New case Study - Paterson Arran

Paterson Arran in Livingston makes a wide range of biscuits for a variety of different customers.

The Challenge

In order to respond to increasing customer demands for greater variety and smaller quantities they have had to reduce their run sizes. Therefore the number of time consuming changeovers from one product to another increased. The amount of time spent on changeovers was becoming unacceptable.

In addition, waste material was being generated at each changeover so the amount of waste was increasing. This waste was primarily wet waste from the biscuit making machines but also included burnt waste from the ovens generated at the start of every run.

How Ross International Helped

Ross International met with the MD, Alan Hardie, and members of his management team to scope the event, set the goals and pick the team for a one-week Changeover Reduction Blitz.

We decided to focus on one of their four production lines with a view to producing a model that could be replicated on the other lines. We set a goal of reducing the changeover times, on two different product ranges on this line, by 55%. We also set a goal to cut the waste generated by 50%.

We then facilitated a multi-level, multi-functional team of 8 people representing all stages of the biscuit making and baking process through a 5-day Changeover Reduction Blitz. We allocated the first 3 days to running several changeovers on product A and then switched to product B for the last two days.

What was the Impact

The changeover time on the first product range, with 5 different types of biscuits, was cut by 60% with further opportunities requiring some minor engineering work that would bring further reductions. The changeover time on the second product was cut by 80%.

These achievements were made by having the team define and allocate the tasks during changeover in such a way that all available operators were able to help out during the changeover process. This removed the pressure that was previously on the shoulders of one individual and replaced it with a team effort.

The burnt waste was eliminated totally as the new process gets material into the oven before the temperature has time to rise to burning point.

The wet material from the machines is now being recovered and used to meet demand from a new source thereby almost totally eliminating the wet waste.

Outcomes

The overall impact was to generate one extra week of production time per year for free on one line.

5 tons of wet waste has now been avoided and is being sold at a price that more than covers the cost.

Flexibility for further reductions in run size has now been created due to the 60% and 80% reductions in changeover time and removal of the need to worry about waste being generated.

The operators now own the maintenance of the new changeover times and can contribute to further reduction of these times.

The lessons from Line 3 can be spread to the other 3 lines.