Muntons plc has had a presence in Bridlington for more than 40 years and employs 33 people on the site which has a turnover of £27m. The company, which processes barley into malt and associated products, is proud of its green credentials and is in the top 20 in the Sunday Times ‘Green List’ as a top environmentally conscious company and the top-placed food manufacturer. Customers include brewers, distillers and food producers.
“following discussions with the funding body regarding our requirements, which included reducing waste and improving productivity, Lean specialist Phil Hanson from Lean Business Solutions visited the site to carry out a manufacturing review. We were impressed with his in depth knowledge and he soon got the ball rolling with a 10 day manufacturing improvement project based on lean philosophy implementation.”
Tim Wakeley, Compliance manager
Overview & Conclusion
Overview: Public funding has provided expert advice at the Bridlington-based malting site of Muntons plc who, although already operating lean manufacturing practices have made further impressive improvements across the business. Improvements in the smart provision of cleaning resources resulted in reduced wastage in line with Muntons drive for environmental excellence. The local community also benefitted from this initiative with a local science college receiving redundant laboratory equipment.
Phil developed a 6S regime across the business and introduced a continuous improvement culture. A training day on Lean Manufacturing with employees from the site was also held. As a result some purchasing costs have been reduced and ‘scrap’ has been reduced by 15%.
Conclusion: Tim explained: “Phil was very good at asking pertinent questions and suggesting alternative ways of doing things. In the past, we had a laboratory on site and Phil pointed out to us that the redundant equipment was lying around taking up precious space. Through the Why Waste website we discovered that Headlands Community Science College would be delighted to take the lab equipment off our hands and put it to excellent use.”
We also looked at the provision of cleaning equipment, brushes and shovels. Improved provision of cleaning equipment has led to improvements in site hygiene and a reduction in lost time finding the right tool. Some areas of site were improved by deeper cleaning resulting in less areas of harbourage for local feral pigeons.
He added: “We were delighted to be invited to host an Inside Industry factory event to share with other local manufacturers how we have successfully improved productivity through the use of Lean techniques and waste reduction.”