Continuous Improvement at WHS

August showed a great deal of continuous improvement projects at WHS. The Continuous Improvement team have been running weekly meetings every Friday since the start of May, where up to 15 members of staff from around WHS can give a debrief of the work completed within their own individual projects. These meetings are an opportunity for staff to share the status of their work, get new ideas from different people and then plan the next stages of their projects.

The meetings are open to anyone at WHS who wishes to make improvements in their department and job roles. Here are some examples of the improvements that were made in August:

• During the shutdown period, Site 2 re-painted their gangways and the yellow lines alongside, making the whole area look much tidier. A big thank you to the Site 2 shutdown team for their hard work.
• On H Row, there have been several changes put in place regarding one of their tools. These include a cabinet containing master samples of each part and updates to the operator instructions. Thank you to Lewis Higgins for his help on this project.
• Charlie Walter has been working on a project that has helped reduce the damage to the hard piping used on the tools in D Row. This has improved housekeeping and reduced the risk of damage and trip hazards.
• 74 pallets worth of bought out parts and WIP stock that was being stored above the Post Moulding cell was reduced to just 27. A new control method was also created to keep the stock at a minimum, but always enough to meet production requirements. Thank you to Tara Leavy, Stacey Foley and the Post Moulding Team for their hard work.
• The stores and CI team painted the drop zone areas in the Site 1 stores during the shutdown period. This makes stores much safer as it is now clearer where the forklifts will be driving and where the drop zones are located. It is also much more visually appealing.
• The A Row team worked on improving the appearance of the cell during shutdown. The yellow line and white tables have been repainted, along with giving the whole cell a good clean. The A Row team are aiming to keep this standard of cleanliness and continue with improvements on a daily basis.
• The CMM, maintenance and NPI departments teamed up to clear out the CMM Reference Sample Room in Site 1. This involved a complete revamp of the room, allowing the samples to be attached to the boarding that has been fixed on the walls. Carpet has also been fitted and new lighting will be installed to brighten up the space. This improvement will give the CMM department more traceability and control over their parts.
• During the shutdown period, the Site 3 Paint Plant had a deep clean of the three paint booths, removing paint sludge from inside the water wall filtration system and waste tanks and the gas burners in the drying oven were serviced. One of the biggest jobs was to check and replace the filters in the paint booths and numerous air circulation systems around the plant.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved and helped on these projects.