Nutexa Frictions Ltd, the Hoylake-based manufacturer of high-quality brake linings and brake pads, called on the services of the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) NW because of their concern about factory layout and the impact the placement of machines was having on their product flow. They found that the time taken to manufacturer and re-line brakes - for bus, coach, truck, trailer, mobile crane, tractor and ship winches - was of concern and actual job costs versus budget job costs were not being measured.
They were also having trouble apportioning experienced staff time correctly according to skill levels.
Introduced to MAS by Invest Wirral, Nutexa were seeking assistance with the identification of tangible improvements to help take advantage of opportunities in the market place both at home and in Europe, America, Korea, Australia and the Far East.
The MAS practitioner, Mark Sutherland, who was sent in to overview the business had many years expertise in similar manufacturing concerns, so was well-placed to examine the business and recommend actions. He initially examined products for improvement in tandem with the Nutexa engineer and production team. Business Link was contacted to identify support for the upgrade of the old machines.
This process was carried out involving the entire staff at Nutexa, utilising consultation to discover those small operational things so often overlooked by line management. A number of issues were noted and corrected - layout of machinery, position of rivet drilling machine and better storage of drilling jigs.
The brake lining department was also examined and as a result, a redesign of area layout suggested. The meddings drill was re-engineered to reduce labour times and improve safety and the CNC drilling and turning machine reprogrammed, reducing costs by 20% and achieving 40 extra units per day, equating to a substantial 10,000 units per year. With the introduction of a production planning board to identify bottlenecks, the 20 week order backlog was reduced to 12 weeks.
Paul Sergeant, Managing Director of Nutexa said: “The full appreciation of our difficulties and the down-to-earth but nevertheless professional approach of the MAS team were winners with us. My team was comfortable working with MAS and the inclusive manner with which they involved all staff meant the ongoing help we received was 100% genuine and not just out of a briefcase.”
For further information on the services available to help manufacturers in the North West, please visit the Manufacturing Advisory Service’s home page at www.mas-nw.co.uk or call 0800 093 9077.
