Somerset company Probiotics International, which manufactures a range of innovative, research based probiotic products has announced a 40% turnover increase and now exports to over 50 countries after investing £500,000 in equipment.
Probiotics, which supplies the veterinary, human, agriculture and equine healthcare markets, has benefited from a detailed analysis of its production processes.
With advice from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), it quickly became apparent that some equipment was not operating as efficiently as it could and other machinery needed replacing.
Toby Lewis, managing director at the company which employs 100 and turns over £16m, said working with MAS enabled the company to look the business through a different perspective.
“A number of our team leaders attended a MAS workshop on lean manufacturing where they were introduced to tools and techniques that enabled them to look at the business from a different perspective,” he said.
“They were able to visualise how significant improvements could be made through reduced changeover and cycle times and generally in how we do things. We went away from the project empowered to implement changes for the good of the business.”
Matthew John, MAS Advisor for Somerset, added: “It is encouraging to find a growing company that exports worldwide that works hard to source many of its products and services locally and within the UK.
“Probiotics benefits from a local supply chain with direct contact, short lead times and sustained quality.”
In the video below, Probiotics MD Toby Lewis talks about the company’s journey with MAS.
For more information on MAS and the services it provides, call 0845 658 9600, email [email protected] or visit www.mymas.org.
