Picon Vision Case Study

Challenge: To make Russell-Webb Ltd more responsive to shorter lead-time requirements, and to start a culture change within the company towards continuous improvement.

Solution: Russell-Webb enrolled on a Vision in Print (ViP) Picon Vision programme, with the specific objective of enhancing manufacturing productivity to strengthen market share and regain margins that had been under increasing pressure for many years.

Russell-Webb has manufactured anti-set-off spray powders for sheet-fed printing in the UK since 1974 and employs a team of 12 production technicians.

Its experience, specialisation and technical expertise mean that it is able to provide products which are economic and safe to use, and are of consistent high quality. This combination gives the company a real advantage over it competitors. However, never one to rest on his laurels, Tim Webb MD, wanted to be one step ahead of the increasingly tough market and looked to ViP for help.

"When we started in business, life was very simple," states Tim. "We made only a few grades of powder and manufactured for stock to provide maximum responsiveness to new orders. As litho printing became more sophisticated, our powders also became more complex. We now have approaching 30 different formulations for every possible permutation of paper, ink and dampener.

We had made improvements to our product formulations and updated elements of our manufacturing equipment to cope with the varied product line. However, all these improvements were driven by product performance, rather than a focus on overall customer needs such as small-batch production and on-time deliveries."

"Having had previous experience of other companies and consultants offering to improve the way Russell-Webb manufactured, I was very cautious of ViP's potential to offer anything new" recalls Tim. "However, as ViP looked into our processes and worked with our team, we began to realise exactly how much more of an impact the programme was going to have on our efficiencies than we originally hoped."

Instigating change

The programme targeted improvements in the overall workflow of fulfillment of orders from initial enquiry to manufacture, packing and delivery. During the first day - dedicated to diagnostics - the team learned about Best Practice and Lean Manufacturing Techniques. It identified the metrics that would be used to judge the success of the improvements that it would make in the three-day workshop.

The team identified three key inefficiencies in Russell- Webb's original production process:

"With guidance from our ViP engineer, it became obvious that delivery times would always be a problem without radical process change," confirms Tony Page, Factory Manager. "There were too many variables that it was becoming very difficult to time the making of a batch of a particular powder.

As a result, production scheduling never matched our outstanding order book. Not only did the discrepancies take up valuable time, but also the unreliability of our original equipment exaggerated these problems. To make matters worse, the delays were not always communicated to the rest of the business."

The Russell-Webb production team was also over producing, as it was hoped that excess product, moved into stock, would reduce scheduling problems for future rush orders. "Over producing diminished one problem at the expense of another," confirms Tim. "We were running out of finished-goods storage space, and we were locking up money due to the growing value of our stock."

The last problem was unexpected. Due to the age of the equipment used to measure the powder, Russell- Webb had been over generous to its customers for some time by overfilling its delivery containers. The diagnostic process and subsequent workshop soon identified these issues and helped the team develop new processes to eliminate all forms of waste. This initial ROI helped to justify a major investment in bespoke processing and bottle filling equipment which is now coming on stream.

During the last day of the Picon Vision programme, the team's findings and solutions were shared with senior management. New measuring equipment was sanctioned to eliminate over supply, but more importantly, the team proposed a complete reversal of the production scheduling process.

The results

"Change is never easy, and the new process introduction was painful for a few weeks, as they say 'no pain, no gain'. But the longer-term benefits are incredible," confirms Tim. "Now, we only make to order, apart from popular formulations which we know will be ordered shortly. Consequently, we have reduced stock by 65% and have more space and improved our bottom line. And of course, we have happier customers. With our new system we can predict delivery dates very accurately, especially as improved maintenance has also increased equipment up-time by over 30%.

"From being a cynic, I have become an evangelist for ViP programmes. I will not understand if every supplier to our industry does not enroll; basically you are never too old to learn. We have some very talented people, but they would not have had the feeling of empowerment to make radical change before our Picon Vision programme. ViP held our hand and led us down the path of continuous improvement. The programme focused on set-off powder production, but we have also built in parallel a water based coatings and UV curable varnish business that now contributes around one third of our overall revenue. This section of our business now needs a similar treatment.

"I know our next programme will easily pay for itself. The last one reduced our waste by a clearly measurable £15,000 per year, but there were so many other benefits that add up to a dramatic improvement to our business."