Streamlining Operations: ICL Employees Achieve New Heights

In a remarkable stride towards operational excellence, a group of employees at ICL has recently been certified with Lean Six Sigma Green and Yellow Belts. This achievement underscores a significant leap in enhancing the company’s overall communication and timing efficiencies through a variety of well-executed projects. Notably, one project that stood out was led by Infrastructure Operations Manager, Terry Hume, focusing on standardising the belt and panel move-ups to achieve a target time of 12 hours or less.

Left to right: Craig Lawton, Michael Brown, Richard Severn, Grahame Wallace, Katie Robinson, Terry Hume, Dwight Mawoko, Paul Agar, Dan Hill, Phil Banfield, Ellis Burton and Rob McConnell.

The journey to refine the belt and panel move process was filled with challenges. Initial analyses indicated that premature arrivals before the completion of production team setups led to inefficiencies, including machine unavailability and schedule overlaps. In response, Hume’s team embarked on a project to not only revise the move procedure but also to optimise equipment preparation.

A strategic decision to relocate the equipment store closer to the operational districts meant that trailers could be loaded in advance, ensuring equipment was ready for immediate use. This adjustment significantly cut down on preparation time, contributing to the project’s success.

Checked conveyor rubber that has been standardised to 120m in length.

Through relentless efforts and numerous trials, the team successfully implemented a final procedure that dramatically reduced the average move time from the initial thirteen to fourteen hours to an impressive eleven hours, surpassing the project’s target. Additionally, the introduction of a 5S audit by Terry ensured that equipment and materials were well-organised, and quality standards were consistently met, with defects being promptly addressed.

Conveyor Structures are now permanently loaded in the Poly North West structure store.

Grahame Wallace, General Manager of ICL Boulby & Teesdock, praised the initiative, stating, “Wonderful to hear about the various ‘Lean’ projects that are being completed across the business involving operational and supporting departments whilst recognising the achievements of those individuals leading and delivering improvements in their various forms. This year the focus is on embedding our ‘Lean’ philosophy and approach with even greater engagement and involvement of our teams since we can all truly make a difference!”.

This acknowledgment from Grahame not only celebrates the immediate success of the projects but also underscores the company’s commitment to integrating Lean methodologies into its culture, promising continuous improvement, and operational excellence for years to come.