World Class Manufacturer Of The Year

[Mark H]

http://www.pistonheads.com/lotus/default.asp?storyId=11981

 

 

World Class Manufacturer of the Year

 

Thursday 29th September

 

Another Gong for the boys from Hethel

 

You probably haven't read your copy yet, but when you do crack open your "Manufacturer Magazine" you'll see that they've awarded their "World Class Manufacturer of the Year" award to Group Lotus.

 

At a ceremony held at the International Centre in Telford, Group Lotus plc beat off tough competition from fellow finalists JCB and E. C. De Witt to win the title.

 

Clive Dopson, Managing Director of Lotus Cars, commented: "We are delighted to have won this highly regarded 'World Class Manufacturer of the Year' 2005 award. It is a real testament to our staff who have worked relentlessly to raise the standards of manufacturing, and we are committed to continually looking at ways to improve in the future to ensure we remain a 'World Class' Manufacturer."

[Mark H]

The winners of The Manufacturer Awards 2005 were unveiled last night (Wednesday 28 September) at a glittering gala dinner attended by over 600 guests.

 

The results of the fiercest competition of its kind ever seen were revealed at the end of the first day of the annual The Manufacturer LIVE event at Telford’s International Centre.

 

The evening’s big winner, picking up two category trophies – for Leadership and Strategy and for Manufacturing Operations – and the coveted Manufacturer of the Year title, was Unilever’s Ice Cream and Frozen Foods operation in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

 

The Skills and HR Award went to Ford’s Southampton plant while Oxoid, which produces culture media and other diagnostic products used in clinical, food and pharmaceutical laboratories, won the Logistics and Supply Chain category.

 

The Aerospace Supply Chain section winner was aerospace interconnect manufacturer Icore International while the equivalent award for the automotive sector went to Land Rover and its lead logistics partner NYK Logistics. JohnsonDiversey, a global supplier of cleaning and hygiene products, came out top in the Process Industries Supply Chain section.

 

Aerostructures manufacturer Magellan Aerospace emerged as the winner of a four-way race among shortlisted finalists for the IT in Manufacturing Award.

 

The top manufacturer in the World Class category was Lotus Cars while Impey UK, responsible for introducing the concept of ‘wetrooms’ to the world, won the Design and Innovation Award.

 

For full details of all the winners and finalists, visit www.themanufacturer.com/awards.

 

http://www.themanufacturer.com/uk/detail.h...ontents_id=5957

[Mark H]

http://www.themanufacturer.com/awards/worl...ufacturing.html

 

Lotus has made a giant leap forward in the way it goes about its manufacturing business. The company has long been recognised as a leading manufacturer of high performance sports cars but in the last four years regards itself as having moved from being a punch bag to being a genuine contender for a world class title.

 

Its heritage, as a faithful following of Lotus aficionados will tell anyone prepared to listen, is about being part of an exciting adventure. The new Lotus remains adventurous, but doesn't confuse heritage with history.

 

The cars business competes in a highly volatile niche sports car market and the improvements the company has introduced since 2001 are testament to its determination to survive and prosper. Continuously 'performing better' has been Lotus' driving theme. Its mantra is Translate, Transition, Transformation. Now, it has translated its task, concedes that it is currently in transition and is beginning to consolidate its transformation.

 

Ask Lotus what has changed since the days when, having contracted Lotus to build its Speedster sports car, observers from General Motors noted lack of planning, synchronicity, transparent flow, visibility, urgency and communications through to high rework rates, poor buffer management and dirty paint and the team there will tell you: "With pride - all of it".

 

Despite the changes the company has undertaken, Lotus insists its manufacturing remains highly dependent on its people. All Lotus cars are literally hand built - automation and robotics do not feature at all in the Lotus Production System. That may mean that some world class/lean performance metrics like TPM/OEE, hours per car, production lead times and so on are incompatible with the benchmarked results achieved by its bigger brothers but that hasn't put the brakes on Lotus' journey.

 

On Norfolk's 21st century version of Henry Ford's first production conveyor system, the flow-line cogs are turned by hand. And while that may be sharply at odds with highly automated volume car production, that doesn't mean it can't be lean.

Finalists

 

Runcorn-based E.C. DeWitt specialises in personal care products. It has, in its own words, "made the commitment and got off to an impressive start" on the journey to world class. Achieving operational excellence is core to its growth strategy. The first step was the implementation of 5S. This brought order from chaos, reduced work in progress and scrap levels, provided a highly visible signal that things were changing and generated much needed improvements in hygiene and safety. It was also an ideal point to start training staff in modern manufacturing techniques. Some 16 months on, much has been done and current progress is giving everyone the confidence to achieve more step change in the future.

 

To focus all its attention, resource and effort on increasing market share and enhancing its performance, the JCB - Backhoe Loader Business Unit decided to adopt a lean methodology. Benchmarking across industry sectors led it to develop its own bespoke approach loosely based on the Toyota Production System. To communicate its approach and vision to all levels and engage the workforce in developing what has always been a traditional business with traditional tooling, processes and management approach to its operations, the management team developed the JCB Production System. It has delivered significant results in a short 18-month timeframe.