Hall and Tawse Joinery overhauling their processes results in improved GVA of £360,000.

The challenge

Hall and Tawse Joinery management were only too aware of the risks of standing still in an increasingly competitive industry. The only manufacturing unit under the Mansell umbrella, Hall and Tawse Joinery are expected to grow in line with the rest of the group and remain a successful business in their own right.

With both labour and raw material costs rising, SMAS were challenged to eliminate waste and streamline the manufacturing process to make Hall and Tawse more efficient and productive.

The company

A comprehensive review of the manufacturing process at Aberdeen-based Hall and Tawse Joinery led to a £1 million sales capacity uplift without any increase in labour costs.

The business was founded in 1880, and over the years has developed a strong reputation thanks to demand for their quality products, technical ability and customer support. Now owned by Mansell Construction Services Ltd (itself part of the Balfour Beatty group), the business currently employs around 70 people.

Contracts include the manufacture of products for historic buildings, commercial and residential properties, churches, local authorities and housing associations, hotels and museums.

How SMAS helped

The intervention period took place over nine days, and saw the SMAS practitioner work with a multi-discipline team, determining actions and driving them to completion while examining all aspects of the business. Obsolete machinery was removed to ease workflow, and new machinery was recommended and introduced.

Other benefits of SMAS intervention included:

• bottleneck analysis and training outlining the problems caused at the point of contraction
• improvements to the paint shop
• relocating the glass store next to the glazing operation, reducing Lean wastes
• raw material rationalised after examining the purchase cost versus real cost
• the creation of new ‘runner’ roles to protect skilled operator time on machines.

Allan McGillivray, Joinery Director, said one of the most pleasing aspects of the process was how workers were involved in the process.

The group of volunteers from the shop floor were enthusiastic about participating,SMAS kept them fully briefed and involved in changing the processes. They appreciated the opportunity to input.

The outcome

There was a Gross Value Add (GVA) of £360,000 as a result of SMAS’s intervention. The project was also partly responsible for a £1 million sales capacity uplift, with no increase in labour costs.

Outcomes were presented to the whole site team, and were met with widespread approval according to Allan. “We had a fairly good idea of where the business was and we knew where we wanted it to be, and the opportunity to engage with SMAS helped us to move forward.

We were looking to change the culture of the place in order to drive improvements on the shop floor. The involvement with SMAS helped the workforce understand that this was already a successful business that could be even more successful with their assistance.

SMAS definitely did what they set out to do – it’s been a great success. We have been able to safeguard jobs and are better placed to take advantage of opportunities that arise in the future.

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