We were welcomed by Chris Banks CEO and by Nick Turvey, General Manager, who gave us the introduction. Histogram has had an interesting history to date. In 1972 they were set up by Coca-Cola to manufacture concentrates. In 1983, focus changed when two Tetra Pak lines were installed and this was followed by four more in 1996. In February 2001 there was a Management Buyout lead by the now Chief Executive, Chris Banks. Coca-Cola is primarily a marketing, not a manufacturing company and benefits were clearly seen in making the break.

After three years these are obvious. One major goal for example was to double the business in five years – it is up 80% after three. The focus is on lean manufacturing giving greater output, higher efficiency and less waste.

The change has also been good for the workforce and local area. There has been huge investment in the last 18 months; staff numbers have increased from 55 to 88; capacity up by 30%; flexibility is up 300%; and the customer base has moved from 2 to 10. Impressive.

Nick Turvey, who has been with Histogram 7 months, has been leading the team behind many changes that have been taking place. They have been tireless and patient in introducing systems, which are self-regulating in making the day to work more serious and answerable, whilst at the same time continuously improving the process.

In the pursuit of this ideal, they have created three area managers who look after product supply (supply and support), one litre lines (big shot) and 180/200/250 ml packs (one shot). Each manager is responsible for his own area of activity. In order to help them do this, a management system unique to Histogram and its parent company Big Thoughts Ltd, known as QEPP, has been fully utilised. Histogram’s mission is to be ‘Specialist manufacturers, providing flexible and efficient solutions for market leadership and increasing innovation through:

Quality – be uncompromising and build into everything we do

Efficiency – best in class without losing flexibility

Partnership – win:win with customers, suppliers and stakeholders

People – we expect a lot, provide support and reward success’

On the line tour each area manager explained, using wipe boards provided, how they were performing in their areas of responsibility and explaining how they were sorting the day to day issues as well as tackling CI issues targeted at reducing waste. Each category of QEPP had a measure with targets. Q – Yield; E – Utilisation; P – Attainment to plan; P – Accidents/incidents.

Each day each area manager holds a brief cross-functional meeting in front of his QEPP boards. The system has only been running for a few months and the results are already impressive. One example given was with a packaging machine, which was running at below 50%. After a study, which found the fault to be at the outfeed, an in-house modification costing £500 was installed. The machine manufacturer’s solution was c£6k and not as neat! Also day-to-day issues are now being tackled with ‘100 year fixes’.

There are eight lines producing Tetra Brik and Tetra Wedge and Tetra Prisma in single and multi-packs. There are plans for more expansion to cater for the chilled market.

After a most interesting tour of the plant, we had an excellent buffet lunch. Ed Binsted described the forthcoming events for the BBI and welcomed Linpac as new members. Jeremy Browne gave a vote of thanks to Chris Banks, Nick Turvey and the team for a most interesting day.

We were left with the clear impression that is an exciting, dynamic and expanding company. It was our privilege as members of the BBI to be able to visit the plant, and we wish them every good fortune for the future.

Jeremy Browne

Northern Section Coordinator