UK Manufacturer Beats US Hurricane Disruption

UK Manufacturer Beats US Hurricane Disruption

Investment in Acorn team development paid off when production was hit by Hurricane Rita

Investment in Acorn team development at Candle Corporation Worldwide's Barrow-in-Furness factory paid off when production at the US sister-plant was hit by Hurricane Rita in the run-up to their busiest time of year.

Problems started for CCW Barrow's Illinois-based colleagues when a planned one-month maintenance shutdown of their main wax supplier, a refinery in Beaumont, Texas, stretched out to over two months as Hurricane Rita caused widespread disruption in the area. Weeks of production in the run up to Christmas were being lost as the wax supply dried up. Alternative supplies would be too late to meet all the seasonal peak in demand.

In the UK, CCW Barrow's management team rose to the challenge. The aim was to make up for the loss of US production and deliver the UK factory's own Christmas production peak at the same time. Production swiftly moved from a partial 2-shift operation onto a three-shift footing. The workforce temporarily doubled in size and all available production capacity was utilised to successfully meet the demand placed on the factory.

To manage such an intense period of operation, the team at Barrow drew on the experience gained just a few months earlier on an Acorn team development programme. Confidence in their own capability to work well together under pressure was high as a result of the training. Operations Director, Gary Rushworth, said "We already knew what we were capable of through Acorn's team development. This time it was not an exercise. It was a case of the team pulling together in response to exceptional demand and demonstrating that capability for real."