Aquabox is unusual as a Charity because we actually manufacture the water filters that we send all over the world. The Aquaboost Project will allow us to double our production of life saving water filters to 6,000 units a year.
Most days our depot in Cromford is busy with the sounds of filter manufacture, not to mention the camaraderie of the assembly teams, but this week has been replaced with cleaning and painting as we embark on one of the largest projects we have undertaken.
Coordinated by Trustee, Dominic Wish, Aquaboost has been in the planning process for many months, and we are nearly over the last hurdle. Dominic is shown here talking about Aquaboost during an interview with BBC East Midlands News that was broadcast back in December.
Supported by fantastic companies like Forged Solutions, ITP and Pratt and Whitney, we have undertaken Value Stream Mapping, TACT time analyses and 5S, all terms that will be recognisable to manufacturers across the UK.
On this week’s activity Dominic reported, “The 5S ‘House Cleaning’ event was a big success. The assembly room is now totally empty and has been cleaned ready for painting and the fitting of the new flooring. We separated all the items from the assembly area into two piles on the warehouse floor – one for essential items used daily in making filters ready to return into the new layout, and the second for ‘non-essential’ items which will be safely stored in the warehouse. So, a very good start with solid progress.”
Over the next two weeks week we will be painting, fitting the floor, and installing new benches and a ventilation system in the filter assembly workshop.
Some of our amazing volunteers have been helping with the transition and are looking forward to starting to assemble filters again in early March.