Carrington Wire is the UK ‘s largest independent manufacturer, capable of producing over 200,000 tonnes of wire per year. The company has two manufacturing plants in the UK and supplies over 50 countries world-wide.With more than 200 years experience in the wire business, Carrington is committed to providing a world class service to its customers. A highly efficient manufacturing process is key to meeting this commitment, and as a forward-thinking company, Carrington has been measuring production performance for a number of years using a combination of Microsoft Access databases and Excel spreadsheets. “There was no shortage of data,” commented Paul Barkas, Carrington’s Plant Manager.
“However, transforming this information into meaningful management reports to drive the business forward was both complex and time-consuming.”The OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) measure was identified as key to Carrington’s Lean Continuous Improvement Process. OEE is a formula that looks at shop-floor productivity, performance and quality and provides a single benchmark measurement for your production process. The OEE figure helps to highlight production bottlenecks, allowing users to identify production losers, drive down wastage levels and increase profits. It’s a core component of any lean manufacturing system and it’s so easy to understand that everyone can be empowered with the data, from the machine operator to the managing director.
OEE is rapidly becoming the manufacturing world’s leading KPi, and can be applied to virtually any type or size of manufacturing facility. Carrington’s production has increased smoothly over the last decade, and with over 1000 product variations, the company felt that it needed a system specifically to manage and process data and provide OEE measurements. “Gemba Solutions’ OEE IMPACT software seemed the simplest and most user-friendly system,” commented Paul Ainsley, Carrington’s Production Manager. “This is important as its administration is carried out at team leader level. However OEE IMPACT is also extremely powerful from a management reporting perspective.
The other major attraction was that the system is modular, allowing us to start with an initial investment of only £995 per site.”OEE IMPACT has been implemented at both of Carrington Wire’s UK plants, initially measuring OEE for 5 machines at each site.
“Over a three month period, we have identified productivity savings of approximately £30K from just two machines,” stated Paul Ainsley.You can find more information on OEE IMPACT software and request a free demonstration copy at www.oeeimpact.co.uk .
For more details on Carrington Wire Limited, visit their website at www.carringtonwire.com .