Manufacturing excellence recognised at Corus

Corus Tubes has won the prestigious IMechE MX2004 Manufacturing Excellence Award for Resource Efficiency.

At the Corus Tubes' Corby mill on the 30th June 2004 the workforce reaped the reward of two years of dramatic improvements when representatives of the Structural and Conveyance Business lifted the prestigious IMechE MX2004 Manufacturing Excellence Award for Resource Efficiency.

Corus Tubes is one of many businesses within the Corus Group and at Corby makes tubes out of steel strip.

Approximately 400 people operate three tube mills and a range of finishing departments on up to three shifts per day producing market-leading brands in pressure pipe and structural tubing.

Corus Tubes' Celsius hot finished SHS (structural hollow section) is the world's biggest range of structural hollow section and has recently expanded with the introduction of oval hollow section (OHS).

Corus' Install red painted general purpose tube is Europe's most popular steel tube for sprinklers, gas conveyance and transporting other fluids.

The London Eye is made from Corus SHS, as are the Millennium stadium in Cardiff, Rockingham Speedway and Guangzhou Airport in China along with a host of high profile buildings around the world.

Corus Tubes exports almost half its products out of the UK to various destinations around the world, in fact in the recent European Championships both the Dragao Stadium in Porto and Sporting Lisbon's stadium were built using the Corby products.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is the United Kingdom's qualifying body for mechanical engineers The institution is 150 years old and has 80,000 engineer members worldwide.

Widely acknowledged as the industry "Oscars", the MX2004 Awards, now in their 25th year, encourage and reward high standards and innovative working practices in UK companies.

This year the awards attracted a record number of entries.

After fighting off stiff competition from 546 fellow entrants to reach the final stage of the awards, Corus Tubes won the award for Resource Efficiency and a Commendation for People Effectiveness.

The 20 finalists selected by the judges included most of the UK's leading manufacturers, companies such as Vauxhall, Ford, MG Rover, BAE Systems and Leyland Trucks.

"Entry into the final was a three-step process".

"We completed an in-depth written submission giving details of the business, had an on-site business review by a panel of independent assessors and finally gave a presentation to top academics, leaders of industry and business journalists", explains Ian Cameron, ManEx Co-ordinator and Section Engineer at Corus Tubes.

The Warwick Manufacturing Group Award for Resource Efficiency recognises Corus Tubes' achievement in good manufacturing practices and the fact that it has embraced new concepts and considered the implications of its manufacturing operations.

Good manufacturing practice is all to do with the best use of people, materials and processes whilst giving full consideration to issues such as health and safety, the environment and waste.

The Professional Engineering Commendation for People Effectiveness acknowledges Corus Tubes' progress in the training and development of staff enabling them to reach their full potential and recognises that people are the company's greatest asset.

"Of course this is not just about winning awards".

"In the last two years we have seen a dramatic turnaround at the Corus Corby plant".

"The change process that was recognised in these awards is at the heart of this success story", adds Cameron.

Two years ago Corus Tubes introduced a change process called "manufacturing excellence", shortened to ManEx.

This initiative is the main reason for the turnaround.

The workforce and management team now work as one and share ideas.

Change started at the top, and the whole management structure was rethought.

A new smaller top management team was formed, and objectives were aligned so that all were focused on the same goal.

The new team quickly identified that the issues we faced were attributable to the way we managed people.

There had to be a change in leadership style - managers had to listen, be seen and become part of the team.

Everyone needed to maintain the focus on tube making - the core activity.

ManEx became a platform that encouraged people to become involved and work to common objectives.

Early in the process it was decided that some external professional support in problem solving techniques would speed up the process.

Over a four month period the Metals Industry Competitive Enterprise, MICE, ran workshops and trained four people from different areas of the business who became the ManEx support team.

This team continues to roll out the techniques to the workforce.

MICE (Metals Industry Competitive Enterprise), is the central, industry-owned resource for process and supply chain improvement through lean manufacturing techniques in the UK.

It is part of Metals Industry Skills and Performance (MetSkill), a not-for-profit initiative set up and run by the industry.

At Corus Tubes MICE ran four separate improvement programmes in 2002 in strategically chosen areas of the mill.

The activities, facilitated by MICE engineer Richard Craig, led to four exemplar "cells" within the company, with teams that had each acquired essential new skills and techniques.

MICE then helped to identify individuals to join the ManEx Support Team to lead the cascade of the newfound principles throughout the mill.

"Our people were a resource that we hadn't properly tapped into before".

"We began to start speaking to people and find out what they thought were the problems and how they could be overcome".

"The majority of people are now so switched on because they feel ownership of the process".

"They look after it".

"They have the support of management to decide when to stop the machines if they don't think that the product is right".

"Everyone feels that their ideas are important, no matter where they are within the structure.

In May this year we made the best result that Corby has seen in recent years and ManEx has been a big part of this success", remarks Cameron.

Some examples of improvements made by the ManEx focus teams show how using the tools learned and peoples' ideas can give step changes in performance - without spending money.

In the past furnace maintenance, including changing of furnace barrels and rolls, had been carried out by contractors at weekends, at a high cost and with variable results.

The teams operating the furnace were able to start to do their own maintenance on what were classed as "super down days", where all the mills were put down for one day during the week and as many people as possible sent to one area of the plant for maintenance.

Over a period of time the furnaces were brought up to a higher standard of maintenance and started consistently performing much better.

The team now does all its furnace checks and preparation during the week for weekend maintenance, when they do all of the work, including changing the barrels themselves.

As a result they have ownership and control of the process.

Another good example that required no money to achieve positive results, was where a shift co-ordinator brainstormed two shift teams to agree on the best way to carry out a mill length change.

This resulted in a 50% saving on all length changes worth GBP 4000 per week.

Both IMechE MX 2004 awards reflect the good work carried out by everyone at Corby under the ManEx umbrella at Corby over the last two years.

The entire Corby workforce has been involved in some way, whether in a "brainstorming session" or direct involvement with one of the many focus teams that have delivered fantastic results in such a short time.

"We are innovating new products and developments such as oval sections and a bridge parapet system which will enhance the productivity and process gains evolving from the ManEx initiative".

"This is a bold, comprehensive programme of change and to have this endorsement from the IMechE very encouraging".

"Whilst we still have a long way to go, we should all be very proud".

"Not only do these awards celebrate all we have achieved, they are a real sign to our customers, suppliers and the local community that Corus Tubes Structural and Conveyance, Corby is striving to improve and has something special to offer", says Bob Guildford, Business Manufacturing Manager.

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