General Manufacturing

Schmitz Cargobull: On-Site Recruitment and Management

Background

Schmitz Cargobull specialise in the manufacture of refrigerated and curtainside trailers.  They are the market leader and employ over 4,000 people across nine European sites, with an annual turnover of >€2,000m.

Challenge

Their trailer production site in County Durham employs 250 people.  The area's low unemployment rate (<2.5%) makes it difficult for manufacturers to fill semi and skilled roles, thus many local companies use third-party temporary labour. This creates a high turnover of labour between local sites with the resultant effect on recruitment, induction and training time/costs and poor productivity due to an unstable workforce.

Aktrion's Solution

• Job descriptions assessment and ‘Ideal candidate' profiles
• Provision of Aktrion staff, as opposed to temporary agency staff
• Production processes and skill level analysis
• Increased training to develop multi-skilling
• Analysis of working conditions and site culture
• ‘Lessons learned' analysis of previous recruitment campaigns

Support services implemented:

• Provision of Aktrion staff as opposed to temporary agency labour
• Standardised pay/invoice structure
• Selection and induction of all staff
• Provision of personal protective equipment
• On-site H&S risk assessments
• Full protection from employees liabilities and costs for all Aktrion staff
• Full-time on-site management and face-to-face liaison with management team
• Employee assessments, feedback and appraisals
• Key performance indicators and reporting mechanisms
• Support and consultancy on productivity improvements

During the initial ten-week phase, over 100 employees were inducted on-site, including general manufacturing staff, FLT/stores operatives, skilled electricians, pipe-fitters and welders.  Subsequently, non-attendance levels reduced to 3.2% for 2006/7.

By reducing total payroll and business management costs, and providing a stable trained workforce, Aktrion have saved Schmitz Cargobull tens of thousands GBP per year, whilst at the same time improving overall productivity and throughput.