The Organisation:

Intastop Ltd are specialists in the design and manufacture of anti-ligature products and door and wall protection. Their focus is ‘Protecting Doors, People and Places’ and they supply the following sectors both in the UK and overseas: Healthcare, Care Homes, and Public Leisure build markets.

The business was set up by John Hills in 1992 and has grown significantly due to a focus on both the strong values of the organisation and an unwavering focus on providing solutions to customers’ problems swiftly and effectively.

The Challenge:

The operation was initially established in Doncaster and the original factory met the needs of its customers adequately. Since the business has grown, the current management team - Steve, Shaun, Sarah, and Alison - always knew that they would need to move to enable them to meet the demands of their growing customer base. The challenge the team had was to both develop, design, and implement a far more effective layout to the production facility and move to new premises.

The Approach:

Intastop had already worked with The Excellence Partnership on a variety of improvement projects and knew of our expertise in all things manufacturing, and our skill in enabling change, so asked us to help them design a new factory layout and move them into it. Using our Factory Design and Move Programme, we helped Intastop to:

• Set up the project management framework covering the nine elements of best practice in project management.

• Assess and analyse the current operation and identify an appropriate facility layout based on their current and future planned demand.

• Design the new factory layout to improve flow and minimise waste.

• Develop an overarching project plan to move the business from its location in Doncaster to its new facility near Wakefield.

• Project manage all aspects of the move, including machinery, people, materials, and new equipment, to set up a brand-new facility based on best practice while maintaining production to customers.

The Outcome:

• The design and move of the facility to the new operation in Wakefield has helped Intastop:

• Establish foundations for a world-class manufacturing facility.

• Set up and imbed practices within the organisation to accelerate their LEAN journey.

• Provide the business with significant headroom for their continued growth and expansion plans.

Intastop is now fully operational from its site near Wakefield and has a first-class facility to meet the owners' growth aspirations.