Strategic MRO rewarded by Brammer and Buck & Hickman

Posted on 4 Oct 2013 by The Manufacturer

The Royal Mint, Pepsico and Siemens received awards yesterday for best practice use of MRO strategy for reduced costs and improved efficiency, health and safety and worker fatigue.

The annual Brammer-Buck & Hickman Manufacutring Forum took place at the Concorde Runway Visitor Park in Manchester where guests huddled under wings of the iconic aircraft.

Around 150 senior industrial executives from across the UK and Europe attended the event to share best practice and hear the announcement of Brammer and Buck & Hickman’s awards for outstanding applications of strategic MRO improvement.

Winners demonstrated the ability to leverage MRO improvement  for a variety of business benefits including direct financial gains but also improvement in workforce engagement and reduced hidden costs through HR-related savings.

Categories for the awards covered: Improved Production Efficiency, Supplier Relationship management, Reduced Working Capital through Inventory Management and Reduced Total Acquisition costs.

The Royal Mint, Pepsico and Siemens triumphed for UK manufacturing. They were awarded the Brammer Reduced Working Capital through Inventory Management Award, the Brammer Improved Production Efficiency and the Buck & Hickman Supplier Relationship Award respectively.

Pepsico was singled out by the judges of the awards – all editors of leading UK industrial titles – for its leadership in reducing its environmental footprint and reducing energy consumption in line with its production efficiency wins.

Will Butler-Adams, MD, Brompton Bicycles

The awards ceremony was preceded by a series of best practice presentations and an inspirational manufacturing leadership speech form Will Butler-Adams, MD of Brompton Bicycles.

Mr Butler-Adams urged his peers to “make-room for innovation” and creativity in their companies and shared his vision for a more dynamic, publicly recognised and accessible UK manufacturing base.

He closed his speech with an impassioned plea to his audience – the huge majority of which were male – to support the recruitment and progression of more women in manufacturing.

Brompton is on target to make 45,000 folding bikes at its London factory this year. Eighty per cent are destined for export markets in 44 countries.

The company turns over around £30m and employs 220 people.

The best practice case studies at the Manufacturing Forum came from EDF Nuclear, Diageo, Siemens and The Royal Mint.

Delegate feedback indicated the the structure for asset management planning and efficiency improvement shared by Diageo was particularly well received. Several delegates expressed a keen desire to visit the manufacturer of alcoholic beverages to learn more about its AMIS [Asset Management Improvement Service] model.

This model has been rolled out world wide by Diageo with the help of MCP Consulting, a strategic partner.

All of the case studies are also existing Brammer or Buck & Hickman customers.

Brammer and Buck & Hickman supply strategic support for the distribution control and consumption of MRO products and services in the UK and across Europe.

This is the seventh year that Brammer has held its awards, although only the first for Buck & Hickman which was acquired by Brammer in 2011.