Employee of the Month Andrew Black, Hyco Manufacturing, The Manufacturer - June 2010

With Hyco Manufacturing in the midst of rapid growth, purchasing manager Andrew Black has lent his talents to the warehouse operation to ensure the company can cope with heightened demand without incurring extra costs on behalf of its customers

Hyco Manufacturing is a small Castleford, West Yorkshire-based producer of water and air heaters, hand dryers and hair dryers, fly zappers and fans. It has enjoyed a 50 per cent rise in sales in the last three months and the company now handles over 100 products and 160 spare parts. This means effective warehouse management has taken paramount importance.

Since adding warehouse and dispatch to his purchasing management role at the start of 2010, Andrew Black – a man revered among his colleagues for the stream of innovative ideas that he has made his signature during his twelve year career with Hyco – has risen to the challenge with a number of initiatives to ensure that the company’s materials handling runs as smoothly as possible.

“Mistakes don’t just cost us, they cost the customer. If someone is waiting for a part that is mission critical to their operation then it is essential we get it right,” he says. “And with the cost of things going up globally it’s my job to look at what we can do internally to keep the full impact of those rises away from the customer. Simply put, we have to get things out to customers within 24 hours as quickly, as neatly, at as little cost with as few mistakes as possible.”

Andrew’s strategy has been to reduce the chances of human error. Firstly, in designing a new system for managing spares, including new picking bays, to enhance dispatch performance, he has created a computerised uniform labelling and location system whereby items are ‘booked in’ to the warehouse as they arrive. This takes away a reliance on employee knowledge for where items are and what they look like. Daily checks have been introduced to ensure things are where they’re supposed to be.

Secondly, he has implemented a new picking and packing process whereby the two functions are separated and performed by different employees. This ensures any mistakes made at the first stage are picked up at the second. It has helped towards a 75-85 per cent reduction in dispatch errors from around 20-30 per month across 1,200 orders to now just five.

That will be good news for the warehouse employees as they have more than pride in their work riding on efficient delivery – Andrew is now introducing a performance related bonus scheme to add a little bit more incentive for success.
“The problem of people thinking they know where items are and trusting that judgement without checks could be major,” he says. “When somebody is waiting for a part the last thing they want is to be delivered the wrong one. That’s why we’re working towards completely eliminating the chance of human error. The work we’re doing the warehouse in geared towards improving our service, rather than making money, but we see exemplary customer service as a key enabler of our growth.

Managing Director Mike McHugh commented “Andrew’s enthusiasm has transformed our operations in just a few short months. As an employer we can’t always promise to recruit internally, but it is always the first place we look and its great news when things work out so well for everyone involved – including of course our customers.”

Other Hyco News...

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21/07/2010 Family business sees strong sales growth, HVP - July 2010
08/06/2010 Employee of the Month Andrew Black, Hyco Manufacturing, The Manufacturer - June 2010