I have been at Natures Way Foods (NWF) now for more than 16 years and joined the business in its first year.
I started my working life as an apprentice in the glass and glazing industry, which at that time was booming. I quickly moved into a role of business unit start-up manager, which involved setting up small production and sales facilities on the south coast. However, the last major recession hit that industry hard and after discussion with my wife we decided everybody has to eat, so it was time for a career change.
NWF started in a small unit at our current Runcton site, supplying prepared salads to Tesco and the Co-op Group, and within the first year out-grew this facility. I was asked to assist the project team in the planning of the new site: our current head office at Selsey in 1995. This was to take us well into the future and manage the growth of the category, which at that time was about 40% year-on-year.
Within four years we had started building a second site at Runcton and within the next six years had extended both facilities to their current footprint. I still remember, towards the end of our first year, our owner Robert Langmead, rushing into our canteen shouting 'we have done our first million units'. This summer, we'll produce more than four million units a week. Our growth has been relentless.
Over the past 16 years, I have managed all three of NWF's factories, with my longest stint being at our head office at Selsey, where I looked after salads for 10 years. Additional equipment has been added to the factory over the past 10 years, increasing output in excess of 20% using the same amount of space and standardising cut style and quality to the customer. We have installed improved refrigeration plant incorporating ultra-violet sterilisation of air handling units, and on-line real time data recording performance management systems to assist the teams with management of efficiency.
Environment
We are very proactive environmentally and hold the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 environmental standard. We were the first UK fresh produce manufacturer to achieve and maintain this certification and have also just been awarded the Carbon Trust mark.
We recycle 94% of all waste on site and 99% of all water and are actively working toward zero landfill by the end of this year. We improved our energy use per tonne of product by 13% in 2010 and water efficiency by 16% over the same period. Year-on-year, water consumption has been reduced by 5% with no increase in electricity consumption, resulting in a net cost saving of more than £75,000.
Careers and training
We have an excellent health and safety record and hold the related ISO 18001 accreditation. Again, we were the first UK fresh produce manufacturer to hold this. As factory manager, I am pleased to say we log less than 0.5 incidents under the Reported Injuries, Diseases & Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) per 100,000 hours worked. That's better than world class standard in our industry sector.
I have also supported the factories in a continuous improvement role, managing the effective delivery of training and driving shop floor awareness of lean tools and techniques.
As part of the senior management team, I am trained as a Six Sigma green belt. We employ basic lean principles on the shop floor, such as 5s; standard operating procedures; and value stream mapping. I sit on the Manufacturing Advisory Service's south east division best practice peer group, which is designed to get high performing businesses together to share best practice across common issues.
My current role is fruit business unit manager, which is possibly my most exciting yet. The daily challenges of managing a worldwide fruit supply chain and offering consistent quality require my constant attention.
NWF has been producing ready-to-eat fruit for four years now and growth in this market continues to be strong. Our main customer is Morrisons but we also supply Tesco, Waitrose, McDonald's, Prêt a Manger, Pizza Express, Ask, Zizzi, the Whitbread group and Northern Foods. We are very lucky that, in the current financial climate, our products are not only seen as good value convenience items, but healthy options too. I believe that as we all become more aware of the value of a balanced and nutritional diet, prepared fruit is well-placed to succeed.
We have just recruited 20 additional staff for the fruit factory and all people managers have the opportunity to enrol on our management development programme. This is a 12-point, 18 month training plan designed to give line and senior management the basic skills to manage their staff well, from performance management to welfare.
NWF is the most enthusiastic and driven business I have experienced. We have a passion for quality and a hunger for improvement that can make it difficult for people coming from outside our sector to keep up with us.
Products
The majority of our products are fruits in small trays for lunch time snacking, or larger trays for sharing at meal occasions. We have also driven some innovation in the category particularly in the area of fruit bags.
Bags have for some time been a popular lunch choice for adults and parents, as they look to include healthy options in children's lunch boxes. Building on this success, we now offer a multi-pack option of apple and apple and grape packs (designed to last in the fridge for the week in a single purchase). This delivers a combination of convenience and better value.
Our new product development department is constantly looking to introduce new and more exotic fruits, some of which present challenges in preparation and packing to my teams. However, all of them understand that this area of development is our future and that we need to keep challenging ourselves with new fruits and packaging formats.
Fruit plays a key role within our customer offering and this was recognised during a business restructure in 2010, where I and several experienced senior managers were asked to lead the fruit business unit to the next level. Our development requirements will form part of a new facility currently under construction at our Walnut Tree Farm site in Runcton.
These are exciting times at NWF, but for all our impressive growth performance and list of category leading customers, the one consistent thing that makes this a great place to work is its people.
Under the guidance of Richard Parr, our director of operations, the operations team has a very clear and consistent message of what's important and where the priorities lie. Above all, it's about delivering fantastic quality, service and value to our customers. In a fast-moving business like this, it's easy to get blown off course without a firm and clear plan.
If I were to offer advice to anyone I would always say start with a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how you intend to get there, then focus on the people. It's all about your staff. They are the most valuable asset you have in the factory and just like equipment, ensure you have the right ones in the right places. This simple clarity of thought has enabled us to increase volume by 25% on some lines, while improving our customer service levels and raising our quality.
FACTORY FACTS
Location: Natures Way Foods, Park Farm, Chichester Road, Selsey, West Sussex.
PO20 9HP
Staff: 100150 daily
Factory size: 2,926m2
Operating hours: 24 hours a day
Products: More than 60 stock keeping units of fresh cut prepared ready-to-eat fruit for supermarkets and foodservice outlets
Output: Up to 820,000 units a day
Annual turnover: £125M
PERSONAL
Name: Gary Kilhams
Age: 46
Career highlights: "Managing the purchase and installation of plant to our Selsey factory of £2.5M on budget and in time and playing my part in a journey which has seen the business grow to the turnover it has today."
Domestics: "I'm married to my wife Angela, with two active sons, Sam and James."
Outside work: "My sons keep me busy James with football (he has had trials with Bournemouth and Portsmouth) and Sam playing British tour and county tennis. Any time that I have to myself is usually spent in the gym."