Client: Johnson Matthey

Sector: Polymers

Key tools or services: Lean manufacturing, OEE

Requirement

Johnson Matthey's VERTEC™ business provides catalysts and products for use within polymers, inks and coatings industries. Having already delivered a series of successful projects within the Johnson Matthey group, we were tasked with increasing the plant's capacity by 15%. The Masterclass at Haverton Hill was the first picme^® activity to be funded by One NorthEast's NEPA (North East Productivity Alliance) programme.

Response

Jason Barclay, one of our Manufacturing Improvement Engineers, worked with the Johnson Matthey Catalyst team as part of the Masterclass project. The improvement team had a total of 104 years worth of experience and was made up of process and maintenance technicians, supervisors, process engineers and management. The team were tasked with identifying the key reasons for lost production and to implement operational and technical improvements to subsequently increase plant capacity. The team implemented a data collection programme to calculate overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) to identify where production losses were occurring. The subsequent data analysis identified the main cause of availability and performance losses being chokes on the separation step of the process.

Outlining the initial rationale behind bringing in members of the picme^® team, Rob Peeling, Operations Manager at Johnson Matthey Haverton Hill, says: "As a business, we operate internationally. A lot of what we produce is exported worldwide - we are competing with businesses from the US and Far East. Our cost base is crucial in enabling us to remain viable in this global, fiercely competitive market. As a result of the work we carried out with picme^® we have increased our production levels and this has, in effect, diluted our fixed costs."

For many organisations, the idea of bringing on board external expertise can be daunting. However, Rob and his colleagues knew from an early stage that in picme^®, they had found a partner who they could work with and achieve their goals. Rob says: "We were very happy working with picme^®. They set a clear plan and clear objectives before the Masterclass starts. As the project progressed, they were careful to ensure management were kept informed of its status and, indeed, they have continued to retain an active interest in the plant."

Crucial to the success of the Masterclass process is that staff at Johnson Matthey VERTEC™ have been quick to 'buy into' the project and what it has been trying to achieve. "Our people have accepted and gone with changes proposed by the team," says Rob.

Result

A 29 per cent increase in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is just one of the reasons the team at Johnson Matthey's VERTEC™ business is delighted with the results of the Masterclass projects it has carried out in conjunction with us. Increases in real capacity at the company's Haverton Hill Plant have also been achieved in what has been a period of positive - and sustainable - change at the plant.

To find out how picme^® can help you and your business get in touch today.