Vale Clydach, is situated in the Vale of Swansea, West Wales and is one of Europe’s largest nickel refineries. The company refines nickel oxide from Canada into high purity nickel products which are then shipped worldwide.
The company employs 200 people and has been in existence for the past 100 years. Vale Clydach is part of the Vale group of worldwide Companies which employees 140,000 people across 37 countries.
Vale Clydach has been working with S A Partners for the past 3 years developing its processes so today they can boast the following success:
980 employee suggestions
20% increase in productivity
40% reduction in inventory
60% reduction in customer complaints
So what part did the S A Partners Lean Academy play in this?
As part of the organisation deployment process it was recognised that appropriately trained problem solvers needed to be in place at all levels within the organisation. The S A Partners accredited Lean Coach Programme was used to develop 7 key individuals that focus on driving continuous improvement. The coaches drive improvement via complex project delivery, local area incremental improvement and up-skilling work teams.
The approach took into account direct manufacturer, service support, supply chain and administration.
The favoured quote across the plant, is that during a recent visit by Sanyo one of the Japanese visitors, was heard to say “this feels just like home”
For further information about the Lean Academy Programme, contact Donna Samuel
