Case Study
Interim Supply Chain Director
During the Covid-19 health pandemic, many UK manufacturers were called upon to support the production of PPE and ventilators. Many manufacturers launched whole new production lines in a matter of weeks to produce millions of much-needed PPE for the UK health sector. Boyden provided an interim team to help one manufacturer to set up five production lines and the supporting supply chain which enabled them to produce millions of PPE within a matter of weeks.
The Client
An innovative West Midlands-based engineering SME providing bespoke foam products and solutions across multiple industrial sectors.
The Challenge
The objective was to assist in the design, set up and operation of a brand-new manufacturing facility, in order to supply multiple-million units of PPE to the NHS in response to the 2020 Covid-19 crisis. The owner-management team understood the need to bring on board personnel with the necessary experience of high-volume manufacturing and the complexities involved in managing key relationships across a new supply chain. The Interim was required to strengthen existing processes with the core foam supplier, but also find new supply chain partners in manufacturing and packing and execute the coordination of all resources to
ensure the weekly volumes were met on time and in full.
The Solution
Meet with suppliers to agree SLAs and ways of working, in particular communication channels and frequency of contact, and manage on a weekly basis.
Interpret the initial demand forecast from the NHS, ensure the planned resources were sufficient to meet the requirement and manage subsequent changes to ensure all parties stayed aligned.
Agree and direct internal resources to manage the high volumes of transport moves into in-house manufacturing from suppliers, to and between third party manufacturing partners and ultimately into the NHS supply chain.
Monitor performance across the supplier/manufacturing/packing base and ensure corrective actions were identified, agreed and executed to safeguard delivery.
The Results
All planned finished goods deliveries into the NHS warehouse were met in full and on time to the agreed schedule across the 6-month programme.
- Daily deliveries of raw materials, equivalent to more than a week’s supply previously, were managed without any major issues.
- Relationships built with new suppliers ensured that the procurement of significantly higher value materials and services were understood and authorised by the owners and enabled cash-flow risks to be managed in a controlled manner.
- The business has been left with enhanced capabilities to meet future face visor orders as well as other product opportunities.
