Originally founded in 1883, PPG Industries has been a market-leading manufacturing company for more than a century. Its forward-thinking and innovative approach has been key to its success around the world, and as an organization with a stated objective of increasing employee output by at least 5% per year, a focus on quality and continuous improvement is vital. With this in mind, PPG Architectural UK has selected Gemba Solutions to help improve the efficiency of its manufacturing plants in Birstall and Morley, W Yorks. The Birstall site houses Europe’s largest manufacturing facility for decorative coatings, producing a range of leading brands including Leyland and Johnstones.
Gemba Solutions was chosen to install its GAIN4 Efficiency software at these sites, and Lee Riley, PPG’s Manufacturing Improvement Manager, explains why; “Having considered several alternatives, we felt that the functionality of the GAIN4 software far surpassed the others that we looked at, and its open architecture means that we can easily interface to other existing systems on our sites, which really helps future-proof our operations. Gemba’s team showed great confidence in their product, and a real understanding of how to tailor it to our needs with a common sense approach.”
During the initial pilot installation, the software gathered and reported on data from one area of the Birstall site. Lee and his team were quick to make use of the data, and within 2 weeks of full operation, output had doubled on the pilot line. Speedy implementation of the system by Gemba combined with a proactive and highly motivated approach from the PPG team has allowed the Company to begin reaping the benefits of the system almost immediately, and the software is now being rolled out across the rest of the plant.
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