Fläkt Woods Win Supply Chain of   Year Award Fläkt Woods is pleased to announce that it has won a prestigious national industry award, Supply Chain of the Year, a category within the Factory of the Year Awards as judged by Cranfield University. Fläkt Woods is one of the UK's largest fan manufacturer across every market area, and so this nationwide award is verification of the hard work it has put into the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management actions, which were completely redesigned when they moved to the Axial Way site in 2006. As Tony Geary at Flakt Woods says “Supply Chain Management is an integrating function with primary responsibility for linking major business functions and business processes within and across companies into a cohesive and high-performing business model. It includes all of the logistics management activities, such as purchasing, supplier management, stores & distribution, supply into manufacturing processes, and it drives coordination of processes and activities with and across marketing, sales, product design, and finance and information technology.” An example of how the manufacturing process has been streamlined into production links, can be seen within the factory layout, as Tony explains “ today we’ve completely redesigned the Colchester site to maximise process input, WIP movement and process output for our core value stream flows: fan casings, steel, castings, small fans and large fans.” For many commodity items, like fasteners, the Company employs a kanban system overseen by suppliers, this means it uses a scheduling system that tells them what to produce, when to produce it, and how much to produce. This is critical when dealing with components that are purchased from outside suppliers, thousands of which need to be integrated within the factory environment every day. Developing the supply chain was a major focus of attention for the Company from 2006 to present day, with targets that included inventory reduction, price and payment term improvement, lead time reduction, and supplier OTD and quality improvements. Initiatives have included a central stores location complete with new vehicles plus enhancements such as location control for stock and the use of a first-in, first-out system for picking. The result is quicker processing times plus the facilitation of better stock accuracy/integrity. 2009 & 2010 has also seen the Company introduce a supplier development program where Kaizen events are held at key suppliers using lean methodologies to make significant improvements. The results are generating improved lead-times, inventory reduction, improved on-time delivery and cost reductions. Typical improvements achieved range between 15 – 40%. The whole approach is aimed at working in true partnership with the supplier working together to reduce waste in the processes to achieve positive win / win outcomes for both parties. As a whole, supply chain initiatives across 2009 yielded an inventory reduction of 37% and a significant net saving was achieved. Continuous improvement is central to business operations, with the work force as its main driver. Over 250 shop floor-generated ideas have been put forward in 2010, demonstrating the companies continuing transition to a lean culture by utilising its greatest assets, its employees. For further information, please contact: info.uk@flaktwoods.com