For The Makers

Visual Architects

Using technology to lift the lid on innovation

When the events industry came to an abrupt halt as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, venue interior designer and maker, Visual Architects (VA) used the opportunity to turn to Made Smarter and regroup, consolidate its operations and create a plan for the future.

The Opportunity

Pre-pandemic, VA was experiencing growing demand for its eye-catching creations, both in the UK and overseas from bars, nightclubs, and festivals. This growing demand meant that the team required a larger workforce and investments in the right technology to meet client demands.

Through Made Smarter’s digital transformation workshops, VA identified that its limited manufacturing capabilities not only resulted in increased outsourcing of production, but also slower distribution.

The Solution

In partnership with Made Smarter, VA invested in robotics and virtual reality technologies to help resolve its challenges. With the 7-axis Kuka CBC machinery, VA was able to bring 70 per cent of its production in house, producing what would have previously taken seven days down to one and reducing outsourcing,

As a result, VA was able to reduce its overheads and increase its product manufacturing profits. Robotic production has allowed faster turnover times and safer delivery of projects, improving customer overall satisfaction.

The business also benefitted from Made Smarter’s technology internship programme, which matches students and graduates to businesses deploying technology projects. Visual Architects took on four digital natives, three of which have now secured permanent jobs.

The Future

VA is now setting its sights on Additive Manufacturing technologies to rapidly test ideas and concepts at a lower cost. In a pledge to improve customer satisfaction even further, the business plans to invest in VR headsets, which will allow customers to experience their design concepts in first person prior to construction taking place.

“Made Smarter has been rocket fuel for our company. Its support through the pandemic and the devasting year for the events industry has helped us create a roadmap, invest in new technology and embed skills which we have no doubt will enable us to bounce back stronger and to the next level.”

Lefteris Angelidis – Managing Director of Visual Architects

Lynn Lloyd Furnishings Ltd

Measuring up for success

Furnishing manufacturer Lynn Lloyd Furnishings (LLF) Ltd was founded in 2008, specialising in made-to-measure curtains and roman blinds.

Noticing that the business relied heavily on repeat sales, Made Smarter provided the funding needed to build a new and improved marketing strategy.

The Opportunity

Lynn Lloyd Furnishings noticed that a lot of its sales came from orders brought it by its two main customers, Bill Beaumont Textiles Ltd and Prestigious Textiles Ltd. If either revenue course failed, it could be enormously damaging to the business. As a result, the furnisher recognised that it needed to focus on developing a new client base and changing its marketing strategies.

To accommodate the new focus, it would have to introduce new ways of production planning to its three revenue streams: - contract work, retail shop work and online generated work. This planning would allow LLF to work sustainably and introduce new data collection systems to free-up production capacity and accommodate growth.

The Solution

Made Smarter helped to introduce a data collection and analysis system, allowing LLF to gain access to crucial business intelligence to make informed internal decisions and make space for future expansions. The new CRM system helped the business build on its customer satisfaction, win new recurring business and improve its position against competitors.

As a result of Made Smarter’s support, all members of staff within the company have gained more digital skills and these employees are able to provide more value-added contributions. This additional productivity boost also enables employees to fully embrace the digitalisation programme.

The Future

LLF expect to make significant savings and improvements in its operations and management and estimate that the system will pay for itself within the next 12-18 months. With goals set for future expansions, the manufacturer is considering moving to a new location, allowing for a better flow of manufacturing. 

“We are excited to be working with Made Smarter’s advisors on our long-term digital strategy. In the more distant future, we are planning to analyse our processes once again and discover if we could automate some of them by procuring more advanced digital machines.”

Lynn Lloyd, Managing Director at Lynn Lloyd Furnishing Ltd  

Bindatex

A cut above the rest

Bolton based Bindatex has carved out a niche providing precision cutting services to aerospace sector. With new opportunities arising, the manufacturer turned to Made Smarter to take transformative steps to capture, analyse and manage production data.

The Opportunity

Specialising in materials that are typically difficult to handle, Bindatex quickly established itself as a core part of the supply chain of major aerospace organisations like Boeing, Airbus and SpaceX.

Bindatex recognised the need to increase efficiency using data visibility and controls. The company previously relied on a manual approach of capturing its production data, meaning it struggled to keep up with the increased sales and interest.

The Solution

Made Smarter’s digital transformation workshops highlighted the need for Total Control Pro (TCP), a cloud-based production data capture system. The system allowed Bindatex to track each order throughout the manufacturing process, increasing productivity by 20%.

Products are given unique barcodes allowing them to be tracked throughout the process. This gave the management teams ability to analysis how long orders take and make process improvements based on the real-time data.

This data allowed Bindatex to transform its scheduling capability, eliminating any unplanned over time and stoppages, reducing cycle time from 4.5 hours to 3.5. Bindatex now benefits from high-capacity composite slitting capability and estimates that European export sales will increase by 20% over the next two years.

The Future

The adoption of this technology has helped Bindatex on its journey toward an entirely digital factory. Bindatex now aims to incorporate Artificial Intelligence to implement a digitally controlled automated slitting line to monitor the quality of its products.

‘We knew we had to change, so we turned to Made Smarter and have invested in technology which has given us better control of our manufacturing. The apprehension has been taken out of digital technology and got everyone enthused and excited about the future’.

Chris Lever – Managing Director at Bindatex

Arden Dies Ltd

Leading the way in cutting-edge engineering

UK’s largest die maker, Arden Dies provides cutting, embossing and foiling tools for the packaging industry. However, the repercussions of Brexit caused complications, leading to the suspension of exports to the EU.

With targets focused on productivity improvements and to the upskilling of its workforce, Arden Dies turned to Made Smarter for support.

The Opportunity

People are increasingly shopping online following the pandemic, and Arden dies wanted to adapt to this change in consumer habits. The manufacturer identified a need to increase efficiency and productivity as its manual process consumed the valuable time of its experienced operators.

The Solution

With the support of Made Smarter, Arden Dies welcomed two fully-funded digital interns who brought the relevant skill sets and knowledge to help drive the business forward.

In order to support the increased demand for Rotary tooling, Arden Dies also took advantage of Made Smarter’s government grants to fund a 3D printer and training, which sped up production by 75%. The use of the 3D printer has also allowed the manufacturer to increase its in-house productivity, reducing external costs and allowing it to experiment whilst prototyping new ideas.

The Future

Arden Dies is now able to focus on staying ahead of its competitors, becoming market leaders, and maintaining a culture of innovation across the business. Through use of Made Smarter’s digital transformation workshop, the business has been able to engage with its workforce and develop its team, and is set to continue to develop its leadership, people and digital strategies.

“Our vision is to advance our position as the number one die maker in the UK, always providing a better, faster, more sustainable and technologically advanced product. Bringing in 3D printing technology into our production methods aligns with our vision”.

Sarah Poynter, Operations Manager at Arden Dies Ltd

Starlight Bedrooms

Joining the dots of digitalisation

Family-owned Starlight Bedrooms had a strong presence in their market, but the team wanted to use digitalisation to take their reach further. With the help of Made Smarter, the Bolton based furniture manufacturer was able to easily identify the areas of their business that could benefit from investment in technology.

The Opportunity

The week-long process of ordering materials from suppliers, often by fax or telephone, can be open to errors and lacks any traceability. Starlight Bedrooms identified the importance of improving its design and ordering process so to keep ahead of the curve.

Specialising in bespoke home furnishing, Starlight Bedrooms recognised that to grow, it must first tackle productivity challenges within its ordering process, improve its marketing strategies and enhance overall customer experience.

The Solution

With the help of Made Smarter, Starlight Bedrooms began to create an integrated Customer Management System, allowing complete sales visibility to all members of staff. The collected data was also used to quickly generate room layouts and fitting configurations into a new CAD system. Machinery in Starlight Bedrooms’ production plant could then instantly receive the configurations, and these are merged into a material utilisation package.

Starlight has also invested in Magi-cut, software designed to optimise panel cutting. Automation of this time-consuming task allows its workforce to refocus their skills on areas that can drive the business forward and is anticipated to increase productivity by 15%.

New production software will ensure more accurate cutting and less wood waste, improving stock control and enabling better oversight and control over its resources.

The Future

The company has seen a surge in orders over the course of the pandemic, a demand that Starlight Bedrooms is now easily able to meet. The business is perfectly positioned to enhance its customer experience even further by providing real time updates on orders and incorporating large screens in their showrooms to demonstrate designs, textures and finish options available.

“Working with Made Smarter has been incredibly valuable. The experience of creating a digital transformation roadmap and the subsequent support and expertise has given us a lot of confidence to invest in the tools and technology we need to take Starlight Bedrooms to the next level”.

Karen Collard, CEO of Starlight Bedrooms

Bury Black Pudding Company

Savouring the opportunities of digitalisation

The Bury Black Pudding Company (BBPCo) has used its traditional recipe for over 100 years, but to meet increasing demand, it sought to modernise its operations through a large-scale digital transformation project.

The food producer, which has achieved £6m in turnover, turned to Made Smarter for support on its journey to create the world’s first smart black pudding company.

The Opportunity

While BBPCo had previously invested in its machinery and workforce skills, the company recognised that it required a revamp of processes to achieve its goals.

BBPCo also identified an opportunity to improve the production processes of its main ‘Stick and Chub’ consumer packs. The company previously relied on costly manual systems however digital tools could improve accuracy and streamline the process to save on costs.

The Solution

To drive efficiencies, Richard Morris, Production Director, worked alongside Made Smarter to build an automated solution that could capture, analyse and display data in real-time.

As part of a wide digital transformation programme, BBPCo also onboarded a new enterprise resourcing planning (ERP) management software, helping to provide better visibility across their operations.

Production has been improved by introducing a Weight Regulator Machine, which automatically corrects portion control and ensures a more consistent product. By improving weighing and filling accuracy, labour associated with this process has been significantly reduced, and product waste has decreased by 1%.

The Future

BBPCo are now able to work more efficiently and keep their prices down, even as competitors are required to raise costs. Richard hopes that this will increase revenue, and the company have set their sights on a 25% growth goal over the next 2 years.

“Made Smarter gave good support and made the whole process easy. We’ve recommended Made Smarter not only to suppliers, but to customers too. Working alongside them has accelerated our plans by years.”

Richard Morris – Production Director at Bury Black Pudding Company

Crystal Doors

Harnessing digital developments

Rochdale-based Crystal Doors has manufactured bespoke vinyl wrapped items for 26 years. The manufacturer saw an influx of sales from 2020 onwards following the pandemic, at a rate which will see a 30 per cent increase this year.

To manage the rapid increase in sales, the company turned to Made Smarter to harness digital technologies and keep up with its global competitors in the market.

The Opportunity

Crystal Doors understood that to compete with the market, the resilience of the company depended on the exploitation of cutting-edge technology. Its existing system for processing orders was largely manual and paper-based, requiring a significant amount of manual input from its employees and leaving opportunity for human error.

The Solution

With Made Smarter, Crystal Doors developed an Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Platform, which optimises the data flow from the time an order is received, right through to production. A new cloud-hosted portal allows its customers to place orders online and provides opportunity to receive regular updates on their orders in real time.

The company has upgraded its production line by retrofitting a range of sensors on each machine, allowing the whole production process to be fully monitored through remote control.

In addition, Crystal Doors welcomed two fully-funded digital interns to its team, who were tasked with developing and deploying mobile devices such as apps for third parties. The two interns have also been supporting staff with the development and deployment of in-house software for data analytics.

The Future

Having a well-developed platform will allow new technologies to be quickly and easily adopted in the future. Productivity across the company has also increased and Crystal Doors is now able to concentrate on future expansion on its production line.

“Optimising machine up-time using real-time data from the sensor network will allow our employees to spend more focused time on each machine and increase productivity.”

Ben Horn – Digital Transformation Program Manager at Crystal Doors

ATEC Engineering Solutions

Mapping a digital future

ATEC Engineering Solutions (ATEC) designs, manufactures, and repairs complex equipment used in aerospace, defence, nuclear and oil and gas sectors. Its flawed IT systems, coupled with traditional ways of working, led the engineering firm turning to Made Smarter for advice and support.

The Opportunity

ATEC previously used MRP/ERP (Material Requirements Planning/Enterprise Resource Planning) systems to manage product workflow, starting from the moment the order is received to when it is delivered to the customer. However, due to communication challenges between departments, the Salford-based firm struggled to improve its performance when making and creating its own product range. The business also sought to reduce the amount of time it took to produce a quote for its own products.

The Solution

Through its Digital Road Mapping programme, Made Smarter highlighted how the adoption of digital technologies could benefit the business, and identified which digital technologies were most appropriate to invest in. The process showed ATEC that data integrity would enable the business to meet its objectives and created a pathway to new growth.

With a centralised approach to data, ATEC saw immediate results, as the firm reported a 30 per cent improvement in performance rates. Time taken to quote for products also reduced from an average of four weeks to three, with aims to reduce further to a 48-hour period.

The Future

ATEC is now progressing two further IT projects, including a Smart shop floor to eliminate the use of paper, and a new digital visitors system.

“Giving ourselves the headspace to complete the programme helped us realise what opportunities there are to improve. It was an easy, first, practical step – and it has had a huge impact on the business”.

John Bowden – Director of Engineering at ATEC Engineering Solutions

Mackinnon and Saunders
A model for digital adoption

The Challenge
The business wanted to improve the quality and precision of its puppets in the most cost-effective way.

It was hoping to find a quicker, more productive approach to planning and making the molds used to reproduce the pieces of its figures. 

The Solution

Made Smarter was able to help, Mackinnon and Saunders apply for match funding to use a cutting-edge 3D printer to create high-quality and accurate components for its puppets.

The project also explored the digitalisation of the mould-making process by introducing specialist software to design the moulds and investing in a new 3D printer to create them.

The Benefits

Mackinnon and Saunders believe the application of this specific 3D printing technology could give them the technological lead over its international rivals.

The new process of printing the components for puppets will boost efficiency, increase productivity and grow export sales opportunities.

The Future

Mackinnon & Saunders had a hard-won reputation for excellence and innovation, so it’s essential to them to maintain that. To them, digital innovations are the obvious place to find the next technological leaps forward.

"We cannot stand still, if we don’t adopt, then others will.”

Playdale Playgrounds

Climbing high through digitalisation

The Challenge

Playdale Playgrounds, a Cumbrian-based, playground equipment manufacturer was looking to apply advanced technologies to key processes such as the design and manufacture of wooden components. Playdale was also looking to identify areas of improvement by extracting and analysing production data from legacy equipment such as saws, drills and presses.

The Solution

With the support of Made Smarter, Playdale invested in a Smart CNC machine that will integrate with the CAD and nesting software, and the ERP system.

The inbuilt sensors of the machine and the associated software will allow the business to capture, monitor and analyse data in real time.

The Benefits

By integrating the design and manufacturing processes, Playdale will be able to achieve significant improvements in productivity, efficiency, and output while reducing the materials used, and downtime of tools all while improving quality.

The combined benefits of these changes are forecast to save Playdale £40,000 per year.

The Future

Playdale has more projects on the horizon, including introducing additive manufacturing for rapid prototyping and the use of 3D laser scanners on-site surveys. They are also exploring the possibility of improving customer engagement by evaluating new designs with VR and AR.

MSM Aerospace Fabricators

Making the virtual the reality

The Challenge

MSM Aerospace Fabricators approached Made Smarter when they were looking to expand their site at Spring Vale Works in Middleton.

The potential for the new 35,000 sq ft factory on offered the perfect opportunity for them to rethink and streamline their manufacturing processes.

The Solution

MSM has invested in Siemens Digital Twin software to establish the most efficient layout. They were able to create a virtual reality simulation of the proposed facility and map the product flow through the manufacturing processes. This lets them establish the most efficient layout without costly mistakes or delaying production.

The Benefits

A new factory was a major commitment for MSM, so being able to eliminate the risks of unknowns that could lead to delays or mistakes benefits the company.  The simulation gave them the ability to create the most efficient layout and in doing so, relieve bottlenecks, reduce product movement, and improve production flowline, ultimately allowing MSM products to be quicker to market.

With these improvements,  MSM predicted a growth rate of up to 20% a year, creating new jobs and the potential to break the £10M turnover mark.

The Future

The ability to simulate outcomes has given MSM Aerospace Fabricators the confidence to strategically plan for future investment in equipment or infrastructure. They are already looking to invest in other advanced manufacturing technologies including robotic welding.

Beverston Engineering

Smart factory success

The Challenge

Rod Wah, owner of Beverston since 1981 reached out to Made Smarter for support on the business’s digital strategy. Beverston is looking to develop new opportunities in the aerospace industry and expand into sectors like pharma, oil and gas, and power.

During their digital transformation workshop, Made Smarter identified that Beverston’s key challenge was the lack of connectivity between its ERP and the factory floor.

The Solution

Made Smarter worked with Beverston to integrate its 20 machines and operators with its ERP and third-party systems.

Once these integrations were in place, Beverston began to focus on leveraging the vast amount of data these systems can collect.

Using Power BI, Beverston has been able to identify cross-department trends between quality, production, and machining assets, as well as identify high waste processes, loss-making products, and multi-dimensional relationships that lead to quality failure in products.

The Impact

Rod admits Beverston’s digital transformation has not been easy, but the new system highlighted efficiency gains, increased productivity by 20%, and enabled increased profitability.

Real-time views of the factory floor have enabled Beverston to react quickly to challenges and opportunities, as opposed to ‘after the event’ when it was often too late to correct situations.

The Future

Rod believes Beverston’s smart factory shows what can be achieved by introducing digital technology to a business.

The new system has the ability to store data captured in the early phases of the project for future analytics, which can be used for predictive maintenance, minimising downtime, and promoting productivity.

R.A.F General Engineering Ltd
Ready for take off

The Challenge

After upgrading its plant and equipment to handle up to 15 tonnes in weight, RAF Engineering was preparing to enter new sectors, particularly aerospace.
To meet this new demand, RAF Engineering looked to adopt digital technologies and improve the quality and quantity of its output.

The starting point of their digitalisation journey was to design a system that integrated with their machinery.

The Solution

RAF Engineering used the grant from Made Smarter to invest in a CAD/CAM OneCNC System. This allowed them to link a multi-plane 5-axis milling machine, a lathing machine, and 3D Solid Design software. This new technology allowed their engineers to use a computerised system for the design and manufacturing processes. Previously the machines had to be programmed by an operator, a task which was time-consuming and vulnerable to error. The new design software provides the codes to directly programme the machinery, saving the company time and reducing the potential for costly mistakes.

The Benefits

The new system has improved the company’s productivity by streamlining the process by optimising production, increasing efficiency, and reducing waste.

The software provides RAF with an enhanced oversight of their business by giving them access to real-time data.  This has enabled them to improve production planning and material organisation to achieve the most efficient flow of materials throughout the business. This has had a huge impact on skills within the team as well as allowing them to reduce their energy consumption.

The Future

With its increased design capability, RAF Engineering has been able to enhance its reputation of quality products and services. This has allowed them to grow the business in a structured and secure manner and target new markets such as aerospace, defense, and offshore wind.