Engineering GREAT the IMI Way - IMI plc
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The IMI Newsletter Issue 6 February 2017
Mark Selway gives his
review of 2016
Engineering Page 2
Lean achievements in
GREAT the IMI Way Critical Engineering
Page 7
On-line video guides a hit with
Hydronic Engineering customers
Page 16
Localised manufacturing creates
Critical Precision Hydronic opportunities for IMI Buschjost
Page 21
Highlights
As forecast in last August’s edition of
the IMI Eye, 2016 proved to be a difficult
but defining year for IMI and the wider
global environment in which we operate.
No-one could have forecast the magnitude
of political change which was to take place
and while the general economy proved
to be lacklustre, it is encouraging to note
some early signs of growth from many of
our markets as we head into 2017.
IMI Critical Engineering opens New valve for medical market In terms of IMI, I am pleased to report
new localised manufacturing launched by IMI FAS that our plans to invest significantly in the
key competitive levers for the future were
plant in China P7 absolutely right and today we have a leaner,
P4 more dynamic and competitively stronger
business, which is ready to capitalise on the
opportunities that an improving market
environment will bring.
At the Group level, I was able to report
results which were directly in-line with market
expectations. I also confirmed that we
remained absolutely focused on our plans
to build competitive advantage and that
the culture of continuous improvement is
now firmly embedded across every area of
our operations.
I am absolutely confident that this
cultural shift is now providing an ever stronger
foundation for the future and the momentum
of change is gathering pace in all three of
our divisions. Our operational performance
in the year showed considerable progress
Innovation workshops generate Two divisions promote IMI with a number of our businesses now
new ideas at IMI Hydronic at Valve World exhibition moving towards world-class practices.
The benefits were evident in our results
Engineering P16 with particularly strong cash flow and
P12 excellent progress evident in our working
capital performance.
Without question, the most exciting
development in the year was the continued
investment in great new products, and I am
now confident that we have the foundations
laid, in terms of quality systems, competitor
tear-down and new project procedures, across
all three of our divisions. These systems
now provide us with an effective and
repeatable mechanism for delivering new
products routinely, which underpins the
Group’s sustainable competitive advantage
and growth potential.
Our decision to combine the Group’s
lean activities with our health and safety
programme proved absolutely right and lost
IMI Precision Engineering’s IMI Hydronic Engineering’s time accidents in the year were almost half the
level experienced in 2015. We also introduced
Asia Pacific team celebrates European sales teams a number of customer-facing metrics into
first delivery of new Herion converge on Birmingham our lean scoring and benchmarking in 2016
valve – ‘Asia for Asia’ and while we still have plenty of scope for
P24 improvement, it was pleasing to see real
P18 progress being made in our on-time delivery,
scrap and productivity across all three divisions.
We also made huge progress in our
financial control and systems throughout 2016
and our auditors were again able to report an
2 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6
Critical Precision Hydronic
In 2016 the Group delivered fundamental
improvements, which promise to
transform our competitive dynamics...
improved control environment across all areas steps had to be taken, these projects will place The Hydronic Engineering division also
of the Group. The investments being made in the division in a much better competitive made huge progress in 2016 but unfortunately,
our IT systems, and IT security, while painful to position for the future and ultimately place the warmer winter conditions in Europe and
put in place, are already delivering benefits and our core manufacturing footprint closer to difficult trading in China did not reflect all the hard
our work to implement peer group auditing in customers and in higher growth markets. work from Peter Spencer and his team in the
2017 will take the Group to an even higher Massimo Grassi and his Precision financial results. It was impressive that £55m
level of financial capability and assist in best Engineering team also made huge progress of the division’s 2016 sales were generated from
practice transfer. in the year and delivered results which products which were launched into the market
The nature of our products has resulted were directly in-line with market expectations. in the past three years and the new over-the-
in Critical Engineering being the most The core Class 8 truck market was lower by counter sales strategy resulted in the signing of
impacted of all three of our divisions by difficult 30% in the Americas and the first half of 2016 two important distribution agreements.
market conditions driven by the oil price was generally pretty slow for our largest sector, Like the other two divisions, Hydronic
collapse through 2015 and 2016. Despite this, Industrial Automation. Engineering continued to invest into its products
I am proud of the results produced by Roy Twite Despite these market pressures, the and infrastructure with a number of notable
and his team. In terms of new orders, Critical division invested heavily in a terrific range of new milestones in the year. In Germany, the division’s
Engineering out-ran the majority of the platform products, the first to be delivered in largest manufacturing site in Erwitte undertook
competition and their improved working capital, over a decade. These products are designed a transformational project to refurbish their sand
and inventory in particular, were major positives. initially to arrest the declining revenue base of casting operations. This undertaking required the
The division put in place a structured our Industrial Automation activities and the entire facility to be dismantled, refurbished and
Value Engineering programme which helped excitement which they have generated across reconstructed while at the same time continuing
to both significantly reduce product costs and the whole division is a credit to Massimo and to support customer demand. The project
deliver more that £80m of new orders which the Precision Engineering team. These new proved a major success and today we can boast
would have either been lost to competitors, or ranges will initially feature at the Hannover Fair world-class performance from this facility and
resulted in unacceptable margins. More than in the second quarter of 2017 and will be scrap rate reductions from 16% in 2014 to less
27 new and Value Engineered products were followed by a significant pipeline of great new than 6% following the refurbishment.
delivered in the year, and according to Roy, this products across all of our core sectors for The lean scores for Hydronic also showed
represents more new product activity than he many years to come. further improvement from their best in Group
has witnessed in his 28 years with IMI. The division also made huge progress status while at the same time halving lost time
The division’s lean scores, health and in improvements to its operating performance injuries to just two. Kan Ban and inventory pull
safety and core customer metrics all made with world-class ranking now within the sights systems allowed response time to customers to
significant progress in the year and it is pleasing of many of its operations in the year ahead. be halved during 2016 and plans are in place to
to report that our newest factory in Korea These improvements resulted in a second improve further in the year ahead. The Polish
achieved the highest lean score in the division, successive year of improved working capital, site continued to lead the Group in terms of
a fantastic result for CD Suh and the very with the proceeds of reduced inventory being lean benchmarking and our site in Slovenia also
dedicated team in that country. Our investments reinvested in new products and upgrades to increased its score to over 80%.
were not only limited to Korea – during 2016 our factories. The increased focus on lean A significant highlight for the year was
Jackie Hu and the China team consolidated also resulted in more than a 50% reduction in the first launch of the division’s new JD Edwards
our three Chinese operations into a single lost time accidents. ERP system which was delivered on-time and
world-class plant just outside Shanghai. Without doubt the most significant work on-budget in Poland and the division’s head
The investment in our facilities at being undertaken was the reorganisation of office in Switzerland. Following some early and
IMI Z&J in Germany also continued apace the division’s North American and European to be expected teething problems, the system is
and the business now boasts new office and operations which will underpin a new dynamic now delivering huge efficiencies and the balance
employee facilities to complement the upgrade in the way Precision Engineering operates and of Hydronic sites will be undertaken during the
of its production halls and new equipment goes to market. This programme kicked-off course of 2017.
layout, which are bringing improved flow with the appointment of Ryan Schroeder, I am sure that in reading this ‘year-at-a-
throughout their operations. This £10m who took over the reins of the Americas glance’ summary you can see the continuation
investment has been managed on-time and and restructured his operations into the new of the investment being made to improve
on-budget while at the same time delivering a vertical structure, which streamlined his the competitive dynamics of the Group.
very substantial order book. organisation and places the customer at centre These investments are beginning to provide a
In addition to the product and new stage in his operational, marketing and product real differentiator in the market and I want to
facility investments, the division continued its development efforts. thank all of our valued employees for their hard
programme of IFS ERP rollouts with the new The European operations followed work and commitment to making IMI GREAT.
system now fully embedded in Korea, Japan, suit with consolidation of the two operating
India, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Austria. organisations into a single European business
These projects have all been delivered on-time unit under the leadership of Peter Varwijk.
and on-budget and the improved efficiencies This significant change will act as the catalyst
which result, are already evident across all of for a vertical structure to be implemented in
these regions. Europe during 2017 and has already taken out
In order to respond to the slower market a number of layers across the organisation,
environment, the Critical Engineering team while streamlining decision making in our Mark Selway
accelerated their longer-term footprint largest region. Our Asian operations also CEO IMI plc
rationalisation which unfortunately resulted delivered some great new products and
in the closure or sale of a number of lower benefitted from the improved economic Full details of the 2016 results, including the
growth sites and delivered £12m of cost saving conditions which grew their sales and profits webcast of the presentation to the City,
in the year. While it is unfortunate that such across the majority of their territories in the year. are available at www.imiplc.com/investors
33
business improvement
Critical opens
new plant in
Qingpu, China
WRITTEN BY Saphira Shi
Marketing Communication Mike Semens-Flanagan (centre) welcomes visitors to Group HQ
IMI Critical Engineering, China from the Qingpu Government including the Mayor (fourth from the left)
Just 10 months after the announcement that IMI would Qingpu Municipal Government. Key customers in China were also
invest to carry out local manufacturing in China, joined by members of the IMI Critical Engineering Board, including
IMI Critical Engineering Greater China opened its Jackie Hu.
new facility in Qingpu on the outskirts of Shanghai, Jackie Hu, Critical’s President for Greater China & Korea and
bringing together its manufacturing capabilities, business Mike Semens-Flanagan, Critical’s Director of Strategic Planning,
management and sales under one roof. were delighted to host a delegation from the government of
Qingpu on their arrival at Critical’s Birmingham headquarters last
The 6,500 m² Qingpu facility, which includes a workshop August. Six individuals from Qingpu visited IMI, including the
area of nearly 5,000 m², is a major plank of Critical’s commitment deputy Mayor of Qingpu District People’s Government. Following
to develop its business ‘In China, For China’. presentations on IMI and the IMI Critical Engineering businesses,
The official opening ceremony of the new site was led by the officials were pleased to support IMI’s investment in China by
Roy Twite, Critical’s Divisional Managing Director. Guests of designating IMI Critical Engineering a technology company.
honour included customer representatives, leaders from Qingpu This means that Qingpu will support up to 10% of IMI Critical
Municipal Government including Hai Ping Yu, President of Engineering’s investment and also provide support for recruitment
Shanghai Qingpu Industrial Zone Development Group and Zheng and training.
Yi Zhang, Deputy-Director of Economic and Trade Commission of
RoyTwite (centre), Critical’s Divisional Managing Director and guests of honour at the official opening
4 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6
business improvement Critical Precision Hydronic
Lean teamwork with Supplier reduction
project brings significant
customers delivers rapid commercial benefit
product improvement
WRITTEN BY Christian Woodyatt
Logistics Trade Compliance
IMI Precision Engineering, Western Europe
WRITTEN BY Barrett Bishop, At the beginning of 2016, a supplier
Lean & HSE Manager reduction programme was launched
IMI Hydronic Engineering with the objective of consolidating low
volume or ‘tail-end’ vendors to a third
party. Championed by Wendy Durston
A kaizen event at Flow Design USA most important to customers, the team was
in Fradley Procurement, and governed
(FDI) was attended by selected able to identify a solution, and within two
by Christian Woodyatt as a regional
customers and IMI Hydronic days develop a prototype and create an
representative, the scope of the
Engineering employees. Designed action plan to start producing the new
programme was to improve total costs.
to resolve an ongoing quality issue design. A week later the prototype had
which had been identified through our been machined, tested and the final design Based on the level of spend and
‘Voice of the Customer’ process, and approved for production. associated risk, fasteners were selected for
in just one week an improved design Despite the success of the event and the programme. After assessing existing
was being implemented. the delivery of a solution which addressed suppliers for performance, engagement
our quality and delivery issues, there is and service agility, a UK company – Staytite,
The operation of ball valves to control always scope to improve, which is exactly was selected as the best and most capable
the flow of water requires the handles to what kaizen is aimed at. A common trap vendor. Staytite’s role is to supply all
cope with large forces. In more than 30% of of continuous improvement is to wait until fastener products, including bespoke
cases, the pipe and valve installations in the you have the ‘perfect solution’ before designs to IMI Precision Engineering.
proximity of the ball valve require insulation implementation. This not only prevents Successful management and
(due to the flow of cold water), preventing steady progress but can actually keep you implementation of the project relied on
the comfortable use of traditional length from improving at all. Instead, with the everyone understanding the proposal and
handles. To overcome this, Hydronic kaizen methodology, teams are encouraged commercial expectations. The project
offers an extended handle to facilitate ball to take regular steps to improve as they team used standardised documents,
valve setting. strive towards perfection. efficient data exchange and regular
At the start of 2016, it became clear In the case of the extended handles, stakeholder reviews that provide accurate
that the extended handles were top of this meant taking the new successful assessment of progress and an opportunity
our product quality issues. A number of prototype one step further by reducing to agree actions and eliminate risk brought
extended handles were being returned and production time and material costs to deliver by changing vendors.
comments ranged from being too difficult additional competitive advantage. As an The implementation of this
to turn, to breaking when used. In addition, added bonus, the kaizen event allowed the programme has brought us potential to
supply chain problems resulting in delays team to identify and eliminate weaknesses change how we approach procurement
and late shipments were impacting in resources and communications which and supply chain. Once implemented at
deliveries and causing concern for our might have allowed quality issues like this to the identified sites, the European supply
customers. arise again chain for fasteners will have reduced from
A cross-functional FDI team consisting John Diep, QA/QC Manager said, fifty vendors, to one.
of representatives from engineering, quality, “All in all, a successful outcome and positive Andrea Springell, Customer Service
customer service, product assembly, sales, experience for the team who have seen Manager, Staytite said, “The gain for both
took part in the kaizen event aimed at first-hand how lean methods such as businesses has been clear: it has brought
finding a speedy solution to the problems. kaizen can bring tangible benefits to both IMI commercial and cost benefits whilst
By focusing on the aspects which were customers and the business.” Staytite has strengthened its spend and
leverage in the market.”
IMI CCI Brno certified a WRITTEN BY Vera Snaselova
healthy organisation
HR Director, IMI CCI EAME
IMI Critical Engineering
IMI CCI Brno has been successfully re-certified as a ‘Health Promoting
Enterprise’ by the Czech government and the National Institute of Public
Health. The business achieved the highest possible award, grade three,
improving on its 2013 certification at Grade 2.
IMI CCI Brno was one of only 12 companies in the Czech Republic to receive
this award in 2016, and received a trophy at an official ceremony in Prague in
recognition of their achievement. (L-R) Christian Woodyatt and Wendy Durston (IMI),
Andrea Springell and Tom Hall-Jones (Staytite)
5
business improvement
Valuable
lessons about
lean in the
back office
WRITTEN BY Marcella Colombino
Corporate Communications Assistant,
IMI Hydronic Engineering
Lean principles don’t just apply to
manufacturing processes; they equally
deliver real value to back office
functions too.
12 participants from cross-functional The Hydronic team engaging in an exercise
at the lean workshop
groups recently took part in Hydronic
Engineering’s first non-manufacturing lean
workshop. The objective: How can we
function more efficiently as departments? to be gained from applying lean principles. versioning videos and graphics, and every
Group Lean Manager, Alan Harrison, Armed with a clearer understanding, participant was keen to put into practice
hosted the session and outlined the basic the team, which included representatives lessons learnt with their teams.
lean principles, tools and what actions from marketing and communications, legal, As Maria Hooper, Product Marketing
and results could be expected from finance and business development, went Manager, said “I think lean principles and
implementing lessons learned. The session on to explore adopting those principles for methods can be applied to any department
explored the exchange of resources back-office tasks. Each group chose an process or working method, making this a
between functional groups and how to ongoing problem and, with the help of lean very relevant workshop.” Louis Benoiston,
apply them to different business scenarios. tools, broke it down to better understand Market Research Analyst, was in complete
Initially, the exercise was completed cause and effect and establish practical agreement “Great event, very insightful and
without structured input, then repeated actions to resolve the issue. practical. It will definitely help improve
but with lean principles applied, including The workshop was a real success, my business practices and performance,
‘pull system’, ‘SMED’ and ‘one-piece-flow.’ the marketing and communications especially through using the tools
Improvements in results and KPIs made it team identified 10 action points that explained during the workshop.”
immediately clear to participants the value will dramatically improve the process of
Executive obeya room set up at Precision HQ
In late October 2016 Precision‘s goals. At a glance, anyone can see the
WRITTEN BY James Malin
Executive came together to start status of the largest projects of 2017
Lean Specialist
IMI Precision Engineering creating the divisional Policy and any delays.
Deployment Matrix for 2017. Used This level of visual management
across IMI, Policy Deployment drives improvement. Every month
is a method that increases the the division’s Executive team come
effectiveness of an organisation. together to review their plans.
It adds focus and balance to the The focus is maintaining the schedule
company’s objectives by meeting the by focusing on delay resolution and
needs of all stakeholders including implementing countermeasures to keep
customers, employees, shareholders, projects on time.
suppliers and the environment. This well-proven process will help
us achieve our strategic goals whilst
To visualise the progress of projects providing transparency of any problems
from the Policy Deployment matrix, we and improving team work.
have set up an obeya room at our head Following the success of the
office in Lakeside, Birmingham, UK. Precision obeya room, IMI Critical
An obeya room is a large room or area Engineering is following the same
L-R Andy Roper, James Malin and Mari
Docker in the Obeya room at Precision HQ used to visualise a project or process and process, in the same obeya room in
co-ordinate a team to achieve the required Lakeside, Birmingham.
6 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6
business improvement Critical Precision Hydronic
IMI FAS brings new
product to market
WRITTEN BY Loic Buros
FLEXISOL Manufacturing Unit Manager
IMI Precision Engineering
Launched last November at the changeovers to switch instantly from one
MEDICA/COMPAMED trade fair in variation to the other; and poka yoke
Düsseldorf, the 6.5mm FLEXISOL valve integration, a mechanism that helps
is the latest IMI FAS fluid control operators avoid mistakes, an innovative
innovation for the medical, diagnostic and agile production line was designed.
and analytical industries. The smallest Delayed product differentiation (DPD)
valve in the IMI FAS range was helped reduce the complexity of the
designed to precisely control gases assembly process. FLEXISOL is designed
within portable medical devices as a modular platform that has options
and diagnostic instruments. Lean for customer modification at the end of
principles were integrated into the manufacturing process. With many
the product development process variants of the valve, DPD has meant less
and important to the success of the equipment was required for manufacturing,
design process for the new valve. therefore improving flexibility with quicker
and more simple changeovers that gives
One objective of the new product full agility to the line. DPD also meant there
development project was to build an ‘agile’ were lower levels of inventory and easier
production line for the manufacture of supply chain management.
the FLEXISOL valve. To achieve this, DPD is fundamental to the design of
manufacturing engineering was involved multi-variant products like FLEXISOL. The
right at the beginning of the design benefits are significant in terms of customer
phase to introduce lean manufacturing service, simplifying the supply chain and
techniques into the product. Using planning management. Its contribution to
‘once-piece-flow’ to reduce quality risks the success of bringing a revolutionary new FLEXISOL production line
and Work In Progress costs; SMED for fast design to market has been significant.
Lean achievements across Critical
WRITTEN BY Nick Rowson-Jones IMI Critical Engineering in Greater China provided a GREAT
Divisional Lean & HSE Director
example of how value stream mapping (VSM) of customer orders
IMI Critical Engineering
and delivery can result in exceptional improvements. The team
designed a new process after mapping the current and desired
IMI Truflo Marine team undertaking 8D review
– (clockwise) Rob Watson, Nora Asselah, future states which has resulted in a reduction of over 70%
Chris Weston, Richard Rhead & Abbie Lemin in the time taken from quote to purchase order for aftermarket
services (45% reduction for New Construction & Isolation)
and almost halved the time taken from purchase order to
delivery in aftermarket services. Jim Lim, VP Sales for IMI Critical
Engineering Greater China said that one of the main conclusions
he drew from the exercise was ‘Do more VSM workshops and
invite relevant departments’ – a testament to the success of the
approach.
IMI Truflo Marine have been employing ‘8D’ (the eight
disciplines problem-solving model) for a structured, cross-
functional examination of the most complex problems facing
the business. Focus is on areas with the highest improvement
potential, with objective decision-making and visualisation of the
problems to make them more accessible to a range of people.
November and December saw the latest round of lean and Rob Watson, Engineering Director at IMI Truflo Marine
HSE audits across the entire operations of the IMI Group. explains “The 8D process is an internationally-recognised
We were delighted to see IMI CCI Korea, with a combined standard which improves the integrity of the investigation.
lean score of 82%, emerge top of the IMI Critical I am delighted that 14 employees have passed the qualification,
Engineering league table. A fantastic achievement which along with four of our key suppliers. We have launched
shows world-class is possible in an engineering-to-order 23 8D projects and I am confident that we will deliver
project-based business! Well done to CD Suh and the team significant improvements in customer and supply chain quality
at IMI CCI Korea. as well as reducing our annual costs.”
7
business improvement
New cyclonic dirt Site visits help
create enthusiasm
separator can be for ERP roll out
mounted in any direction WRITTEN BY Brett Stagg
ERP Programme Manager
IMI Hydronic Engineering
WRITTEN BY Maria Hooper
Product Marketing Manager
IMI Hydronic Engineering
2016 saw the successful
implementation of Hydronic’s new
IMI Hydronic Engineering’s new cyclonic dirt separator, Zeparo G-force, is one of ERP system at two of our sites.
a kind. Launched in January 2017, it not only cleans heating and cooling systems With roll-out set to continue over
much more efficiently than anything else on the market, it’s also the only dirt the course of 2017, the team has
separator of its size that can be mounted both horizontally and vertically. borrowed best practice suggestions
from our operations colleagues to
Dirt causes havoc in heating and cooling systems, both old and new. This by- increase employee engagement
product of the construction process or of corrosion can become trapped in high-value and address directly any concerns
equipment, such as boilers, pumps and valves, leading to expensive maintenance and the team may have before
repairs, or even to system breakdown. implementation
The new Zeparo G-force eliminates this problem. Its unique cyclonic technology
removes dirt, sludge and magnetite particles 9 times faster than similar devices, data Site visits have been successful
which has been proven by independent tests from the UMTEC Technical Institute in when sharing best practice within
Switzerland. Dirt and sludge are removed before there is any chance of critical the operations team on their lean
components being damaged or compromised, helping to prolong system life span. journey, providing participants with
Following the launch of the technology in small dimensions in 2014, customer an opportunity to see for themselves
feedback called for bigger sizes and flexible installation position – both horizontal and how processes and systems work.
vertical. The design team listened and developed the Zeparo G-Force whose unique The same approach can be taken in
features allow for installation in all directions; a great advantage when space is at any other business area and has been
a premium! introduced as part of the Hydronic
The industry response has been extremely positive. Even prior to the official launch, ERP project.
the Zeparo G-force has already been specified by WBG Gropius Wohnen as part of a Rather than hearing about the
very large order for a wide range of Hydronic products that includes Pneumatex, TA, system second-hand in powerpoint
and Heimeier for installation in a prestigious project due for completion this spring in presentations or conference calls, the
Berlin, Germany. Change Management team have taken
The Füllinsdorf R&D team in Switzerland took great pride in showing prototypes an innovative approach. They have
of this latest innovation to the IMI Executive team during a recent visit. Dan Shook, introduced site visits to Poland for
Group Finance Director said, “It’s hard not to be infected by the enthusiasm of the team all future ERP implementation sites.
who have developed the G-Force who are clearly excited about the benefits it will This means new future users have the
bring to customers.” opportunity to see the system in
operation and interact with teams who
have already gone through the process
Sebastian Schweers, R&D manager of Pressurisation and Water of getting it up and running. “It gives
Quality at Fullinsdorf shows the Executive team the new Zeparo
G-force prototype during their visit to the Füllinsdorf factory the teams confidence that the system
works and that they have nothing
to fear”, said Hydronic Finance Director
Alex Hunt, who has sponsored
the initiative.
So far 43 visitors have been
sent to the new installations and the
response has been overwhelmingly
positive. “When I went to Olkusz I had
the opportunity to see the system
working and talk to the team who
participated in the implementation.
It is hard work, but experiencing
first-hand the efficiencies it will bring to
the business gave me the confidence
that it can be done and that the efforts
are well worth it.” said Paul Molhoek,
Plant Manager at IMI Hydronic
Engineering’s Erwitte site in Germany.
The teams are very enthusiastic
about the roll-out and motivated by the
clear benefits it will bring.
8 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6
business improvement Critical Precision Hydronic
Material flow Rationalisation delivers
project at
Brno improves cost savings at IMI Orton
production WRITTEN BY Enzo Stendardo
Sales & Marketing, IMI Orton
efficiency IMI Critical Engineering
WRITTEN BY Tomas Petrik
Logistics Manager IMI Orton’s MV valve series represents a significant portion of the company’s
IMI Precision Engineering, Brno sales. Thanks to the work of a multi-disciplinary team, significant
improvements have been achieved in the supply chain management,
cost, and performance of this important range of valves.
A team at IMI Precision Engineering,
Brno recently overhauled its materials The MV valve series has been engineered and manufactured by IMI Orton in
handling process. The significant Piacenza, Italy, since 1990. Common to many companies producing industrial valves,
amount of space for logistics on the each time a project and order was received different valve sizes and ratings were
shop floor caused inefficiencies in developed. A Senior Engineer at IMI Orton explains “At the time of an order the focus
processes and time for the operators was naturally on delivering that order, but each single valve design was produced
to feed the line or search for materials. without considering the possible harmonisation of similar valve components.”
The intricate planning process included The company decided to take a step back and establish a multi-disciplinary
core and cross-functional teams team to undertake a ‘design for manufacture and assembly’ project. This is a key tool
and began with a review of current in our Value Engineering approach that is designed to improve a product’s design
processes. efficiency and manufacturing processes. Team members were drawn from a wide
range of departments in the company including sales and marketing, quality and
Starting with a ‘Plan for Every Part’
production, which meant that different perspectives were taken into account when
analysis, the team recorded every piece
looking at how to optimise the valve design.
of data available on the parts, including
The results have been significant. The standardisation of parts has resulted
package size at the point of use and hourly
in a 40% reduction in the number of parts and combined with a standardisation of
consumption. The analysis helped define
materials, the company has moved from a ‘push’ to a ‘pull’ supply chain philosophy.
our objective of moving from a pick-to-order
This has delivered remarkable cost savings. The design rationalisation has also
process to a ‘supermarket’ concept, where
delivered significant improvements in SMED (single minute exchange of dies) reducing
parts are replenished as inventory is used.
the time it takes to complete equipment changeovers.
A spaghetti diagram to track the actual
Francesco Bracchi, Engineering Manager, IMI Orton said “The learnings from this
flow of products and people revealed the
project are now being taken to other valves series as well as increasing the focus on
potential to combine or more closely align
changeover time in machining. We are confident that applying these learnings will
pre-assembly and final assembly.
deliver even greater benefits to IMI Orton.”
Detailed review of our vision
documents showed that significant changes
to the layout of the shop floor would be
needed. The original factory layout used
many 110cm aisles, which are too narrow
for the milk-run process required to
replenish products. It was important that
there was also enough space for empty
boxes to cover the cycle time of the
milk-run. Based on capacity and Takt time,
we calculated the material quantities
needed and one major finding was that
components would need to be replenished
using a two-bin system.
Sascha Tometschek, Brno’s
Plant Director said “Standard Operating
Procedures were developed for new
processes and we created a skills matrix to
cover three-shift and potential swing-shift
models. Following shop floor training on
‘Supermarket’ and re-loading processes for
‘Make-to-Order’, the team went on to
launch the pilot milk-run. The process is
successfully managed through a daily
operations meeting and over the next
10 months there are plans to roll out across
the wider plant.” An installed MV butterfly valve with actuator on top
9
business improvement
Lean techniques transform
Shanghai’s lead time
WRITTEN BY Celina Wang
Asia Pacific Lean Champion
IMI Precision Engineering
Praise for
In a first for IMI Precision Engineering
Shanghai, the production levelling
By utilising several lean techniques,
including 5S, and conducting six major IMI CCI Korea’s
process ‘heijunka’ was introduced to
its cylinder line with the purpose of
SMED projects and a number of process
layout changes, the workshop was rapid IFS ERP
levelling workload throughout the
workshop and supply chain by
transformed into one of efficiency; where
the number of cylinder daily changeovers implementation
operating at the rate of customer was higher, but output and workload
‘TAKT’ (demand). The objective was to was levelled. WRITTEN BY Patrick Roxbee-Cox
reduce lead time, reduce inventory, Divisional IT Director
improve productivity and, ultimately, The overall pull / heijunka results: IMI Critical Engineering
increase market share. l On Time In Full (OTIF) improved by 7%
l Lead time reduced by 85%
The introduction of heijunka was a IMI CCI Korea has successfully
l Inventory turnover improved by 28%
proactive initiative to make the lead times completed its first month-end
l Change over time improved by 92%
of the cylinder products significantly more close using its new IFS ERP
competitive in the market and improve system in the very first month
The heijunka project team is quick to
customer service and response times. after it went live.
recognise that, although the key objectives
Over a 10-month period, a cross- have been successfully achieved, lean is The IFS Project Manager
functional project team, comprising five a continuous journey. Focus over the praised “the dedication and hard
separate business functions and over 20 coming months will remain on developing work of the Korean Finance team
employees, together with heijunka and lean the process and identifying areas for and the LEAP team members in
specialists, challenged itself to transform further improvement. bringing the project to a successful
the two cylinder CNC lines to run in One
conclusion”.
Piece Flow: the process of manufacturing
Senior executives within IMI
to order.
were quick to recognise the team’s
commitment. Critical’s Chief Finance
Officer Ian Johnson described it as
“an amazing achievement”.
Shane Greenwood, ERP
Implementation Programme Director,
added “This achievement shouldn’t
be underestimated. In the 25+
projects I’ve launched throughout my
career, this has only been achieved a
handful of times because it is so
difficult to complete all the migration
and reconciliation work on time, deal
with the learning curve of new users,
resolve go-live issues quickly and
effectively, and (the most difficult part)
ensure all transactions from the
blackout and for month 1 are entered
accurately in the system. And that’s
before you have to complete the
closing process for the first time on
time!”
Well done to IMI CCI Korea and
the IFS team!
IMI Precision Engineering, Shanghai’s Lean Project Team
10 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6business improvement Critical Precision Hydronic
Site visits and lean training
impress valued customer
WRITTEN BY Colin Cooke techniques and the operational benefits Also, SDC requested a technology
Key Account Manager
achieved by implementing them. day each quarter as an opportunity to
IMI Precision Engineering, Ireland
Suitably impressed, SDC Trailers present new products and understand the
have since introduced several elements quality and design focus of the customer.
The success of the lean and ideas from IMI Precision Engineering’s
manufacturing processes that processes in their own lean journey.
are being applied at IMI Precision Following the initial visit, further SDC
Engineering’s Fradley site attracted representatives have visited lean
the keen interest of our customer, workshops in Fradley as part of an
SDC Trailers, who were eager to ongoing exercise to share best practice.
learn how a well-implemented The team at Fradley also led two
and effective lean programme can technology-focused days for SDC Trailers.
increase efficiency and reduce The first was to present developments in
costs. mobile pneumatics and to understand the
customer’s roadmap for next generation
At the request of SDC Trailers, trailer technology. The second was
members of the company’s senior an on-site training day attended by
management team visited both sites representatives from various SDC Trailers
to attend a tour by Manufacturing business functions into the fundamentals
Manager, David O’Neill, and Quality of compressed air and pneumatic circuits.
Manager, Jimmy Lagan. Fradley is the With both events drawing a very
manufacturing site for components Training SDC Trailers personnel on the
positive response from the customer, an fundamentals of pneumatic circuits
used in vehicle fittings by SDC Trailers, agreement was made to share training
so the company had a particular interest content with other production staff and
in talking about several of the site’s lean new starters at SDC Trailers.
Systematic approach reduces
scrap by 70% at Erwitte site
WRITTEN BY Guido Grimm
Quality Manager, IMI Heimeier, Erwitte
IMI Hydronic Engineering
A step-by-step process optimisation caused the majority of the problems. humidity and additives used, to help clearly
exercise has yielded a dramatic 70% Natural sand had been used for years, define the upper and lower action limits
reduction in casting-related scrap at however, it’s an inconsistent material due that would deliver improved castings.
the Erwitte factory in Germany. to variations in grain size, humidity and Optimising the casting tools using
additives. The team decided to switch to failure analysis systematics and dedicated
Back in December 2013, the synthetic sand which provides a more casting simulation software in the foundry
casting-related scrap rate at the site stood stable and consistent casting medium. pattern-making process completed the
at an unacceptable 17% across the value With one problem solved, a range project. The end result: an impressive
stream. Something had to change, so of other issues were addressed to scrap rate reduction from 17% to a much
a comprehensive process analysis to help improve the process as a whole. more satisfactory 5.3%; a remarkable 70%
determine the underlying cause of the The casting method, sand mix and overall improvement. When you consider
problem and identify a solution was put main control systems were overhauled. that the Erwitte factory produces in excess
into place. KPIs were established for every process of 10 million castings per year, that’s a
Initial findings revealed that the parameter, including temperature, sand significant reduction in wasted materials!
moulding material and sand-mix system
11business improvement
Generating
innovative ideas is
key to our future
WRITTEN BY Markus Bobbert
Lead Engineer/Innovation Champion
IMI Hydronic Engineering, Füllinsdorf
Innovation and idea generation play a vital role in
developing the solutions essential for meeting tomorrow’s
challenges. An on-going series of innovation workshops
are creating a collaborative approach to ‘engineering Carina Schlueter, Claudio Wagner, Norbert Ramser, and
GREAT’ with employees across Hydronic sites and Gian Schlaepfer at the innovation workshop in Füllinsdorf
departments all contributing.
Kieran Griffin, Head of Engineering said “We’re trying to get phenomenal 93 ideas around the subject of OTC strategy for a
people to think and act more innovatively. We ask the teams to Compresso Unit, 9 of which were evaluated and followed up.
be more observant – think about what we have and what the Three more workshops are planned in the future. The team
‘state-of-the-art’ would look like. Curiosity’s hugely important too; in Erwitte, Germany, will examine thermostatic control; Olkusz in
how can we do things differently, for instance? We also encourage Poland will explore ‘Value Engineering and product optimisation’;
teams to be pragmatic and strategically evaluate any ideas and and the Brežice, Slovenia, team will build on the findings of the first
then think carefully about how they can be put into action.” workshop in Ljung. It seems we’re as good at generating ideas as
Following the first successful workshop in Ljung, Sweden we are at innovating GREAT products and solutions!
a second workshop held in Füllinsdorf, Switzerland, generated a
Employees’ shared vision WRITTEN BY Jose Felipe Pelaez
drives business improvement General Manager
IMI Precision Engineering, Mexico
SEN, the name for Queretaro’s Excellence System, is
centred on five elements for improvement: employee engagement,
health, safety and environment, quality, business improvement,
and customer experience. Twenty key indicators linked to these
five elements guide the programme and act as drivers for the
implementation of continuous improvement tools. Each indicator
has five levels of maturity, from novice, through leading level and
finally ‘best in class’.
The clear, shared vision SEN provides guides our self-
directed teams to transform the business and adapt to the
changing needs of our customers and people. Improvement has
come predominantly from the identification and elimination of
non-value added activities and implementation of best practices.
This has led to an improvement in productivity and profitability
and helped the company reach their aim of long-term and
sustained competitiveness.
Octavio Lopez, Operations Director at Queretaro said
“We have already seen significant results from the programme.
L-R Roberto Hernandez, Agustin Salazar, Emmanuel Lopez, Sergio
Gonzalez at the Metrology department’s visual management board Since 2012, we have implemented 1187 improvement ideas.
72 kaizen events have been held to examine working practices
An exciting business excellence programme undertaken and personal efficiency, and 52 SMEDs conducted to reduce
by IMI Precision Engineering, Queretaro has led to the equipment changeover time. Our overall lean assessment result
creation of a shared vision and set of values. Developed to has improved from 35% in the first half of 2014 to 70% for the
engage employees, these values help improve processes, second half of 2016. We are extremely proud of our improvement
encourage customer retention and strengthen our position to date and IMI Precision Engineering Queretaro remains
in the market. committed to SEN and our continuous improvement.”
12 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6customer focus Critical Precision Hydronic
Bringing Harmony Streamlined design
provides comprehensive
to the North solution for Australian
American market safety equipment
WRITTEN BY Hailey Mick
Inside Sales Manager,
manufacturer
IMI Hydronic Engineering North America WRITTEN BY Steve Green
Asia Pacific CV Sector Lead
IMI Precision Engineering
Booth Engineering’s collapsible safety hand rail systems
offer vital protection for workers while they are working at
height. The hand rail, named ‘Booth Safety Rail System’
won the prestigious WorkCover Victoria’s Award for
Excellence in Innovation in Work Place Health and Safety.
Used in many situations – road tankers and vehicles,
underground mining vehicles, or near workshop pits,
managing the growing range of customer options became
a challenging task and this is where IMI Precision
Engineering used its expertise in pneumatics to support
Booth Engineering.
The Australian supplier sells many of its systems as kits to
tanker OEMs as well as trucking operators, repairers and installers.
The popularity of the product and the many customisation options
requested by Booth Engineering customers meant fulfilment of the
The Harmony PIBCV kits and managing stock control became increasingly complicated.
IMI Precision Engineering offered its expertise and advice to
help streamline the design and manufacturing process. The result
was the development of a set range of kits that contained all
Hydronic’s new Harmony valve took centre stage at
the IMI Norgren components required for each customer’s
the world’s largest gathering of Heating, Ventilation,
preferences. This change in approach allowed for more efficient
Air-conditioning & Refrigeration professionals in
advanced planning and greater control over stock levels whilst still
Las Vegas, Nevada in January 2017.
effectively meeting customer requirements.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & As an additional level of support, IMI Precision Engineering
Air-Conditioning Engineers conference, held at the Las Vegas now carries out a leak test on every one of its pneumatic cylinders
Convention Centre, proved the ideal setting to spotlight our prior to delivery. This not only saves Booth Engineering time
latest innovation: the Harmony, a pressure-independent and money, but also allows it to have full confidence when it
balancing and control valve. With more than 2,000 exhibitors guarantees its hand rails.
and an estimated 60,000 visitors from over 150 countries
it was a fantastic opportunity to sing the praises of this
groundbreaking development.
The Harmony range of valves deliver more precise
balancing and control, increased energy efficiency and a range
of other outstanding features. A soft launch in late 2016,
with ½” and ¾” versions hitting the market achieved healthy
sales and positive responses from industry professionals.
The event in Las Vegas marked the launch of the full range and
a chance to raise awareness of everything Harmony has to
offer including reduced commissioning times - meaning quicker
project completion and handover. It provides greatly improved
flexibility so installation design changes can be quickly and
simply accommodated, helping to drive down cost.
When coupled with the TA Slider actuator, the new
Harmony valve radically simplifies programming for optimal
performance, enabling users to customise settings via a
dedicated app and bluetooth dongle. It can easily replicate
more than 200 settings across any number of actuators,
helping to save time and energy when out in the field.
No wonder we are confident that it will be a success.
Collapsible hand rail in action
13customer focus
Collaboration on one-system
solution wins high-value order
WRITTEN BY Armin Lattacher
Industrial Automation
IMI Precision Engineering
Throughout its long-standing relationship with Zeppelin Systems,
IMI Precision Engineering has supplied many parts for the customer’s
engineering solutions. Now, by leveraging the capabilities and products
of our IMI Maxseal and IMI Buschjost ranges we have, for the first time,
developed a one-system solution for Zeppelin Systems where they benefit
from quality products from a globally recognised company.
Zeppelin Systems’ new project – a processing plant for the manufacture of
plastic in Siberia, meant a new solution was needed that would operate effectively
in extremes of temperature. Working across multiple sites, IMI Precision Engineering
leveraged its manufacturing capability to develop a solution using IMI Maxseal’s
process valve and filter regulation and lubrication combinations unit. One global player:
one system solution. There is no competitor that can deliver the same option.
The approach used brings multiple benefits to Zeppelin Systems; not only were
they working with one supplier instead of many, there were positive implications One system solution - IMI Norgren process
to cost and lead times. Because the customer knew the technology was proven and valve and FRL, IMI Buschjost filter valves
and filter control, IMI Maxseal process
worked safely and effectively, they had confidence in the solution from the outset. valves and FRLs
This project represented a great opportunity for multiple Precision brands to
work together and generated one high-value order with further opportunities expected
throughout 2017.
New microsite launched in WRITTEN BY Mark Stevens
Marketing and Customer Experience Director
celebration of Man’s Most IMI Precision Engineering
Marvellous Machines Launched in October last year, our new
‘Man’s Most Marvellous Machines’
campaign, was introduced to
drive awareness of IMI Precision
Engineering’s extensive range of
pneumatic motion control and fluid
handling solutions. It highlights the
instrumental role our specialised
support and components play for our
customers, who tackle some of the
world’s most demanding engineering
challenges.
We are proud of our engineers.
They have a wealth of industry-specific
expertise and are committed to
constantly developing new world-class,
high-performance components that
ultimately improve operations for
our customers.
To celebrate this, Precision has developed,
as part of the campaign, a dedicated
microsite that features awe-inspiring
machines from history and inspirational
customer case studies. In addition, it
highlights our engineers’ ingenuity in
product development, as well as teasers
of new products and services.
Visit our microsite www.mostmarvellousmachines.com
14 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6customer focus Critical Precision Hydronic
IMI CCI Korea wins
coveted supplier award
WRITTEN BY Maureen Tan
Marketing Director, IMI CCI Asia
IMI Critical Engineering
In October 2016 IMI CCI Korea received a prestigious
supplier award from Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO),
Korea’s largest electricity generator.
The award of ‘distinguished status’ is given to only four out
of its 200 suppliers and reflects the GREAT work IMI CCI Korea
has put in to ensure that KOMIPO received the highest quality
turbine bypass and control valves in the past few years. One of
the most significant recent projects executed included providing
bypass & pressure-reducing desuperheating valves to Seoul
Combined Cycle Power Plant. Chungduk Suh, IMI CCI Korea’s
Managing Director, said “We’re very happy to be recognised by
KOMIPO and will partner closely with them in future to ensure
they continue to receive the highest customer service.”
Chungduk Suh (third from left) receives
supplier award from KOMIPO
WRITTEN BY Hernani Paiva
Head of South and Central America
IMI Hydronic Engineering
A crowd-pleasing recommended a proportional control-based
system. A combination of TA-Fusion
As a result, 90% of those proposals were
translated into orders, a winning margin if
project portfolio and TA-Compact-P control valves, STAD
and STAF manual balancing valves and
ever there was one!
Our range of products and solutions
Compressor and Static vessels proved to were installed in multiple Olympic venues,
With the eyes of the world focused be the ideal solution. including the Media Hotel, International
on Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics, The team successfully highlighted Broadcasting Centre, Tennis Arena, the
IMI Hydronic Engineering went the how IMI Hydronic Engineering products and Maria Lenk Aquatic Park and the Olympic
extra mile to add to our ever-expanding solutions could deliver the requirements Training Centre. These top off our already
global portfolio of stadium projects. demanded by the Olympic venue designers impressive list of recent successes that
– a fact reflected by their inclusion in 100% enable optimal comfort for fans watching
IMI Hydronic Engineering and Brazil’s of the cooling water system documentation. the sports they love.
sports facilities have a proud history
together, with our solutions having played a
key role in making the Maracana Stadium a
truly 21st century facility for the 2014 FIFA
World Cup. So, when state-of-the-art
stadiums were needed for the 2016 Rio
Olympics, they knew exactly who to contact
for support.
Rodrigo Rochedo, Hydronic’s Sales
Manager for South and Central America
said “The Olympics was an opportunity
we simply couldn’t miss. Our working
philosophy, ‘Push and Pull,’ is based on
ensuring our product specifications are
included in the drawings of proposed
developments. We also highlight the
technical end-user training we can deliver
to build credibility and position ourselves
as a trusted provider of market-leading
solutions and know-how.”
The solution needed to be fully
compliant with the highest standards of Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto (Governor Magalhães Pinto Stadium), the largest
football stadium in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, received a cooling system upgrade from
microclimate reliability and our engineers IMI Hydronic Engineering.
15customer focus
WRITTEN BY
Mike Semens-Flanagan,
IMI’s Critical and Precision divisions successfully
Director of Strategic Planning showcased the expanding range of solutions they offer
IMI Critical Engineering
the energy and industrial process sectors at one of the
largest and most well-attended industry exhibitions in
Europe held last November in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The Critical stand featured new additions to the IMI STI
actuator and IMI CCI valve ranges, including the new 100DPC
choke valve designed for Middle East applications. This has been
engineered to maximise valve service life and minimise total valve
life-cycle costs.
During the show Critical’s engineers made presentations
to the conference. Gary Song, Senior Engineer, IMI CCI RSM,
presented a case study illustrating how valve and plant
performance had been radically improved by replacing a
conventional machined trim with one that had been 3D-printed
using the state-of-the-art deposited metal laser sintering (DMLS)
process. This allows for much greater control of the valve,
significantly reducing cycling and improving efficiency
for the customer.
Roland Travnicek, Engineering Director, IMI Z&J Germany,
hosted a session on ‘the valve company of the future’ which
included contributions from other peer businesses as well as
Denis Sherwood of the ‘Silver Bullet Manufacturing Machine Co.’,
who has worked across the IMI businesses.
Two IMI divisions showcase
growing expertise at Valve World
On-line video guides
are a GREAT hit !
WRITTEN BY Gorav Bass and Marcella Colombino
Digital Marketing Manager Corporate Communications Assistant
IMI Hydronic Engineering IMI Hydronic Engineering
Our customers asked us to provide product information in an easily
accessible format, that they could readily access ‘on the go’ and make their
lives easier when installing our products. In 2016, IMI Hydronic Engineering
committed to develop more customer-centric video content to be available
on YouTube – the second most visited website in the world, with over two
billion views a day.
This took the form of ‘how-to’ product tutorials, customer testimonials and
benefit-oriented product introductions. All were made in a very logical structure,
focused on practical tips and customer benefits rather than primarily technical
product features. The hard work has borne some fantastic results.
In 2016 we achieved over 215,000 video views as well as, and most
importantly, universal approval from our customers. But we’re not stopping there
– customer-centric films are now a key element of all our new product campaigns
with the objective of meeting and exceeding customer expectations.
16 The IMI Newsletter Issue 6You can also read
