Master Class Case Study : W.H. Smith & Sons (Tools)


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The Company

Established in 1933, W.H.Smith & Sons (Tools) Ltd is a supplier of plastic injection mould components and assemblies. It is a progressive company with the ability to handle customer orders from component design through tool manufacture to moulding and, where necessary, assembly of components.

The Issue

In an expansion of its moulding business, the company was building a new, bigger tool room with modern facilities and a better working environment. It seemed to be a perfect opportunity to introduce more effective working practices that could create better quality products.

After visiting the tool room of a well known motor racing team, Smiths believed it should set itself the same high standards, 'By going on this MasterClass,' said Colin Sarson, a director at Smiths,'we wanted our team to learn the necessary skills to establish our own Formula 1 tool room.' An important part of the task was to gain the support of a work force that had a long-established working culture, and which was sceptical towards change or to the latest process methods, such as Kaizen or Continuous Improvement.

The Solution
For maximum effect, the MasterClass concentrated on the repair section of the tool room. 'As a prime interface between tool room and manufacturing, it was ideally placed to shine the spotlight on key issues, such as customer satisfaction,' Colin Sarson observed. It was highly important to establish that the department had customer & supplier relationships with other parts of the company. 'This meant understanding that the fundamental purpose of the repair shop was to supply the highest-quality service to the tool room and the manufacturing plant,' said Colin Sarson.

The MasterClass used video to help the repair shop to examine its own processes, and taught the team to spot problems and devise constructive improvements. These were resolved into standard procedures. 'The result was a better-organised working area, and an efficient combination of employees, machines and materials with no wasted activity' said Colin Sarson.

Benefits
The team in the repair shop learned that good flow of information and good organisation are critical to the speed and quality of their work. The improvements made are also visible in both the tool room and the mould shop.

'You don't know if you can do better unless you look critically at your existing practices,' Colin Sarson concluded. 'For us, that has been a barrier to progress.'

'The Industry Forum has helped us to look at ourselves. It has provided us with a better environment for the staff, a more efficient production routine and a change in culture that will ensure that standards remain high.'


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