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Biocomposites
approach is based on humility and respect, with people pulling lean tools toward them rather than having them pushed by a central function. We’ re building the culture from the bottom up, educating and empowering people to explore the use of tools to drive the continuous improvement wheel, which, in turn, delivers the results that we need.”
To maintain and fuel continuous growth, TA and Novo are investing significantly in the business, including an ongoing transformation underway at Biocomposites’ Keele facility.“ Our investments at Keele are substantial: the ground floor manufacturing footprint is doubling, and we’ re adding an entirely new third floor of clean room space above it,” Stephen elaborates.“ What makes this expansion particularly valuable is that we’ re not only increasing capacity to scale in line with our growth aspirations but also redesigning how the entire site flows by removing obstacles, streamlining processes, and preparing to implement automation. Alongside the benefits to our manufacturing site, we’ re modernizing welfare aspects of the building, including our office infrastructure, to boost employee wellness.
“ Automation is already underway at the Keele facility,” he adds.“ We’ re passionate about UK manufacturing, so we’ ve partnered with two UK-based automation specialists, 3P and PCE Automation, to develop dosing, fill, and packaging automation for our highestvolume product line, STIMULAN Rapid Cure. Not only can we achieve scale through automation, which is our primary motivation, but it’ s also given us the opportunity to build in quality assurance at source. For instance, we’ re incorporating lean techniques like SMED changeover processes and vision systems into equipment design, and we’ re exploring new software platforms for monitoring equipment performance.”
On the topic of quality assurance, Stephen is keen to highlight the importance of safety, quality, and compliance in the medical
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