The award-winning 3M Aycliffe plant has been sharing its success with manufacturers from around the country – and local charities have been benefitting as well.
Last year the site won a Best Factory award in a national competition run by Works Management magazine.
As a result, the magazine asked the site to organise a Best Factory tour to share its knowledge and experience with other manufacturers.
Twenty representatives of six companies from across England, Wales and Scotland came to the Heighington Lane plant, which makes respirators for worker safety and products for the vehicle aftercare market.
Donna Gowland, the site’s Continuous Improvement and Lean leader organised the visit and said: “We had a great response from the visitors. They appreciated our openness with them and they were very complimentary about the initiatives we’ve developed at the site, such as behavioural safety and lean management systems.”
The Works Management magazine allocated £500 to meet the 3M site’s expenses in holding the event, but the site decided this sum should be donated to local charities instead.
As a result, a cheque for £200 is going to the Great North Air Ambulance and £100 each to St Teresa’s Hospice, Butterwick Hospice and the charity 4Louis that supports parents who have suffered stillbirth, neonatal, infant and child loss.

3M Aycliffe Best Factory visit
The visitors to the 3M Aycliffe site and their hosts at the start of the plant tour