Pulse Roll Label Products has appointed Andrew Didcott as general manager in an effort to improve efficiencies across the business.

Mr Didcott’s appointment will support the company’s growth strategy by focussing on efficiencies within the business. He joins the company with a wealth of experience, having worked at Pulse for eight years previously as production manager and since then working in a number of senior managerial positions within the packaging sector, most recently as operations director for the Smurfit Kappa site in Yate, Bristol.

In 2019, Mr Didcott embarked on a Lean Efficiencies master’s degree at Buckingham University in the Buckingham Lean Enterprise Unit (BLEU). The programme covered subjects including, Quality Assurance; Demand Capacity and Flow; Employee Engagement; Lean Principles; Total Productive Maintenance (TPM); Innovation and Lean Accountancy. Mr Didcott commented, ‘I always felt that I had a good understanding of Lean manufacturing techniques, but the education at BLEU aligned me with the original principles of Lean and how the constant strive for quality improvement is important to ourselves and our customers. I’m really looking forward to my return to Pulse and supporting the team on a promising journey.’

Managing director, Gary Seward commented, ‘We are keen on increasing our OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) across our operations to help increase quality and capacity, as part of our wider growth strategy for Pulse Roll Label Products. Over the past few years, the business has grown significantly, expanding into new markets so we need to make sure we’re equipped to handle the increase in demand. By focusing on our OEE, we can assess availability loss, performance loss and quality loss and set improvement targets to increase our overall capacity. With his knowledge and expertise of Lean Enterprise and his extensive career in manufacturing, I am confident Andrew will be a valuable asset to the business and I look forward to working together again.’