Synonymous with quality, it’s not surprising to learn that one of Midlands Excellence’s former award winners – manufacturing giant BMW – is a committed supporter of business excellence and the principles behind it.
In 2006, BMW introduced VPS to its worldwide operations. An acronym for value added production system, this philosophy has had a major impact on performance and according to Jeff Davies, VPS Leader at BMW’s plant at Hams Hall, it has revolutionised the way people think and behave.
“VPS is a very specific philosophy and at Hams Hall, the application of VPS principles has given us a disciplined, systematic approach which we’ve used to create a solid foundation, which in turn has given us order and stability,” he said.
Undoubtedly, order is important to BMW and in a plant that’s making one engine every 35 seconds, it’s vital everyone works together.
“Within Hams Hall, we have eight manufacturing areas, four in the assembly area and four in the machining hall. In each of these areas we have installed a Daily Management Board, or Gemba Board. This acts as a focal point for staff, showing not only key tasks, but also targets against which performance is measured.
“In line with our approach to lean management, we’ve concentrated on 5S and workplace organisation, resulting in optimisation of available space and minimising waste in the process.”
In Jeff’s view, the key to success is ensuring that once you embark on the principles of excellence, you sustain them.
“We’ve consistently driven home the message about continuous improvement and excellence is now firmly embedded within our culture,” continued Jeff.
“As well as giving individuals ownership of specific machines, we’ve introduced 5S and maintenance checklists which have to be reviewed daily by our lead associate. We also have weekly audits which are carried out by process leaders, and the results from both are displayed up on the Daily Management Boards.”
According to Jeff, these regular audits are vital to sustainability and continuous improvement.
Once teams are achieving scores of 90% or over, the criteria for assessment are made tougher and scores naturally reduce. Teams are then expected to review the way they’re working and improve processes to guarantee higher scores in the future.
“The fact that our workforce is 100% behind the programme helps significantly and from the senior management team to the shop floor, we’ve all seen the benefits of embracing VPS.”
In fact, since its introduction, BMW Hams Hall has seen substantial improvements in all its key performance indicators. Productivity, quality and throughput time measures have all improved significantly and the company’s absence figures for 2010 were exceptional – 2.3% which is something that’s almost unheard of in the manufacturing sector.
If you’ve been inspired by BMW’s approach to excellence, IiE can help you deliver lean efficiency programmes, 5S and Six Sigma. For more information please get in touch.
