New contract wins and increased product demand has led to a need for boosted production volumes at AkzoNobel in Ashington, creating 22 new skilled jobs.
The global paint specialist, which officially opened its state-of-the-art facility in Northumberland in September 2017, has invested time and resource into streamlining operations and creating a third production shift at the site in order to service demand created by a string of business wins with new and existing customers.
The £100 million invested in the Ashington site is the single largest investment ever made by Dutch-headquartered AkzoNobel. The cutting-edge technologies available at the site is enabling AkzoNobel to produce more paint, more quickly and sustainably than ever before.
“Production at Ashington is going from strength to strength,” said Jeff Hope, head of manufacturing unit at AkzoNobel Ashington.
“Since opening the site, we have been steadily increasing production as volumes have been transferred from other AkzoNobel facilities, but recent business successes have created a need for us to boost outputs dramatically which has led to new appointments at the site.
“The introduction of an additional shift to our current production rota provides us with around 50 per cent more manufacturing time. We are also working hard to increase the efficiency and productivity of our operations and increase the time that the plant is actively making paint.”
Driving efficiency across the site will enable AkzoNobel Ashington to continue to increase its production volumes over time so it can be responsive to business and customer demand.
“This is a really exciting time for the site,” Shirley Spoors, production manager at AkzoNobel Ashington, added.
“The 22 new production operatives have all been trained in-house and are already working regular shift patterns.
“We are pushing the limits of what our production lines can achieve and so far, we are delighted with the results.”
Capable of producing up to 100 million litres of paint per year in up to 33,000 different colours, AkzoNobel Ashington has been hailed as the world’s most advanced and most environmentally sustainable paint factory, using a variety of renewable energy sources to fuel its processes.
Manufacturing paints and decorative coatings for household brands such as Polycell, Cuprinol and Hammerite, the site is also the new home of AkzoNobel’s Dulux megabrand in the UK.
To find out more about AkzoNobel, visit www.akzonobel.com.