Invista Textiles (UK) Ltd
When Koch Industries acquired Invista, they introduced Standardised Work Processes (SWP). This challenged the whole organisation to equip with the knowledge and skills required to meet key operations objectives to become profitable and ‘China competitive’. Koch also indicated that only one plant would be the sole producer of LYCRA®, either Maydown or Holland.
Functional training took place over six months and a thirteen staff underwent ‘train the trainer’ programmes. Training was given on a list of low level maintenance tasks known as Fix It Yourself (FIY) tasks. In 2006, a monthly average of 140 FIY tasks were carried out. All 353 employees underwent the intensive training programme.
The training has enabled the company to operate at 100 per cent capacity and the use of the SWP’s has increased efficiency and profits. INVISTA’s Maydown plant has been chosen to be the sole provider of LYCRA® fiber in Europe and following an audit they achieved the highest overall weighted score compared to any other audited site globally. This undoubtedly influenced INVISTA’s decision to select Maydown as the sole provider of LYCRA® in Europe.