BAE Systems' win the prestigious Shingo
Bronze Medallion for operational excellence

BAE Systems' Samlesbury site and conservatory manufacturer Ultraframe have joined the world class business elite by winning the prestigious Shingo Bronze Medallion for operational excellence.

The Lancashire based businesses are the first two UK organisations to achieve recognition in the international award process, which has been cited as the 'Nobel Prize' of operational excellence by Business Week.

The Shingo Prize (www.shingoprize.co.uk) is a highly effective blueprint for lean transformation, driven by deep cultural change across the entire enterprise. For over 20 years the Shingo model has been used to educate, assess, benchmark and recognise operational excellence in outstanding organisations in the US, Canada and Mexico. Now, in collaboration with The Manufacturing Institute, it is open to organisations in Europe.

The businesses were presented with their medallions in Manchester at the UK/US Shingo Summit - a week-long conference dedicated to lean and operational excellence - featuring world leading authorities and practitioners at the cutting edge of business transformation from both sides of the Atlantic.
For many organisations the Bronze Medallion is the first step in the journey towards the ultimate Shingo Prize for outstanding world class performance in every aspect of business enterprise.  Next step is the Silver Medallion, but organisations can leap that stage to achieve full Shingo Prize status if they achieve exceptional scores in the rigorous evaluation process

Nigel Blenkinsop, BAE Systems Samlesbury site director, said: "In 2004 we established a Lean Learning Academy at Samlesbury and the challenge now is to really embed lean principles not only in our culture but also into our supply chain. The Shingo prize process provides a way to benchmark our progress against companies across the globe and gives us feedback that can help focus improvements in core manufacturing and business processes.  I'm delighted that we have been awarded a Bronze Medallion at out first attempt and I look forward to building on this achievement in the months ahead."

Mike Price, Chief Executive of Ultraframe, said: "We have made some significant progress on our lean journey over the last four years and are always looking for opportunities to critically review the progress we have made and identify opportunities for further improvement. We were awarded a Best Factory Award in 2007 - winning Best Engineering Plant. Since then we have worked hard to close the gaps highlighted in the benchmarking report. Challenging for the Shingo Prize has been an excellent opportunity to once again review our position and stretch our lean achievements to achieve even higher levels of operational excellence. We are delighted to have been awarded a Bronze Medallion and look forward to receiving the feedback report. This year has been a challenging year for us, like most other businesses, and it's great to receive external recognition that we are doing the right things".

Presenting the awards, Robert Miller, Executive Director, Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence, USA, said: "These two businesses are shining examples of excellence that truly understand the principles of lean transformation and are applying it to all their business processes. The empowerment of their people and the culture of continuous improvement that they both demonstrate is particularly impressive."

Added Julie Madigan, Chief Executive of The Manufacturing Institute: "It is less than nine months since BAE Systems and Ultraframe first challenged for the Shingo Prize, so it is a fantastic achievement that they have achieved the bronze medallion in this short space of time. They can now continue to use the Shingo Prize framework to achieve even higher levels of quality, customer satisfaction, cost performance and delivery, and we are certain that they will both succeed in claiming the ultimate Shingo Prize".

Named after one of the architects of the Toyota Production System, Dr Shigeo Shingo, The Shingo Prize provides a framework and benchmark for excellence for all organisations of all sizes and sectors - whether they are hospitals, government departments, universities, banks, or manufacturing businesses.

The Shingo philosophy is that world class performance in quality, cost, service and delivery can be achieved through the application of 'true north' lean principles and techniques to core operational and business processes. It provides the guiding principles, systems and tools needed to build and sustain globally competitive forward-looking enterprises.   

Previous winners, including Baxter Healthcare, BAE Systems US, Raytheon, Boeing and TI Automotive, have achieved outstanding results - delivering superior quality, competitive cost performance and high customer satisfaction.

A board of examiners, comprising lean leaders from across the world, carry out the rigorous evaluation process. The entrant's detailed achievement report is validated during a two to three day company site evaluation visit and then the board scores the applicant according to Shingo performance criteria and then recommends the applicant for the Shingo Bronze Medallion, the Shingo Silver Medallion, or The Shingo Prize.
 
The Manufacturing Institute's UK/US Shingo Summit, supported by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, was its fourth transatlantic Summit and the biggest and best to date. An entire week of activity featured eight keynote speakers from the US and UK, 25 best practice presentations and workshops from international industry and thought leaders, as well as best practice site visits to BAE Systems, Ultraframe, Siemens, PZ Cussons, APPH and Robert McBride. There was also a two-day pre-summit Shingo Workshop to introduce the Shingo Prize.

US Shingo prize winning businesses OC Tanner and DJ Orthopedic presented alongside many leading UK lean performers, including BAE Systems, Ultraframe, United Biscuits, Patheon UK, C-TEC and HJ Berry. 

Keynote speakers included Steven Spear, Senior Lecturer at the world renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology; inspirational speaker, author and lean pioneer Norman Bodek, President of US-based PCS and co-creator of the Shingo Prize; Robert Miller, Executive Director for The Shingo Prize at Utah State University and a lean industry veteran; Daniel Jones Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Academy, and Chris Daffy, Founder of the Academy of Service Excellence. Other thought leaders sharing the stage included John Bicheno and Professor Peter Hines from the Lean Enterprise Research Centre at Cardiff Business School.

For further information, The Manufacturing Institute, Janet Kilpatrick, e-mail: janetk@manufacturinginstitute.co.uk BAE Systems, Paul Melling, PR & Communications Manager, e-mail: paul.melling@baesystems.com Ultraframe, Mark Hanson, e-mail: mark.hanson@ultraframe.co.uk

Protective materials and coatings for extreme environments

In harsh operating environments, selecting the appropriate special coating or corrosion-resistant material for a rolling bearing can prolong the life of the bearing, reduce maintenance costs and minimise production downtime.

Demand for rolling bearings that are able to withstand extreme operating conditions is on the increase. This is being fuelled by tighter legal requirements in many industries, an increased awareness of scarce resources and the need for companies to become more energy-efficient. The Schaeffler Group has developed a range of materials and corrosion-resistant coatings for rolling bearings that satisfy these growing demands.

While standard steel bearing materials provide satisfactory corrosion resistance in many applications, for higher performance requirements, highly corrosion-resistant, nitrogen alloyed martensitic HNS (high nitrogen) steels - such as Schaeffler's Cronidur® and Cronitect® steels - are available.

Cronitect®, for example, is a high performance stainless steel that provides maximum corrosion resistance under extreme operating conditions, including dry running applications or when bearings come into contact with aggressive media such as water, salt spray, acids and cleaning chemicals.

Cronitect® is a high-grade martensitic hardening steel based on the consistent refinement of high-grade NIROSteels. Through its unique composition and new thermo-chemical surface layer treatment process that optimises the surface zone and core properties of the base material, Cronitect® achieves an extremely high hardness, providing excellent corrosion-resistance. Even after 600 hours of salt spray testing, the material shows no signs of corrosion.

Cronitect® is suitable for a wide range of applications, including food processing, materials handling, heavy machinery, power transmission systems (gearboxes), hydraulic and pneumatic systems, consumer products and packaging.

In the food industry, Cronitect® can be used across most of Schaeffler's product range, including rolling bearings, linear guides and plain bearings. Here, the use of Cronitect® significantly increases the availability of machinery, providing extended maintenance intervals. For example, bottling plants typically need to replace all their AISI440C rolling bearings that come into contact with cleaning detergents, every four months. With Cronitect® bearings, this interval can now be doubled.

Other food processing applications that already use Cronitect® on rolling bearings and linear guides include meat processing, filling plants, packaging machines, fish processing and poultry production.

In sports and fitness equipment, rolling bearings must provide excellent corrosion resistance, for example, in fishing reels, inline roller skates, cycle fitness machines, sailing equipment and for the wheel hub bearing supports on racing cycles. On fitness machines, friction has to be minimised to ensure smooth running properties. Here, the use of Cronitect® eliminates the need for grease lubrication and complex, high friction seals.

For further information, view website: www.schaeffler.co.uk   Refer to page 83