2011 Hermitage awarded BAE Systems silver supplier performance award with quality at 100%
Our Senior Consultant Martin Green is a Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) approved National Consultant and was the lead consultant behind this project.
(MAS provide 50% funding for projects with SME’s that deliver value (such as lean implementation and training) and we can advise and put arrangemets in place with MAS – please contact us for details).
Hermitage Sheetmetal is a manufacturer and supplier of sheetmetal, fabrication, CNC machining and plating products, for the aerospace, defence, medical, and commercial sectors, based in Hitchin, Herts. They worked with Martin Green from Greenview Associates to improve their end-to end performance, using the aerospace and defence SC21 (Supply Chains in the 21st Century) improvement programme.
Improvement across the whole business has been the output from the combination of all the SC21 elements including; manufacturing excellence (lean); business excellence; relationship management; high performing quality and delivery levels proven with key customers over twelve months. This is all driven by a ‘continuous sustainable improvement plan’.
Key Achievements
• Increased jobs by 8%
• On time delivery improved > 10% to 98.7% (ave) for SC21 customers, 97% all customers
• Customer quality improved >10% to 99.2% (ave) for SC21 customers, 98% all customers
• Sustainable Continuous Improvement culture embedded
• Generated GVA of £15K per person
• Business turnover increased 35%
• Inventory reduction of two-thirds
• Margin improvement
• Awarded the BAE systems silver supplier performance award 2011 with quality at 100%
Hermitage was competing in a particularly competitive UK-wide market where significant capacity could be provided in sheetmetal and light machining from many similar small companies. So as a vision, David Spencer, the owner and Managing Director, wanted to significantly differentiate Hermitage through consistently and sustained high performance levels.
In supplying into the defence and aerospace sector, Hermitage were encouraged by customer, BAE Systems in Rochester, to look at SC21. The management was initially unconvinced that the methodologies could be applied to Hermitage’s processes and people, and pay dividends. Attendance at an SC21 Springboard and a visit to SC21 silver award holders, High-Tech in Dunstable was the turning point.
“I could now see how this was not an approach across limited areas by just a few staff, rather, a complete re-think in how the business was managed, how all the processes were managed at source, and how everybody needed to be part of the change”, commented David.
Hermitage engaged MAS East in late 2009 and proceeded with management and staff training in lean methods, including, for example, 5S, visual management, process measurement, trends, and target setting, efficiencies studies including set up reduction and man-hour improvement, kanban, and analysis using quality tools. Determining Excellence training for the management team was undertaken which included aspects of leadership, employee engagement, strategy, communications, processes, and working effectively with customers, society, suppliers, and looking at all the key performance areas of the business.
The continuous improvement journey is mapped through a ‘plan, do, check, act’ approach that is populated by staff on a large centrally mounted board. “We needed high visual impact to generate ownership of improvement” says Mick Webb, Hermitage Quality Manager, “so the PDCA board illustrates all of our key performances and metrics, it’s really focused the entire business into aspects we had little control of previously, and customers can see our progress in an open format”.
Initially, Martin a diagnostic to assess the gaps against best practice. This helped cement what needed to be done, focus the training, identify necessary customer input, and mobilize the improvement process. After implementation of the company-wide approaches, assessments in Manufacturing and Determining Excellence were carried out and reports identified the huge progress, but also further improvements going forward which are then driven through an agreed ‘continuous sustainable improvement plan’.
Hermitage’s success has been largely due to the disciplined approach that has been adopted from the early intervention stages tabled by MAS East. One major output from the needs of determining excellence is that of staff up-skilling, succession planning, and growth, which has resulted in setting up an apprenticeship scheme that dovetails into the real business needs as well as providing local opportunities for youngsters showing an engineering aptitude.
The eleven day intervention has driven new layouts, a ‘showroom’ shopfloor, controlled processes, an apprentice scheme, and step-change improvement in every key metric. Customers are delighted and BAE Systems have awarded Hermitage their ‘silver’ supplier award (based on performance), whilst Ultra have awarded them their ‘Best Supplier’ award.
David concludes, “The help of Greenview has been invaluable. It was professional, highly knowledgeable, and could always provide context behind everything he suggested we needed to do. We have achieved great results. The gains in our manufacturing process alone have generated significant benefits to the business as a whole and to all the staff, and customers are now recommending others come to see how it all works together. The introduction of the ‘PDCA’ methodology and KPIs has provided management and staff with clear measures and a real incentive to continue to improve even from the very high performance we are currently attaining”.
David Spencer, Managing Director, Hermitage Sheetmetal Ltd