Springs maker saves £50,000 by going lean – Crain’s Manchester Business

Here’s a Lean story from the U.K…

A Rochdale-based maker of springs for military, aerospace and automotive customers, has saved £50,000 and improved productivity thanks to lean manufacturing techniques.United Springs said it has reduced lead time on a key product line by 15 days and reduced inventory levels by 10 per cent to free up cash flow.

It’s a short article, but I was happy to see they focused on culture and kaizen, not just a one-time implementation of tools:

United Springs said the project, which was part-funded by the North West Aerospace Alliance, had created a continuous improvement culture within the business, with all employees involved in contributing to the change. Fifteen small teams have been formed to work on productivity improvement, customer satisfaction and shop floor layout.

Cheers!

About LeanBlog.org: Mark Graban is a consultant, author, and speaker in the “lean healthcare” methodology, focused on improving quality and patient safety, improving access, reducing costs, and fully engaging healthcare professionals. He is also the Chief Improvement Officer for KaiNexus.

Tagged as: England, Factory Examples