Global cable management specialist, HellermannTyton, has broken its production record along with setting new site safety standards at its Manchester manufacturing facility.
HellermannTyton recently set a new standard for productivity, with overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) – a key metric in manufacturing – reaching 90%, its highest ever level. This surpasses the previous record of 88%, set in June and further reinforces the factory’s position as a world-leading facility. The benchmark for ‘world-class’ OEE is generally considered to be 85%.
Scott Mayne, Site Director at HellermannTyton Manchester, said: “We were typically operating somewhere around 75-80 percent and we drove that up to 88% over the last few months. In July we saw our best OEE month on record, which is a testament to the changes we’ve put in place and the hard work of the entire team.”
HellermannTyton is a leading manufacturer of cable management solutions serving the electrical, rail, automotive, offshore and panel building sectors. Last week the Wythenshawe-based facility produced 112 million parts, while it has also reduced raw materials wastage and enjoyed a 40% improvement in right-first-time quality. In addition, the facility has notched up an impressive six months with no health and safety incidents on site.
“Year to date we have seen a 55% reduction in accidents,” added Scott. “This is down to our investment in people. We took a lot of time over the appointment of our quality manager, operations manager and health and safety manager as we needed people who were a good fit with the business and had relevant experience. By putting them together they’ve galvanised their respective teams and are measuring and driving the right things.”
Mike Woodbridge has joined as health and safety manager and along with implementing a culture change on safety he has introduced employee welfare measures.
“We are running wellbeing weeks as it became apparent after Covid how hard people had been hit by living through lockdown, so we made it a big focus,” said Scott. “We’ve also changed our perspective on health and safety so it is no longer just viewed as a management issue, it’s everyone’s responsibility.
“Our mantra is to get everybody home safe. This has really helped us to reduce the accident rate. Mike’s extensive record in industry and knowledge of HSE law has also enabled us to implement significant improvements in areas like working at height.
HellermannTyton’s achievements have also been attributed to initiatives focused on staff retention and training of employees at the Manchester site.
Scott Mayne said: “Along with the improvements made within our management selection processes, we have invested in training and upskilling people across other areas of the business, whether that is shift supervisors or training operators on how to make our products and introduced very competitive salaries for a lot of positions to help with retention.
“We’ve been here for 90 years – world wars and countless recessions have passed us by. We are a secure employer with a track record of growth and investing our people.”
Scott is a great example of career development at the site, with 24 years of service. “I started 24 years ago at HellermannTyton as a trainee planner. I’ve kept many different roles at HellermannTyton and I never imagined this as my dream job but it truly excites me. As an operations person, I’m very focused on metrics, and continuous improvement. I’ve learned that you are only as good as the people around you; everything else is just noise. Get good people with drive and optimism and you will move forward.”
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