A programme helping organisations across Wales deliver
productivity improvements and reduce waste in conjunction with
Toyota has seen a number of major companies report savings of £1m
each.
The Toyota Lean Clusters Programme offers world class assistance
to businesses in Wales that want to make sustainable improvements
in competitiveness.
It works to embed the principles of Toyota's production
philosophy, regarded as a benchmark for manufacturing efficiency
best practice world-wide, to optimise business operations.
As a direct result of participation in the programme, Tata,
Airflo and others have all recently reported savings of £1m each,
while Blackwood business Seda increased its production of cups by
200,000 a day.
Another company to have benefited is Port Talbot manufacturer
British Rototherm Group. It has reported a 77% reduction in
machinery breakdowns, a 50% reduction in defects, and a 300%
increase in capacity.
Oliver Conger, Managing Director at Rototherm, said:
“No other investment we have made has achieved a better return
for us in terms of efficiency than the Toyota Lean Clusters
Programme. The way they structure the programme customizes it to
your business and uses your specific processes to improve and
develop. Most importantly, it develops and grows your people.”
A partnership between the Welsh Government and the Toyota Lean
Management Centre in Deeside, the Toyota Lean Clusters Programme
has supported more than 150 organisations in Wales since 2018.
Nick Pearn, Section Manager at the Toyota Lean Management Centre
(TLMC), said:
“It has been fantastic to see the support available to companies
in Wales grow. Even more inspiring is that so many organisations
have chosen to undertake training and committed to undertaking
their own projects. The results have exceeded our expectations,
and we look forward to building on this success by continuing the
programme for the next three years.”
The Toyota Lean Clusters Programme has now received a further
£800,000 in funding from Welsh Government, to extend the
initiative to 2029.
Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, , said:
“Improving productivity is one of the key challenges facing us as
we strive to deliver future prosperity built on a greener
economy.
“This crucial programme helps organisations to improve
performance and growth by sharing Toyota's world class production
principles as best practice.
“The next phase will build on previous successes and is expected
to support 72 organisations achieve productivity increases of 20%
on average.”
