25/11/2010

A continuous improvement drive by a Shropshire sausage roll company has seen the signing of a new contract that will reduce their costs by up to £18,000.

Pork Farms (PF), the multi-award winning pork processing company, embarked on the drive after adopting new lean manufacturing processes. The new procedures required a materials handling partner able to cope with the pace.

This led to them signing a new agreement with Briggs Equipment, after they had identified means of optimising PF's truck capacity to match machine use, and changing the transportation methods to ensure truck availability for time-sensitive operations.

PF's supply chain manager, Dave Bradley, said the new contract enhanced the long-term relationship they already had with Briggs.

"We went to tender with a number of materials handling suppliers but Briggs' innovative approach to problem solving means that we now have fewer trucks covering the same work even more productively than before," he explained.

Briggs sales executive, Dan Carley, said, "After listening carefully to Pork Farms' needs, we were able to reduce the fleet to seven machines and save them at least £18,000 over the contract."

Their fleet now comprises five counterbalance trucks and two reach trucks as well as two further power pallet trucks.