Rubber manufacturer saves production costs thanks to upskilling workforce

A UK rubber manufacturer has saved thousands of pounds in production costs after enhancing the skills of its workforce.

Ramsay Rubber, based at Bilston, near Wolverhampton, has increased productivity and reduced waste through training employees in Business Improvement Techniques (BIT).

The company says one change alone – where two jobs were moved into a continuous process on a single machine – has resulted in saving 108 hours of production time, valued at more than £3,000.

“The BIT training has made the already experienced team more open to new ways of thinking about how to improve their efficiency and contribution,” explained Paul Killeen, Ramsay Rubber’s Managing Director.

The 12-month bespoke training programme, delivered by independent apprenticeship provider, Skills Training UK, enabled employees to develop their knowledge in areas including health and safety, effective team work, visual management systems and continuous improvement techniques.

Designed to create a more structured and formal working environment involving all employees - from the CEO to assembly line workers - the approach aims to eliminate waste and encourage ‘lean’ manufacturing, resulting in cost savings and quality and production improvements.

“Since starting the training, our employees have been much more interactive – they aren’t afraid to ask questions and instead of them being individuals at their stations it’s much more of a team feel now and things run a lot smoother. I feel this process has been invaluable to the company and for the employees who took part,” explained Ian Maydew, Ramsay Rubber’s Operations Manager.

Ramsay Rubber has 40 staff and specialises in making die-cut parts, supplying high performance, lightweight materials for sealing, thermal and acoustic applications to OEMs across the globe.

Operator, Dave Haynes, said: “I have refreshed the skills I thought I had lost and my organisation is so much better. When the work comes to my station I’m able to just get on with it instead of having to search for the right tool or piece of material – it has saved a lot of time.”