March 2009 |
Newton Pioneer Integration With Client Attendance System |
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Working with a major international company in food manufacturing, Newton's IT team has created a performance tracker which automatically extracts attendance data from the client's own systems. "This is a breakthrough for us," commented Paul Harvey, Newton's site team leader. "Until now we have always had to rely on the data captured on the line to analyze the labour. Now we have a much more accurate measure. This has already enabled us to identify further areas of opportunity which were not immediately obvious." |
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| February 2009 |
Final Results From Baked Goods Manufacturer |
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A six-month project a specialty bread manufacturer resulted in a $1 million annualized savings in labour spend, with and additional $400,000 savings in waste and material yield.
All of these savings were achieved without capital expenditure. |
Newton Successfully Applies its Total Cost of Ownership approach to an Estates Maintenance Department |
The Total Cost of Ownership approach offers a scientific method for analyzing the impact on profit at every stage of the supply chain, resulting in the ability to make procurement decisions that maximize profit. The process can be applied to all businesses with a sizeable procurement spend, be it for raw materials, utilities or simply catering or office equipment.
Following on from three successful materials TCO projects with a major defence client, Newton were asked by the Facilities Director to apply the same process to the Estates Maintenance Department, his logic being that it is a structured rigorous process and each time it has been used he has been surprised by the results.
The output of the TCO analysis of the Estates Department was no different - the process highlighted weaknesses in organizational structure, demand processes and operational efficiency. While Senior Management were aware of some of the issues, the TCO approach of identifying the current cost, and valuing the benefit of the cost saving initiatives laid bare the extent of the opportunity for improvement. This size of the opportunity was backed up by a benchmarking exercise carried out during the project.
The result of the project is a 6 phase action plan to completely overhaul the organization over the next 2.5 years. The plan includes relocation of some staff around the site, organizational charts for each phase and methods for the key process improvements. Action teams and a project governance are in place to drive through the changes and ensure that the target saving of 17% pa of the TCO is reached. |
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| January 2009 |
Aerospace Carbon |
Autoclave capacity at a major aerospace manufacturer has been increased by over 20% during the past 3 months without capital expenditure. Having worked closely with the team onsite throughout the project, sustainable systems have been left in place to maintain improvements along with plans to realize a further 50% capacity increase over the coming year. |
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| December 2008 |
Nuclear Reactor Commissioning – Reduction in Flushing Duration |
Newton have just completed a project that has shortened the critical path to commission a nuclear reactor by several months. A pipe cleaning process known as flushing was taking almost 3.5 times as long as planned for and delaying the program significantly. By applying rigorous problem solving techniques with the local team, the latest flush durations have been reduced to 75% of their planned duration. |
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| November 2008 |
Operational Improvement Through Efficiency |
Newton recently completed work with the worlds leading supplier of release liners using a proven improvement structure to increase the capacity of the finishing department by 50% and facilitate the recovery of $1.7m worth of material. |
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| October 2008 |
Increase in Operating Theatre Throughput and Utilization Rates |
Newton has just successfully completed a project with an NHS Trust. Through the improvement of planning, workflow, and patient processes, there has been an increase of 360 cases per year performed in one theatre department alone. This is worth close to $2m p.a. to the Trust. Click here for more details. |
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| September 2008 |
| Newton Launches its Deal Advisory Practice |
Newton is pleased to announce the launch of its Deal Advisory Practice. The Practice takes Newton's home-grown operational expertise and combines it with transaction industry experience to offer a deal-focused service line.
With this service line, Newton can both increase the deal value, through identification and quantification of cost base focussed EBITDA opportunities, and deliver due diligence related services to trade and investment house clients. These capabilities are applicable to both buy and sell sides of the deal, as well as for bid defence or takeover situations. |
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| August 2008 |
Record month in a record year for growth |
Newton is delighted to announce that August has been a record month in a record year for recruitment and growth in the business. This scale of growth has been driven by consistently successful projects across all sectors of industry and a strong demand for Newton work. A number of industry specialists have been recruited to drive growth in niche areas within the company, and the next few years will be a very exciting time for all involved with Newton. |
Kiln Upgrade as a Result of Improved Shop Floor Performance |
| Work has been completed with a production constrained European brick manufacturer to increase the setting and dehacking machine capacities. The speeds of the setting and dehacking machines have increased by 14.8% and 11.2% respectively. This releases the necessary capacity to support a kiln upgrade worth several million euros per year. Click here for more details on how this was achieved |
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July 2008 |
| Newton Challenges Design Progress |
| Newton has been working with a world class naval dockyard using production methodology to increase the throughput of the design to build process. By measuring the flow of information to uncover and challenge the process bottlenecks, Newton has made a significant impact in reducing the design to build time across a number of projects. Click here for more details. |
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| June 2008 |
| Newton Creates Technology Unit |
Newton is delighted to announce the launch of its specialist Technology Unit to create bespoke manufacturing IT and reporting solutions. Our IT Specialists will work on-site along side our Industrial Consultants to increase our ability to deliver outstanding results under the rising technological demands faced in manufacturing.
The creation of the Technology Unit means that Newton can now offer highly stable, robust and distributable applications that draw data either from legacy systems such as SAP, or from a specially created database, along with an automatic data capture capability if required. |
| Associate Director Ian Quest returns from a Sabbatical to South America |
Ian Quest left the UK in January this year to take a six month sabbatical to South America. Click here for his account of an amazing six months. |
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May 2008 |
Impressive and Sustained Results Delivered at Prepared Meal Packaging Plant |
| Changeover time between products and the performance of sealing machines were the challenges at this prepared meals packaging plant. Impressive and sustained results were delivered by Newton, giving an 18% average increase in shop floor efficiency over the 14 production lines. Click here for more details |
| Operational Improvements in Defence Aerospace |
| Newton has successfully delivered a pilot project with a defence aerospace company in the last two months. Shop floor improvements in the depth maintenance areas of the site have been identified and implemented with significant results. The project has now been extended into flight line areas where similar opportunities have been identified. |
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| April 2008 |
| Energy Generation from Biogas in India |
| EWB is a student-led
charity that focuses on removing barriers
to development using engineering. Their
programmes provide opportunities for
young engineers in the UK to learn about
technology's role in development.. |
| Click
here for more details. |
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| March 2008 |
| Success in the UK transferred to the US |
| Following the conclusion of a successful efficiency improvement and waste reduction project at a premium flooring manufacture, a subsequent project has been started at two further factories in the United States. Improvements found from the first project have been used to rapidly increase outputs from the factory by more than 15% in the first 5 weeks. |
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| February 2008 |
| Supply Chain Improvements deliver a 30% Increase in Productivity |
| By implementing supply chain and production planning improvements to reduce missing parts, Newton has delivered to a manufacturer of Industrial compressors a 30% increase in productivity on their most problematic line. |
| Click here for more details. |
| 50% Increase in Running Speeds whilst Increasing Quality |
| Working with a well known manufacturer of jam and condiments, Newton has delivered a 28% increase in output over a 3 month period. This was achieved through large reductions in packaging downtime and increases in running speed of up to 50%, whilst increasing the quality of output. |
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| January 2008 |
| Increasing the Throughput of NHS Operating Theatres |
| Newton have successfully completed a pilot project with an NHS Trust, demonstrating that Newton’s methodology can successfully be applied to increasing the throughput of a group of 5 orthopedic theatres. |
| Click here for more details. |
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| December 2007 |
| Significant Yield Benefits from Operator Training |
| By modifying cutting programs and developing training packages for over 50 operators, Newton has implemented a $1.6m yield saving at a major food packing plant. Sizeable reductions in both offcut waste and giveaway have been achieved. |
| Improving the Quality and Availability of Tools on the Shop Floor |
| Newton is currently leading a team aiming to improve the quality and availability of tools used by a major naval refitter. |
| Click here for more details . |
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| November 2007 |
| 30% Delivery Failure Reduction for Cargo Airline |
| A leading cargo airline working with Newton has achieved a 30% reduction in delivery failures. Following a successful project involving the freight handling and planning departments, the project has been extended into the new year to include the freight reception and storage areas of the business. |
| Efficiency Increases in Tea Manufacture |
| A 25% reduction in direct labour cost in high volume areas and a 35% efficiency increase in low volume areas has been achieved at a major supplier of supermarket packaged tea products. |
| Click here for more details. |
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| October 2007 |
| A defence contractor, building major components for the next generation of Nuclear Submarines, called on Newton to improve their throughput and delivery performance. |
| Click here for more details. |
| A 4 month project at a premium flooring manufacturer, returned a forecasted $1m working capital reduction, plus an additional annual P&L saving of $380,000, by the end of financial year 2. |
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| September 2007 |
| Newton, working with the production team in a world-renowned company producing flexible steel and plastic conduit has seen machine speed increases of up to 86%. Changes in the distribution of manning saw a 32% increase in labour efficiency in one area of the factory, whilst also providing additional flexibility in reacting to emergent orders. |
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| August 2007 |
| Newton has achieved a 15% downtime reduction on a car assembly line at a world top 50 company. The top 3 line problems were reduced by over 50% in only 4 weeks. In addition to the downtime reduction, the on site team are developing further the analysis used to remove the need for a $2million capital project. |
| Newton has completed work with a leading manufacturer of small rescue craft. The project achieved a rapid increase in labour efficiency resulting in a reduction of labour hours per craft. |
| Newton would like to congratulate Director Andrew Hawes and Associate Director Ian Quest on their successful completion of this year’s Ironman UK event. The event involves a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike race capped off with a full marathon. Both completed the event in approximately 12 hours, you’ll have to ask them who came in first! They follow Principal Consultant Duncan Robb who completed the event last year in a similar time. |
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| July 2007 |
| A Newton team has successfully completed an engagement with a world leading military vessel manufacturer. As part of the project systems for improving material flow and the effective management of tools and equipment were implemented. These ensured that the correct parts were in the correct place at the correct time and that the shop floor workers had the equipment they needed resulting in a significant reduction in lost time and a corresponding increase in throughput. |
| Over 20% Efficiency Increase Meets Demand Growth |
| Newton was brought in to deliver real improvement to the bottom line of a premium crisp manufacturer. The aim was to do this by improving productivity both in the cooking and packing facilities, reduce waste and by increasing output to meet the impressive growth in sales. The project delivered ongoing annual savings in excess of $800k. |
| Click here to read the case study |
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| June 2007 |
| Acceleration in Automotive Production Rate |
| Work within an ancilliary area with one of the world's leading automotive companies has exceeded the expectations of those on site. 15% improvement in throughput of the facility in only 8 days has taken pressure off the line. 12% of further improvements have been identified and will be implemented within the next week. |
| Newton Director Interviewed in Trade Press |
| Newton Director Andrew Hawes has been interviewed by The Manufacturer magazine about production agility. |
| Click here for the article |
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| May 2007 |
| Another Newton Project Reviewed in the Trade Press. |
| Click here for the article |
| Opportunity Found in New Areas at Old Client |
| An assessment within a leading chilled food supplier has identified $1m p.a. of potential yield savings including one hidden opportunity of over $300,000 p.a. |
| A previous Newton efficiency project within another part of the company had improved efficiency within the packing hall by 48% and sustainability tools installed on site has seen a further 23% improvement. |
| Output Increased and Waste Reduced at Leading Building Materials Supplier This article examines how Celotex, working with Newton Industrial Consultants, realized a 20% increase in their production efficiency and a 10% reduction in yield loss. Improvements to stock management and production planning, combined with increased production efficiency allowed them to achieve a 40% growth in sales over the financial year. This was realized with no capital expenditure. Results were attained by assessing the potential within the factory and then rigorously tackling the largest areas of opportunity with methodical problem solving tools... |
| Click here for more details |
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| April 2007 |
| 15% Output Increase on Production Constrained Line |
| One of the main lines within a leading quality flooring manufacturer was production constrained. As a result 1/3 of the raw materials required for subsequent production processes were being imported from Europe. $760k worth of additional profit would be realized by increasing the output of the line by 15%. How was this achieved? |
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| March 2007 |
| Consultants' Achievements Extend Beyond the Workplace |
| Anyone who has worked with a Newton consultant will know the high levels of commitment and energy that they put into their work. Recently consultants have also clocked up a string of achievements outside of work. |
| In the last year we have seen consultants sail across the Atlantic, make the first British Ascent of the Himalayan 7,000m mountain Kanjiroba Himal, help a growing manufacturing business in the Sudan, complete the UK Ironman Triathlon and swim over 40 miles between the islands of Malta! |
| We also wish consultants Richard Jones and Ruvan Mendis good luck when they compete in the Mongol Rally in July this year. They will be driving for charity from London to Mongolia, covering 10,000 miles, 7 mountain ranges, 3 deserts and bandits with roads ranging from bad to non-existent and all in a sub 1-litre car! |
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| February 2007 |
| Waste Reduction of A Third at Premium Flooring Manufacturer A high quality flooring manufacturer scrapped more than 10% of product due to various defects, the biggest of which contributed to more than 5% of total waste, costing more than $1.3m per annum in production costs. A recent Newton project reduced this by a third. |
| Click here for more details |
| New Production Planning Model Prevents Short |
| UK Frozen Dessert manufacturer avoids shorting on major product lines through focused throughput improvement project. |
| Click here for more details |
| New Project Start in Germany |
| On 29th January a team from Newton kicked off a project near Frankfurt, Germany in the machining area of a plant equipment factory. This area is a bottleneck to the assembly process and so is the first area to be tackled in a plan which is aimed at increasing capacity to meet sales demand and improving the manufacturing costs. |
| Following two months focussed in this area, the next phase will involve the assembly lines themselves to improve delivery dates and reduce the cost per unit of manufacturing. The third phase is planned to be a project to reduce the Total Cost of materials, including unit price, cost of WIP, cost of transport and impact on production to ensure that all procurement decisions offer the best value to both themselves and their customers. |
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| January 2007 |
| Output Increase Preserves Lucrative Contracts |
| An aerospace components factory was unable to produce enough good quality parts to supply all of their customer requirements. As the production backlog was rapidly building from weeks to months, a real improvement was needed quickly to ensure the client retained key contracts. |
| Click here for more details |
| Newton Grows by 20% |
| Newton has increased the size of its consulting team by over 20% this year in both its UK and Canadian offices. On both sides of the Atlantic this is in response to the demand for Newton’s common sense approach to achieving a step change in results and installing sustainable improvement systems. |
| Tom Wedgwood, Director says: |
| “The strength and breadth of our consulting team continues to expand. Our growing reputation amongst students at Cambridge now surpasses the reputation of many much larger consultancies. Over 200 engineering graduates took our exams, from these we selected 6 exceptionally talented people. In addition we have recruited a number of experienced people from industry who have contributed to some exciting new methodology on stock control and procurement. |
| 2007 promises to be another excellent year as our pipeline of work is brimming with challenging and exciting projects. I would envisage a further 20% growth in our consulting team.” |
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| December 2006 |
| Reduction in Non Value Activities Reduces Reliance on Contract Labour |
| A major marine outfitter, employing around 400 workers, enlisted Newton to improve labour efficiency throughout the outfitting process. |
| Click here for more details |
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| November 2006 |
| $800k Increase in Profit for Aerospace Manufacturer |
| The client is part of large engineering conglomerate making machined components for the engineering, automotive and aerospace industries. This factory produces carbon fibre components for the aerospace industry. |
| Click here for more details |
| Newton Achieves Record Growth |
| Newton have recruited and developed more consultants in 2006 than in any other year of their 6 year history. |
| The company's growth over the last 3 years has been limited by their ability to find enough people with exceptional technical and interpersonal skills, who also thrive in a manufacturing environment. |
| Partner Tom Wedgwood commented that 'this year we have found more outstanding people with a wider variety of backgrounds than ever before. It means our breadth of skills, language abilities and experience has grown along with our headcount.' |
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| September 2006 |
| Increasing Production Rates by Systematically Removing Process Bottlenecks |
| A key aim of Newton's recent project with an insulation board manufacturer was to increase the plant capacity in line with the increase in demand created by tightening Government Regulations. An assessment indicated that there was potential increase production by raising line speeds. |
| Click here to read the full article |
| 25% Reduction in Waste for Building Products Manufacturer |
| This $20 million turnover site makes over a dozen different products, in a highly competitive market. Waste had averaged over 13% and this was contributing to high energy bills. |
| Click here to read the full article |
| Newton Help DML to Deliver $80M Saving in Efficiency Blitz with the Ministry of Defence |
| When launched in February 2003, the Support Upkeep Improvement Programme (SUIP) was the first joint project of its kind in the country between the Ministry of Defence and a private company. The SUIP team have recently been awarded the prestigious Chief Defence Logistics Commendation Award as recognition of the success of this pilot scheme. Since the start of the programme, Newton have been working alongside DML teams to tackle the problems that reduce productivity in production, design and facilities maintenance, as well as overseeing projects to reduce material costs. Please read the attached scanned article from The Link, the monthly newsletter of the DML Group. |
| Click here to read the full article |
| Canadian Manufacturers Feeling the Squeeze |
| It is generally accepted that the 30% shift in currency exchange rates between the US and Canada is here to stay and Canadian manufacturers have been urgently looking for ways to remain competitive. There are many options presented to business leaders, but it is becoming increasing apparent that a radical look at the existing manufacturing process is an essential piece of a successful overall strategy. Newton’s Canadian office has been actively working with Canadian Manufacturers to address these business issues. |
| In August 2006 a major improvement project was initiated at a third steel mill in Canada following excellent results at other mills including a 20% increase in productivity. In September 2006 the second factory wide improvement project was successfully completed at a major Automotive supplier based in Canada. The results have been dramatic and have included increases in efficiency of more than 50% on key lines. |
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| August 2006 |
| How do you get lean, and then make sure there's no backsliding? |
| Malcolm Wheatley examines the secrets of successfully sustaining lean... |
| Read more... |
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| July 2006 |
| Private Equity continue to use Newton to increase the value of their manufacturing portfolio businesses |
| Newton’s ability to add $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 of profit to manufacturing businesses is allowing Private Equity businesses to significantly increase the value of their portfolio companies. Newton have recently begun working with several businesses, one of which will increase its value from $160m by $180m due to efficiency and material yield improvements. The Finance Director said ‘Everyone benefits - the managers with a stake in the business, the workforce have a more reliable plant to run and obviously the main shareholders are delighted.’ |
| One major Venture Capital business also works with Newton at the due diligence stage. A partner said ‘we have not found a business like yours before that deliver guaranteed results and have such a track record of success. The insight you offer, and the support that you offer our manufacturing businesses, makes us better equipped to find successful deals’. |
 Newton works with Frederick's Dairies, the UK's second largest ice cream manufacture, to achieve a 30% increase in efficiency and 50% reduction in waste over 6 months.
This involved no capital expenditure but was achieved by rigorously prioritizing, then solving, the detailed production problems. Achieving this required the entire organization to support and drive a fact based, challenging and action orientated culture. |
| To read this case study please click here |
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| June 2006 |
| Finished goods stocks reduced by 20%-30% with less changeovers and no reduction in SKU's |
| Newton recently completed a successful Warehouse improvement project. This case study demonstrates how substantial stock holding reductions are achievable in a short timescale. |
| To access the article please click here |
| Continuous improvement is, as its name implies, a continuous process. |
| Malcolm Wheatley discovers how tapping into company data can highlight areas for improvement... |
| Read more... |
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| May 2006 |
| Second project with food manufacturer brings savings to in excess of $8,000,000 pa |
| Newton has successfully completed its project at the second site within a division of a major food manufacturer. The savings across the two sites have exceeded $8,000,000 per annum. The initial project scope was to save $2,200,000 in temporary labour and $3,600,000 in controlling giveaway. In addition to these savings and additional $2,400,000 of hidden opportunity in yield was identified and achieved during the project. |
| The improvements were achieved by developing an integrated planning and measurement system which was complicated by the short shelf life of the product and complexity of manufacture. Developing the correct measures and management systems with the local teams across 6 departments resulted in an efficiency increase of between 24% and 55% in each area. |
| The project on the first site was completed in August 2005. The performance has increased further by as much as 15%, demonstrating the sustainability of the improvement systems and culture which was introduced. |
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| Apirl 2006 |
| Step change in profitability for frozen foods manufacturer |
| Work at one of the UK’s largest frozen foods sector organizations continues with 2 lines showing efficiency increases of over 25% and waste reduction of over 30%. $260,000 of savings are already visible on the P&L after only 3 months. This has been achieved through the reduction in material variance, with annualized savings of over $1,900,000 expected. Buy-in from teams from the shop floor has meant high value problems have been dealt with promptly and permanently, boding well for long term sustainability. |
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| March 2006 |
| Building material manufacturer targets a multi-million dollar opportunity |
| One of the largest building products businesses in the UK is currently working with Newton to deliver multi-million pound bottom line savings across their UK plants. Although the sector has seen difficult trading over the past 12 months, the first two plants in the improvement programme (where projects were completed over a year ago) have actually increased their profits by 25% year on year, despite falling volumes. This is an exciting programme which will have a significant impact on the group’s profits over the coming years. |
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| February 2006 |
| Newton's gets acclaim in the Private Equity marketplace for generating substantial increases in financial performance and enterprise value on exit
Rutland Partners, a well known Private Equity partnership, known for adding substantial value to businesses, has just published an article in the journal of the Society of Turnround Professionals acknowledging the direct contribution made by Newton to increasing the financial value of one of their businesses, Interfloor, which was sold late last year to a Management Team backed by EAC. |
| This was achieved by working with the in house teams to improve efficiency on the shop floor. The techniques were centred around prioritizing issues purely by financial impact on the business, fixing them, and then putting in the measures and support to make sure that the profit increases stay on the bottom line. |
| To view this article, please click here |
| Recruitment News : Newton Welcomes New Staff to their Manufacturing Team |
| To meet Newton’s growing client base, 5 more Engineers joined the manufacturing team between November 2005 and January 2006. With a further 7 recruits planned to join over the coming months, this will be Newton’s fifth consecutive year of double digit growth. |
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| December 2005 |
| Newton opens new office in USA |
| Adrian Butler, President North American Operations was pleased to announce the opening of Newton's new office in the USA. This office has been set up to meet the increasing needs of our multi-national clientelle. |
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| November 22nd - 23rd 2005 |
| Newton invited to speak at the Institute of Clay Technology |
| Newton were recently invited to present a paper on operational efficiency with specific reference to the the building materials sector. The event was organized by the Institute of Clay Technology and the Building Materials Committee of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining at their 4th Joint conference and was a great success. The event also served to launch the new International Clay Technology Association. |
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| October 2005 |
| Andrew Hawes invited to speak at the 2005 Institute for Manufacturing Symposium |
| Newton Director Andrew Hawes was invited to talk on Improvement as part of Manufacturing Strategy at this years Institute for Manufacturing Symposium at Cambridge. |
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