Thirsk manufacturer now lean and keen
A NORTH Yorkshire manufacturer has boosted sales and increased capacity by 50% after streamlining its operation.
Thirsk-based Selective Covers, which manufactures customised high grade waterproof covers for swimming pools, hot tubs, vehicles and garden furniture, was only delivering 25% of its orders on time before being helped by the Manufacturing Advisory Service Yorkshire and Humber (MAS).
Popularity of its range had left to the all female team of eight struggling to meet demand.
Debbie Knowlson, managing director of Selective Covers, said she was put in touch with MAS by her local Business Link advisor.
MAS specialist Cedric Jefferies of Scott Grant was introduced to the company and undertook a 10 day manufacturing improvement project to address the key issues.
As a result a simple job-costing system and visual management tools to increase job ownership and accountability were implemented.
The flow and layout of the shop floor was also greatly improved through the introduction of a “lean manufacturing” approach.
Ms Knowlson said: “We hit it off with Cedric straight away and felt he really understood the business and what we wanted to achieve.
“Using lean techniques to overhaul the manufacturing system and improve product flow has meant our manufacturing throughput time very quickly reduced from about three days to around one to two hours.”
She added: “The last three months figures show we have delivered 100% on time to our customers – work is properly scheduled and we have a much better understanding and control of the whole process, making us a much more competitive and responsive company to work with.”
MAS Y&H is a BERR initiative jointly funded by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and managed by YFM Business Development, a subsidiary of YFM Group.
