Award-winning apprentice Oliver lifts the lid on £137k savings for bin firm

The 21-year old apprentice with MGB Plastics factory in Rotherham, won Polymer Apprentice of the Year Award, the official ceremony for which will be held in London next month.

“We estimate that this improvement alone is saving the business in excess of £137,000 a year by getting the plate changes down to just 34 seconds from 10 minutes,” said MGB Plastics technical manager Gary Blanshard.

He explained the company wanted to bring bright young engineers into the business to enable it to maintain its position as the market leader in the supply of wheeled bins.

The firm invited the AMRC Training Centre to help, which led to the search for a suitable apprentice and the hiring of Marsh.

We estimate that this improvement alone is saving the business in excess of £137,000 a year

Gary Blanshard, plastics technical manager, MGB

Having gained knowledge of CAD at the AMRC Training Centre, Marsh used it to model the fit of the company’s bin lids and found a mismatch between the hinge fixing pin and the bin mating hole.

He then redesigned the pin and improved the tolerances using CAD. Having tested a prototype and run moulding trails on the new hinge pin, he proved out the fit and function through assembly trials.

Commented Blanshard: “He has transformed what was already a market leading printing technology used to emboss the more than 1.5 million bins we produce each year. His forensic examination of the change-over process from one council crest to another has turned the operation into the polymer equivalent of a Formula One pit stop – fast, efficient and very slick.”

Marsh said it was a privilege and an honour to win and praised MGB for its support and encouragement.

"My mentors at work have taught me how to use lean techniques and processes to drive improvements in productivity and performance, he said.”