East Lothian-based steel fabrication specialist Hadley Group Fabrication (HadFab) has identified opportunities to unlock more than 400 productive hours per month after introducing FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics real-time production monitoring across 13 CNC machines.
HadFab, which supplies fabricated steel solutions to the power transmission and distribution, energy, rail, civils, infrastructure, commercial and industrial sectors, implemented FourJaw to gain a clearer understanding of machine utilisation and where production capacity was being lost.
The business operates across four sites spanning more than 55,000 square metres and delivers over 120,000 production hours annually, including 60,000 machining hours available for project and subcontract work.
With workloads growing and production becoming increasingly complex, HadFab wanted more reliable evidence to support its continuous improvement, staffing and capital investment decisions.
Turning data into action
Within the first few months, FourJaw established overall machine utilisation at 30.8% and productive activity at 36.7%, helping HadFab identify the main causes of lost capacity across its 13 CNC machines.
The data highlighted insufficient operator coverage, time lost to material handling and inspections, and a significant bottleneck within plate processing.
Using FourJaw’s Productivity Accelerator, HadFab modelled an approximately 20% utilisation improvement by introducing dedicated support roles to free skilled operators from non-machining tasks. The company has already recruited its first additional operative, with the potential to create a further ten roles as the approach is validated.
FourJaw also helped HadFab build a data-backed CapEx case around its plate-processing operation. Analysis showed that one production route required additional drilling and punching, tying up multiple machines and operators without increasing throughput. The findings have supported a case for investment in new machinery that could simplify the process, reduce labour requirements and help bring more outsourced work back in-house.
Mark MacDonald, Manufacturing Manager at HadFab, said:
“The biggest shift for us has been moving from guesswork to evidence. We’ve been able to identify a major bottleneck, build a clear CapEx case to remove it, and prove a path to a 20% utilisation improvement. That’s a huge opportunity for the business.”
Early modelling has identified the potential to unlock more than 400 productive hours per month through targeted staffing improvements, with further capacity gains possible through improved shift coverage and equipment investment.
For HadFab, the longer-term ambition is to use this data-led approach as the foundation for a leaner, Toyota-style production system focused on better flow, reduced non-value-added activity and continuous improvement.
MacDonald added:
“FourJaw has given us the foundation to think differently about how we run the business. We’re now making decisions based on real performance data, which is a big step towards the kind of lean, Toyota-style operation we want to build at HadFab.”