Content area
Full Text
JOINT WINNER MOST IMPROVED PLANT
The assa Award
Products: Aerosol and liquid household goods Turnover or equivalent: L51 million Employees: 200 Highlights: Continuous improvement, product-range harmonisation, material flow, staff development
When Reckitt Benckiser's household factory in Sinfin Lane, Derby won a commendation in the 2001 awards, the judges were impressed with progress in bringing a traditionally organised, low-skill, high-cost site up to high modern standards. 'HQ told us: "We need you'" - Derby produces aerosols and other liquid products for the whole of Europe - '"but we can't afford you",' recalls Andre Croatto, the now-retired site director. He'd arrived at Derby on 1 January 2000, the day the Anglo-Dutch merger that formed Reckitt Benckiser took effect.
It soon became apparent that if the two-plant site could not get costs down quickly, a hard-nosed head office would be scrutinising alternatives with beady eyes. However, by 2001, the basics had been completed: fixed costs had been brought under control and overheads slashed by removing management duplication and running the lines more efficiently....