The Molson Coors brewery in Burton-on-Trent is implementing world-class manufacturing techniques for asset care - part of a global initiative for the business.
The brewer has been considering the endeavour for some time. However, it launched the latest wave of the project this year, looking at issues such as reducing processing time, improving quality and preventative maintenance.
The initiative has included a health and safety drive installing engineering permit stations for every operational area.“We have moved to bespoke permit stations, each of which has a picture of its owner, so people can contact him if there are any problems,” said Grania Towle, utilities operations manager at the Burton-on-Trent brewery. “The owner makes sure all documents at his station are up to date.”The stations are used to record equipment maintenance and repairs and to log whenever machines are locked off because an engineer is working on them.“
Permit stations are audited monthly, permit record sheets are investigated and graded, said Towle.
In addition, Towle said dynamic risk assessments were conducted for ad-hoc situations posing potential health and safety issues as they arose. “From January to now there have been about 2,500 dynamic risk assessments.”
The brewery is also supporting 15 people on modern apprenticeships and operates a mentor system.
Molson Coors (UK) employs more than 2,000 people and operates other breweries in Alton and Tadcastle. It commands 20% of the UK beer market with brands such as Coors Light, Grolsch and Caffrey’s. Towle was speaking during a site-visit organised by the Food and Drink iNet, which is funded by the East Midlands Development Agency.
The visit was intended to showcase best practice for the 15 food and drink firms from the East Midlands that attended. The Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, The University of Lincoln and the University of Nottingham.