A rigid packaging manufacturer in the English Midlands launched Lean Six Sigma after two years of shrinking margins. A focused two-year program with finance-validated savings delivered £2.4 million and cut customer complaints by more than 70%.
Key numbers
A rigid packaging manufacturer in the English Midlands had seen its margins shrink for two years running. Raw material costs had risen, customers were demanding more, and internal problems, scrap, long changeovers and quality complaints, were absorbing what little margin remained. The leadership team decided to launch a Lean Six Sigma program, determined to avoid the fate of programs that start with enthusiasm and fade within a year or two.
Designing the program
The design drew directly on the lessons in why improvement programs stall:
- Leadership defined three priorities: scrap, changeovers and customer complaints. Every project had to support one of them.
- Four Black Belts and fifteen Green Belts were trained over two years, each leading live projects, building on the approach proven in our Green Belt case study.
- Monthly steering reviews, chaired by the managing director, reviewed project progress and removed obstacles.
- Finance validated every saving, using agreed definitions, before it was reported.
- The program used Lean and Six Sigma tools together, choosing the right method for each problem, as argued in Lean or Six Sigma? Usually both.
Typical projects
- Scrap reduction on high-volume lines, using DMAIC to find and fix root causes.
- SMED on the most frequently changed tools, releasing capacity and allowing smaller batches.
- Complaint reduction projects based on customer data, with 8D investigations for recurring issues.
- Process capability improvements on critical dimensions.
What the data showed
Savings built steadily, quarter by quarter, as projects were completed and sustained, rather than arriving in one burst. By the end of the eighth quarter, cumulative validated savings had reached £2.4 million.
Results
Validated savings reached £2.4 million over two years. Customer complaints fell from 41 to 12 a year, a reduction of more than 70%. Nineteen people were trained as Black and Green Belts, creating internal capability that continued after the formal program ended.
Why it worked
- Projects linked directly to leadership's priorities kept senior attention.
- Finance-validated savings gave the program credibility in the boardroom.
- Monthly reviews prevented projects from stalling.
- Building internal capability meant improvement continued without outside support.
Lessons for your operation
- Choose a small number of business priorities, and link every project to one of them.
- Agree savings rules with finance before the first project starts.
- Review progress monthly at the top of the organisation.
- Measure success by validated results and lasting capability, not by the number of projects started.
