Gardner Aerospace-Basildon Ltd.
A National Supply Chain Group case study
"The main thing was that all the people involved bought into it with enthusiasm and motivation. They made good improvements and savings. By continuing to improve productivity like this we can go on making ourselves and our customers even more competitive and profitable, securing all our futures."
Mark Pittman (M.D)
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The Customer
The Host
GKN Aerospace specialises in the design, testing,
manufacture and assembly of a diverse range of
aerospace composite and metallic structures,
transparencies and components at their factories
in Cowes, Luton, Portsmouth and Kings Norton.
The Supplier
Gardner Aerospace-Basildon, Ltd produces a high
variety of aerospace components in its 800 m 2
production facility, 500 m2 Treatments and NDT
and 400 m2 repair station.
125 employees generated £10.8m turnover for
year ended August 2007.
The Customer's need
The Host
As a key supplier Gardner was invited to join GKN's
National Supply Chain Group.
GKN's need was for Gardner to improve its on time
delivery to achieve >95% Delivery Schedule
Achievement to lift their Bronze performance to Gold.
The Supplier
Gardner identified its treatments area as the best
place to start the activity with a target to improve
process lead time.
This was to be followed by set up improvement in the
machine shop. No measures were in place.
The IF Solution
framework approach bringing together customers and suppliers from different tiers in the Supply Chain. Developed by Industry Forum, the 3 pronged approach enables individual businesses to see real gains in Quality, Cost, Delivery (QCD), and to improve the level of partnership between companies, alongside the development of improvement skills capability within each company.
Overview of PAC Structure
Description of Skills to Profitability Link
Treatment Area Measure selected : Process lead time. Data was captured and Visual Management used to progress work through the area
Workplace organisation used to
eliminate wasted time looking for
material, tools and consumables.
Standardised work identified waste
due to walking and anodiser idle
time. New layouts reduce both.
The combined effect reduced the
process lead time by 35%
A further benefit was that the work in progress in the treatment area was reduced by 11513 parts over a 3 month period.
Return on Stakeholders' Investment
Seven Measures of QCD Competitiveness
Reduction in build time of a high volume product
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Not Right First Time | 25,300 ppm | Less than 1,000ppm (0 ppm for Aug 2007 |
| Overall Equipment Effectiveness | 73% | 83% |
Financial Benefits
| Value of additional units and improved NRFT performance | £50.4k |
| Value of reduced downtime due to tool breakages | £80.2k |
| Total | £130.6k |
Upskilling for Sustained Continuous Improvement
Achievement of NVQ Level 2 in Business Improvement Techniques for some members of the team
Working in Partnership with:
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