About the Manufacturer
A leading UK steel fabrication business needed greater visibility into machine utilisation across a complex, multi-site manufacturing operation.
The business delivers over 120,000 production hours annually, with 60,000 machining hours available for both project delivery and subcontract work, supporting a wide range of high-demand, high-specification fabrication requirements.
Recognised as a trusted engineering project delivery partner, the business works closely with DNOs, operators, consultants, OEMs, principal contractors and supply chain partners across the UK and beyond.
With a growing workload and increasing operational complexity, the team needed a clearer understanding of how their machines were really performing, and where hidden capacity could be unlocked.
Results
Project Highlights
Early modelling also identified opportunities to unlock:
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400+ productive hours per month through staffing improvements
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Significant productivity gains through process optimisation and equipment upgrades
- Additional capacity through improved shift coverage
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Uncovered a ~20% utilisation improvement opportunity
Project Overview
With a large, complex operation spanning multiple machines, shifts and processes, the business lacked a consistent and reliable way to measure utilisation and understand where capacity was being lost.
Without trusted data, it was difficult to:
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Identify the true causes of downtime
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Prioritise continuous improvement activity
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Justify staffing or capital investment decisions
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Understand the scale of hidden capacity across the operation
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The Solution
The company implemented FourJaw production downtime tracking software to gain real-time visibility of machine utilisation and downtime across 13 CNC machines.
Using FourJaw’s production dashboards and Productivity Accelerator programme, the team was able to:
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Establish a clear baseline of machine performance
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Identify the biggest drivers of downtime
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Quantify the impact of improvement initiatives before implementation
Early analysis revealed:
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Overall utilisation at 30.8%
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Productive activity at 36.7%
The data uncovered several key constraints, including:
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Insufficient operator coverage
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Excessive time spent on material handling and inspections
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A major bottleneck within plate processing
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Ongoing reliance on outsourcing due to capacity limitations
Results
By using real production data to identify genuine constraints rather than assumptions, the business has been able to unlock hidden capacity, improve working practices and make more confident operational decisions.
Data-Driven Continuous Improvement
FourJaw showed that skilled operators were frequently pulled away from machines to carry out non-value-added tasks such as:
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Loading and unloading material
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Dimension inspections
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Crane handling and movement
Using FourJaw’s Productivity Accelerator, the business modelled a potential ~20% utilisation improvement by introducing dedicated support roles to remove these interruptions from operators.
The business has since begun implementing these additional support roles as part of a wider continuous improvement strategy.
Building a CapEx Case with Real Production Data
FourJaw also exposed a major bottleneck within the plate processing workflow.
One production route required significant downstream rework, tying up additional machines and operators without increasing throughput. In contrast, alternative equipment completed the same work in a single process.
This enabled the business to:
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Build a clear, data-backed CapEx case for new machinery
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Quantify the financial impact of the bottleneck
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Define a future-state workflow with improved flow and reduced labour intensity
The company is now using FourJaw as part of a longer-term ambition to build a more lean, Toyota-style manufacturing operation, reducing non-value-added activity, improving process flow and embedding continuous improvement into day-to-day operations.
