Production Output Improvement

• Output increased from 6.9 to 13.4 engine rafts per week (average over 10 week period April to June & November to January) 
• Average sales across the same periods increased from £592,500 to £754,500 per month 
• £1.62M increase in annualised revenue 
• ROI of 13:1

Our client had a weekly target to output 14 engine rafts per week in order to support the maintenance programmes agreed with the major train network operators within the UK, Ireland & Europe.

Non delivery to the schedule risked causing “holes in trains“, or forcing the customers to extend the engine service hours under concession. However the programme was failing to achieve this target and had been delivering a weekly average of only 6.9 engine rafts per week.

Relationships between our client and the major train service suppliers were becoming strained.

Develop Consulting introduced 3 levels of visual management across the main assembly area and the supporting functions, and coached the teams in their application.

Working with the planning and project teams, the schedule horizon was extended further forward, but also with additional focus on the start of the process, where the engines are initially stripped and components validated for repurpose, ensuring everything is in place before re-assembly commences, giving a greater probability of delivering on time to the schedule.

Using standard 5S and visual management tools, we coached the teams to work in a less cluttered and more organised environment, including a complete re-organisation of the external storage yards, grouping inbound stock by product type and introducing FIFO lanes to the baskets of stripped products to support improved parts configuration.

We supported the Operations Manager to develop a governance structure, with defined roles and responsibilities and a full suite of live KPIs to drive safety and performance.