Case Studies
Autocruise - The Brief
Based in Swinton near Mexborough, Autocruise have an annual turnover of £6m, employ 94 and manufacture a range of purpose-designed motor homes, primarily for the UK market.
Company Profile
Based in Swinton near Mexborough,
Autocruise have an annual turnover of
£6m, employ 94 and manufacture a
range of purpose-designed motor
homes, primarily for the UK
market.
The motor-home bodies are assembled
on a standard chassis, provided by
automotive giants Peugeot and Renault.
Since the terrorist attack on the World
Trade Centre in America in September
2001, there has been a decline in
holidaymakers flying abroad; leading to a
resurgence of motor-home holidays. This
was good news for Autocruise who
experienced a drastic increase in demand
for its purpose-designed motor-homes; and
predictions showed further demand
increases for the year ahead.
Recognising the implications this increase
in demand would have on its
Manufacturing operation, Autocruise
enlisted the help of PDA Management
Consultants (an Associate of MAS) to
ensure their manufacturing processes had
sufficient capacity to handle this increased
demand.
Highlights of Achievements
• £50,000 increased value added
• 20% reduction in failure to meet
delivery promise
• 20% reduction in deliveries giving
rise to complaints
• 30% reduction in defect or fault rate
per unit of output
• 10% reduction in labour costs per
unit of output
• 20% reduction in Stock
In addition to the above, the project also
helped to reduce bottlenecks and
freed-up sufficient production capacity to
accommodate an additional £500k
turnover per annum.
Administrative work to control stock and
purchasing has been reduced, and the
area previously used for storing stock
has been released for production.
Making it Happen
The project began with an assessment
of the company ’s existing processes.
The production facility was organised in
a more efficient manner using 5S
techniques. Following this, a production
control system was devised, and allied
to quality procedures in order to
improve co-ordination and planning.
Stock and Purchases were analysed,
and improved buying policies
recommended. This resulted in a “one
stop shop” provision, and the stores
area was reorganised to support this
change in approach.
Finally, pay/skill levels for all workers
were analysed, and a more structured
system introduced.
Gordon Bentley, Managing Director
‘The opportunities for our business to grow and be more profitable are there, but we needed to increase the sharing and application of best practice amongst our workforce to maximise short-term gains. Our people have incredible technical knowledge and experience, and we should be pooling this and using it to take our business into the next league. The guidance and support we have gained from MAS Associate Mike Brook has been tremendous in helping us to achieve this. ’
What the Autocruise people said:
‘The 5S process introduced to the
employees has had a real effect on their
motivation and productivity. The
operatives do not now waste as much
time on unnecessary things such as
looking for tooling – and the procedures
are in place for us to carry on the
improvement process when the project
with MAS comes to an end. ’
Terry
Spink, Production Manager
‘As part of this manufacturing
improvement project, we have set out a
route map for our future operational
development. Whilst we have already
achieved significant savings and
improvements to date, we also know the
areas we need to tackle next to continue
improving our performance. ’
Gordon
Bentley, Managing Director