CLEAR AS
ICE
Icing Plant Manager Roy Fedko, recently explained to me the processes involved in the Bulk Sugar Project a £400,000 investment Can you explain what this excitingly named project all is about?
BPC, who was responsible for writing a completely new programme to control the bulk conveying and screening systems. This is a great achievement, especially as it worked straight away and is very easy to understand and operate.
There were two distinct aspects to the project, the road bin modifications and the reworking of the bulk conveying & sugar screening system for the plant. It’s main aim was to eliminate explosion risk areas by greatly simplifying the conveying and screening system. It also provides more caster and extra fine sugar screening capacity. I would personally like to thank all of the people involved in this project. It has been a demanding task that required a great deal of hard work and long hours.
You’re absolutely right it doesn’t mean much to me, but it does sound like a lot of work was involved. I guess that everyone who works at Bury will be well aware of the project and many more will have picked up on it to some extent. Unfortunately I can’t name and thank everyone, but there have been people like Mark King, technician at
Issue 32, September 2001
no sugar extraction from Bury’s silos and no icing sugar milling or special sugar packaging. In addition the Granulated Plant was running at around 70% of normal output, totally dependant on tanker import programme from Ipswich.
What is a tanker import programme? All granulated sugar was delivered to the granulated plant by a fleet of tankers. There were two permanent drivers on site unloading and shunting the tankers, each day 475 tonnes was unloaded. It took a great team effort,
I hear from the supply grapevine that it all went well though. Yes, I am pleased to report that we did restore sugar supply to the Granulated Plant on the 6th August as planned and sugar supply to the new Icing milling fed bin was restored the following day.
I know that this was a big project, what were the other benefits? The benefits may not mean much to less technically biased readers, but they include elimination of: all 3 belt & bucket elevators, the last two hanger bearings on the granulated conveying stream, 8 screw conveyors, and 3 unvented sugar storage bins. We also achieved computerised control of the conveying and screening systems, increased buffer of product feed to the Air Classifier Mill, external explosion venting of 20 tonne milling fed bin and 30 tonne hamac fed bin.
NEWS
So no hiccups then? picture shows the conveyors in the top of the building
So what preparation did you need to do before all this activity could start? In the months leading up to the project a major stock build was required to see us over a three week period during installation and commissioning of the plant. The stock build and storage of the products manufactured had a major impact on the business, especially as it coincided with the cranes project in BPC’s warehouse.
So you had a tight timescale for all this to happen?
Unfortunately, we can’t anticipate every potential setback, for example the feed to the vending line bin was delayed for several days whilst the explosion membranes were located, somewhere near to Limerick in Southern Ireland! Fortunately we managed to get the vending line fed with granulated on the 13th, just in time to start Dorpak production. Two special sugar screens came back on line on the 29th of August as the final parts of our jigsaw are completed.
Kirsty Darlow, Editor
The agreed programme restricted us to a two week shutdown. During the shutdown period there was
Kirsty Darlow, Editor - Ext. 22287
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The Savings are
Sweet for Silver Spoon’s Sucron
During 1999, Silver Spoon bought the Sucron brand from Roche. However, despite having a steady presence in the chemist sector, the brand was dated and was in desperate need of re-vitalisation. During the autumn of 2000, a 300kg trial batch of Sucron was made in the Gemini plant at Newark. The trials showed that the Gemini Plant produced a consistently high quality product. Work then began on updating the image of Sucron and of reducing the costs of production. Sharon Newall, Natalie Henfrey and Steve Jones all worked together to eventually come up with a formula capable of adding around a 30% contribution to the product. This was to be achieved by manufacturing the bulk product in-house, outsourcing the packing of the product to Contract Foods at Redditch and free-issuing most of the packaging materials. Consumer research showed that the new pack graphics were a big success and so the design was finalised. The bright blue packs have a greater on-shelf impact and the photography demonstrates the product’s versatility. Manufacture of Sucron began at Newark on 28th June 2001 with 20 tonnes manufactured in a week. Contract Foods then commenced packing the product into the 400g carton, the only hitch being that the lorry carrying the bulk Sucron to Redditch broke down en route at the 11th hour! The revitalised image is already paying dividends with new listings from Safeway and the Co-op received and growth of 20% expected during the next year. So now it’s over to Louise Vickers, the new Brand Manager, to continue to drive Sucron forward.
Natalie Henfrey
Further Success for Foodservice Further to the Stop Press in the last Silver Spoon News, we have now started supplying the Whitbread group with their total sweetener requirements. The gaining of Whitbread is a substantial win for Silver Spoon Foodservice and key to the ongoing strategy of developing links with key end users. Another success for Foodservice this month was regaining the contract to supply the Cover Group with vending sugar. Having lost the contract a year ago we are pleased to have regained it and in doing so, increased our vending volume.
Food Service Team
Dolly Board Briefings proved their worth when, at a recent Newark briefing, an idea was raised to sell jam sugar on dollies. Immediately the marketing hot lines began to rumble as Neil Goodwin called upon Phil Johnston and Duncan Lowe to take up the challenge and set about securing a trial with a local Tesco store.
The picture shows the product as it went on display next to granulated sugar. Whilst data does not show a significant difference to overall sales, what is important is the availability of the product on shelf. Some Tesco stores run out of stock periodically in the jam season and so most of the effort is now being put into improving the supply chain to store. So, bring on the next challenge…
Duncan Lowe
BUSINESS UPDATES BPC Cranes Project The high-bay cranes storage system at BPC was installed nearly 20 years ago and has certainly served the company well. However nothing can last forever and, after a period of decreased reliability, the decision was taken to appoint Cleco Ltd (the leading UK manufacturer of warehouse cranes) to begin a prog-ramme of improvement in April this year. In the first phase of improvements, cranes 1 & 4 were refurbished replacing the on-board computers, upgrading the crane positioning equipment and introducing a new Crane Control System. These cranes are now back in operation and all the hard work has resulted in improved reliability and smooth running. The second phase of the project is to replace Cranes 2 & 3 with new machines and to install a new conveyor into Crane 4 for the storage of ‘Specials’. Removing the old cranes after all these years has been a huge task for Cleco. The crane masts were 18 metres high (the combined height of about 4 double decker buses) and each crane weighed approximately 10 tonnes. If all things go according to plan, by the time this issue is published the new cranes will be in operation. This has been a very challenging project and its success has depended on receiving the support from many Silver Spoon personnel – particularly the Warehouse, Engineering and IT teams. Thanks also go to all staff at BPC for being patient during the considerable disruption.
have been able to ensure that there is a spare capacity on the compressors and air driers for the site and in the winter we will be able to recover the heat that was put to atmosphere. The quantity of heat recovered from two compressors during the winter will be in the order of 170kW, that is the same as running 170 one bar electric fires and, as the editor tells me, is the equivalent of saving approx 20 gallons of petrol every hour, just in case you need it quantifying further!
Steve Mead
Greener is cheaper Before this project had been implemented, there were two compressor locations on the Bury site (one in the Icing plant and one in the Granulated plant) each of which produced more air than was required for one plant, but not enough for the whole site. Additionally all the heat produced from the machines used to be sent into the atmosphere. By relocating the compressors from the Granulated to the Icing Plant and modifying the existing pipe-lines, we
The tender for the provision of distribution services has progressed well since the last update in the March Issue. Out of a total of 28 contractors invited to tender, 17 responded which certainly kept the evaluation team busy for a while! Through detailed analysis of service level questionnaires and prices, the team (comprising Martin Challans, Kirsty Darlow Martin Greatrex, Keith Hallam, Andrew Hemsley and Natalie Henfrey) drew up a short list. Visits then took place to these contractors and the list reduced further. The team entered the final round of negotiations during August. The team feels that they have found a solution which is flexible enough to accommodate Silver Spoon’s developing business needs.
Natalie Henfrey
Stop Press, Good News…
Forklift Truck Dave McDermott
Distribution
We are currently tendering out our forklift truck services across Newark, Bardney and Bury Packaging which equates to 42 trucks and a total spend of £1 million pounds over 5 years. Fork lift trucks are key to our operation, moving materials through to finished product. We have completed stage 1 which involved analysing 9 companies and we have just moved to stage 2. We aim to complete and award contracts by December 2001, with contracts to commence in January 2002.
Claire Downey
Good news in the final quarter with volume recovery coming through from the Co-Op. Business Manager Nick Stillingfleet, after a prolonged negotiation, has successfully secured additional volume gain from the Co-Op. Over recent years the Co-Op has increasingly centralised its operation as societies have merged and the Co-Operative Retail Trading Group, based in Manchester, has taken greater control. The new business is in Scotland, the North East and the South West regions previously supplied by Tate and Lyle, although the negotiations were conducted through the Manchester Head Office. With this business gain the Co-Op’s have now become our 5th biggest account.
Andrew Brocklebank
For those of you who have not yet had the chance to meet him, as announced by John Sutcliffe last month, Quintin Heath has joined the business. He will be helping John in his capacity as Human Resources Director for ABF’s Grocery group of companies and will also be Personnel Director here at Silver Spoon. Quintin will be working closely with all the personnel teams within the Grocery Group to reap the benefits of our business similarities and the opportunities that it can bring in terms of enhancing performance, career and training Christine Woodard Quintin Heath development. We also have a new team member, Christine Woodard, who joined as site Personnel Officer at Bury. Happily this means that Jenny Maxwell will be able to spend more time pro-actively supporting our Newark and Bardney sites. So the work continues ensuring that the personnel service we provide meets our customer’s needs and, with a strengthened team, we are on hand to answer your questions in person, by phone, by email or by snail mail.
Karla Ellis-Hyde
THE TRAVELLING TRIO
Join the Army and see the world! Or you could take the less regimented option as did myself and Mick Hubbard from BPC who volunteered to visit the packaging plant at Glinojeck in Poland.
It was hard work but the beer(s) in the evening certainly went down well
Ced Tillet unwinding
They spent a week supporting the operation in Poland, carried out a survey of the condition of the machines (all hessers) and piecing together a support package to improve the performance of the plant to allow it to meet the expanding Polish Market. It was hard work but the beer(s) in the evening certainly went down well and, although they did not have the opportunity to see too much of the country, the Polish people made up for it with their warm welcome and helpfulness. This engineering support could be ongoing until the packaging plant is up the the required performance levels and will provide an opportunity for more Silver Spoon craftsmen to get involved. Mick Hubbard enjoyed the experience so much that he has since been back with Ced Tillett for a fortnight and even braved driving around Polands more minor roads (I think they were glad to get back to the A14!)
Dave Bradshaw
Bardney Packaging has always been able to boast an impressive health and safety record, with low numbers of first dressings and very long periods with no lost time injuries. To maintain this track record, along the theme of continual improvement, Ian Davidson has brought in additional resources to build a higher standard of pro-active safety measures. Ian is trying to target a similar Safety Standard as OHSAS 18001, without currently trying for certification. This means creating a system around exacting, auditable standards that cover both legislative and Company requirements. Risk Assessment is the key to this process and all the Packaging Team have been actively involved in identifying and eliminating risks. Where hazards have been identified and can’t be readily resolved, a ‘Safety Defect Sheet’ has been introduced. This will allow the team to track the progress of any defects. Team operatives will be signatories to the risk assessment sheets, to demonstrate their input and knowledge of control measures. some safe systems of work have been developed as a result. Training deficiencies have also been identified and an intensive Training programme has been developed, to enhance the Safety awareness and skills of all the team (i.e. risk assessments, display screen equipment, fire extinguisher safety etc). The objectives are, in addition to satisfying legal and corporate requirements, to create and maintain a robust safety system that protects everybody within the Plant. So with risk assessment, effective information, instruction and training, plus involvement of control measures in place, Bardney remain focused putting safety at the top of the agenda.
Safety
Team talk
SAFETY FIRST
Dave Miles
Rewarding Times Resolutions made at the beginning of each year are often forgotten by February, if they make it that far. However, in January this year, we confidently made three – to improve Health and Safety, Plant Performance and Attendance at our plants and we certainly did not intend to forget any of them. In order to maintain the focus we introduced an employee participation scheme which would offer tangible reward to individuals, teams and plants where there has been outstanding performance or improvement. Health and Safety, as always, is top of our list and we set ourselves a target to be at a level of incidents of two thirds of the food industry average, which we are well above at the moment. It has already been said and etched in stone (well print anyway) that Health and Safety is the responsibility of everyone. Therefore, our awards for improvement are based on the whole site’s achievements looking at two key measures – the Health and Safety Index and the Quarterly Plant Managers Review. The Index measures historical performance on a range of factors whilst the Review includes some historical measures, but also includes planned improvements implemented. Roy Fedko, our Company Health and Safety Manager, has looked at the data and selected Newark for the first award. On making the award, Roy said "Newark has demonstrated a thorough approach to its employees’ health and safety. Its recent improvement in both lost time incidents and first dressings is encouraging. The award is well deserved and all employees are to be congratulated". Newark has been awarded £500 to be spent on a fitting gift at the recommendation of the plant safety commit-
tee (happy spending). Turning now to the suggestion scheme, we have decided to pay £50 for all suggestions submitted and implemented, with an extra £100 paid for one implemented suggestion ‘pulled out of the hat.’ The scheme has been most successful at Newark, where 22 suggestions have been implemented so far, benefiting the creator of each by £50. Two people have also received £100 on their suggestion being "pulled out of the hat". Michael Pearson, Newark Plant Manager said "It’s early days, and I have been delighted with the quality of ideas put forward and the enthusiasm with which they have been implemented. The number of ideas put forward has meant that there is still a lot to work through, so there are plenty more benefits to come." Congratulations to Tim Baker (a £100 winner) and Tony Rogerson and Mick Bowman who jointly suggested the turning post in the picture
and therefore receive £50 each. Thanks also to all Newark employees for your help in improving the plant. Bardney employees have submitted two suggestions that have been accepted, but not yet implemented. The response at Bury has been disappointing, but thank you to those employees who have submitted suggestions. Perhaps more opportunities for improvement will be identified in future. The attendance scheme recognises the contribution of those who have no more than three days absence in the year. At the time of writing, we have 138 people qualifying for a Christmas gift. We all need to play a part in improving Health and Safety, Plant Performance and Attendance and the Employee Participation Scheme will continue to recognise your achievements.
Stuart McCarey
2kg bags from the Fawema being turned on the turning post
GET WELL SOON WISHES FOR NEVILLE FARROW Back in April last year, on his usual 6:30 am cycle to work, Neville was hit from behind by a vehicle –believed to be a white 7 tonne flat backed truck. The driver failed to stop leaving Neville, with serious fractures to his right leg and damage to the base of his spine, in the road unable to move. Recently Neville has had his leg rebroken and plated for the third time and still can not walk unaided. Neville truly is one of life’s good guys, he has a smile for everyone and has a very dry if wicked sense of humour. His Team, "A" shift miss him greatly for all his contributions, as do the rest of us that know him. With his immobility obviously very limiting, he does have visits at home from a small group of regulars, but I am sure he would welcome a visit from others.
TWENTY YEARS ON... Anna Turner receives her 20 year award and has plans to spend the award money on a luxury fridge. Anna has worked mainly in Brown Sugars and now on the Hessers. She has been joined by her sister and her son who also work in the packaging Plant. Well done Anna and keep up the good work.
Michael Pearson
John Stratford
THE LAST
WORD
In the last edition, I commented on the progress regarding the proposed Code of Practice to cover relationships between the major retail multiples and their suppliers. In the last 5 months, the Government have gone very quiet on how they intend to modify (assuming they do) the Code in light of the criticisms levelled at it by virtually everybody apart from the retailers. I hope we see some progress here in the next few months and have something more positive to report in the next Spoon News. As you know, we’ve just been through the financial year end and the focus is now on the next 12 months. The year that we have just completed has seen some really good progress made by the business on several fronts. I can’t give numbers now in advance of the ABF year end announcements, but I can tell you that we have achieved a good trading result in line with our overall targets. We’ll review the business achievements in more detail at the board briefings in January. Congratulations to everyone in Silver Spoon and thank you for your contribution.
John Sutcliffe, Managing Director
Silver Spoon News, P.O. box 26, Oundle Road, Peterborough PE2 9QU. Editor: Kirsty Darlow. Design and production: TSA.
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