Cressall Resistors

Source: Manufacturing Digital

Date :11/06/2008 15:30:39

Manufacturer Cressall Resistors has seen greater growth than predicted in recent times – and much of it is down to its lean programmes. Jane Fisher reports

Written by Jane Fisher and Produced by Ben Weaver

In 2007, resistor manufacturer Cressall expected to see an annual turnover of £6.5 million. By the second quarter this prediction had been increased to £7.5 million and by the end of the year the company had in fact achieved £9.5 million

According to manufacturing director Cy Wilkinson, while demand has increased for its products, much of the UK-based company’s success can also be put down to operational changes and the introduction of lean programmes.

“When I joined Cressall in June 2006, there had already been several attempts to roll out 5S and to implement flow - all with varying degrees of success. Though there was buy in from senior management, these earlier lean attempts failed due to lack of follow-up and buy-in from the work force,” says Wilkinson, a lean manufacturing expert.

“My first task, therefore, was to assess the operations in terms of my lean experience and then formalise a strategy to implement an improvement programme for the next three to four years with one goal in mind - customer satisfaction.

“This meant better, faster and less expensive, yet high-quality, products - all possible via lean and hard work.”

Working together

Cressall Resistors has a long history. Established in 1912 in Birmingham, the company originally manufactured shoe machinery and resistors. As the years passed, the shoe machinery part of the business fell away and the company came to focus more on the resistors side of its operation.

From 1950 to 1971, Cressall was owned by the Expanded Metal Company Limited (Expamet), who developed and introduced the expanded mesh style of resistors for which Cressall Resistors is still well known - and which form the major part of its range today. A subsidiary of Halma plc from 1989 to 2006, the company was then bought by Telema SpA of Italy, through its British subsidiary, TPR Resistors. Telema is the largest specialist power resistor manufacturer in Europe. “It was at this point that I joined the company and began looking at introducing these lean programmes,” says Wilkinson. One of the first steps on the journey was to provide everyone with new Cressall work wear. The idea was to improve the image of the workers, he explains, to improve security (if someone was on site without a uniform, perhaps they shouldn’t be) and to preserve personal clothes for personal wear. The main driver, however, was to help foster a team spirit within the workforce - the main players in any lean implementation programme.

Next came the lean training; four and five day sessions, leading the site towards leaner operations and the staff to NVQ Level 2. “There was no increase in our manufacturing floor space at all, it is just being utilised in a better way” stresses Wilkinson. “It was a case of restructuring and making changes where necessary. It was simply a case of doing things better.”

His strategy incorporated the use of eight lean tools - value stream mapping, 5S, standard work, flow, pull, total productive maintenance (TPM), mistake-proofing and set-up reduction.

Less than two years into the changes, space savings ranged from 14 to 60 percent, employee and operator movements were down by between 50 and 60 per cent - with which came the associated productivity improvements - single piece flow had reduced work in process and stock-take time was down 50 percent. All made to happen by continuing projects and targeted events.

“And of course we increased turnover too,” Wilkinson adds. “When the businesses were merged we were looking at a combined turnover of £4.5 to £5 million – but last year we achieved £9.5 million.”

Continuing to improve

Today, Cressall Resistors still has two manufacturing bases, one in Leicester, and the other in Dereham, Norfolk.

The company, which employs 100 people, manufactures one of the widest range of electrical power resistors in the world for customers in, among others, the oil and gas, aerospace, automotive, engineering, marine, traction and defence industries.

These are for applications such as dynamic braking for industrial drives and the traction industry, neutral earthing for transformer and generator protection, as well as harmonic filters, motor starters and a range of portable load banks for on-site load testing.

The company sources and procures high quality materials from around the world. In addition to the standard fasteners and sleeved wires, it specifically sources high-grade stainless steel sheet and wire and high temperature custom designed ceramics.

“We currently supply our products to customers all over the world – about 50 percent in the UK and 50 elsewhere. We supply into Europe and worldwide – to major players everywhere,” says Wilkinson.

“Our business is growing” he concludes, “but we don’t expect to repeat the levels of growth we have seen recently, this coming year. Approximately £8.5 million would be ideal – and we are on track to achieve that.

“We are certainly looking to increase our range of products and, ultimately, the solutions we can offer our customers. We will continue the improvement programme and continue with our strategy for a lean operation.”