Kilfrost - News/Media

WINTER OPERATIONS: PLANNING FOR THE UNPREDICTABLE

Archived on: Saturday 5th February 2011

How do you prepare for the unpredictable? Know when to increase production at the exact moment you need and not a day before? Or move thousands of tonnes of product across the world with just hours notice? These are the challenges faced by Kilfrost every winter season, and it's the company's Head of Operations Tim Peyton who faces the difficult task of making sure that they deliver on time, every time. Here he talks to Ground Handling International about cool conditions, strategic stocks and keeping aircraft frost-free during the most severe winter in recent history.

"When it comes to predicting winter weather, a crystal ball would be great but we've got the next best thing which is a lead-in to the very latest meteorological data and satellite imagery. We can see what the Met Office sees, and it allows us to constantly track weather patterns and temperature trends. By looking for certain conditions or a collection of factors together, we're able to make short, mid and longer term predictions which can be fed straight into our logistics strategy.”

"It's my job to track these patterns and feed the right amount of fluids into our strategic stores globally to meet demand. I have to know exactly how much product we have available at any one time, and have plans in place to rapidly increase production when we need to. During the height of the season my office is filled to bursting with graphs, charts, maps and satellite images, and we update our weather status for key areas and zones on an hourly basis. Our customers also need to be kept informed about conditions and offered guidance about when to reorder and we work closely with our sales team who keep in regular touch with their contacts.”

"Of course we know that predictions are just that, and we have procedures in place and stocks of product at strategic sites across the globe to deal with severe wintry weather. Even so, this winter's unprecedented demand across mainland Europe, the UK and North America has meant running our manufacturing facilities on 24-hour a day, seven-day-a-week production since mid- December. Our teams have done a great job and the line has only been shut down on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.”

"You only have to look over the delivery schedules to see just how much demand has increased this winter season. As an example, British Airways ordered 25% of last year's volume in just one 24-hour period this year, and Italy took its usual full year's stock in a 10-day period in December. Comparing material usage to the 2006/2007 season, we met the same full year's total in just the four weeks after Christmas which is a real production and logistics achievement.”

"Of course at absolutely peak times we've had to implement a sensible supply policy but most understand this and as a result we've been able to keep all our major airport customers open for business with deliveries from our hubs around Europe, direct from our manufacturing plant in Haltwhistle, and also from our new storage and distribution centre in Antwerp.”

"De and anti-icing fluids are safety critical and we've earnt our place as global leaders after over 75 years in the sector. Our customers stretch across more than 50 countries and five continents, and we serve them from facilities in the UK, Europe, North America, and Japan so our plans have to be pretty comprehensive. There's no room for excuses and we don't make any. Our reputation is built on delivery and our customers know that we'll do what we say, when we say, regardless of the conditions.”

For more information about Kilfrost please visit www.kilfrost.com, email usa.sales@kilfrost.com or call 1-877-U-KILFROST (877-854-5376).

-ENDS-

For further editorial information, please contact:

Francesca McFeely | 1-877-U-KILFROST | Francesca.McFeely@kilfrost.com

Felicity Owen | Zen Communications |+44 1691 610689 | felicity@zen-communications.co.uk

 

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