Lean at British Rototherm
Supercharged with visual control, GembaDocs, AI and continuous improvements.
British Rototherm Group, founded in the UK over 170 years ago, is a global leader in precision measurement solutions. Headquartered in the UK, the company designs and manufactures rotary unions, temperature and pressure instruments, and digital monitoring systems for industries ranging from oil and gas to pharmaceuticals.
With ISO 9001 certification and a culture of continuous improvement, Rototherm invests heavily in research and development – partnering with world-class firms such as GembaDocs, and embracing innovative technologies to remain at the forefront of quality and customer satisfaction.
Sector: Manufacturing
HQ: Great Britain & NI
Customer since: 2021
SOPS: 400-500
Other tools: Skills
People and Culture
Heather Griffiths, Head of People at British Rototherm, reveals how they transformed from a workplace with some toxic people to a thriving lean culture.
You’ll hear exactly how they identify cultural fit during interviews, why they chose to remove people who weren’t aligned with lean principles, and the specific questions they ask to find growth mindset candidates.
Key takeaways:
- Cultural fit matters more than technical skills when building a sustainable lean manufacturing environment
- Clear org charts with defined roles prevent ownership confusion and set people up for success
- Leadership must model lean behaviors consistently while using facts and data to eliminate blame culture
AI Tool Eliminated 2 Hours of Daily Data Entry Work
See how they implemented AI automation in their manufacturing facility to eliminate tedious data entry, cleansing and manual processes.
Watch as they demonstrate a real working system that automatically processes purchase orders, generates serial numbers, and creates channels on production servers – all without human intervention.
Key Takeaways:
- AI has the power to eliminate 100% of manual data entry from email processing to ERP systems
- Simple automation tools can save 2+ hours per employee daily on repetitive tasks
- Non-technical manufacturers can implement AI solutions without coding expertise
productivity hacks saving waste
- small 2-second improvements compound into significant daily time savings across your operation
- simple automation tools like Stream Decks can eliminate repetitive login and navigation tasks that add up to tangible time savings
- custom 3D-printed organizers and one-click shortcuts solve common workplace inefficiencies instantly
Clean And Lean by Design
Terry Thomas from British Rototherm demonstrates their daily 5S system where every employee spends 30 minutes each morning doing two-second improvements and maintaining their own work environment.
You’ll see their visual rotation board system, how tasks are assigned and tracked with simple red-to-green cards, and why they believe people should take ownership of their workspace. Terry shows you the exact visual management tools they use, including their front office board with daily rotas and color-coded task cards.
Watch as he explains how having designated homes for every tool (like vacuum cleaners) eliminates wasted time searching for equipment, and how visitor feedback helps them continuously improve their system.
Key takeaways:
- Daily 30-minute 5S sessions build ownership and maintain workplace standards without external cleaners
- Visual rotation boards with red-to-green cards make task assignment and completion tracking foolproof
- Designated homes for all tools eliminate search time, but require continuous refinement based on user feedback
How To IMprove Improvements
Inspired by Seating Matters & Lean Made Simple, Rototherm moved from a flood of daily improvement ideas to a disciplined “three-at-a-time” system.
New ideas get added but only the top three most impactful improvements make it onto the board each morning, ensuring the team stays focused and avoids overload.
Key takeaways:
- limit work in progress
- empower leaders to prioritize
- and blank out low-impact tasks
Eliminate Scheduling Mistakes
Heather shows you the simple visual system that eliminated payroll scheduling mistakes in their operations. You’ll see exactly how they use week numbers and visual indicators to keep track of payroll deadlines, even when monthly dates shift from the 23rd to the 28th depending on the pay period.
This isn’t about complex software – it’s about a practical solution that any manufacturing payroll department can implement immediately.
Key takeaways:
- Week numbers provide more reliable payroll tracking than changing monthly dates
- Simple visual indicators eliminate confusion about current payroll deadlines
- Manufacturing payroll systems need flexible solutions that work regardless of calendar variations
SOPs with Pride
During Tom Hughes’ (CEO of GembaDocs) tour of British Rototherm, one thing was clear, everyone was proud of their SOPs.
Depending on how the team member liked to follow the GembaDoc depended on the method they used – some digital step-by-step on their mobile, some PDF on a laptop, and others pop in a binder which can be taken wherever they need to be on-site.
Tom loved seeing how proud everyone was of their SOPs, GembaDocs, and lean improvements.
Key takeaway:
- Have SOPs accessible in ways that suit the operator, location and department – don’t settle for digital only, or printed only
Before you scrap that part: the simple system that recovers defective components
What if you could recover money from defective parts instead of automatically scrapping them and losing profit? In this video, Tom Gough takes us through the “Cabbage Patch” system – a simple but effective method for handling rejected parts that you’re not sure about scrapping. Watch as he shows you how operators bag defective components with their best assessment of the problem, creating opportunities for salvage or legitimate supplier returns.
This isn’t about accepting bad quality – it’s about smart defect management that gives you options. You’ll see how this system helps recover costs through salvage operations, provides documented reasons for supplier returns, and prevents premature scrapping of parts that might be recoverable.
Key takeaways:
- Bagging defective parts with operator assessments creates salvage opportunities before scrapping
- Documented defect reasons strengthen supplier return claims for refunds or replacements
- The “Cabbage Patch” holding system prevents costly premature disposal of potentially recoverable parts
Roto House rules: SEEN
Across the British Rototherm site, one thing is clear and followed: the Roto House Rules ‘SEEN’
Stop – press the Andon button to call your team leader and wait for the team leader to help before proceeding.
E: Every tool must have a home
- using Kaizen foam, shadow board, labels, make sure every tool has a specific place
- if you don’t need it, take it to the red tag area
- we love never wasting time to find out tools
E: Every part must have a location
- every part must have an item label in front of it’s bin (or itself)
- every bin must have a clearly identified location that it belongs to
- we love never wasting time looking for our parts
N: Nothing on the floor
- Nothing on the floor apart from your feet
- we love a clean organised work environment
From Culture to Tools: The Yamazumi System That's Transforming Production
Tom Gough from British Rototherm demonstrates how they’ve implemented the Yamazumi method after building a solid foundation over 10 years. You’ll see exactly how they break down every process step into seconds, stack them visually to identify bottlenecks, and use this data to increase throughput for their 2025 vision.
He shows real examples of their risk register system, line balancing exercises, and how they proactively identify potential failures before they impact production. This isn’t theoretical lean manufacturing – it’s a working system that predicts equipment failures and optimizes cycle times across their entire operation.
Key takeaways:
- Yamazumi visualization reveals the longest cycle times that limit your entire production throughput
- Proactive risk registers prevent problems instead of just reacting to customer complaints
- Building cultural foundation first makes advanced lean tools like Yamazumi actually effective
Never ship incomplete orders again with a 2-Bin system that works
In this video, Tom Gough shows you the exact QR code two-bin system they implemented to achieve perfect stock accuracy and eliminate incomplete shipments.
You’ll see how they scan every single part movement, making it impossible to post incomplete orders because the system won’t allow it.
Tom demonstrates their real working system where each bin has a dedicated QR code, inventory automatically updates with every scan, and red alerts prevent shipping until all required parts are confirmed.
Key takeaways:
- QR code scanning on every bin ensures real-time inventory accuracy beyond traditional Kanban
- System-enforced scanning prevents incomplete shipments by blocking orders until all parts are confirmed
- Two-bin methodology combined with digital tracking provides both visual and accurate inventory management
