From barriers
to breakthrough…

Operational Excellence

In 2025, our Electric Thermal Solutions (ETS) Business faced a pivotal challenge and opportunity when one of the world’s largest manufacturers of wafer fabrication equipment for the Semicon sector significantly stepped up its demand for ‘chucks’, the temperature-controlled tables essential for their microchip wafer production.

ETS Thermocoax (France) is the customer’s sole supplier of these critical components and was called upon to deliver volumes exceeding previous forecasts and supporting double-digit growth in Semicon demand.

Putting the customer’s needs first, our team mobilised with a focus on Operational Excellence. This began with the introduction of daily key performance indicators for safety, throughput and quality, empowering the production teams and shifting the mindset to that of continuous improvement.

Self-directed teams are groups responsible for managing their own work processes, established to monitor bottlenecks in real time across the production process.

By addressing and challenging issues independently and setting service level agreements with their internal customers, colleagues were able to resolve issues swiftly and collaboratively.

In addition, by reallocating machines and adding shifts to the existing production line, we overcame the customer’s strict ‘copy exact’ requirements that limited outsourcing and new line setups, significantly increasing production while ensuring all ‘chucks’ were produced to the highest industry standards.

A major hurdle in scaling production was the six-month lead time for raw materials. We adapted to this challenge by working closely with suppliers to secure timely material flow, while also boosting the output of our cleaning supplier to match new production targets.

Through these targeted operational improvements, we successfully ramped up ‘chuck’ production to 2.5x the previous year’s volume, consistently achieving daily targets. This achievement not only met the urgent needs of a major customer but also demonstrated our ability to adapt and respond rapidly to sector recovery to drive growth.

“ETS’ ability to deliver at scale, despite supply chain challenges and the customer’s ‘copy exact’ requirements, demonstrates our commitment to serving our customers through Operational Excellence.”

Peter Boultbee
Group Operational Excellence Lead