Reducing delays in a UK manufacturing plant

Good machine performance, slow delivery

A mid-sized UK manufacturer had an average OEE of 85%, but orders regularly took more than five days to reach dispatch. Products were moved repeatedly, and the business was dealing with damage, delays and pressure on margins.

Following one unit through the plant

We followed a unit from raw-material receipt to dispatch and recorded its movements, waiting time, handovers and approvals.

The production work itself took just 23 minutes. Most of the elapsed time was spent waiting for transport, quality checks, routing decisions or the next operation.

Changing the flow

Over 12 weeks, push scheduling was replaced with a pull system based on downstream capacity. Queue limits, standard work sequences and visual boards helped control work entering the process.

Unnecessary finished-goods transfers were removed, FIFO staging areas were introduced and handling procedures were standardised. Responsibility for routing decisions and quality holds was clarified, with a structured escalation process replacing verbal approvals.

Team leaders were trained on the revised process. Alongside machine measures, the team began tracking total lead time, waiting, first-time-through rate and damage.

The result

Lead time fell from more than five days to under two, and waiting time was reduced by approximately 60%. The changes also reduced handling and work in progress, released floor space and brought product damage back within normal tolerance.

No new machinery, software or building modifications were required. The project identified approximately £200,000 in annual recoverable value.

Operational experience

This project is part of the operational experience behind NexOps. It informs how we understand production work before designing business software.