Left to right:  John Woodruffe, Paul Robson, Andy Lomas, Lindsey Blair, Matthew Leather

At Heaford, the pursuit of operational excellence is more than a goal; it’s a journey. Under the guidance of John Woodruffe from TurnKey, 12 months ago we embarked on a transformative journey as part of the Manufacturing Excellence Programme.

As part of this programme, we appointed a LEAN team internally who then identified key areas within the business for improvement. Through a collaborative effort, employees delved deep into these areas, looking to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Matthew Leather spearheaded the initiative to overhaul incoming service requests. His meticulous work involved analysing how information flowed from customers to the team and devising a systematic approach to track the status of each job.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Blair led the charge in revolutionising order processing. With her team, she carefully crafted a Value Stream Map (VSM) identifying actionable steps to reduce processing time.

On the shop floor, Paul Robson introducing the principles of 5S, the team mapped out processes and scrutinised assembly efficiency, resulting in a more streamline process and improved factory layout.

The journey towards excellence didn’t end there. Daily meetings focused on Safety, Quality, Delivery, Inventory, Productivity, and People (SQDIPP) have become a cornerstone of our operations with the team monitoring quality issues in real-time and identify root causes swiftly. 

The result of all this hard work isn’t just in the noticeable improvements but also in the recognition earned. Each project resulted in better efficiencies, smoother processes, and enhanced visibility across the business.

We’d like to congratulate all those involved for a job well done and thank John from TurnKey for his support in making our vision a reality.