Arden Windows journey for continuous improvement

ukfirst Master Engineer Andrew Taylor explains how Arden Windows have developed their manufacturing potential by laying the foundations of a sustainable continuous improvement culture.

Arden Windows is an established high quality timber window and door manufacturer supplying to the speculative developer, housing association and private development sectors.  Having worked together on a number of individual projects in the past, ukfirst began a project with Arden Windows to drive more long term and sustained improvements.

The first stage of this process began in June 2007, shortly after Paul Lee joined Arden Windows as the new Operations Manager. Paul arrived with a wealth of operational knowledge as well as a clear understanding and desire for lean manufacturing and continuous improvement.

One issue that was highlighted early on in the project was the need to encourage the entire team to work together on implementing changes. It was also clear that “lean” meant a variety of different things to different people; therefore there was a need to provide the workforce with a greater understanding on the concepts that underpin lean manufacturing.

A series of interactive training sessions for every member of the team were conducted. These focused on lean manufacturing and continuous improvement, which also included a practical activity on the 7 wastes of manufacturing. 

At these sessions, Paul was able to outline where he saw the future of Arden and how lean manufacturing and continuous improvement would support the delivery of future goals. These sessions brought about the realisation that the whole factory needed to enhance their communication internally to ensure that everyone followed a consistent action plan to promote change.

Following the training sessions, the management and production team discussed ways in which to facilitate daily continuous improvement. A plan was agreed to drive small daily improvements through each production team.

As a result, each team leader now maintains improvements via regular shop floor meetings with their teams and ensures the progress of the ideas and solutions.  These meetings are reinforced with a monthly review of the progress of each area, to understand  and prevent any outstanding issues and also to identify success. “Driving small, regular improvements out on the shop floor through the people who do the work is essential to provide the foundation of any continuous improvement program.  Arden Windows are achieving this and the benefits are clearly visible,” Said Andy Taylor, ukfirst

With Paul’s fresh perspective on the company combined with ukfirst expertise and independent viewpoint, a strategy was devised for Arden’s continuous improvement processes. This has been launched under the banner of Apex to deliver the Arden Way of manufacturing and combines the daily shop floor improvements with key planned Kaizen events and future manufacturing strategy for the plant.

By ensuring that continuous improvement is a coordinated team effort with a clear strategy, Arden believe they have set the foundation for a successful  lean manufacturing program which will underpin their future success and growth.

For a business such as Arden who are looking to expand in a competitive market, having a continuous improvement strategy will not only help them improve their performance but will help them deliver sustained and manageable growth. This project has been successful in getting that strategy in place and raising the understanding and need for continuous improvement.

If you are interested in finding out what services ukfirst can offer your business, please contact 01438 777801 or email to arrange a meeting.

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