Reference Sterling Fluid Systems Group - Production Optimization in the Machine- and Plant Engineering
Growth in Competitiveness through Production Optimization
New competitors from overseas, high product quality requirements despite low sales prices, and excellent service are just some of the demands faced by manufacturers of industrial pumps.
In the face of stiffening global competition, Sterling Spain had to confront some major challenges. Since the markets were demanding ever more product variants in ever smaller lot sizes, product development and, as a consequence, the processing of orders were becoming ever more complex, especially in the area of pump production. On top of this, further complications arose in the areas of products, processes, and quality. This reduced the company’s competitiveness and its ability to operate in the market.
“We conducted our project under the umbrella of UNITY’s program management and are now in the position to implement UNITY’s methods on our own, whereby we are the most efficient and productive factory in our international production network today. Sterling Spain is once again an extremely reliable partner for its customers and a sought-after partner in the production network.”
Jose Antonio Cobo, Director Sterling Fluid Systems Spain
To increase the competitiveness of the Spanish plant, the company worked with UNITY to launch a comprehensive improvement program. Within the context of UNITY’s strategic management of this program, many different types of projects were implemented. Among other things, the quality of account processing, production processes, and global sourcing was raised, productivity grew massively and the profitability of particularly successful product families increased.
As a consequence of this, within four months the punctuality of deliveries was improved by 40 %. This was made possible by a huge hike in the productivity level of the factory in Madrid. This took pressure off day-to-day business operations and created space for the longer-term activities of the program. To ensure that the projects and their planned effects were definitely having a positive impact on the company’s performance, the project- and process performance indicators linked to the improvement program were monitored.
This meant that deviations from what was planned could be quickly spotted and acted upon. Within 10 months, the per-head productivity of the Spanish plant was increased by 20 %, with operating profits rising significantly.
The company‘s project leaders were trained by employees of UNITY in the methods of program- and project management so that they could implement the improvement program. The implementation of the program in parallel with the training should ensure the autonomous, continuous, and sustainable further development of the company.
Sterling Fluid Systems Group
Sterling Fluid Systems is a manufacturer of industrial pumps and pumping aggregates and operates internationally. Its product portfolio includes liquid- and vacuum pumps, custom-built machinery for use in the chemical, pharmaceutical, energy, water, food-and-beverage, plastics, steel and paper industry, and solutions in the area of factory construction. With more than 20 factories, 50 regional branch offices and over 200 service centers globally, the group is very strongly placed internationally. The corporate group’s biggest and most important European factories are in Itzehoe, Ludwigshafen, Paris, and Madrid. The high quality and efficiency of its products and services make Sterling Fluid Systems a competent and flexible partner for its customers worldwide.
