Case Studies - Akzo Nobel

“People say it’s not the same place any more. People work well together and morale is high.”

Now part of the Dutch chemicals multinational Akzo Nobel, Akcros manufactures specialty additives for PVC and other plastics, inks and coatings and many other industrial uses.

Terry Hill, site manager admits a series of changes in ownership and management had allowed the situation at the plant to become confused. “The site had begun to lose its focus,” Hill reflects, “especially where industrial relations were concerned. The trade unions and the management were both aware of the problem, though.” Change there had to be: the site was not performing well, was perceived as inefficient and high-cost.

Hill had been successfully managing the company’s Burnley site. His goal at Eccles was to “lead the formulation and implementation of an operational improvement plan.”

A lot of questionable practice had crept back, with work demarcation and restrictive practices in evidence. “It was a bad state of affairs,” laments Terry. “We had to completely change perceptions throughout the organization.”

To gain a picture of the real situation was the first task. “We had to develop benchmarking, involving the trade unions at every stage.” Working on the principle “if you can't measure it you can't improve it,” every area of the operation was audited.

In 1997 MCP carried out an AMIS™ survey. While performance scores came out consistently below average, as had been expected, at least there was now an accurate template against which to plan the improvement strategy. The survey concluded that although assets were reasonably maintained there was no single asset register, a significant lack of management information, low labor efficiency, and an old fashioned approach generally.

A number of other routes were identified, but the key, the catalyst, to improvement of the engineering operation was seen as the introduction of a computer based data collection and management system, or CMMS. A PSDI Maximo system was selected and implemented by MCP and Akcros teams, and has now been fully integrated across the plant, with the implementation of the purchasing and stores modules.

“People say it’s not the same place any more,” says Terry Hill. “People work well together and morale is high.” The story would not be complete without mention of the £70,000 investment in training, a project close to Terry’s heart, which involved the transformation of an old works store and the shift of an engineering supervisor and the site’s senior trade union officer. It has formed the basis for the structured training program at Akcros and has provided the opportunity to re­establish basic skills. £70,000 may sound a lot, but Terry Hill thinks that reduced operational costs will bring savings close to the £800,000 predicted by MCP at the start of the operation.

A further AMIS audit in February gave the site 65% as compared with the 30% achieved in 1997. “If we’d had the stores and purchasing implemented it would have been 75%, and 75% is world-class,” says Terry with justifiable pride, promising that Akcros will be among the top 10% of UK process companies by the middle of next year.