Introducing reliability centred maintenance (RCM) has helped Heinz deliver a step change in operational performance at its Kitt Green factory and is now being rolled out across the site.

RCM, which was developed by the aircraft industry in the 1970s, has enabled Heinz to increase the availability or 'uptime' of a rotary blancher from 95.9% to 98.9% and reduce engineering man hours by 20%, said continuous improvement boss Mike Fisher. "This might not sound like much, but when you are talking about a site that produces 1.1bn cans a year and you cut downtime on a piece of equipment feeding three filling lines by five to six hours a week - you've got a business case."

Aunt Bessie's, which has just introduced RCM to its Hull plant, has also been able to free up its engineers to focus on more value-added activities by giving operatives responsibility for routine maintenance checks, said maintenance manager Lee Tyler.

A large percentage of planned preventative maintenance tasks at both firms are now completed by machine operatives while lines are still running, said Richard Kelly, md at EMS, a consultant in RCM and lean manufacturing.