UK Manufacturing is Efficient
I recently
had the opportunity to be invited to look around Siemens' Poole factory by the IET.
Having worked in traffic signals for years, I realised I had never been in their factory before, so was quietly excited and intrigued what went on behind the scenes of one of the UK’s leading traffic technology companies.
The first
thing you need to know about Siemens in Poole, is it is the original Plessey
site in Creekmoor.
Creekmoor is a quiet residential suburb, but just after
passing the local grammar school, you’re presented with a mixture of post war
and modern architecture.
My first
thought was that I would find a run-down dusty, dirty warehouse with scruffy
men hammering kit together.
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| Siemens Traffic Head Office - Poole |
Well what a
pleasant surprise. The factory is very sleek, clean, bright, and very quiet! I
was presented to the factory managers, who were very professional, and came
across as very proud of their work.
The factory
was amazing. More than I thought it would be. Inside were fabrication machines,
soldering and assembly lines, all running and very quiet.
Siemens do
not have the capacity to make thousands of products there. They stated, quite
rightly, they would be swallowed by the Chinese manufacturers on that level.
However, they make a few hundred to order, and in fact sell to the Chinese, as
well as over 20 other countries, which surprised me.
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| The Factory Floor |
They
assemble traffic light heads, push button units and their own comms units as
well as many circuit boards, all designed and built to fit over 400 different
models. The logistics of setting the machines for that was mind boggling.
The
main product was of course the controller for traffic systems. These are
assembled to order in full, then moved to another section where they are
thoroughly tested and sprayed with Tecqua protection before being shipped to
the client.
Even the shipping rota is efficient. It’s all sent to
Leicestershire twice a week, then despatched from there by a national haulage
company. Saving them and customers P&P costs.
So why was
this factory doing so well in the UK?
Well it is
all down to Siemens LEAN 3i system. An anglicised version of Toyota’s LEAN
system. This system is where staff earn bonuses (yes money!) for trying to make
their work more efficient. If it is a success and Siemens use it, then they get
their bonus. This means all staff from floor to manager, are working to be as
efficient as possible. The managers also meet on the factory floor, so there is
no ‘them and us’ scenarios.
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| Tecqua Protected Controller |
As I’ve
previously stated, manufacturing is alive and well in UK. We may never compete
on Chinese, and Indian levels, but for high tech manufacturing and assembly, we
easily compete with the US, Germany and Japan. Long may it continue to grow.
And I hope
Siemens in Poole continues to be successful too. I think they should open their doors
more often to the public, as it is a great way to showcase modern UK manufacturing
and assembly.
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| Poole |
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| Location of Poole, Dorset, England |
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