www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk September 2019 Incorporating Works Management PEOPLE PROCESS PLANT SALT OF THE EARTH Engagement secrets from British Salt’s Middlewich factory 22 Interview 28 Management 30 R&D 38 IMHX 2019 43 GBF RS Components’ Pete Crowcon benefi ts How the West Midlands The event returns to The history of Kings Malpas talks to MM from Scrum methods is a hotbed of innovation the NEC, Birmingham Dyke brickworks INSPIRE • Promoting the manufacturing sector as a career destination • Connecting talent with manufacturing businesses EDUCATE • Best in class manufacturing courses from the shop floor to boardroom • Accredited education programmes in partnership with Lancaster University • Licensed Shingo Affiliate IMPROVE • Onsite support services, transferring knowledge and never overselling Tel: +44 (0) 161 875 2525 SHINGO manufacturinginstitute.co.uk INS TITUTE MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT Incorporating Works Management SEPTEMBER 2019 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk Twitter: @ManufacturingMM CONTENTS LinkedIn: Manufacturing Management 5 Comment Advanced Manufacturing 16 Alarm bells are ringing 30 Go West As the traditional industrial 6 Round-Up heartland of the UK, the West This month’s biggest stories Midlands is no stranger to cutting-edge manufacturing. 10 CI Dilemma However, in recent years the region Fighting fi res has seen itself emerge as a global hotbed of innovation around the 13 Opinion future of transportation A capital idea 33 IT in Focus 14 Employment Law Tracey Marsden of CMS explores IMHX 2019 the law around lying about 38 It’s show time previous convictions on a CV, IMHX 2019 is set to open its cramped working conditions on doors to the industry’s biggest the shopfl oor and a culture of names in late September corporate nepotism National Manufacturing Conference Cover Story 42 Finding clarity Dean Smith 16 Salt of the earth Make UK’s annual conference will Balancing aging assets in a 50- take place on 25 February 2020 22 26 year-old site with increasing customer demand and a volatile 43 Great British Factories market required the team at British The history of King’s Dyke Salt’s Cheshire factory take some brickworks near Peterborough bold steps to modernise The Interview 22 Beyond the brochure Articles by area: Manufacturing Management sat down with Pete Malpas, managing director of RS Components 30 Northern Europe, to discuss outsourced maintenance, regional demands and why the company is now more than just a catalogue 76 Maintenance 26 Signed, sealed, delivered Many companies remain unaware of the potential for signifi cant energy waste that may be 6 16 6 embedded in their operations 66 43 Project Management 6307 6 28 Joining the scrum 8 Popular in software development, 6 28 the ‘Scrum’ method of agile project 22 management can translate to a manufacturing environment Fredex /stock.adobe.com Fredex For all the latest news and events visit our website: www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk 3 SEPTEMBER 2019 COMMENT Editor Chris Beck [email protected] Assistant Editor Amy Best [email protected] Alarm bells Art Editor Neil Young Production Manager Chloe Jeakins are ringing [email protected] Circulation Manager Chris Jones [email protected] CHRIS BECK, EDITOR [email protected] Sales Director James Slade 07860 715084 [email protected] here was a collective sharp intake of breath at MM Towers when Publisher Luke Webster this month’s PMI fi gures landed in our inboxes. A reading of just [email protected] 47.4 (anything above 50 shows a growing sector) meant the UK’s Manufacturing Management is available T free of charge to individuals fulfi lling the publisher’s manufacturing sector is offi cially in its worst state for over seven years. criteria. For others, the annual subscription rates are: £81 UK, £118 overseas or £153 airmail. Understandably, fi ngers have immediately pointed towards Moving on? If you change jobs or your Westminster, and the chaos that’s currently surrounding Brexit company moves to a new location, contact [email protected] to negotiations. As I write, the country is edging closer to a No Deal Brexit, continue to receive your free copy of MM. which will bring with it a untold amount of disruption and confusion. Already, we’re seeing the warning signs that everything isn’t as rosy as it was a few months ago: respondents to the PMI survey said that EU- based clients were beginning to route supply chains away from the UK. Even more worryingly, new work from further afi eld, such as the USA and Asia, upon which so much will rest post-Brexit, is starting to dry up. There are, of course, companies bucking the trend. All throughout www.markallengroup.com Manufacturing Management these pages you’ll read of manufacturers, great and small, who are Hawley Mill, Hawley Road, Dartford, Kent DA2 7TJ gritting their teeth and just getting on with things. T: 01322 221144 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk It’s an admirable route to take – Keep Calm and Carry On, and all www.markallengroup.com/ma-business that. However, when push comes to shove, something will have to give. ©2019. All rights reserved. No part of Manufacturing Management may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any Manufacturing Management will continue to support the hard work and information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. dedication shown by the industry through thick and thin. You are the Please read our privacy policy by visiting http://privacypolicy.markallengroup.com. lifeblood of the UK economy, and it’s about time government realised This will explain how we process, use & safeguard your data. that. The GMB union recently demanded an urgent meeting with the The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the editor or Manufacturing Management. Advertisements in the journal do not imply endorsement of the products or services advertised. Prime Minister to discuss the long-term future of the sector (https://bit. ly/2lW0DiS) – maybe it’s about time we all asked for the same. ISSN 0374 4795 Printed in the UK by Pensord Press C.Beck MM is proud to be affiliated with: Mission statement Manufacturing Management (MM) celebrates the best of UK manufacturing and the management teams who make our factories world-class. With over 70 years of heritage as Works Management magazine, we aspire to help our readers realise growth in their sites’ productivity and profi t through the content we provide in every issue. From lean management techniques to maintenance via the Fourth Industrial Revolution, MM champions the cause of directors and managers in charge of the UK’s world-leading sites, o ering them a wealth of best practice ideas. www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk 5 ROUND-UP SEPTEMBER 2019 Mentor launches In Brief online FLT course Leading forklift and safety management Industry People & Skills training provider Mentor FLT Training is Largest hydrogen plant Andrew Hodgson, strategic The University of set to launch an online Energy storage company, ITM lead for digitalisation at Wolverhampton has training course to help Power, has announced a deal Siemens, has been announced been awarded a £370,000 managers fit training to open a new manufacturing as the new vice president EU grant to help address around daily demands. facility in Sheffield. When of the Manufacturing the industry’s skills gap. The Called Managing operational in the summer Technologies Association funds will be used to provide Forklift Operations, it of 2020, the 12,500m2 factory (MTA). He has been a member training around advanced is the first e-learning will have an electrolyser of the MTA board for several manufacturing techniques, course of its kind in manufacturing capacity of years, as well as chairing its specifically in Additive Layer the UK. It is AITT- up to 1GW (1,000MW) per technical committee. Manufacturing (ALM). accredited, and has year, the largest in the world. been specifically developed by Mentor Sustainability for those responsible for overseeing forklift ‘Lube Cube’ cuts plastic Bentley causes a buzz use on-site. Stoke-based lubricants Bentley Motors has continued It outlines their manufacturer FUCHS has its push to become one of the personal responsibilities saved 500,000 tonnes of greenest manufacturers in for safety and provides plastic – equivalent to 60 the UK with the introduction the vital knowledge and million carrier bags – in of 120,000 Apis Mellifera confidence required to just seven years, thanks to honey bees at its factory recognise bad practice and stop it in its tracks. CCEP a revolutionary dispensing in Crewe. Two hives, each solution. In 2012, FUCHS capable of making 15kg of Not only does the Two new lines for CCEP introduced the Lube Cube, honey, have been established, course help businesses Coca-Cola European Partners a recyclable cardboard boosting local biodiversity meet their legal (CCEP) has invested £23 million container as an alternative to and providing a sweet treat for responsibilities under in two new production lines a traditional plastic carton. workers at the plant. Approved Code of at its factory in East Kilbride. Practice L117, it also The new cutting-edge robotic demonstrates the multi-pack filler lines were Hot topic associated benefits of custom-made for CCEP, and safe operations, giving will create 18 new roles at the Project HELIX, a Welsh government and managers the skills to plant. Scottish First Minister EU-backed scheme to boost Wales’ food help keep their business Nicola Sturgeon was on hand and drink manufacturing sector, has been safe and profitable, for to officially open the new lines treenabeena/stock.adobe.com the long-term. (above), commenting that hailed a success after it provided benefits of The online course is CCEP’s investment “is further over £110 million since its launch in 2016.