Improvement focus rolls in dividends

An Enniskillen-based manufacturer of snack foods for European retailers, Rye Valley Foods, has made substantial savings with help from an Invest NI-backed business improvement programme.

With Invest NI advice and assistance Rye Valley used a US-developed technique known as 'Six Sigma' to measure production processes and pinpoint areas for improvement. This involved setting up employee teams to analyse the problems and to recommend remedial action. As well as streamlining the production of existing products, mastery of the technique enabled the company to introduce a new range of soft baguette rolls more cost-efficiently. The savings are already in excess of £50,000 since the improvements were implemented.

Commenting on Rye Valley’s 'Six Sigma' successes, Invest NI Business Improvement Services Executive, Peter McCarron, said: “'Six Sigma' is a structured and proven improvement technique that helps companies to develop and deliver near-perfect products and services that will result in more business from existing and potential customers.

“Our 'Six Sigma' scheme seeks to achieve this by helping companies measure the efficiency of a particular production process and then to decide how they can improve the whole process. Companies which have used this technique have found significant benefits in terms of increased productivity from ensuring that existing processes operate at peak efficiency.

Declan McKee, Rye Valley’s General Manager at Enniskillen, said 'Six Sigma' had provided a structured approach "that enabled the company to focus on the performance of key aspects of the manufacturing operation".

“We found Six Sigma to be an excellent technique for collecting information for more effective management of production processes and this enabled us to make better informed decisions using monitoring data from machinery," he said.

“Another aspect of competitiveness is the ability to innovate by the introduction of new products quickly and cost-effectively. Savings resulting from the Six Sigma process are providing a platform for us to develop our product range and our ability to compete for business,” he added.

(SP)