Blackburn wins UK Factory of the Year Award

When it submitted its entry in the TBM Consulting sponsored Manufacturing Awards, LPD said it deserved the Award because it had demonstrated its ambition to change and its tenacity as a site to deliver. Needless to say, the judges agreed and awarded the LPD facility maximum points in all but one of the five assessment criteria (where it dropped just a single mark).

Blackburn won the UK Factory of the Year Award, in the category of world-class manufacturing. The awards are a prestigious event in the UK manufacturing calendar with over 120 (blue chip) companies competing for the prize. This clearly indicates Blackburn’s drive to give best cost to LPD in its search for world class status! The site is united in its commitment to drive zero waste.

Four years into a major change program, robust systems are now fully embedded as the ‘Blackburn way’ as it constantly challenges current practices and the development of new products and processes.

The site’s war on waste has resulted in a final assembly yield improvement of 43 per cent since the third quarter of 2004, and since 2002, an overall material cost reduction of 50 per cent and a labor cost reduction of 30 per cent. After a future state map identified opportunities to remove processes and automate labor intensive activities, customer PPMs were reduced from 2,000 to fewer than 400, automated final assembly reduced the process head count by 50 per cent, machines were moved, shift patterns changed and six production areas were consolidated into three.

In the third quarter of 2004, sustained improvement activities began using the TDR (tear down and redesign/rebuild) approach to satisfy a compelling need to reduce waste and re-engage the workforce. A War Room was created and is attended daily by the Management Team.

The main system that bonds and drives all processes forward is the site’s lean assessment system, says manufacturing manager Chris Wright. Blackburn has learned from its more project-oriented past and invested in its major asset – its people.

LG.Philips Displays is a market leader in CRTs for TV and computer monitors. The company produces one-fourth of CRT tubes for TV and computer monitors selling worldwide. Using its global manufacturing infrastructures, it supplies parts to world class TV and computer monitor brands around the world.

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