Two years of transformation
Managing director at Stuga Machinery, Ed Williams, shares his learnings in machinery, thoughts on automation and why Lego instructions should never be ignored.
When I was appointed to the newly introduced role of managing director at Stuga Machinery in July 2022, I was drawn not just to the opportunity to lead a machinery manufacturing business, but by the rich legacy of a 40-year-old UK-based enterprise that designs, manufactures, builds, and services quality machinery for the fenestration industry.
And that’s not because I’m a glazing guru. In fact, my 28-year career spans various sectors, including F&B and pharmaceutical packaging, automation, and project management. My passion for change at Stuga wasn’t ever rooted in machines, windows and doors, but rather growth, efficiency, and innovation.
The goals were clear: to simplify complex tasks and reduce operating costs for our end-users, while staying ahead of our competitors through quality, innovation, customer service, and value, and to re-establish Stürtz in the UK.
An outside opinion
I think my multidisciplinary approach has offered a unique perspective and a versatile skillset, which I have applied to drive success at Stuga. The business didn’t need technical direction, and I had complete confidence in the product – huge boxes I could tick off while focusing on Stuga’s inner workings.
I anticipated numerous challenges. Stuga was a privately run business, led by technical director Gareth Green and Steve Haines on the commercial side. Their hands-on approach, though effective in many areas, naturally resulted in some gaps in management and process development due to the constraints of capacity, a common challenge for small privately owned businesses.
However, the timely acquisition by Stürtz Maschinenbau GmbH has created opportunities to address these areas by introducing new talent and enhancing individual functions with additional management oversight.
The first step was to draft a comprehensive business plan, and I know from experience that structure drives success, no matter what sector you’re in! We needed dedicated management and roles for service, production, and sales. Bringing in a sales team allowed me to focus on internal business development and tackle the core issues in design, procurement, production and service, finding and plugging gaps in management, training, resource allocation or processes – it’s an ongoing piece of work.
The Lego kit
One of the issues I identified very quickly was a lack of control and consistency with which we were building machines. Stuga has an incredibly talented production team, whose knowledge was locked in their own heads, making it very difficult to manage onboarding, the training of new staff and ensuring repeatability in assembly.
I liken it to having a Lego kit without the instructions – and we all know we can’t make the model without a clear step-by-step guide and the little bags with numbers on them!
We addressed this by promoting an experienced engineer into a production manager role, who worked with his team to develop and introduce clear work instructions along with an overhaul and reorganisation of the shop floor. We also created new systems and procedures for the stores area and implemented a more effective procurement strategy to achieve optimal efficiency, reduce our cost of parts and improve quality and on-time delivery.
Despite the initial challenges, my confidence in Stuga’s product and reputation never wavered. I have watched the changes we have implemented bear fruit over the two years I have been at Stuga, and I am optimistic about a significant positive shift in our profitability, the results of which are already being seen.
Without the foundation of Stuga’s good reputation and fundamentally sound products, however, I could never have restructured the business in the ways I have.
The future is automated?
A significant aspect of my career has been my involvement with automation, whether at machine or system/process level. I’ve watched automated solutions transform businesses and revenues, particularly in the food sector, and the potential of properly harnessing automation cannot be ignored.
At Stuga we are exploring ways to integrate further advanced automation into our systems and manufacturing processes, which should lead to greater efficiency, reduced costs and enhanced product quality. Automation aligns with our mission to simplify complex tasks with automated machines that ultimately benefit our customers and keep us at the forefront of the industry – and that is very, very exciting.
