Optimise Your Outputs & Increase Profitability  

This event will show how lean processes within your business can dramatically have an effect on productivity and profits.

Talk, Tour and Demonstrations

This event is brought to you by Knowsley Manufacturing Network and the Manufacturing Advisory Service and gives you the opportunity to visit high performance manufacturing plants that have achieved significant improvements in profitability, productivity and efficiency.

The sessions will include presentations from the Manufacturing Advisory Service North West and ColorMatrix, followed by a best practice factory tour.

Who should attend

• Ideal for all shop floor, production and manufacturing staff of any sized company
• Owners/managing directors of small to medium sized companies seeking practical ways to improve competitiveness and implement improvement programmes

Background to ColorMatrix

Established in 1993 the business focused on the supply of liquid colorants for pre-forms and bottles. Today ColorMatrix Europe has achieved sales of £35M supplying colorants and additives into the packaging, industrial extrusion, fibre and performance moulding sectors.

How MAS helped ColorMatrix

• Doubled capacity
• Increased productivity by 40%
• Reduced lead times – from 48 hours to 8 hours
• Reduced WIP by 50%
• Quality improvements – right first time from 68% to 90%
• Improved Dispatch performance – from 65% to 97%
• Improved floor layout
• Visual factory implemented
• Inventory reduction of 25%
• Control over head costs – continued growth from a controlled cost base

Improvement Plan to date:

• Site wide 5S programme
• Re-laid factory to improve flow
• QC throughput workshop held
• Standardised work in place
• Re-structuring of Operations team
• All employees trained in waste elimination and 5S
• Training in many improvement techniques – Process mapping / Process flow analyses