Open Innovation Community of Practice (OICoP) Project

Background to case study

The Ford Bridgend Engine Plant (BEP) is a major employer in South Wales that produced approximately 620,000 engines in 2017 for Ford vehicles sold worldwide. BEP has recently enhanced their industry 4.0 capabilities by establishing an innovation lab within the factory and developing their rapid prototyping capacity. The innovation knowledge and skills of the innovation team has been enhanced through the DIPFSCC programme. Phil, a Senior Emerging Technologies Engineer, has coordinated the development of the innovation lab within the factory and is leading on the development of a number of new products for Ford. He attended the programme to enhance his skills and knowledge around developing new products/service solutions and Circular Economy principles.

Impact of the programme

Phil talked through a few examples of where the tools introduced on the programme have been used to develop their new product development (NPD) internal processes. One example of where they have applied learning from the programme is on a project to apply industry 4.0 principles through the 3D printing of parts within the factory. Phil had enjoyed the Circular Economy (CE) workshop that was part of the programme and decided to apply the CE principles to the printing of plastic parts. Therefore he looked at the plastic that was being used by the 3D printers in the factory and spoke to the suppliers of plastic feedstock. He was able to switch the printer feedstock from virgin plastic to recycled plastic.

There are both economic and environmental benefits from the change to recycled plastic. Firstly, the printers that use around 8kg per month of virgin plastic are now using recycled plastic and so creating considerable environmental benefit. Secondly, Ford are saving approximately £18 per kilo on the cost of the printer feedstock and so applying CE principles has had a positive economic impact as well for Ford. In the 9 months since joining the programme and adopting the use of recycled plastics for printing, Ford has already made savings of £250,000 through reduced use of virgin plastic and printing of parts using recycled plastic that they previously bought in. Therefore, saving money and having a positive environmental impact.

There are also further environmental benefits in process as Ford are now exploring, with their supplier, how the plastic that comes into the factory as packaging can be recycled so that it can be used as 3D printer feedstock. This change will allow Ford BEP to ‘close the loop’ and reuse the plastic that comes into the plant.

In order to further apply CE principles and reduce costs Phil and his team are now looking at cataloguing all the plastic parts that are held in the factory in order to begin 3D printing the parts onsite. Where BEP are able to print their own parts this will significantly reduce their costs, reduce the time of delivery and allow them to reduce stock levels. There are thousands of parts held in the BEP and so this process will take some time. However, the economic and environmental benefits of this innovation will be huge for Ford BEP. Phil advised the increase in printed parts over the next year will be exponential. The factory will be averting hundreds of kilos of plastic waste from landfill. There will also be considerable environmental savings from the reduction in the carbon footprint of reduced transport of parts from around the world being shipped to Ford BEP and obvious reduced economic costs of transport.

Phil advised: “We’ve got real value from the tools and knowledge we’ve picked up from the DIPFSCC programme, we’re really pleased with the cost savings and positive environmental impact resulting from the change to change to recycled plastic feedstock. The future impact will be huge as we will exponentially increase the amount of parts that we print within the factory. We’re just starting to see the environmental benefits and cost savings from our investment in industry 4.0 methods, which is really exciting for us here at BEP.”

Figure: Examples of the parts that Ford is able to print onsite

Background to case study

Abbey Glass, based in South Wales, have provided a bespoke glass and glazing service for both commercial and domestic clients for over 20 years. Abbey Glass supply and fit curved glass, balustrades, mirrors and back painted glass as well as modular bathrooms for large commercial clients. Abbey have grown by around 20% per annum over the last five years and built partnerships with national brands including the Whitbread group, Premier Inn, Brewers Fayre, Table Table, Costa Coffee, Beefeater and many more. They have developed innovation in partnership with Premier Inn to deliver their ‘Good Night’s Sleep’ promise to their customers throughout the UK. Abbey are eager to continue to produce innovative products for their clients.

The innovation knowledge and skills of the innovation team at Abbey has been enhanced through the DIPFSCC programme. Angela, the Commercial Director and innovation team lead, has coordinated the development of the innovation team who are responsible for looking at existing challenges their customers present and developing new products to obtain new customers. Angela attended the programme to enhance her skills and knowledge around developing new products/service solutions and Circular Economy principles.

Impact of the programme

Angela talked through a few examples of where the tools introduced on the programme have been used to develop their new product development (NPD) internal processes. One example of where they have applied learning from the programme is on a project for a large hotel chain that required hundreds of painted glass screens and decorative pieces in a short space of time.

Using the process mapping skills developed on the programme Abbey discovered the bottleneck in their process was the drying time required for painted glass. The drying time of the ordered glass screens was causing issues with their customers and storage issues within the factory. The approximate production time for each piece was two days. With market research the innovation team at Abbey discovered that a machine was available that could reduce the production time of each piece to approximately two hours. The machine in question was very expensive and so the project referred Abbey to a Welsh Government innovation specialist who then supported Abbey to make an application to the SMART Cymru innovation fund. Abbey were successful with their application with the support of the innovation specialist.

The recently installed machine at Abbey’s factory in Porth and is proving to be a huge success. There are both economic and environmental benefits from the new production methods using the new machine. The production time has been reduced from two days to two hours, which has increased Abbey’s capacity to deliver to customers. The machine also uses less paint than their traditional method and so creating considerable environmental benefit. Secondly, Abbey are saving on the staff time, as fewer labour hours are required to produce a single piece. The new machine has also reduced their energy consumption as their traditional paint process used expensive extraction fans.

Angela advised: “We’ve got real value from the University innovation programme, we’re really pleased with the time, cost savings and positive environmental impact resulting from the new machine we were able to buy with Welsh Government support. The future impact will be huge as well. The tools and models I’ve picked up from the programme are being used by the innovation team in our monthly meetings, which bodes well for our future growth here at Abbey.”

Figure 1: New machine at Abbey Glass