Unistrut EMEA Rolls-Out Mill Efficiency Project in the UK
Andrew Phillips & team put Six Sigma processes to the test

Unistrut is a well-known name in the construction & other industries where their products are used as metal support systems in rooftop walkways, ceiling grids, electrical support systems, medical support systems and seismic bracing systems. The Unistrut systems have an advantage over wood support systems because they will not rot, are immune to termites and have a much higher load bearing ability.

Unistrut EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), a part of Tyco Electrical & Metal Products, has 2 manufacturing sites in the UK that supply its distribution network across Europe. At its Bedford site, just north of London, it manufactures the cold rolled channel section for direct supply or for further processing at its site in Oldbury near Birmingham in the West Midlands.

In December 2003 Andrew Phillips (Quality Manager for the 2 sites) started the 4-week Six Sigma black belt training at Fire & Building Products R&D site in Cranston Rhode Island. According to Andrew, Òthe project I was given to work on was to improve efficiency of the Bigwood rolling mill at Bedford. This was a key project to the ongoing improvement of the business in its goal of becoming a low cost producer of the Unistrut system.Ó

The Bigwood mill handles a wide variety of section, material and product length resulting in frequent changeovers. Including this wide variety, planned downtime e.g. Changeovers, planned maintenance, and unplanned downtime e.g. breakdowns the project team discovered that it was producing just over 8 metres (26 feet) per available minute.

"Using the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) process was key", said Andrew. Armed with the proven statistical tools, the team went on to increase this mill performance from 8.07 metres (26 feet) per available minute to 12.26 (40 feet), an increase of nearly 52%.

Initiatives such as breakdown reduction, adherence to line speed, staggered breaks & smooth shift start up & changeover were all responsible for this improvement, which has significantly improved the business EBIT (OI) for FY04.

As the business enters a period of reorganisation of the sales & distribution side, further projects are underway to improve its responsiveness to customer requirements e.g. A set up reduction project has already reduced changeover on one mill by 50%.


Left to right: Mike Santo, Lean Belt, Paul Hastings, Tool room Supervisor, Geoff Quince, Maintenance Engineer, Steven Walmsley, Production Supervisor