Background

The company is a world leader in load handling solutions for the automotive and other industries, selling their own brand products globally. At the factory under consideration, where approximately 170 manual workers are employed, the market situation was good. In fact market demand was much higher than the company could produce. As a result, order stock was continuously increasing and there was a need to increase production.

Implementation

The factory analysis carried out by Mantec identified a significant improvement potential in productivity. This potential could be realised through:

• improved production planning and manning patterns, to allow streamlining;
• improved material management and better interaction with suppliers;
• the development of man loading systems and personnel flexibility, including salaries and incentive schemes;
• the development of production time measuring and workloads;
• reduced lead time and throughput time, through reorganisation of workflow and better coordination between departments;
• the identification and implementation of Best Demonstrated Practice (BDP), Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and work instructions;
• the development and implementation of a new management information system (to include tools and Key Performance Indicators), combined with variance reporting;
• the development of organisational and team structure; and
• supervisory management training and the development of leadership skills.

The planned production increase was also dependent on the ability of subcontractors to increase their production and meet agreed delivery dates. Consequently, during the project particular attention was paid to the subcontractor network, to ensure close cooperation and the synchronization of subcontractor production with factory production planning.

Results

A new management system, which included appropriate KPIs, was designed and implemented. A new base for standard production time was established. Cooperation and communication between management, supervisors and personnel was improved. As a result:

• total cost efficiency was improved giving a better margin per produced unit;
• production flow was more even and therefore it became possible to more readily and accurately predict overall production;
• throughput times became shortened; and
• delivery accuracy was significantly improved.

These improvements resulted in improved competitive edge for the company. In particular:

• by the end of the project, production levels reached 75 items per week, representing 85% improved production; and
• yearly results improved by EUR 4.5 million, a project ROI of 680%.

Background

The company, a family-owned producer of safety footwear in Europe, employs approximately 200 people and has an annual turnover of around EUR 30 million. Its products are used in all areas including manual labour, and 65% of production goes to international markets.

However, a large number of rush orders severely obstructed production planning, largely because the company lacked a holistic view and there was insufficient coordination between the different work phases of production. ManTec was therefore hired to establish a comprehensive view of the entire production process.

Implementation

The pre-study clearly indicated a lack of both long-term and short-term planning, together with problems relating to material throughput. After the pre-study, ManTec and the client jointly set a target for the main project of a productivity increase of 20% (approximately 100.000 units), which represented an estimated project ROI of 800%.

Initially, clear KPIs were created within several production departments, and their systematic follow-up enabled supervisors to react more quickly to variances. Together with production meetings and production planning linked to daily production objectives, these tools gave the production units visual tools to better understand their part and what was expected from them in the process. Production plans were made on a monthly basis and then broken down to daily personal goals.

The most significant contributions made by ManTec during the project were:

• encouraging a more holistic view of material flow in production;
• designing a new way to set up the production plan, including follow-up methods which enabled line managers to respond quickly to production deviations; and
• encouraging and helping to embed a more logical and systematic way to work.

Results

The main benefits to the client from the successful collaboration with ManTec have been:

• increased production capacity of approximately 31.5 % (about 115,000 units);
• consequent increase in sales from EUR 24.1 million to EUR 29.7 million;
• a project ROI, exceeding the set target, of approximately 1500 %; and
• improved delivery performance.

As well as the new ways of working, the project also resulted in the development of a brand new management control system with clear roles, responsibilities and empowerment of managers at all levels, as well as a clear vision and personal goals for everyone in the company.