Last month operational excellence consultancy Suiko conducted an executive workshop to showcase the ongoing continuous improvement success story of LINPAC Packaging.
Attendees at the event were give a firsthand look inside LINPAC’s St Helens facility to see the improvement programme live and importantly, the way in which the LINPAC Operating System (LPOS) is being rolled out globally in an increasingly challenging marketplace.
Vice President Operations at LINPAC Packaging, Chris Horton, presented details of the company’s development vision to be class leading throughout its supply chain in terms of safety, quality, cost and customer service. He explained how Suiko assisted the company to tailor its continuous improvement approach and develop LPOS – a standardised approach designed to ensure successful deployment of the principles of operational excellence to deliver long-term and sustainable change.
The tour of the facility provided the best demonstration of the functional benefits of adhering to the LPOS goal to be ‘informed, involved and in control’. All invitees were impressed by the level to which staff were engaged and understood how the continuous improvement metrics were applied to their section. Likewise, the comprehension level of all team leaders in terms of their visual management and measuring systems were quite outstanding.
Attendee companies included manufacturers PepsiCo, British Sugar, CRH and Spirax Sarco as well as representatives from the service sector, demonstrating the diversification that lean is starting to enjoy. Andrew Ritchie from Total, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, described the day as “very enlightening” adding that the “commitment of the staff was a joy to behold”.
The level of staff engagement had also clearly flowed through into the second LPOS goal of ensuring the company is ‘safe, clean and organised’. Unlike the shop floors of some other factories, the tour revealed an extremely high level of cleanliness and shop floor organisation at LINPAC Packaging. The results of such stringent measures, as operations manager Chris Wright revealed, have not only resulted in an improvement in safety but also a vast improvement in productivity, OEE and a reduction in maintenance stoppages.
However it was not just the attendees singing the praises of LINPAC Packaging’s success. The packaging company was gracious in drawing attention to the important role played by Suiko in the development of the LPOS system. “Suiko helped us understand the importance of the different levels of improvement,” said Horton. “We have now incorporated these fundamentals into our operating system that is being implemented across our worldwide operations…I would recommend this approach to any company who wants to rapidly achieve and sustain operational improvements.”
While each attendee company where at different point on their journey to excellence, there was acknowledgement form everyone that there were important lessons to be learned from the LINPAC Packaging experience. LINPAC St Helens staffs’ openness and honesty and willingness to share was key and overall, the day reinforced the benefit of go and see with a purpose and the value of drawing on the experiences of those that have gone before.
For anyone looking for advice on operational excellence or more information on the LINPAC Packaging programme contact Andy Spooner, Business Development Director Tel: +44 (0) 1225 852400 Email: [email protected] web www.suiko.co.uk.
