Meridian Medical Limited – Intouch Case Study
Meridian Medical is a UK-based specialist manufacturer and supplier of medical devices and equipment that has established a reputation for delivering high-quality and innovative solutions.
The company has invested heavily in its manufacturing capabilities, including a state-of-the-art cleanroom facility. It has expanded its product offerings to meet the changing needs of the medical industry.
Increases efficiency and profitability thanks to Intouch
Meridian Medical is not only a moulding company. They are also a manufacturing company with 4 clean rooms for product assembly. They have an MRP system which provides them with certain production information, but were experiencing difficulties in accessing real-time production information. The result was a lack of visibility and the ability to improve control over their production. This created challenges in production planning and scheduling jobs: knowing when jobs were due to start or finish, leading to uncertainty about delivery times and the need to build in contingency to schedules in order to deliver for their clients.
Due to the complex nature of their production schedule and working at full capacity, Meridian Medical needed a system that could provide them with real-time production information to streamline its processes. After researching and observing other injection moulders who had successfully integrated the Intouch system, they decided to try Intouch, aided by a 60-day free trial, which enabled them to try the system first
Increased visibility
In April 2021, Meridian Medical implemented the Intouch system on its 12 injection moulding machines. Since its deployment, the Managing Director, James Fenton, has incorporated the scheduling system as part of his daily routine. The Intouch system has provided him with comprehensive visibility into the production processes, enabling him to monitor machine utilisation, track job progress, and seamlessly accommodate last-minute changes, thereby facilitating effective communication with customers. This has enabled improvements to machine utilisation, and smarter production planning. “I can see what machines are on, what machines are off, what’s late, what’s on time, and what the future planned demand is for each machine.”
More efficient and effective workforce
The introduction of a big viewing screen on the shop floor has enabled staff to increase their production rate and reduce tool change times. This improved visibility has led to better production preparation and a more efficient and effective workforce overall. ‘The team has a big screen on the factory floor and is pushing to see all the key indicators green all the time – that means everything is running smoothly and efficiently.
Downtime alerts
Meridian Medical has encountered several challenges in terms of space and staff shortages, which has limited their capacity to expand. Consequently, they need to optimise the use of their existing machines. Having the Intouch system has enabled the company to gain complete visibility into their production processes, providing them with real-time updates to plan jobs accordingly. The Intouch system has also contributed to improving the company’s profitability.
In addition to the benefits of the system, having the screen on the shop floor has made downtime alerts more visible, which is more effective, and the team love it!
The company has also found Intouch’s customer service to be excellent. James Fenton, the Managing Director, specifically commends Lucy for her prompt and clear responses to his queries. “I generally deal with Lucy, who answers any questions we have quickly and easily that I can understand”
“Intouch has given us the visibility that we need” It has also transformed the way they process orders:
“Previously, the clean room team would plan the run order of each of the jobs and now the production manager will load the jobs into Intouch as the orders come in and that makes it easy to plan.”
James Fenton, Managing Director.
The Results
Since the implementation of Intouch, Meridian Medical has witnessed increased visibility, efficiency, and profitability. The system has enabled them to monitor machine utilisation, track job progress, and make realtime adjustments, resulting in an effective and efficient production.
The increased visibility has motivated staff to work more efficiently. Downtime alerts are more visible, making it easier for them to address production issues quickly. Overall, Meridian Medical’s implementation of the Intouch system has enabled them to achieve comprehensive visibility and control over their production processes, streamlining their operations, and leading to increased profitability.
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