of sustaining long term relationships in the supply chain.

Company development is only the start, however, for the creation of competitive supply chains.

Collaboration between companies to provide extended capability and cost reduction will be the way to meet the challenges of economies rightly embracing advanced manufacturing as a key source of wealth and knowledge creation.

“The challenges of the environment, energy provision, global market competitions are here and there will be others on the horizon.

Wherever a company sits in its supply chain, it faces these issues.

We know what it takes to effect change; we just have to apply it. end

Manufacturinginaction Sponsored by TBM Consulting Group

Putting UK manufacturers under the spotlight

Factory of the month

Mark Young learns that Bosch Production System has provided ultimate efficiency against a unique way of working.

94 Worcester Bosch Immitation or innovation

103 HS Marston Ch-ch-ch-changes

Pots and pans maker to supplier of heat transfer and fluid management systems to Airbus and Formula 1. Edward Machin reports.

109 Minivator Scaling the stairway of global growth

Mark Young hears how a split manufacturing strategy is enabling rapid growth.

115 Henkel Service across the board

Tim Brown talks to the global homecare, cosmetics and adhesives manufacturer.

119 Fine Tubes Fine times

Ruari McCallion talks to Fine Tubes about expansion, new markets and their culture of innovative improvements

122 Moog Moog targets complete control

Will Stirling meets a manufacturer behind the electro-mechanical wizardry that that keeps our aircraft on coursebehind

All companies featured will be entered into the MIA Award 2010

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Factory of the month Worcester Bosch

What’s

Imitationor innovation Bosch Production Systems

Mark Young visits UK based boiler manufacturer Worcester Bosch Group – the company many of us have to thank for keeping us warm during winter and blame for providing us with hot washing up water when there’s better things to be done – to hear about how its all encompassing Bosch Production System has provided ultimate efficiency against a unique way of working.

the best way to become a world class company with market leading share; a company who is the largest manufacturing employer in its city and didn’t make one single permanent employee from a payroll of 1,400 redundant during the recession?

“It’s not just about cost reduction, it more about the people” says Worcester’s Andrew Bentley.

Andrew Bentley, who holds responsibility for the Bosch Production System (BPS) at Worcester, a Robert Bosch group wide continuous improvement system. Originally inspired by the Toyota Production System, significantly Toyota Senior Management jointly supported the development of BPS and are still actively supporting its development today, “We (Bosch) are always learning from our friends at Toyota, they offer tremendous support to our ongoing work with BPS” says Bentley. To drive any lean manufacturing programme without cost reduction as the main driver would seem like suicide to most company directors but Worcester, Bosch Group’s trading figures suggests otherwise.

Instead, says Bentley, “BPS focuses on people and process improvement on a continuous basis, whilst cost is vitally important for everyone in Bosch, it’s not the only driver for BPS, product quality and customer satisfaction (delivery) are key drivers also”.

About Bosch In fact, this seemingly rare rejection of the mantra that money talks the loudest has been a part of the Bosch group since its inception. Founder Robert Bosch once said: “I have always acted according to the principle that I would rather lose money than trust. The integrity of my promises, the belief in the value of my products and in my word of honour have always had a higher priority to me than a transitory profit.”

You can’t buy or trade stocks and shares in Worcester, Bosch Group and that’s the key enabler of its philosophy.

“We don’t have the pressure of trying to please shareholders all the time so we can do what’s best for the business long term. In the short term, that means concentrating on all of the other issues that indirectly affect cost and not cost itself,” explains Bob Murdoch, Worcester’s manufacturing director.

“Obviously there is return on investment

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Leengate and BOC Leengate Industrial Welding Supplies adds measurable value to Worcester-Bosch boiler manufacturing process

B

OC Industrial Supplies and Services is helping WorcesterBosch deliver on its commitment to manufacturing excellence.

Through its local branch of Leengate Industrial and Welding Supplies, it is providing welding consumables – fillers, electrodes, wire and fluxes – allied safety equipment and on-going maintenance/calibration of all the welding equipment at Worcester’s Clay Cross boiler manufacturing plant.

Leengate/BOC, which is part of The Linde Group, has worked hard to build a strong relationship with the customer. It has striven to understand Worcester-Bosch’s

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business goals and, with this knowledge, to develop a bespoke customer service offering that is responsiveness and flexible with just-in-time delivery from stock – key factors underpinning manufacturing uptime, consistent product quality and performance improvement at Clay Cross.

Says Peter Wragsdale, senior group leader, “Leengate go that extra distance to deliver on our needs – to supply the welding products and services we require in a timely manner. Its commitment to customer satisfaction, in particular its proven ability to meet our fluctuating demands, is a key differentiator contributing to our

business success. Strong account management drives the added value solutions Leengate bring to the mix.

“Worcester-Bosch also values the fact that Leengate is a part of the bigger BOC organisation. This gives us access to world-class expertise – to BOC’s R&D and new, innovative ways of working. It sees us enjoying the benefits of a global company through local service delivery.”

Worcester-Bosch is the market leader in domestic heating and hot water systems. Its name is synonymous with reliability, quality, efficiency and value for money – attributes which Leengate/ BOC is proud to support.

Factory of the month Worcester Bosch

to consider before we spend money but we don’t look at things and say ‘if we do X we’ll get Y saving’, that is a little short sighted.”

“Importantly it’s also about delivery performance and quality because those are the things that are going to give us differentiation in the market place,” adds manufacturing engineering manger Louis Stephen.

Based in the cathedral city of Worcester, as its name suggests, the company was originally founded in 1962 as Worcester Heat Systems (Worcester Engineering). It was bought out by Bosch in 1992. Worcester Bosch makes on average 1,200 boilers a day which equates to one every 2.4 minutes (Customer Takt) and roughly 300,000 a year. The plant employs 1,400 people, 1,100 of those are based on site at Worcester and there are 300 sales and service staff off-site. There are further 230 people employed at the company’s other UK site in Clay Cross.

It holds the Royal Warrant and supplies products to the Queen.

The Bosch Production System BPS was started in 2002 with a local project on lean transformation. It is based on eight principles: pull systems; process orientation; perfect quality; standardisation; transparency; associate involvement; flexibility and standardisation.

It is very much based around the philosophy that ‘no problem is a problem’.

The system is applied to all of Worcester’s processes from the shop floor, to the call centre and the service operations to the office functions.

In fact, over the last 8 years, Worcester, Bosch Group’s entire operation has been completely transformed by BPS. Batch sizes have been reduced dramatically. Always devisable by 12, they are generally around 60, whereas historically they have been anything from 400 upwards.

Previously a changeover just once in a week would not have been rare. “It’s easier to coordinate smaller batch sizes and processes finish at the same time meaning we are all tuned in to each other and we can keep a track of what’s going on daily,” says manufacturing manager, Steve Munn.

“When operations start and finish or deliveries are made to the line it provides a visual signal which everybody can use to assess our progress a lot better than through the intermittent signals given by larger deliveries of parts. Most

importantly defects are picked up far quicker too. Previously it could have been days, now it’s immediate.”

Delivering parts to the line in smaller batches is also ergonomically more efficient. Associates have everything they need to hand when they need it, reducing secondary handling and eliminating unnecessary bending and reaching. An example of this in action is the press shop which used to put all of the steel parts in stillages the size of a table. Now they go in trolleys which are a quarter of the size. Next they are going to go into boxes which can be delivered to the track side.

Manufacturing at Worcester has moved away from ‘push’ towards ‘pull’ systems, no easy task. One way this has been achieved is through simple visual management systems (lot formation control) with kanban to visually indicate which parts need to be manufactured to sequence, says Bentley, “One of the key principles in BPS is Pull, without doubt the pull systems have generated significant reductions to our inventory, be it WIP (work in process), raw material and finished goods”, however, Bentley continues “Do not think that having Pull Systems are the final phase for the plant, we already operate with one piece flow in all final assembly lines, one piece flow is the vision for all our processes, where practical and offering benefit of course”

We have to grasp not only the ‘know how’ but also to ‘know why’, if we want to achieve our goals with BPS, we don’t just want people to come here to work, we want them to come here to also think, they are the real key Andrew Bentley, Bosch Production System

To error proof, the Japanese principle of Jidoka is employed.

This ensures that every boiler is packaged in the right box accompanied by the right literature and screws. The line physically prevents the item from moving to the next stage until it is satisfied the correct procedures have taken place, whether that be an electronic torque test or a scan of the screw pack that’s been picked out by the operative. If the items don’t match up it won’t be allowed to continue on its journey to the customer until it is perfect.

The company maintains flexibility by reserving the right to call the working hours at a week’s notice.

Employees get paid the same amount whatever they work in a week because the company will ensure an average is maintained over the course of a year. Employees will find themselves scheduled from anywhere between 30 and 48 hours on any given week, again the principle of flexibility not only in the processes but people also. You’d expect this could be a bone of contention but Bob Murdoch says the seasonal

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nature of demand for boilers means workers are generally happy with their lot.

“It’s like selling ice creams but opposite,” he says. “We need to provide more in the winter so we work longer hours.

This is generally when the gas is burning and the bills are higher. On the other hand, in the summer we work less which coincides nicely with our few annual rays of sunshine” The transparency principle of BPS accounts for every tool & required parts in every workstation. “But it’s not just about a clean plant,” says Steve Munn, “it is about people understanding 5S and why they are doing it (living it) and being able to realise self managed loops”.

For ultimate traceability, every boiler has its testing data recorded and saved for 20 years so if a problem occurs in a boiler’s life the company know exactly where, when and by whom the testing was done.

A constant feed of installers enroll on Worcester product training courses for three day intensive training during which they learn how to correctly

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install and service the products. “When the boiler isn’t put in properly and it breaks down it’s not the installation engineer that gets the blame, it’s the manufacturer,” says Bob Murdoch. “Therefore it’s prudent for us to make sure products are installed properly.” Installers are the largest contingent among 11,000 visitors to the factory each year.

Since BPS was introduced, staff bonuses aren’t determined by productivity any more, they are based on product quality, this is important to the culture to deliver ‘Zero Defects’ to the customer.

The Lean Line – The Future of Assembly The biggest manifestation of BPS so far though is the introduction of the ‘lean line’ last October. This is a U-shaped manually driven production cell which replaced one of the five existing lines. Plans are now in place to replace the remaining four straight assembly lines, one-by-one, such has been the initial success of the Lean Line.

The lean line provides incredible flexibility. On the traditional straight assembly lines at least 17 operatives are needed to complete assembly of a boiler. On the lean line, potentially one worker can build the assembly himself from start to finish, though in reality eight workers typically carry out standardised tasks on a Takt time of six minutes before passing the mobile workstation along to the downstream process.

“It is true one piece flow,” says Steve Munn. “The U cell gives complete flexibility in the output without losing productivity. On a normal straight line you could probably run it half manned with jobs doubled up. This you can do with one

Factory of the month Worcester Bosch

man – the productivity will be the same. Its true one piece flow – the operator ‘makes one and then moves one, there is zero stock between stations’.

Implementation of the lean line was led by engineering group leader Joao Paulo Almeida, who says, “Personally I see the Lean Line showing all the strengths of BPS, every BPS principle in our daily improvement process is applied to its fullest extent, the lean line project has really given a step change in our thinking, it is something I walk past everyday and can take personal pride from, in fact the whole team do”.

Whereas on the straight production lines the stationary workers are positioned metres apart and can only communicate with those immediately either side, their colleagues on the U-shaped lean line are a closer grouped team, enabling an understanding of each other’s current working progress. By the same token, the lean line team leader has full unimpeded vision of the working area. Testament to this, attired in footwear unequipped with mandatory steel toe caps, your humble narrator was ordered from the lean line immediately upon entering it by a team leader no more than 10 metres away. The same result would have been unlikely to occur so quickly on the straight assembly line.

With the operatives all inside the ‘U’, the line is more compact. This is also afforded by the fact that only small quantities are delivered to it. Each moveable workstation is ergonomically set up for each individual operative and the task he has been allocated.

People based processes Visual management is all live and all hand written so that everyone can see it, interact with it, and understand it. “We record almost everything with pen and paper on big boards on the shop floor so everybody knows at all timers where were at and what we have to do, to reach target condition,” says Munn. “If we do things on computers it’s hidden and only a handful of people see it, this is not the BPS way of working, we want everyone involved, everyday.”

Every member of staff now has an ‘Andon’ board above their assembly line or sub assembly processes. This is a visual control system which indicates whether processes are running to the target condition, how many products have been completed, how many are left within a batch or a shift and the defect rates. It can be used to automatically stop the line and inform a member of support that a deviation has occurred or there is another reason why attention is due in a specific area.

Shop Floor Management is another interesting subject, the BPS approach is about empowering people to manage their own processes. “The issue is to get the owners of a process closer to it so they see deviations on a daily basis,” says Bentley. “It’s all about making the current condition transparent through the recording and displaying of the data visually and in real time so that they’re really triggered into the improvement straight away, we are always trying to achieve the target condition for our processes. This is infinitely better than traditional systems whereby you get weekly or monthly reports that are slower and take longer to communicate effectively to the team.”

The company has moved away from a top-down approach when it comes to improvement projects. People have ownership of their own sections and they work on what they identify as important. “We as managers don’t

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necessarily always know what’s best,” says Louis Stephen. “We try to provide guidance and technical expertise in how to change but when it comes to what to change it’s the guys who live it and breathe it every day who know best.

They might not always understand the full implications of what they’re suggesting but they say what they’ve found and what they want to achieve and we just help them get there. We become mentors, they can make their own decisions on improvement and be fully supported to know they are the right ones.”

The company carries out weekly reviews of individual process zones, Steve Munn says “Every Friday at 11am on the shop floor is the place, not in an office, here all of the people in an area including the production leader, area manager and process engineers will make a presentation of their sections performance and make recommendations for improvement”. The directors and senior management team can then encourage what’s going well to continue and see which areas need support.

In addition, line managers carry out regular process confirmations in which they ask an employee a direct question to ascertain whether there’s a better way of doing something. Any suggestions are explored and where feasible are implemented. Recently it came to light through one such confirmation that the wiring loom used in the assembly of the product was making life difficult for operatives and was creating unnecessary waste to deal with and ultimately dispose of. The company contacted the supplier and as a team improved the packaging of the wiring looms to reduce the burden on the operator, all this from one process confirmation.

“Everything in the decision process becomes fact based,” says Munn. “The improvements that are being made are done so based on real information which everyone understands, the confirmations are a daily occurrence, completed by both team leaders (daily) and managers (weekly) across the whole plant.”

Man, not machine As a dedicated reader of this magazine you’ll have enjoyed Edward Machin’s feature last month in which the case was made for more automation. Here too, Worcester goes against the grain.

“We limit automated processes where possible, unless there are real tangible

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benefits,” says Stephen. “It’s far better to keep things simple and have robust processes understood by the people. We prefer to put faith in man (and women!) rather than machine.

What a person does with the equipment is support the process. The person needs to feel that they run equipment, the equipment should not run them.”

Bentley, who previously worked as a senior engineer in automotive for over 10 years, “Many lean strategies I have observed are based on cost reduction, this is all well and good, until you lose the trust of the people, the quality in the product and finally the customer loyalty, I’ve seen this many times, cost, and cost alone being the key driver, often it is the only driver, without doubt it will cause long term damage to the organisation, often irreversible” says Bentley.

“If you look at people as another cost burden on two legs, you are really missing the point to all of this, that is clear to me and everyone else here” says Bentley, “We can replace equipment (that could perfectly achieve the customer requirements of, quality, cost & delivery) and replace with high technology levels requiring less people, however the impact on both the direct & indirect people in the long term is often negative, I can not operate by those rules” says Murdoch.

As the company generally only moves parts around in small batch size quantities that can be handled by one person with a trolley, forklift related accidents have been reduced to zero as a by-product.

It’s about delivery performance and quality because those are the things that are going to give us differentiation in the market place Steve Munn, manufacturing manager

The company even fabricates its own racks for the lines and storage facilities on site and it rivets instead of welds in the name of flexibility.

“High levels of technology might look good to the outside world but what does it deliver to the people & process long term?” asks Andrew Bentley. “Our philosophy is that technology has to support the people, never the other way around, relying on technical innovations alone often provides only a temporary competitive advantage, you see the impact it has to our support functions, it is not always visible.”

Zero per cent to landfill As the company is focused on developing its range of renewable products, Bob Murdoch says “it just makes sense” for the company to look at its own environmental impact. The company investigated every waste stream involved in all of its processes and found, above and beyond its expectations, that it could in fact send absolutely nothing to landfill.

Its investigations ascertained not only here each material could be recycled – plastics, for example, are notoriously difficult – but also how it can do so with the lowest environmental impact with regards to method of transportation.

Factory of the month Worcester Bosch

“With only a little additional effort and creativity on our part, in investigating the possible destinations for recycling materials, we have managed to make this endeavour not only economically feasible in the roughest of times, but in fact economically beneficial,” says Murdoch. “We can also say that the destination of every material in that boiler has been analysed to ensure that the most environmentally responsible and economically beneficial recycling solution has been found.”

If that wasn’t enough, the company now retrieves every spare part and boiler which has been replaced by its engineers and returns them to the plant for recycling.

“We are all proud of the Zero Landfill achievements for this plant, without doubt a huge effort from everyone, most unseen during this interview, helped to achieve this, the green credentials go a long way with our customers, its important to all of us” says Murdoch.

Branching out with BPS The next challenge will be to continue to take BPS outside of the factory and throughout the companies supplier and customer value streams. “If we’re really going to get the benefits we need to address the entire value stream. It is much broader than what exists in the plant,” says Steve Munn. “That’s what we’re facing up to now. We are working with our suppliers and our distributors to integrate them into the value. We’re spreading the understanding so that we can control our stock levels better, keep quality in check and reduce wastes through things like transport and handling.”

Can our component suppliers deliver smaller quantities of stock on a daily basis? This sounds ridiculous, surely costs would increase massively, “We will see, our Logistics team is currently working towards this goal, I have no doubt in my mind it will be successful, Worcester already have many of our local suppliers supporting this initiative, so why not, having the Logistics Teams (and other departments) supporting BPS is a massive boost, they see improvements in the value stream that are often missed, its about developing together” says Bentley.

Says Munn: “We asked a local supplier to work with us to make this happen and they initially came back and quoted us a higher price for supply. We went to their site and did a workshop with them on BPS to demonstrate the benefits and

highlighted how it would be beneficial to both parties and that it couldn’t possibly cost more. It was a really nice example of what can be achieved by extending BPS outside the four walls of the factory.”

Quantifiable measures do BPS justice. “The quality of our products is ‘best in class’, this comes from having a quality focus in all our processes, “product quality is the result of the people and the process working together, it is not an accident” says Bentley, additionally “We have stretch goals, WIP (work in process) reduction each year >20% and we’ve achieved them and more,” says Munn, lead time for our finished goods reduces year on year, “The lead time is now based on hours for the plant, not days or even weeks” says Stephen, “I know this because I am heavily involved in the Value Stream Mapping activities, we are all involved, everyday”, importantly skills distribution for the associates is a real demonstration of the ‘people focus’, says Murdoch “Back in 2006 the balance of skilled operators (skills matrix measured) to unskilled was 1:66 in favour of unskilled, this is now 1:2 and continues to show how people are the single most important element to what we are trying to achieve here”.

The management team here are committed to what they are doing because they believe in it. The factory is clean and calmly controlled and has an air of success around it. Ice white decor, gleaming floors, the full range of products displayed proudly on the walls and glass fronted fascias presenting each department for all to see gives is a tailored setting for a manufacturing centre fit for the 22nd let alone the 21st century. There are opportunities to see for yourself, says Bentley “Yes we like to show people what we do here, it does make you proud to be involved in this success, however, its not easy, there is a lot of effort that goes into creating what you see, it does not just happen because it’s a nice thing to have, this is important to our customers”

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Lean Education and Development Lean Education and Development Limited and H.S Marston Aerospace, a partnership for success

L

ean Education and Development Limited (LEAD) were commissioned in 2009 by H.S Marston Aerospace (HSM) to support their Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) programme. ACE, a global initiative by parent companies United Technology Corporation (UTC) and Hamilton Sundstrand, promotes process excellence and improvement across every UTC business. HSM had achieved great success with their ACE drive - reaching bronze standard. The next stage was to cascade ACE/Lean principles to every employee and process across the business with the goal of achieving silver and ultimately gold status. This objective combined with the hands-on practical nature of the LEAD model made a perfect match for success.

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The programmes employed are linked to a qualification framework (Business Improvement Techniques level 2 and 3) and, although driving change and embedding a culture of continuous improvement is the aim of the programme, all participants gain an accredited Diploma. This also accesses full government funding.

The HSM programme has identified over ÂŁ500,000 of benefits and amassed over ÂŁ250,000 in savings. HSM has successfully achieved ACE Silver status and is now on the way to Gold. All staff within HSM have embraced the ACE/ lean principles. The ACE/lean culture is now demonstrated and embedded within HSM and will secure the future of HSM

as a premier Aerospace and Advanced Engineering Manufacturing company.

The working partnership between LEAD and HSM has been successful and LEAD is delighted to include such a leading business amongst their client base.

Published in association with: Lean Education and Development Limited Tel: 01562 720 596 Email: maxjones@leadlimited.co.uk Web: www.leadlimited.co.uk

Heat transfer systems HS Marston

Ch-ch-ch-changes Pots and pans maker to supplier of heat transfer and fluid management systems to Airbus, Boeing and Formula 1; not your average manufacturing story, it is fair to say. But as Edward Machin discovers, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all been in a few hundred years work for Wolverhamptonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HS Marston Aerospace.

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Heat transfer systems HS Marston

Founded

by the Perry

family in 1740 as a metalwear japanning business, “Quite clearly we specialise in exploiting new opportunities,” explains HS Marston’s managing director, David Danger.

“Indeed, our culture is very much built around recognising that the sectors we supply seldom stand still; we therefore need to understand the technologies required and continuously develop products and capabilities to meet those challenges.”

From metalwear came Sunbeam bicycles and motorbikes which, in turn, led to supplying heat exchangers for aeroplanes in both World Wars.

Two name changes in the mideighties saw the company operating as IMI Marston, and in 1999 its aerospace business was acquired by the USbased Hamilton Sundstrand, an operating division of United

Technologies Corporation (UTC), home to aerospace luminaries including Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky. A final change to HS Marston Aerospace is how we find the business today.

We have lift-off The majority of HS Marston’s revenue stems from its work with a who’s who of commercial and military aerospace giants. The company supplies two products for the world’s largest passenger aircraft, Airbus’ A380: heat exchangers on the (i) Engine Alliance GP 7000 and (ii) the galley cooler.

HS Marston is also heavily involved with the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan, ultra-efficient engine — scheduled to go into service on the Bombardier C Series in 2013.

Lastly, and having been a supporting partner since its inception, HS Marston provides two heat exchangers for the Boeing 787 as part of the air management system, as well as the aircraft’s ozone converter.

Operating from a 200,000 sq ft site in Wolverhampton, “These programmes are arguably our largest growth and profit drivers,” says Danger. “However, we are also involved in adjacent markets, for example, with heat exchangers for the motorsport industry — principally Formula 1 and IndyCar — representing a business within a business.”

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Silver service As a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporationn (UTC), Fortune’s “most admired” aerospace & defence company in 2009 and with revenues of $52.9bn, HS Marston is heavily involved in the ACE programme — a proprietary operating system designed by UTC to ensure world-class quality in products and processes throughout the organisations under its umbrella.

A programme heavily inspired by Lean manufacturing principles through a rigorous, data-driven process assessed by internal assessors, employees and their organisations progress through bronze, silver and gold levels of ACE — the second of which HS Marston was awarded in 2009.

“Having gone to great lengths to demonstrate good practice in terms of continuous improvement and hitting our quality, delivery and financial goals, we were all delighted to receive recognition,” says Danger.

“The programme is not limited to internal performance, however,” confirms Dave Taylor, purchasing manager.

“The idea is to bring your suppliers along on the journey, integrating the tools and philosophy of Lean techniques into their day-to-day operations.”

With three suppliers at Gold level and 14 on the programme in total, approximately 75% of the company’s total product spend is now represented. “Pleasingly, the majority of suppliers we approach have jumped at the chance to get on board, given that they can see the benefits

it brings in terms of recognition and exposure to UTC’s spread of industryleading companies,” says Taylor.

“Moreover, the supply chain in the UK has particularly benefited; not only do we have easier access to help local companies through the programme’s initial stages, but it ensures that they are well placed to win business from HS Marston and, by becoming more competitive, other companies as well.”

Having participated in the ACE scheme for the better part of a decade, HS Marston is targeting Gold status recognition for December of this year.

Central to achieving such performance milestones, both past and present, has been the degree to which employee engagement features in HS Marston’s

The idea is to bring your suppliers along on the journey, integrating the tools and philosophy of Lean techniques into their day-to-day operations Dave Taylor, purchasing manager

worldview. In 2009, for example, the company collaborated with LEAD, who supported HSM in obtaining a government grant and provided training to every employee in the company for an NVQ Level 2 in continuous improvement techniques.

“The success of the programme was largely down to the fact that everyone took part – no one was allowed to be an exception,” says Danger. “I am in no doubt that this has established a culture whereby each and every employee comes to work believing that they can contribute to improving the business.”

The choice is yours…

“HS Marston places great emphasis on employee engagement in terms of health & safety,” says Danger, which is borne out by the company having gone eight years without a lost time accident as of early 2010. “We place such importance on having the right

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Heat transfer systems HS Marston

HS Marston at a glance At a glance

HS Marston provides a wide range of heat transfer and fluids management products and services for the military and commercial aerospace markets, motorsport and electronics industries. The company operates as an autonomous business unit within Hamilton Sundstrand, Engine and Control Systems. Hamilton Sundstrand is part of United Technologies Corporation, which includes Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, Otis, Carrier and UTC Fire & Security and UTC Power.

Industry products

Aerospace heat transfer and fluid management

Employees

300

Annual turnover

£36m

Contact

www.hsmarston.co.uk

procedures and systems in place, and a culture of full employee engagement, for one reason: we want the site to be a safe place for our staff to come to work.

It is our duty to look after them when they are here; after all, it is the staff that makes this business what it is.”

The company recognises the impact individual’s decisions have on safety in the workforce. Danger accepts that a large degree of autonomy has to exist on the factory floor. To this end, HS Marston is embarking upon UTC’s personal choice programme later this year — a behavioural safety initiative

representing the next step in the organisation’s drive to zero accidents.

It will involve everyone in the business recognising that the most critical aspect of health and safety relates to the fact that they are able to exercise their own personal choice, he says. “Before they make a decision, therefore, staff across the board need to consider what the risks are and how they will act accordingly.”

“It is something we present to the employees as being in everybody’s interest; we ask them to think about the issues involved in their work so that they can make the right decisions when they are faced with any given situation. After all, isn’t that what HS Marston has been doing for close to three hundred years, and which has contributed to the success and longevity of the company”.

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COB Engineering COB Engineering specialise in press tool making, precision CNC engineering and fabrication for disabled access, lifts and escalators, in queue management equipment and various blue chip customers.

W

e have a highly skilled workforce split into specific disciplines, accredited to ISO9001:2008. We have several blue chip clients including Minivator Ltd (soon to be Handycare), whom we have been associated with for over 20 years and we have seen them grow significantly over this period.

Our other sectors include lifts and escalator components for the worlds largest lift manufacturer and in queue management components for the worlds leader in this market. We also supply components to the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest hire company relating to engineering services and have several other clients in various sectors of the UK economy.

Working from our factory in Luton

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which is close to the main motorway network means we can easily and quickly deliver our products.

We are constantly investing in plant and equipment to keep us ahead of the competition, including dual spindle CNC lathes with live tooling, a vast array of CNC vertical mills as well as CNC lathes with auto bar feeds for larger volumes. These machines feed into our welding department before final finishing and despatch.

We also own a fully staffed CNC sheet metal company with 4.2m press brakes and CNC punching machines.

We also specialise in decorative stainless work and refridgeration cases.

Our toolmakers are a key part of the operation from making complex press

tools down to one off simple prototypes for our clients.

All of the above machinery and dedicated skilled staff ensure we have the right attitude and infrastructure to support our existing and new clients.

Published in association with: COB ENGINEERING Tel: 01582 736721 Email: david.sharp@cobengineering.co.uk Web: www.cobengineering.co.uk

Stairt lifts Minivator

Scaling the stairway of

global growth Mark Young hears how a split manufacturing strategy in the UK and China is enabling this stair lift manufacturer with rapid growth and unmitigated commitment to customer care.

A

commonly held consensus is that when manufacturers move production out to low cost economies it spells trouble for UK industry. Not so, according to Minivator’s head of UK manufacturing, Jonathan Horne.

Eighteen months ago the Kingswinford, West Midlands-based stair lift and independent living products maker opened a manufacturing base in Shanghai. There it now makes all of its main standard straight stair lift products while its bespoke round-the-corner lifts are still made in the UK. “A lot of people have this view that the UK is going to lose all of its manufacturing jobs to China,” says Horne. “But in our case, because it a cost down initiative, it enables us to be competitive enough to continue to produce in the UK. The cost savings we achieve through basing some of our manufacturing in China means all of our operations have enjoyed growth, UK included.”

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Stairt lifts Minivator

Take the seats for the stair lift as an example. Previously these were all made in house at the Midlands factory but since the China factory opened 18 months ago they have been made there. These standard seats are still configured to order here in the UK though, with various power options colours and other features customised, and because of the growth the company has had through being more competitive, more people now work in the seat department in the UK than they ever did before the China factory opened. In fact, the company didn’t make one single redundancy during recession and it is numbers are still growing; a recent recruitment drive saw the payroll swell by 20. The UK site is now over 340 strong.

Furthermore, the factory has recently been extended by 10,000 square feet and in July a further 21,000 square feet will be added. Combined, these double the shop floor space. The company is the number two stair lift company in the world in terms of volume and while the overall market is growing by around seven per cent each year, Minivator is growing by 25 per cent. Seven years ago, revenues were below £10m per annum; this year the company will turnover more than £50m. That gives a strong indication of the way this company is headed.

The company’s supply base has not suffered either, even though Minivator has looked to source a higher percentage of parts from China.

“We have been working with the UK suppliers to ensure that they can support our manufacturing strategy in China and benefit from the growth in volumes we’ve achieved in the same way our UK site has by changing the business model.”

By and large the supply chain has prospered through this approach particularly where they supply niche non standard components or large awkward parts which are difficult to forecast or ship economically; only one of Minivator’s key suppliers fell victim to recession.

“For our bespoke products we are committed to a three day lead time in manufacturing and that means we will always manufacture in the UK,” says Horne. And the company has a particular vested interest in doing the very best by its domestic customers;

In January 2010 Minivator’s success lead to its acquisition by the healthcare company Handicare AS. Headquartered in Moss, Norway, it was founded in 1986 by three wheelchair users who specialised in custom wheelchairs.

Over the years Handicare has acquired and merged with various long established companies in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France and Canada.

Thus, its product range has expanded considerably. Today, Handicare Group has established itself as one of the leading healthcare companies in Europe with over 1400 employees and sales of over 250 million euros in 2009.

Money and logistical benefits aside, keeping people mobile and comfortable in their homes is woven into the very fabric of this company Garrie Hall, global purchasing manager the UK market is the largest in the world, largely due to the National Health Service. “It is far more expedient and cheaper for the NHS to keep people in their homes than to put them into care or hostels,” says global purchasing manager Garrie Hall.

Money and logistical benefits aside, keeping people mobile and comfortable in their homes is woven into the very fabric of this company. Personal care for its customers is the culture that drives Minivator and it was born out of its very foundations. In the 1980s the owner of a machine tools company, based in Dunstable, had an elderly relative who was faced with an all too familiar heartache – no longer able to scale the stairs, the beloved family home looked set to be sold. As with many engineering entrepreneurs this need gave birth to a design and a bespoke stair lift which solved the problem. The product was received so well he then decided to take this creation to the market. That culture of care and innovation continues to define what Minivator does.

Today, the company considers itself a field leader in stair lifts and it makes in excess of 25,000 a year.

To ensure the culture of customer care is shared among all employees, everybody within the company from the chief executive to the secretaries, the operations director to the shop floor, all accompany a service engineer once every year on an installation of a product in somebody’s home.

“We do this so that everybody meets a customer whose life they’re improving,” says Horne. “Be it the screw they put into a seat or the product they’ve surveyed – whatever it is they do within this organisation – they meet the actual person that they are helping and see for themselves how much it means to them.”

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One of the family Further to this end, the company employs Auntie Doris. She doesn’t command a salary because she’s only a cartoon but she’s one of the most important members of the team. Doris stands for Dialogue and development, On plan, Right first time, Innovation, Service. She therefore encompasses everything the company stands for and she represents the end user – everything that Minivator does is aimed at delighting Aunty Doris.

“We think of her as our own Auntie Doris and we treat her as we’d want one of our family members to be treated. If everyone adopts that ethos we can only help improve quality and service for all our customers.”

The company has even extended the Auntie Doris philosophy out to its suppliers. Says Hall: “When supplier deliveries are failing, we say: ‘you’re not delivering a component for a lap top or a spare part for a car whereby not delivering it could cause disappointment. If you don’t deliver a part for a stair lift or the quality isn’t

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right, it might mean someone has to crawl up the stairs or can’t get up at all.’ We’re all making a difference to people’s lives and we want that difference to be a positive one.”

Testament to its commitment to innovation, Minivator’s UK R&D team is 20 strong – a healthy percentage of its total payroll – and is one of its fastest growing departments.

It is happy to open its wallet for machinery to support that innovation too. A new CNC bending machine and the

Stairt lifts Minivator

company’s first handling robots for a new round-the-corner lift product amounts to a total investment of over £350,000 for one individual cell. In 2008, the company won the Black Country Award for Innovation in the World for its business approach to innovation.

Minivator sustains a level of around 25 apprentices across the business, including on the shop floor, in logistics functions, and as installation engineers. Over 90 per cent of these are given full time positions at the company when their programme ends. The company sees staff progression as part of it duty as an employer. Horne regales: “Two years ago I employed a temporary agency worker on a very basic assembly line function. He had a very good attitude to his work and he progressed very quickly. Before long we had

When supplier deliveries are failing, we say: ‘you’re not delivering a component for a laptop or a spare part for a car, whereby not delivering it could cause disappointment. If you don’t deliver a part for a stair lift or the quality isn’t right, it might mean someone has to crawl up the stairs or can’t get up at all Garrie Hall, global purchasing manager taught him pretty much every assembly line function and we took him on permanently. He then moved into the machine shop and learnt how to manufacture products there. About 18 months later he successfully applied for a job as an installation engineer, went through his training and he’s now qualified and he’s installing lifts - all within two years.”

This commitment to staff and skills has also led to success in another area Minivator now considers itself an expert: problem solving.

“About two years ago we had a quality forum and we looked at how we could improve both the Aunty Doris experience and business performance,” says Horne. “What we found is that there were only a few Associates that could actually work on problems and corrective actions and truly identify the root cause using recognised tools and techniques.”

The company decided to roll out a training programme across the whole group, inclusive of everywhere, à la the installation policy. The training involved working on real projects related to individuals’ own areas of work and 57 problems and potential solutions were identified, 37 of which were deemed feasible in a cost versus quality analysis and were acted upon.

These included 5S implementations around the site, process improvements within manufacturing cells and best practice within logistics.

Notably, the Kanban operation was overhauled and optimised.

From this project Minivator Problem Solving was established (MiPS). It has now evolved into a standardised company wide operation which every employee is taught in and engages with as part of their job responsibilities.

The problem solving training has continued to inspire many quality improvements but it was the opening of its China factory and its new supply base that really drove the need to focus on getting its quality right first time. The well proven ISO9001 quality standard used in the UK was rigorously copied into the China factory from the outset.

When the China factory had its first audit in October last year it registered zero non-conformities. As for the UK, in quarter four 2009 the cost of quality, amounted to 0.4 per cent sales.

So, far from another nail in UK manufacturing’s coffin, outsourcing manufacturing to a low cost economy has allowed a British company and its supply chain to grow at a time when most were just looking to sustain their businesses and many did not survive.

“Manufacturing is a global industry but that doesn’t mean the UK should suffer,” concludes Horne. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite. By seeking cost efficiencies we have shown that we can make our products better and faster and our business can grow as a result.”

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Surface technologies Henkel Loctite Adhesives

Service across the board Henkel is a global laundry, cosmetic and adhesives manufacturer.

Tim Brown talks to Stuart Rowe, operations director at the company’s Hemel Hemstead plant, about the factory’s contribution to the company’s adhesive technologies group.

The

Hemel Hempstead plant manufactures and distributes materials such as adhesives, solder materials and fluxes. Aside from production, the plant also acts as a European distribution hub for other materials such as mould compounds and other conductive adhesives, and is planning to further increase its distribution role.

The core product With over 70 years experience manufacturing solder products at the site, the Hemel Hempstead plant began its operational activities as a manufacturer of solder wire.

However, solder paste, which is essentially a powdered metal solder suspended in a thick medium called flux, is now the primary product produced at the plant. The paste, marketed under the name Multicore, is a grey viscous material used to make connections on a printed circuit board. “Components on a circuit board are getting smaller and require much smaller amounts of solder,” says Rowe. “The solution to this issue has been to take the solder metal alloy, atomise it into a powder and mix it with the flux. The resulting product can

115

then easily and accurately be applied to a circuit board.”

Both virgin and recycled materials are used to form the appropriate alloys needed for the solder powder. Henkel obtains their virgin tin from a company called Wild Shore, and recycled materials both from their internal recovery processes and also from a company called Fenix. The alloy is blended and atomised in to the powder, which makes up approximately 90% of the required material. The remaining 10% is made up of the flux medium, which cleans the metal connections and also provides the paste with right rheological properties so it can be precisely applied to the circuit board.

Solder paste is generally applied to a circuit board in one of two ways.

A screen printing technique can be used where the paste is squeezed through a screen on to the circuit board, similar to screen printing a t-shirt. The other commonly used technique is to apply the paste using a syringe which dispenses the material directly on to the circuit board. As a result, the Multicore paste is sold in either a 500g pot for use in the printing process or in a cartridge for direct application.

Process changes The Hemel Hempstead plant has actively engaged a set of continuous improvement initiatives in the manufacture of its solder paste. Starting the improvement process with the implementation of 5s, Rowe says the first step was to “remove anything superfluous to our operation while also ensuring that all operational necessities are well organised and identified.”

Aiming to further improve the efficient operation of the plant, particularly as sales volumes are likely to increase during the course of this year, the plant has also greatly increased its use of lean techniques. “We are now pulling the material through the system as opposed to pushing it, ensuring that inventory is not building up at any one place,” says Rowe. “By equalising the different steps in the process, we have developed a one piece flow through the system, which is very effective.”

In addition, Rowe says that due to it being established as a hindrance to smooth operational flow, the quality control element of the manufacturing process is being re-designed. “Part

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Surface technologies Henkel Loctite Adhesives

Henkel, Hemel Hemstead at a glance Location

Technologies House, wood lane end, Hemel Hemstead, Hertfordshire

Sector

Adhesive technologies group

History

The Hemel Hemstead plant was originally a manufacturer of solder wire under the company name Multicore Solders, which was founded in 1937. Henkel took over Multicoree on February 10, 2000 and now focuses on the manufacture of solder paste.

Employees

65

Output

Solder paste, mould release agent, adhesives, solder material, fluxes

of our quality testing at the moment requires us to wait for 24 hours before we can confirm some of the tests on the solder paste. We are looking to see if we can do some of the critical tests more quickly so we can mix the paste and pack it straight away. The other tests can then be done in parallel while we are still packing the paste.”

Packaging has been another area of focus for the company. Both a streamlining of the workload relating to packaging as well as the packaging itself has been undertaken. Traditionally, packaging was prepared with labels and caps well before it was required to be filled. “The idea of lean,” says Rowe, “is that we should only do that as a part of the process when you are going to need it. We are in the process of implementing that methodology. This means we are not building up large inventories of prepared materials well before we need them.”

In addition, the company is aiming to further minimise any unnecessary packaging stock by introducing multilanguage labels. Multicore solder paste requires the display of safety information in the language local to the consumer. While the solder paste packaging does not provide a large amount of space for information display, the company is current working on a producing a single label capable of displaying the required information in 20 different languages. This will allow the company to greatly reduce both packaging label stocks and while minimising the excess production of paste for certain geographical markets.

Moving ahead Clearly, considerable improvements have already been implemented at the

Henkel Hemel Hempstead plant, with equally impressive enhancements in the pipeline. The plant’s plans to reduce excess stock and remove unnecessary processes are commendable, and likely to make a considerable difference to the profitability and performance of the plant. Indeed, through these process improvements the Hemel Hempstead plant plans to decrease its production lead time for production from four weeks to three and ultimately two, a target that Rowe says is “completely feasible”. Such progress bodes well for the future of Henkel, and in particular the Hemel Hempstead plant, as it continues to produce an important and class leading product for the technology industry.

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118

Precision metal tubing Fine Tubes

Hadron Collider Tunnel

Fine

times Fine Tubes Ltd has been making highspecification, precision metal tubing in stainless steel and advanced alloys for over 60 years.

Managing director Ronen Day talks to Ruari McCallion about expansion, new markets and their culture of innovative improvement.

What

do dentistry, the oil industry, aerospace and athletics have in common?

The answer is Fine Tubes Ltd, founded in 1943 and based in based in Plymouth, SW England. As it has sought out opportunities for expansion into new, and increasingly demanding, markets, it has seen turnover more than double.

“We are a pretty traditional business. Visitors to our plant see a lot of factory and a lot of big machinery – the biggest of them would cost around seven to eight million pounds today” says MD Ronen Day. After lifting turnover from £16m to around £36m in five years, Fine Tubes is looking to double again, through new markets and innovation.

“We are expanding into new geographical areas and have invested in an expanded sales and marketing operation, including new offices in France, Germany and India,” he continues. “We are focused on markets that offer high value-added opportunities. We already have a presence in aerospace and nuclear industries. We are developing into the oil and gas, power generation and medical sectors, and their sub-segments, such as trauma and stents in medical, for example.”

Every day Fine Tubes products are becoming more pervasive. It provides tubes for drilling in the energy

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industry and in dentistry; its products can be found in aircraft landing gear and in replacement human joints. It has customers in the chemical process industry, it makes cooling tubes for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and is a key supplier to Skylon, a low-orbit reusable delivery system for satellites, which needs tubes with walls less thick than a human hair.

Fine Tubes works in stainless steel and the full range of alloys, from nickel and titanium through to the latest super-light aerospace alloys. With attention to material and processes there is a constant effort to improve performance, cut waste and cost and improve quality through empowering problem solving and utilising workforce knowledge.

Installation of tubes in Hadron Collider

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“Previously, it took us fifteen steps to reduce a tube from three inches diameter to stent size – just one millimetre.

We now have to do it in half the number of cycles,” says Day. Metrology and rework issues are also a major challenge. “When we are asked to supply a part five metres long, and which is measured in microns, if we get to the end and find a small defect then we have to scrap the entire load. The route out of that problem has been based on Six Sigma methodology.

“For example, when we began working on trauma needles around five years ago, we found we would have a period of high yield, then get problems. We had to understand why. We examined the raw material and found features in it, such as swirls, which caused the issue.” The problem lay in identifying the issue before production – but the method of analysis would destroy the raw material.

“In the end, we resolved the problem by finding other suppliers, with more robust processes.”

Fine Tubes’ American parent company has largely allowed it to develop and manage itself autonomously. For

Precision metal tubing Fine Tubes

quite a long time, the company has not made a big contribution but the focus on development and improvement over the past few years is changing that. It currently employs around 350 people, including agency staff, who are taken on according to demand. During the turmoil of the past two years, the total payroll fell from 380 to 320 but is now on an upward trend again, the growth being generated by the company’s willingness to innovate.

“We have invested in developing our own engineering function,” says Day. “We’ve just developed a new production line – we can’t buy in the technology we need, the product we’re making is unique. So we developed new machines ourselves.”

A more mundane challenge, faced by many engineering businesses, is to stop using damaging chemicals like trichloroethylene. But Fine Tubes’ approach was very much its own.

“We worked with technical resources partners and a chemical company to develop a new cleaning solution, which is so safe it’s almost drinkable.

In tandem with that, we worked with a nano-filtration company to recover the chemical after the process – it is expensive, as you can imagine.”

Product development is managed at director level and, in the best traditions of lean and statistical process control, different disciplines – including forecasting and material process control – work together, in the same offices, enabling close co-operation and shortening time to market. The core of the company’s success is its people, Day maintains – which is quite something as the company was more famous, in the early 1970s, for having one of the longest strikes in British industrial history. Those days are far in the past.

“You have to invest in people; if you don’t care about your own people then you aren’t caring about your customers,” he said. “Respect is extremely important. We share our objectives with our employees; we’re pretty open. You’re never going to eliminate conflicts completely but we work together to resolve them.”

The obvious signs are the absence of an executive car park and the transformation of the second-floor management offices into the staff dining facility; now, everyone can enjoy its fine

LHC Beam Screen with Fine Tubes cooling tube

views of Plymouth. It has a training programme for upskillng permanent staff and recruits from its agency workers. A ‘lean champion’ is present in each production cell.

“The self-managed teams have their own budgets and meet regularly to discuss ways to improve performance,” Day explains. “We have a web-based information system, which displays how the teams’ internal customers are doing and enables them to prioritise. We have Six Sigma training and run business improvement NVQs. We’re talking to the local colleges to see if we can set up a Fine Tubes school for coaching and support.” Continuous improvement and a view to the future are embedded in Fine Tubes’ culture.

“One of my fellow-directors noticed a modification to a machine, which he knew nothing about. He asked [the team] what it was; they had discussed how to overcome a particular issue and came up with this idea. They went ahead and worked out a solution to a problem we didn’t even know existed,” he said. “Everything we achieve at Fine Tubes is about our people. We hunt as a pack, we work together and that’s how we succeed.”

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Moog targets complete control

Next time you fly, consider the electro-mechanical wizardry at work behind the pilotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flight deck that keeps your aircraft on course. Servo valves and manifolds for flight control systems make up an important part of a broad portfolio of precision aerospace and industry components made by Moog Controls, based in Tewkesbury.

Hybrid servo valve manifold A350

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Motion control systems Moog Controls

One

of the great things about British manufacturing is its discrete strengths – most ordinary consumers are blissfully unaware of many of the highly engineered products that we are so good at making behind the scenes. Certain names in UK aerospace are familiar to many; Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Cobham and Goodrich among them, but the companies that supply these primes with sophisticated components that help operate aircraft control systems receive much less press. A layman might expect that many of the smaller electro-mechanical components used by these Tier 1 and 2 companies are bought in from China or India. But look deeper into the UK aerospace sector, and you find companies like Moog in Tewkesbury; foreign-owned firms manufacturing in the UK as part of efficient internal and external supply chains to these big primes.

Moog, a US-owned company, manufactures in Gloucestershire, makes a wide portfolio of advanced products, where its business is split about 70% in aerospace and 30% in the industrial divisions – motion control systems for applications like plastics, metal forming, power generation and motor sport. While Moog, which employs 370 staff at Tewkesbury, has been in the UK for 40 years, as a global company operating in 26 countries with volume production in the Philippines, the UK site is under intense pressure to control costs.

Tewkesbury has worked hard to analyse its costs and recently consolidated a five-year, enterprisewide lean programme to deliver higher productivity and better staff engagement. This has reaped dividends, says director and site manager of Moog Tewkesbury UK, Steve Hawkins. “We’ve had a strategy for the last three years for reducing recurring costs, i.e. those in manufacturing, and non-recurring costs – those taken on up-front – by cost identification combined with internal strategies like New Product Introduction and lean,” he says.

Aircraft Group: three businesses in one As part of the Moog Aircraft Group, Moog Tewkesbury has two types of OEM market, internal and external. The internal business supplies aerospace

parts to the Moog Aircraft Group, which include servo valves and manifolds for flight control systems. The external business manufactures products that are fitted to fuel metering systems for aircraft engines, braking and steering systems and missile control systems. Moog Tewkesbury also has an aftermarket activity (about 30 % of the external business).

Nigel Cottell, director of quality and deputy site manager, describes one of the bigger external lines: “These products are largely interface devices for aircraft engine fuel metering systems. Rolls-Royce is predominantly at the top of the supply chain, the next tier is our customer that manufactures fuel metering systems, our products are a sub-set of those systems. These receive low level electrical signals and provide the hydraulic control for the metering system.”

In the internal Moog market, typical products are servo valves and manifolds for flight control systems. These are the critical components that help to control your plane that you’re unaware of when jetting to the Canary Islands. “Moog provides the primary flight controls for an aircraft; actuators, control electronic and components,” says Cottell. “An actuator is a hydraulic cylinder controlled by a servo valve.

The servo valve is commanded by low level electrical signals from the control electronics. The integration of valve, cylinder and control electronics determines the performance of the flight control system.”

In the Moog Aircraft Group, the military servo valve products are designed and manufactured in country, whereas civil servo valves are designed and qualified in Tewkesbury for final phase manufacture and assembly at the Moog facility in Baguio, Philippines. Baguio, with 1,000 employees, and Tewkesbury have a very close working relationship within

We’ve had a three year cost reduction strategy, using cost identification combined with internal strategies like New Product Introduction and lean Steve Hawkins, site director, Tewkesbury

the parent Moog Inc’s global supply chain. Tewkesbury flows to the Philippines factory the designs, manufacturing processes and even management personnel who disseminate Moog Tewkesbury’s New Product Introduction and lean manufacturing programmes to Baguio when seconded there for regular, three-year postings.

A strategy for growth Put simply, Moog Tewkesbury’s three-year growth strategy has focussed on identifying and reducing recurring and non-recurring costs through Lean, and a New Product Introduction scheme to tighten standards in the process of design to point-of-sales delivery.

On reducing recurring costs, i.e. those generated in certification and testing, Steve Hawkins says: “Certification for our servo valves s require exacting physical performance tests, which demand significant resource. They are

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Sodick World-Leading 7-Axis EDM Technology S

odick has launched a worldleading technology to solve its customers’ most difficult machining problems – a 7-axis “turn and burn” EDM die-sink solution that controls the movement of a twisted electrode so that it penetrates the workpiece in a corkscrew-like motion - an increasingly frequent requirement for advanced applications, particularly in the aerospace, power and medical sectors.

The machining of components with this type of complex geometry has up to now only been possible with 5-axis milling applications – and then only in the open-channel form.

Sodick’s latest innovation opens up a wide range of manufacturing

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opportunities, as these closedchannel forms reduce the loading on the blade walls as well as reducing the wear on pump rotors and seals and all at a fraction of the cost of milling.

Published in association with: Sodi-Tech EDM Limited Tel: 024 76 511 677 Email: sales@sodi-techedm.co.uk Web: www.sodick.org

Motion control systems Moog Controls

sometimes funded in the price of the first few aircraft, but we have focused on bringing this down to be more competitive.” Non-recurring costs in this sector are becoming more and more important. “As the aerospace market becomes more cost focused and more strictly regulated, customers will differentiate not only on recurring costs but also on non recurring costs, with the supplier expected to take the risk on the success of the programme.

Nigel Cottell describes nonrecurring, or up-front, costs. “We define this as the set of costs that we accumulate from the point of starting to design the product, through product development to early pre-production hardware, through qualification testing to a point where the customer and Moog can sign off the product and say it’s now good to go.”

Central pillar — New Product Introduction Manufacturers frequently talk about visibility and communication between departments to improve

the manufacturing process: order – manufacture - quality control - delivery. Moog Tewkesbury has introduced and piloted a ‘gated procedure’ to augment this visibility, with the express aim of increasing quality assurance and simultaneously reducing costs. Called the New Product Introduction process (NPI), it’s a programme that ensures all appropriate steps are undertaken and then reviewed by the relevant

Now Baguio (Philippines) has similar machine tools and test rigs to Tewkesbury, reducing duplication of effort with CNC programming, specialised tools and the automated test process Nigel Cottell, director of quality & service excellence

company functions. This links all internal departments, from design to the prototype manufacture – finance, sales, purchasing, IT and manufacturing – to ensure that technical performance, costs and quality standards are met and that the customer is satisfied. It has been a manifest success, says Hawkins. “The NPI process is a gated procedure. Each department signs off a check-sheet and takes responsibility for their stage before moving through the gate.”

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Assembly and Test Clean room - Valves and Manifolds

An important aspect of Moog’s business is ensuring stringent product specifications are maintained throughout manufacture. The NPI helps to identify potential deviations from the product specification as early as possible.

“There is now far better visibility and collaboration between departments and sites,” says Cottell. This gated process extends to transferring commercial products to the Baguio facility. “Common processes with the Baguio facility and Moog Tewkesbury is important,” Cottell adds. “So now Baguio has similar machine tools and

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test rigs to Tewkesbury, this has reduced duplication of effort with CNC programming, fixtures, specialised tools, CMM programmes and the automated test process.”

Time to refine lean Moog Tewkesbury has made a big investment in its lean and six sigma programme, refining the baseline lean work done over the last five to six years. In some cases, operating costs have reduced in real terms by 23% as a result of new lean activities.

New initiatives include the introduction of several single piece flow cells in the factory, a departure from the former batch manufacturing process. Results have been striking; “typically” a 25% productivity improvement, says Cottell.

“The introduction of single piece flow lines has highlighted

Motion control systems Moog Controls

the impact of part shortages, test failures and inefficient use of labour.

This has led to focussed activity by the technical and operations team to fix the underlying problems not just the ‘quick fix’ from the established specialist.”

Lean, a methodology often associated with volume, process manufacturing like automotive lines, can be equally effective for discrete manufacturers.

Moog has established “Cell management teams” in all 11 production area and some support areas so there are cells now in quality assurance, finance, purchasing and IT. Inclusive monthly team meetings allow all staff to have their say with senior management present. This has been a cathartic process. “We found some of this can be extremely uncomfortable for management, until the main issues were on the table and management were seen to be interested and trying to help,” says Cottell. “Both sides are now held to account.” At Moog Tewkesbury all managers are strongly encouraged to participate in the Lean Management Programme, and all staff receive a level of lean training. The company has three six sigma black belts internally, supported by external training “The focussed groups have driven some fundamental changes to the way we test valves and correlate our rigs both internally and with our customers, which has involved a multi-functional team redesigning test rigs to get much better accuracy measuring pressures, flows and frequency response,” says Hawkins.

Tesing of control valve for Trent XWB engine for A350

Lean results and outlook Many companies engage in lean to some degree, but to assess the effect results must be measured. Moog Tewkesbury says scrap costs have fallen by in excess of 20%, and there is now much improved identification of root cause and subsequent corrective action. Communications have really improved, Steve Hawkins says, and line operators are now evaluating their own ideas unprompted. Some hard metrics stand out. “Lean activities in the manufacturing cells, have reduced machine tool consumable costs from £450,000 to £350,000 a year,” says Cottell. Employee engagement has varied, but generally management is pleased. “When I joined it was about 10 per cent. Now 30-40 per cent of

staff are actively engaged,” says Hawkins. This has been helped by a transparent pay structure, linked clearly to lean training grades.

Moog Tewkesbury is a member of the aerospace association A|D|S and UK Trade & Investment’s Supply Chain 21st Century initiative (SC21), a benchmarking process for aerospace companies. “SC21 has revealed that Moog Tewkesbury has improved, but we’re not the best yet and need to improve further,” says Hawkins.

But senior management are confident that continued involvement with its NPI and lean programme, and SC21, will further refine Moog’s business operations to embed it as a world-class company serving clients with the highest requirements in the industry.

Moog Inc is exhibiting at the Farnborough Air Show this month on stand F10 in Hall 4 where there will be a display of company-wide products for commercial and military applications and technologies.

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Achieve growth without spiraling costs

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Celebrate Manufacturing for a Better Britain

www.themanufacturer.com July 2010 Vol 13 Issue 07

EntEr nOW

www.themanufacturer.com July 2010 Vol 13 Issue 07

Show time Farnborough prepares to show off the best of British

Having emerged from the recession stronger, leaner and with many new initiatives in place, UK Manufacturing is ideally placed to make a better Britain!

Established over 10 years ago, The Manufacturer of the Year Awards competition is specifically designed to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK Manufacturing. So enter today and showcase your achievements.

For further details visit www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Corporate Sponsor:

The categories this year are: Leadership and strategy Innovation and design World class manufacturing People and skills IT in manufacturing Supply chain and logistics Operations and maintenance Sustainable manufacturing SME manufacturer of the Year Financial services Advanced manufacturing And the winner of winners category: The Manufacturer of the Year

For further details contact Laura Williams on 01603 671323 or email l.williams@sayonemedia.com The winners will be announced at a black tie gala dinner and Awards ceremony at Chesford Grange, Kenilworth on Thursday 18th November 2010. If you are interested in sponsoring an Award, please contact David Alstin on 01603 671307 or email d.alstin@sayonemedia.com

Interview Brian Fleet MBE

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Airbus UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top man takes a bow