You will hear a speaker talking to a group of managers about Unilever’s food factory Lowestoft, UK’s Factory of the Year. As

Man: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I will talk to you about Unilever’s food factory Lowestoft. This food plant saved ￡ 10.4 million over four years by revolutionising its business philosophy, and, as we know, it has been named as the UK’s Factory of the Year. Then, how was this impressive feat achieved?
Lowestoft, the largest frozen food plant in Europe employing 950 staff, was presented with the trophy at the Best Factory Awards ceremony run by Cranfield School of Management last week.
The company also scooped the prizes for the Best Household and General Products Plant and the Best Factory in the East of England after embarking on a four-year world-class manufacturing plan that has resulted in it beating Unilever’s internal efficiency targets by 22 per cent.
The Lowestoft plant is in fact more than just one factory — it is in effect a site containing four factories that produces all of Bird Eye’s red meat, poultry, frozen vegetable and potato products. There are 14 different product lines. The plant general manager Cooke’s objective from the very start has been to achieve full productivity, cut out loss and become the safest of food plant in Europe.
The factory is now well on its way to achieving these objectives. Investing in the workforce has been a key factor. Instead of an ’ us and them’ mentality,(8)Cooke has ensured that management works in partnership with the unions, and that staff are as highly trained as possible.(9)Over the last few years, 1,500 externally accredited qualifications have been issued. As a result, operational efficiency currently stands at 84 per cent. According to Cooke, an impressive record at an equivalent factory would be around 75 per cent. The factory has also beaten its cost targets for the last four years, saving Unilever ￡ 10.5 million. The factory has also invested in automated equipment. New machinery enables the firm to make 110 different types of food packages to meet the demands of large customers. The company has also invested in ultra-violet recognition equipment that follows the progress of individual peas on the production line and can recognise three million different colours.
Safety is another key indicator of the factory’s achievements. Two years ago, the plant was awarded a Unilever gold award for improving its safety record by 90 per cent over six years. The plant has recently been nominated for Unilever’s global safety award.
The Cranfield award highlights not only how far Unilever’s Lowestoft factory has come, but how much room for improvement there is in food production. This plant is at the cutting edge, and as the awards suggest, is fast becoming a model of how a modern food plant should be run.
The factors I mentioned contribute a lot to the factory’s achievement, and they can also show us the future of food production...