Mars Drinks

Mars Drinks banner

CREATED in 1955, we are the Drinks Division of the Mars Group of companies. With our two market leading brands of Klix and Flavia, we serve over one billion drinks per year, most of which are made at our Basingstoke factory. When you visit us you will get a feeling for the passion we put into our mission of serving the best drinks better.

The visit is centred on our two distinct manufacturing processes, assembly and continuous production sharing with you some of the ups and downs of the past ten years. Whilst we still have far to go, we have learnt much about balancing waste elimination with people engagement and re-aligning manufacturing to customer facing crucial parts of the Toyota 4P model.

Various members of the shop floor teams will talk you through the key activities they are proud of and show you what they have achieved. We will cover a few of things we see as some of the best things we do and will welcome your questions and observations on how we do it. We will structure around our core topics below, with a strong emphasis on sharing and aiding your needs with our experiences. Our aim is to ensure that you get the maximum value from your time with us. See you soon.

Products
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The Klix in-cup drinks system uses ingredients from the most popular drinks brands, including Nescafé Gold Blend and PG Tips tea, and seals just the right amount directly into the cup. This unique system seals in the flavour and guarantees the quality of every single drink. Flavia drinks stations, with patented technology, brew directly from pack to cup. This means each drink is fresh and untainted from the previous brew. Products include a variety of coffees, teas, wellbeing and indulgence drinks.

Building effective teams
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We will look at how and why our teams have grown, how we share objectives, and what we have been able to put in place to support team working, such as training and skills development. Our teams have both independence and interdependence, sharing goals and vision, whilst taking time to be a team.

Lean manufacturing
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You will understand how we meet true customer demand and which tools and techniques we have used to eliminate waste to achieve world class manufacturing standards. We will also show how our maintenance activities support the world class equipment efficiencies that we enjoy.

Visit in 60 seconds / Awards

Building Effective Teams … Integrating teams … Training and skills development … Shared goals & vision … Team structure … Lean Manufacturing … Kaizen … Set-up reduction … Waste reduction … Kanban … Andon Lights … Visual management … Continuous improvement … OEE data capture … ISO 9001: 2000

Visit agenda

09.30 Coffee Tasting
10.00 Welcome & Introduction to Mars
10.15 Our Lean Journey
11.00 Machine Factory Tour
12.00 Lunch
12.30 Drinks Factory Tour
13.45 Building Effective Teams
14.30 Continuous Improvement
15.00 Questions & Close