Market leading paint manufacturer installed shopfloor monitoring system and is set to improve profitability through reduced downtime and increased visibility on the shop floor.
Market leading paint manufacturer, Kalon Decorative Products, installed MVI Technology's eventsengine and is set to improve profitability through reduced downtime and increased visibility on the shop floor. Kalon is part of the SigmaKalon Group, a worldwide player in decorative, marine, protective and industrial paints. The company began life in 1947 as the Silver Paint and Lacquer Company and now employs almost 1000 people at its two sites in Birstall and Morley.

It is a market leading manufacturer of professional and DIY decorative paints.

Following a study which revealed a significant amount of unallocated downtime from the filling area, Kalon identified that increased visibility on the shop floor was essential if it was to improve processes and profitability.

And sensitive implementation was vital - Kalon had recently undergone a restructuring process and staff morale and operator 'buy-in' were major concerns that had to be addressed by any supplier taking on the project.

That's one of the main reasons they chose MVI's eventsengine, according to John Hart, Kalon's production manager.

'We needed a system that would give us better visibility and control over our processes but most importantly we needed something that would 'engage' those on the shop floor.

We needed a system that was easy for operators to use and which could be sustained - eventsengine offered us leading edge technology combined with a structured implementation programme.' The project which installed the system on two lines initially - one at each of the two sites - began in February and took just eight weeks to complete.

Because the system is live at both sites it has the added benefit of ensuring continuity and visibility across both plants and provides the perfect opportunity to share best practice based on the output from eventsengine.

On successful completion of the pilot there are plans to put the system on a further six lines this year and continue the roll out until it is fully operational on over 50 filling lines across both sites.

At the touch of a button on a shopfloor touchscreen, eventsengine allows operators to record the real reason for every second of downtime so Kalon can identify specific areas for improvement.

The system has been praised by Kalon for the simplicity of the operator console, the real-time dash boards and the pareto analysis of downtime.

Kalon expects to achieve a significant reduction in unallocated downtime, which should deliver significant bottom line benefits.