East Midlands, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/23/2011 -- Melton business Hallmark Consumer Services has notched up another success with its achievement of ISO 900/1400 to add to its continued growth and strong performance.

The ISO awards follow on from a drive to increase efficiency and capacity that have seen the business bottom line boosted dramatically. Right from the moment Hallmark involved the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) in its £2.4 million Leicestershire-based fulfilment operation, MD Chris Hall saw an immediate 10% increase in productivity which added up to almost £20,000 annually.

Chris explains, "We originally thought about contacting MAS a few years ago, but didn't do anything about it. In hindsight this was very short-sighted as we didn't have the expertise in-house, the financial payback has been instant and we are definitely reaping the rewards.

"We wanted to improve our productivity for picking and packing and establish accurate picking times so we could standardise our pricing. Our automated system has built-in logic to help us minimise picking times, but we weren't exploiting its potential."

Boxing clever

Chris, a former marketing director at Mattel, set up Hallmark in Melton in 1992 after he lost faith in the fulfilment houses he was dealing with.

From its roots in sales promotion fulfilment, it's evolved into direct mail, mail order fulfilment and more recently e-commerce, specialising in integrating clients' websites with its own order processing software. Clients include the BBC for whom Hallmark handles sales of its popular Countryfile calendar and the Woodland Trust - the company fulfils catalogue and web orders generated by the charity's Christmas gift range.

"We've got an excellent relationship with Business Link - in fact, it was their Adviser who first suggested bringing in MAS as a solution to help our business," said Chris. "The initial diagnostic process, which involved a lot of walking and talking on the warehouse floor, was free and the week-long time study and analysis of work processes and practices was 50% subsidised.

Picking up the pace

MAS's study clearly identified 'spikes' in picking and packing times caused by problems such as confusing delivery destinations - now Hallmark can iron out these glitches.

MAS also helped the company establish better principles for stock layout so that picking could be carried out as effectively as possible. "It was a Eureka moment for us when our MAS practitioner discovered that picking from a truck for racking at high level was as efficient as a pedestrian picker at floor level. As a result we've changed certain storage locations," added Chris.

"Our MAS practitioner quickly got the staff on side. He skilfully guided and mentored our warehouse team leader who quickly became a big fan and who gained a much better understanding of lean practices and work organisation.

"We were also recommended to introduce a visual management style to improve communication as well as ownership of goals. MAS even helped us fix up a visit to a major car manufacturer to demonstrate how they'd successfully implemented this approach. I had a motivated team before, but now they're even more focused. Achieving ISO 900/1400 was always a goal for us and reinforces our aim of achieving continuous improvement across the business."

Chris Hall's top tips for improving manufacturing productivity:

* Employ an expert with outside experience as they'll bring a new perspective to your business

* Make support organisations like Business Link (Tel 0845 058 6644) and MAS (Tel 0845 270 7620) your first port of call - they can provide you with practical, hands-on support focused on enhancing your bottom line

* Bite the bullet as soon as you realise that key processes and practices need improving - investing your time and resources now will be worth it many times over in the long-run

* Be receptive to new ideas and best practice and most importantly get buy-in from your workforce at the outset

* Keep reviewing and refining the processes - don't treat it as a one-off exercise.

Email: chall@hallmarkconsumer.co.uk
Website: http://www.hallmarkconsumer.co.uk