Seldén Masts
Lean Success Story

DRIVING EFFICIENCY IN BUSINESS

APPLIED
LEAN
CONSULTING

PROJECT DETAILS

Seldén Masts

The Seldén Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of mast and rigging systems in carbon and aluminium for dinghies, keelboats and yachts.

Their well known brands are Seldén and Furlex. The worldwide success of Furlex has enabled them to build a network of over 750 authorised dealers covering the world’s marine markets.

Seldén Masts Ltd.

Lean success story

Jan – Jul 2022

Gosport, Hants

Seldén Masts – Lean success story

In January, Seldén Masts embarked on a Lean project to improve efficiency and reduce waste, working with Tim Scurlock of Applied Lean Consulting (ALC).

Lean theory involves the identification and reduction of waste in every area of business, so that more time and effort can be spent on value adding activities.  Developed by Toyota, Lean has spread across all manufacturing and service sectors, to improve efficiency and therefore profitability.

Working initially with the Foils team and the Round Tubes team, there have been some significant changes:

  • Mapped and improved the build processes – eg reducing clear up of excess Sikaflex
  • Improved efficiency of foam fill
  • Reduced batch sizes to allow a re-working of layout
  • Established a ‘runner’ concept to reduce time spent away from the line
  • Monitored throughput on a daily basis


Production throughput is up by 30% or more and the Foils team recently posted record volumes and caught up with the backlog of work.

Creating visual management at Seldén Masts Foils team.

Outcomes

Within the Round Tube team, similar improvements have been made around tool availability, optimising the number of pieces at each workstation and the runner concept achieving similar gains.

It’s not about working harder, but about working smarter”, said Tim Scurlock, Director of ALC.  “But sometimes we need to challenge the ‘we’ve always done it that way’ thinking and encourage the team to take a fresh approach to how work is done,” added Tim.

Responding to this, Steve Norbury, MD Seldén Masts UK stated, “I am delighted with the results achieved so far and want to add my thanks to the teams for their engagement and efforts.  In the coming weeks the Lean programme will extend to Stores and Composites too, so there’s plenty of opportunity to get involved.

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