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MAS help for coffin maker
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October 2007
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Business is booming for a Kent-based company that manufactures coffins from completely sustainable materials, and MAS SE has helped the business keep pace with the growth.
Sittingbourne-based Ecoffins has seen a 49% increase in sales of its bamboo, willow and pine coffins – and has received specialist advice from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) South East to help it cope with the massive surge in business.
William Wainman, Partner at Ecoffins, called in MAS South East Specialist Ian Pateman to advise on the most effective use of floorspace and on stock management.
Says Wainman: “With the help of MAS South East our stock flow is now under control – we have cut our stock in half which has allowed us to concentrate on bringing in new designs, with two prototypes currently in production, and to concentrate on building up the export side of the business.”
The Ecoffins primary workshop is located in China, and is widely regarded as a model facility in the region for the exemplary employee working conditions. Each coffin is manufactured using only sustainable materials and is shipped to the UK for finishing.
Every aspect of the production process encourages the use of traditional skills…but at the same time the company is also ensuring that its UK operations benefit from the latest lean thinking. For example, without affecting the core offering, MAS’s Pateman recommended that Ecoffins supply only one type of coffin base, rather than a mix of bases, to reduce stock levels.
The support of MAS South East means that the company has the capacity to cope with the sales increase – indeed the business is moving ahead so rapidly that Ecoffins has now been accepted for the High Growth Programme in Kent, a government initiative aimed at supporting fast growing businesses across the region.
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Author
Chris Rowlands
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