NE Productivity Forum visits Siemens, Newcastle
Julie Mordue
Marketing & Partnerships | Elevating Employer Brands and Sharing Best Practices.
This morning's North East Productivity Forum was a great example of collaboration and sharing of best practice between manufacturers in our region.
The Forum hosted by Siemens, Newcastle was organised by EEF, The Manufacturers' Organisation and AMAP, Advanced Manufacturing & Automotive Practice which is part of the University of Sunderland.
'Until the UK's political and trading landscape is clear, manufacturers need to put productivity right to the front of the agenda to remain cost competitive'. Professor John MacIntyre, Pro Vice-Chancellor of University of Sunderland
Andy Hodgson - General Manager, Siemens gave a fantastic presentation on how their investment into Industry 4.0 has already increased productivity by 30% and Richard Gorton, Business Excellence Manager demonstrated how they've created a Knowledge Management system with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) using simple video technology.
The next speaker was Simon Miller of SCA Hygiene Products (formerly Kimberly Clark) who shared some interesting facts about toilet roll; they produce 800 million rolls from their Prudhoe site each year which is enough when laid out to reach the moon in a week! They implemented a new 20 Keys Programme 3 years ago with the ultimate aim to create zero defects - there are now 40 key attributes to quality check a toilet roll which has resulted in a 20% decrease in quality costs and 30% reduction in customer complaints.
Next on the agenda was Mitchell Smith from D&J Renewables who outlined opportunities for manufacturers' to reduce costs and make considerable ROI on Biomass technology through the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.(RHI)
Closing the event was Adrian Morris of AMAP who explained the advantages of CAM Software and the benefits of offline programming. AMAP are asking manufacturers' Do you currently use CAM? If so, which one?, how do you use it? and would you be interested in taking part in the larger study? Anyone interested please contact Adrian directly.
Well done to the guys at AMAP and EEF for organizing a great second NE Productivity Forum - the next event is planned for October and further details will follow.