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Lean times are over after flood
A SHEFFIELD firm, which turned the disaster of last year's floods into an opportunity to wipe the manufacturing slate clean, is celebrating record turnover and a 21 per cent increase in productivity.
Neepsend-based Chapmans had to halt production for nearly eight weeks after it was inundated by last year's flood's.
The company, which makes wear-resistant tooling for agricultural equipment, has diversified into producing tools for grass cutting and turf care, mining, road laying and recycling in recent years, in addition to offering hard facing and fabrication services.
With the agricultural market becoming ever more competitive, the Club Mill Lane company had been looking at ways of boosting efficiency and introducing just in time manufacturing, in response to stockists' demands when it was hit by the floods.
Instead of simply trying to get back to where it was, the firm seized the opportunity to introduce Lean Manufacturing with the help of the Government-backed, Yorkshire Forward funded Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), run by YFM Group subsidiary YFM Business Development.
MAS ran a series of grant subsidised training workshops, teaching Chapmans' shop floor staff the core principles of Lean manufacturing and a 'Lean Champion' is now working full time to steer the changes through.
Chapmans' managing director David Byers said: "Getting our people behind the transformation has been critical in keeping momentum going.
"MAS has provided us with the direction and continued support needed to put our plans into action.
"They've also helped to implement a new capacity planning and bar code system making it easier for us to track products through production."
Despite the floods, Chapmans is achieving record turnover month on month and is winning new export customers who demand accurate on-time deliveries with penalty clauses for late deliveries.
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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