Coventry-based Harris RCS (www.harrisrcs.com), a family-owned precision engineering company, has achieved a 10% increase in its forward order book and has made double-digit productivity gains with the help of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) (www.the-mtc.org).

An SME team from the MTC’s Manufacturing Support Services operation worked with managers and operators at the aerospace supplier to help it make big advances in production planning, productivity and on-time schedules.

Harris RCS approached the MTC to helpit reduce waste, improve set-up times and improve productivity in its CNC machining operations.

The MTC engineers began by replacing manual set-up processes with a digital solution.

They captured data already available and made it visible to all operators, so every machine could be monitored in real time. Machines are being digitally connected, and a culture of continuous monitoring has been encouraged.

Graham Harris, managing director of Harris RCS, said: “They took the big data we already had, made it more visible and linked it to our existing machine assets, building digital assets to make the processes more efficient.

"We can now handle more orders without having to bring in more resources, and we are investing in new technology where we really need it.

"More importantly, they encouraged a culture of constant improvement. There is now a real buzz about the place, with our people coming up with new ideas all the time.”