Conference expands on northern exposure

A PICME product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 15, 2005

The Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing Excellence reports a growing presence and take up of services in the North and North East.

The Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing Excellence reports a growing presence and take up of services in the North and North East.

Once again, the PICME annual conference was a success for all involved, with several Northern clients taking part.

Eaglescliffe-based Tetley GB played a major part at the conference and showed how it had succeeded in adopting and implementing the continuous improvement techniques taught by the PICME team.

PICME Chief Executive Officer, Mark Lewis says: "Our annual conference succeeded in giving the UK process industries the chance to meet with us and our clients and to witness the improvements and savings that can really be achieved through lean manufacturing and continuous improvement".

As part of the conference PICME reported on its September 2005 study tour mission to discover best manufacturing practice in leading process plants in the USA.

The PICME mission involved a major North Eastern chemical company which is a members of NEPIC - Huntsman Tioxide.

Also included in the party was Professor Munir Ahmad from Teesside University.

The PICME team is set to report the full USA findings to the industry at a special event in January 2006.

Lewis notes that as well as its original and popular Masterclass framework for improvement PICME is increasingly offering new services to the industry in the form of training that fits with specific relevant NVQ qualifications, senior management awareness, first line supervisor development and communication skills.

Other techniques such as pull systems and value stream mapping (VSM) have also been adapted for use in the industry.

"In this regard, we are working closely with Cogent, the Sector Skills Council, on the development of process industry specific qualifications in manufacturing improvement techniques, as well as with the North East Productivity Alliance".

"Major developments in the provision of these skills for the region are expected soon", says Lewis.

PICME is also working closely with the NEPIC Manufacturing group and is supporting the drive to improve the productivity of the North East region.

Improvement workshops are already being rolled out into NE companies in the speciality chemicals, biotechnology and plastics recycling areas.

One of the first outputs is seen as a measurement of the general industry performance.

A work plan to address the main productivity issues will be drawn up.

Helping the UK's process industries identify best practice and achieve manufacturing improvement is the core responsibility of PICME - established as the Government's Industry Forum (IF) and responsible for the chemical and allied sectors of the UK economy.

PICME's role is to use a full range of manufacturing improvement techniques to improve the sector's performance through actions at company level and in the supply chain.

Since full establishment by the DTI, PICME is on target with saving its process client companies a great number of redundant costs.

To date PICME has helped these companies secure 1st year savings of nearly GBP 40 million.

Examples of these client benefits through improved manufacturing methods include: increased output of between 10 and 100% reduced waste of between 10 and 80% reduced changeovers/clean-down times of between 40 and 80% reduced lead times and stock of between 50 and 75%.

All of the above has been achieved with minimal financial expenditure with the PICME maxim of working "smarter not harder" and with maximum proactive ownership culture.The PICME client list include Avecia, AH Marks, Akzo Nobel, Associated Octel, British Vita, Fisher Scientific, Genzyme, Jotun Paints, Novartis, Ocular Sciences, Rohm and Haas, and Wrafton Laboratories.

"The focus for PICME's clients is increasingly on working in greater depth and across more production and related functions in order to optimise all the available gains and savings", says Lewis.

PICME engineers select from a variety of systems - eg lean, six sigma, TPM and TQM - in order to inspire the practical results in the client teams.

Lewis notes: "The approach is a practical one of learning though doing".

"In order to succeed, PICME's manufacturing engineers have to speak the languages of the shop floor and the boardroom and help clients make their manufacturing the best it can be".