CLIENT
Zain Okhai – Managing Director
Rockwell Solutions Limited
ACTIVITY
Global manufacturer of
packaging
“Without the support of Andrew, we would have been unable to deliver this complex programme of work. We would have delayed recovering our investment in capital equipment and perhaps not achieved our target benefits at all”
Zain Okhai - Managing Director - Rockwell Solutions Limited
KEY ISSUES:
Rockwell is already one of the largest manufacturers of flexible, heat-sealed packaging for the food industry in Europe and one of the two biggest in the world. The in-house research and development team invented a process that is set to propel the company to the forefront of global food packaging technology.
By producing sealable lids without using solvent in the coating chemistry, Rockwell Solutions can expect raw material and energy savings of around £300,000 per month. These benefits will slash more than £3 million from the company’s annual operating costs and deliver a massive boost to Rockwell’s profitability.
The new process’s environmental credentials are second to none. It is not only lean but also green and Rockwell plans to expand into the more exacting recyclable flexible packaging market. The company also expects to substantially reduce its carbon emissions footprint.
Rockwell’s existing customers are some of the biggest names in the worldwide food industry including, Heinz, Unilever, Findus, Young’s and Bakkavor.
Former Managing director Zain Okhai said that after a transitional period absorbing the investment costs, Rockwell’s profitability is set to far exceed pre-Rockstar levels.
Quite early on, Zain Okhai realized that the organisation would experience increased levels of complexity with more people working more shifts and some working remotely, greater volumes and diversity of materials and greater complexity in quality systems. In addition to internal complexity, customers in the 21st century demand a much more sophisticated experience. Modern suppliers had web-based interactive customer portals where orders could be placed and tracked through the supply chain via links to the internal operational processes.
THE APPROACH:
To monitor and improve performance within the organisation, a ‘Management Process’ was designed. This concept took a raft of best practice KPIs, presenting them in a form that was easy for managers to understand as trends. At specifically predefined points in the customer cycle, the KPIs could be used as a call to action by checking on performance and creating a spirit of continuous improvement. By undertaking this lean change programme, Rockwell was able to identify an additional £350,000 in annualized operational savings.
THE OUTCOME:
To achieve this comprehensive change programme, Rockwell has been supported by Scottish Enterprises’ Innovation and Enterprise Service and the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS), to design lean management and operational processes, that will then be automated with a new ERP system making the customer experience seamless.
Andrew Woodward acted as Consulting Project Manager working with Rockwell’s staff developing best working practices and coordinating HR, Organisational Development and IT resources for Scottish Enterprise. He also managed the IT development with an external vendor.
“Working with Scottish Enterprises’ extensive resources has had clear financial and operational benefits for Rockwell Solutions. We harnessed expertise from SMAS, The Enterprise and Innovation Service and the Organisational Development group in one coordinated project.”