A world-class company distinguishes itself through a relentless commitment to excellence, innovation, and customer satisfaction. It consistently delivers high-quality products or services while adapting to changing market demands with agility and foresight. Such a company invests in talent, cultivates a strong organizational culture, and empowers employees to contribute meaningfully.
Located in Spalding, Lincolnshire, Worldwide Fruit is a major player in the UK fresh produce industry. The company packages apples, pears, avocados, and stone fruit for major UK supermarkets.
On the latest visit hosted as part of the Onsite Insights visit program, visitors were able to ee first hand a world-class manufacturing facility, digital innovation, and a people-centric culture.
A Model of Enterprise Excellence
Worldwide Fruit has been on their journey towards Enterprise Excellence since 2011. They have deployed the S A Partners Enterprise Excellence Model, which focuses on Purpose, Process, and People to support them in their goal. This framework has helped the company align its strategic goals with frontline activity, embedding a culture of improvement and high performance throughout the business. The organisation’s purpose is to be the ‘customers first choice’ and this is reflected in its sustainable practices and customer commitment, while processes have been optimised through Lean thinking to reduce waste and enhance efficiency. But perhaps the most important factor is people — with staff engagement, development, and empowerment at the centre of everything they do.
Innovation and Improvement in Action
An exciting insight during the visit was the use of AI technology in the manufacturing process where the company is trialling software that can predict quality and sort fruit varieties. These innovations have transformed how the product is managed and packed. Through smart data analysis and real-time monitoring, the business can make better-informed decisions — ensuring more fruit makes it to customers and less is wasted. In the packhouse, new systems for sorting and classifying produce have further enhanced product utilisation, driving efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
Steal with Pride
The visit to Worldwide Fruit was organised through the Onsite Insights programme — a long-running initiative founded in the 1980s by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and now delivered by S A Partners. The programme’s mission is to give UK organisations the opportunity to “Go See What Good Looks Like”, and Worldwide Fruit is a perfect example. Twelve attendees took part in the visit, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The group awarded a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +92, a clear indicator of the visit’s value and impact. Visitors were particularly impressed by the openness and operational discipline on display.
“Very impressive – an open and transparent team.”
“Great experience seeing CI in action.”
“Very insightful visit – it was inspiring to see the culture that has been built and embedded through all levels of the business.”
“Fantastic to see and feel such a positive culture, strong leadership and accountability.”
Visual Management, Culture, and Leadership
Tour highlights included the sites visual management boards which make real-time performance visible and actionable at every level. The meeting audits and the team’s proactive focus on hot spots — high-priority areas for attention — stood out as particularly effective tools in driving accountability and engagement. What truly resonated with visitors, however, was the atmosphere: a palpable sense of positive culture, leadership, and empowerment. From the shop floor to the leadership team, the commitment to improvement and mutual respect was evident.
Worldwide Fruit is a superb example of what happens when clear leadership and a sense of purpose combines with effective processes, and an empowered workforce. The company’s journey demonstrates the power of aligning strategy with people-led improvement. With thanks to the excellent team at Worldwide Fruit for another fantastic visit.
Our next visit, for more information or to book CLICK HERE
About Onsite Insights
Established in 2004, the Onsite Insights visit program exists to encourage the sharing of innovation and best practice between companies. This is achieved through a series of one day visits to award winning companies where visitors get to see best practice in action. No theory, no text book, just what works and why from organizations that have achieved success.
For More Information contact:
Jim Brydon
Programme Manager
Onsite Insights
Jim.Brydon@sapartners.com
Growing Excellence: A Best Practice Visit to Double H Nurseries
In the heart of horticultural innovation, our recent best practice visit to Double H Nurseries stood as a vivid reminder of what is possible when lean principles, workplace organisation, employee engagement, and a culture of continuous improvement are embedded in the DNA of a company.
From the moment we stepped onto the nursery grounds, it was evident that Double H is not just growing plants; they are cultivating a workplace culture rooted in purpose, pride, and progress. Double H have been on their lean journey for over ten years and the site has evolved considerably over this time.
The deployment of lean methodologies including 5S, Visual management, a focus on waste and workplace organisation has enabled them to grow as a supplier to the UK’s most prestigious supermarkets and they have more recently been developing new commercial opportunities within the horticultural markets.
Double H have been a part of the Onsite Insights programme for over 10 years, supporting other organisations on their journey to excellence. 14 visitors attended the latest event from a wide range of sectors including food & drink; engineering and logistics. All took ideas and inspiration away and there was a great open discussion around visual management in particular the controversial should boards be paper based or electronic!
One topic resonated with the group – the drive for digitisation within the manufacturing process. Increasing licensing fees from various platforms and growing complexity has led Double H to adopt a simplification approach with a push to building inhouse solutions. It was a strategy being adopted by others in the room who have seen similar cost escalations with large scale platforms.
What else stood out:
The agility in the business has enabled them to adapt to changing customer needs.
Innovation and progressive thinking has ensured a great culture
Simplification & employee engagement were clearly evident
The passion for improvement and continuously challenge the norm.
The visit achieved a Net Promoter Score of +88 which is outstanding. One visitor commented:
“You could feel a real passion and desire from the whole team to continuously improve.”
For organisations aspiring to elevate their performance, the lessons from Double H are clear: invest in your people, innovate; commit to lean thinking, organise with intention, and never stop improving. The seeds of success are already within reach—we just need to cultivate them with care and conviction.
Our next visit, for more information or to book CLICK HERE
About Onsite Insights
Established in 2004, the Onsite Insights visit program exists to encourage the sharing of innovation and best practice between companies. This is achieved through a series of one day visits to award winning companies where visitors get to see best practice in action. No theory, no text book, just what works and why from organizations that have achieved success.
For More Information contact:
Jim Brydon
Programme Manager
Onsite Insights
Jim.Brydon@sapartners.com
On 12 June 2024 Cummins Turbo hosted their latest Onsite Insights visit for a group of senior leaders from the Food & Drink; Defense and Logistics industries. It was clear from the moment we arrived at the recently renovated facility in central Huddersfield that the company has an unwavering commitment to their customers and to business improvement.
Our hosts for the day, Dale Lodge (Operations Manager) and Tommy Goldstein (Head of Operational Excellence) were such brilliant hosts to a diverse group, sharing with us the Lean & CI journey on the site, the latest introduction of digital platforms to support communication and management of their operational excellence program.
Cummins is the only manufacturer focused solely on medium-to heavy-duty diesel engine turbo technologies. For more than 60 years, they have delivered innovative, reliable turbocharger solutions for their customers. Commercial diesel engines require advanced technologies that deliver efficiency and meet strict emissions requirements.
Today, Cummins Turbo Technologies engineers are actively developing state of the art solutions for the next generation, including assisted turbocharging, new bearing systems and enhanced compressor stage performance. The site manufactures over 300,000 turbo chargers per year and employs over 1000 people.
Some of the highlights of the visit included:
Making Learning Fun
During the visit participants took part in a lego-based learning game which is used by the site to bring lean principles to life. Through a series of iterations participants identify ways in which they can improve flow; reduce cycle times and optimize the flow of production. This is a great exercise even for those with decades of lean experience as it reminds us to consider all the fundamental principles of lean thinking, particularly as they relate to waste and flow.
Value Stream Mapping
Value Stream mapping is at the heart of many Lean and Continuous Improvement programmes and it was great to see the ownership of team leaders for their departmental value stream maps and how they are actively using these to identify improvement initiatives and pin pointing opportunities to eliminate waste.
Investment
Over the last six years, the site has been going through a major investment of over
£20 million, to renovate the iconic factory in the heart of Huddersfield. The investment can be seen not just in the upgraded manufacturing plant and its three main assembly halls but in a transformed research and development centre, renovated offices, canteen, gym and newly installed electric vehicle charging points. The plant itself has a new roof (currently being kitted out with solar panels), new external walls, new floor, new electrical and heating and ventilation systems, energy-efficient LED lighting and greater wheelchair access. The investment included over £800k in solar panels which aligns to the wider Cummins group environmental commitments and net zero strategy. The visitors were particularly impressed with the warehouse upgrade and improved lighting systems, making it a modern, bright working enivironment.
Embracing Digital
A highlight for many was getting to see how the site has embraced technology and introduced their own purpose built digital Tiered Management System. They also integrated their suggestion scheme into the same platform to make management easier. The touchscreens located in key areas around the site emulate the previous SQCDP physical meeting boards, they are easy to use and interact with, allow for live management of KPI reporting; as well as helping them track and improve the management of the suggestion scheme within the business.
Ailsa Carson, the Program Director of Onsite Insights was proud to present the organization with their Host plaque at the end of the visit and said
“We are so grateful to the team at Cummins for their involvement in the visit program, a program that supports the sharing of innovation and best practice between organizations. Visiting companies benefit so much from these visit days enabling them to improve productivity and performance in their own businesses as a result.”
The next visit to Cummins Huddersfield is on 19 November 2024, for more information or to book CLICK HERE
About Onsite Insights
Established in 2004, the Onsite Insights visit program exists to encourage the sharing of innovation and best practice between companies. This is achieved through a series of one day visits to award winning companies where visitors get to see best practice in action. No theory, no text book, just what works and why from organizations that have achieved success.
For More Information contact:
Jim Brydon
Programme Manager
Onsite Insights
Jim.Brydon@sapartners.com
In May 2024 Lear Corporation hosted their first Onsite Insights visit for a group of senior leaders. They set an incredible standard for their first visit with an Net Promoter Visit Score of +100 – the highest score possible.
There were so many reasons for this – much was to do with the openness, honesty and authenticity of the hosts Jack Boatman (Continuous Improvement Manager) and Gavin Bullock (CI Lead). But it was also testimony to the high standards of engagement in continuous improvement and lean visible within the manufacturing facility.
Lear, a global automotive technology leader in Seating and E-Systems, enables superior in-vehicle experiences for consumers around the world. Lear’s diverse team of talented employees in 37 countries is driven by a commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and sustainability. Lear is Making every drive better™ by providing the technology for safer, smarter, and more comfortable journeys. Lear, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, serves every major automaker in the world and ranks 189 on the Fortune 500. Further information about Lear is available at lear.com.
Some of the highlights of the visit included:
Kaizen Journey
Creating an improvement mindset has been pivotal to the Lear CI journey and fundamental to this they have embraced the phrase ‘Protect the next car’. This simple act creates a heart message, an emotion that can be embraced by all the team. The organizations kaizen competition and program also encourages the improvement mindset and embraces suggestions. The program focuses on recognition in various forms, partially monetary but primarily soft recognition – thank you’s and congratulations across the board. A nice touch seen on the site tour was the placement of the lightbulb symbol in areas the best Kaizen activities have occurred.
Visual Management
The site has a high standard of visual management, not just through the tiered meeting boards but also line side to control takt and buffer stocks. There is clear visualization of line performance and controls so all associates and team leaders have an understanding of what is required by hour and by shift.
The site also has an impressive Activity Centre (Obeya or Control room) where the Leadership team meet twice a day to review performance and projects on site.
Team Improvement Circles
There are so many reasons visitors loved the TIC program. Multi-disciplinary engagement across the site on projects that ranged from Process problem solving to increasing their charitable food bank donations. The program run in conjunction with their primary customer JLR is not about money. It is about establishing and encouraging effective problem solving methodology and enabling the team to apply this thinking to every aspect of their environment.
Engagement
Their Leaders on the Line program was clearly of interest to visitors – their name for Gemba walks which is undertaken weekly across all areas of the factory. The site and line managers are clearly present within the operations environment and there is a level of openness and trust between all of the team which shows very positive employee engagement.
We saw some great signage when entering the operations environment where all of the Leaderships contact details were shared with a link to the Whatsapp messaging platform. A small act with a big impact.
On the day of the visit the group were also lucky to see a HR initiative being undertaken in the on the floor training area – a pay drop-in clinic for all employees where they can come and talk directly to HR and the plant manager about any pay issues as they arose.
Another activity which resonated well was what I would call ‘Bunker Sessions’ an activity I first saw at Buhler Group in London (another of our hosts). Essentially this is a monthly meeting of associates and the Leadership Team where they get to discuss any ‘issues’ or ‘challenges’ that they currently face. The sessions often lead to unexpected CI gains and also support engagement and a culture of openness on the site.
Strategy Deployment
Jack Boatman shared how the strategy of ‘Together we Win’ a corporate led initiative is tiered throughout the company and site through a series of scorecards, which are all aligned to common objectives: Leadership; Work Environment, Employee Involvement and Team Empowerment.
Lear are definitely an organization committed to a journey of excellence. The customer is at the heart of their decision making and in this highly demanding environment they have created a aura of calm effectiveness, where the team genuinely enjoy their jobs and are engaged in improvement.
Lear’s next Onsite Insights visit is on 26 June 2024, for more information or to book CLICK HERE
About Onsite Insights
Established in 2004, the Onsite Insights visit program exists to encourage the sharing of innovation and best practice between companies. This is achieved through a series of one day visits to award winning companies where visitors get to see best practice in action. No theory, no text book, just what works and why from organizations that have achieved success.
For More Information contact:
Ailsa Carson Programme Director Onsite Insights Ailsa.carson@sapartners.com
Encouraging the sharing of innovation and best practice between organisations sounds like the remit of government departments and local authorities, however for the last 20 years Onsite Insights has been delivering a successful pan-industry initiative that has seen over 15,000 people visit some of the UK’s most successful organizations.
Onsite Insights is a programme of one-day visits, where organisations in the public and private sector get to spend a day looking at how successful organisations are run. It was established in 2004 as a successor to the highly popular Department of Trade and Industry programme Inside UK Enterprise (“IUKE”). IUKE was set up in the early eighties and was run by the government for over 20years.
The success and popularity of the programme, was and remains down to the fact that businesses recognise the value of sharing real life experience – there are no text books, no theories and no consultants, just real evidence of what works and why from businesses that have implemented change.
Government and funding changes resulted in the closure of the IUKE programme back in 2003, but the team behind it’s delivery recognised the popularity and potential for the programme. Ailsa Carson, Onsite Insights founder commented that “when we announced the closure of the IUKE programme there was an overwhelming response from customers and the host companies, it would have been difficult to see such an initiative disappear – and I am glad to say it didn’t, we talked with the DTI at the time and they were more than happy for us to launch a privately funded programme.
The types of companies that have hosted over the years have included household names and global brands such as: Mars, Toyota, BMW, Nissan, BAE Systems, Fujifilm, Siemens and JLR alongside smaller businesses such as Double H Nurseries, Happy, Crowcon and Vitacress.
Buhler Group, London – Hosting since 2004
Over the years each of the hosts have brought their story to life for the benefit of visiting organizations. Topics have varied over the years but one thing has remained constant – visitors are primarily interested in how organizations have achieved a culture of improvement; they want to see not only how they have improved, but more importantly how the company has engaged their team in the journey.
Stuart Wood a previous host on the programme, who now works for the leading charity Alzheimers UK has been a regular user of the programme commented that the programme works because “one of the principle tasks for today’s organizations is Continuous Improvement, and one of the best ways to experience first-hand the practical application of the tools and techniques that will help drive a business’s continuous improvement initiatives is the first class programme of visits offered by Onsite Insights.”
Double H Nurseries – Best Practice Host site since 2008
It is evident that the continued growth and success of the programme is down to the passion and honesty with which the host companies both large and small share their ideas and experiences with their visitors. They all believe that the sharing of innovation and best practice between organisations will generate improvements for every sector, making all companies more competitive globally. Hosts benefit as the visits are not industrial tourism, they are a two-way discussion where new ideas and solutions can be debated, and they also benefit as they are able to visit other leading companies thereby improving their own organisation.
Feedback shows that over 85% of visitors have identified improvements for their own companies and 100% of visitors said they would recommend this form of learning which clearly demonstrates that the sharing of ideas and innovation directly between companies does not create competitive issues but an opportunity to grow, improve and become more competitive.
This year which is our 20th anniversary we will be celebrating both the host companies and the visitors that have made it so successful.
Cummins Engine Plant in Daventry has announced that it will be joining the national best practice visit programme Onsite Insights as a host site. The Daventry site has undergone a period of expansion and growth and demonstrates outstanding employee engagement and lean manufacturing techniques.
Ailsa Carson, the Programme Director of Onsite Insights said “We are absolutely delighted that this site has chosen to become part of the National programme. Their experience and insights on how to create a high performing company will be of value to the wider UK industry – and not just manufacturing.”
Cummins is a world leader in the design and manufacture of engines and power generation equipment and the Daventry plant manufactures diesel and natural gas high-horsepower engines. More recently the plant has adapted to incorporate the assembly and testing of fully integrated Generator sets.
The Best Practice visit which will be held on 7 November 2018, will provide other organisations the opportunity to see first-hand how the company has created a culture of continuous improvement through employee engagement and the deployment of world-class processes.
The national visit programme encourages the adoption of best practice and lean in organisations across the UK & Europe. Founded in the 1980’s by the Government, the programme continues to deliver excellent benefits for participating companies. Its core purpose is to encourage the sharing of business improvement ideas to enable the development of world class practices in the UK.
The Onsite Insights programme already includes award-winning organisations such as Toyota, Siemens, Vale, Mars, Milliken, Mitsubishi and Princes Foods.
Cummins in Daventry is a welcome addition to the Onsite Insights programme. Organisations can reduce cost and improve productivity by learning from others, as ideas are ultimately transferable – across sectors and industries.
For more information on the visit to Cummins on the 7 November 2018 please contact info@onsiteinsights.org or visit the www.onsiteinsights.org
It doesn’t matter what your product or service is. Your ability to stay, and succeed, in business relies solely on your ability to make each and every customer not only satisfied but also delighted with the service you offer.
For many years I worked in travel and tourism and I truly believe that other sectors and industries would benefit from understanding and ‘stealing with pride’ some of the best practices from this sector. I have just been fortunate enough to stay at a wonderful hotel in Riccione, Italy – The Belvedere –rated as Europe’s Top Hotel in 2018, so would like to share some of the best transferable ideas – that can be applied in both manufacturing and service sectors alike.
Jim Womack once said “that every customer interaction is a Kaizen opportunity”. If you consider the customer journey and interactions with your own organisation, you can not only improve on them, but you can create a personal experience that will be valued, trusted and will ultimately ensure you retain your customers and gain referrals and recommendations.
Customers should be advocates of you and your products. This not only means you need to provide the product that the customer pays for, but it also means you need to consider all of the interactions with the organisation – and ideally make them personal.
At the Belvedere, they have without doubt perfected this – not only do people travel incredible distances just to stay there, they can set their own market rate, they are oversubscribed and do not have to compete with other local operators. What also impressed me, was there was literally not one bad review on the internet (and yes I checked). In tourism and travel this is important, but I believe that with the continuing growth of social media it is vital for any business. There is a good reason for this, the service is exceptional. From the moment you contact this hotel you are treated like one of the family. They make the experience personal, you never, ever feel that you are ‘just another customer’. You leave, wanting to book your next stay just so you can experience it all over again.
So some of the best ideas you may like to consider adopting are:
Understand the entire customer journey, and then consider how you can personalise touch points.
Add value – identify what your customers want and go the extra mile. Whilst I know the lean approach is to deliver exactly what the customer pays for, there are enormous benefits to identifying low cost activities that will delight and surprise your customers.
Go see & connect with your customers where they are. I was intrigued as to why there was so many Canadian visitors at The Belvedere, and one of them explained – the hotel sponsors a number of local bike races in Canada, and have a presence at their race days, whilst simply good marketing how many of us consider where our customers ‘hang-out’ and actually go there.
Value your employees – happy employees are advocates of your products and your business. The world is connected, and satisfaction (and conversely dissatisfaction has an enormous ripple effect.) Remember employees talk!
Use social media & connect with your customers on a more personal level, it’s not business anymore it really is personal. After all people buy from people.
Respect the differing needs of consumers and build an offering that supports this.
Really listen to what your customer has to say. This is something I have been considering lately. We are all becoming inundated with rating requests following any purchase, we are increasingly resistance to providing feedback. We live in a constantly changing environment so how do we continue to get the feedback we need to continuously improve. My thoughts are ditch the follow-up email and pick up the phone.
Some manufacturers and service industries are delighting customers. Happy, a training company in London, have an established approach to delighting and surprising their customers. Altro Floors have implemented a Voice of the Customer programme which ensures a regular litmus test of customer satisfaction. Their system is simple but it works and is embedded across the operation and it basically involves asking the customer exactly what it is they want from them, but also continually improving activities as a result.
We can learn a lot from others, which leads me to my most important learning from the visit. The need to evolve and continually challenge the norm in relation to customer satisfaction. One of the team at the Belvedere, told me that he was constantly surprised at the new ideas the hotel came up with to surprise their guests.
So it’s back to the drawing board for me – I thought my customer experience was pretty good, but I have been given definite pause for thought
It is no secret that I believe Bühler in East London is one of the best places in the UK to see first-hand the application of a wide range of lean tools and techniques. On each visit, I have made over the last fifteen years, I have seen a new initiative or improvement that adds value to their customer – this time it was the introduction of a total synchro room for New Product Development in the middle of the main production floor. Last time it was the stores lock down. More on these later.
Unless you are in the food or automotive industries you may not have heard of The Bühler Group, but they are market leaders in industrial-scale process technologies and solutions. Very well-known are their automated rice milling solutions which process up to 30% of the world’s rice. Their technology also mills over 65% of the world’s wheat and 50% of the world’s cars feature die-casts made on Bühler machines. At the site in East London they design, assemble and export highly complex optical sorting machines for a wide range of industries. It is a low volume, highly complex assembly build. It is a centre of excellence within the Bühler Group which turns over CHF 2.5 million per annum and has just over 10,000 employees worldwide.
Bühler’s continuous improvement and lean journey goes back around 20 years and was spearheaded by the previous MD Bruno Kilshaw, one of the first people I had the pleasure of working with on the visit programme, when it was known as Inside UK Enterprise. In 2004 they relocated from the original manufacturing site in Pudding Mill Lane due to compulsory relocation for the Olympics. The relocation provided them with the ability to create a flow line for assembly which had hitherto been impossible due to building constraints. They also made a decision at this time to focus on assembly and began to outsource fabrication and non-core manufacturing activities.
On the recent visit the Manufacturing Team provided our visitors with some great insights into the tools and techniques they have applied over recent years, I’ve sumarised some of the ideas below:
Team Leader Programme
Bühler are one year into a two year team leader programme. About 18 months ago they recognised that their lean and CI activities were plateauing and to take the next step they needed to review and challenge their operational structure. Their approach was to create smaller, flexible teams that self-manage. The restructuring created a new wave of team leaders – with smaller focused and more engaged teams. To ensure the newly created team leaders had the right skills to take on their new roles they invested in a programme of leadership training delivered by consultants RPO. This provided the newly created team leaders the skills to empower and engage their teams. Results so far have been impressive. Just one year in they have improved engagement from 6.7 to 8.5 out of 10. There has also been an 8% increase in productivity on site.
Bunker Sessions
Essentially the next evolution for 360 degree feedback, bunker sessions are an open and frank discussion where the team leaders bring feedback to the operations team and it is discussed in a closed door, no repercussion environment. This open and honest feedback loop has gone a long way to ensure both team leaders and operators feel they have a voice, are engaged and valued.
Total Synchro
Total Synchro is the Bühler name for their Lean and CI programme, there version of the Toyota Production System. The Total Synchro programme at Bühler focuses on creating a highly visual environment, where every employee can tell at a glance how the plant is performing.
One of the key elements that sets Bühler apart from many other manufacturers is the Total Synchro room, which employs the washing line tool to display the value stream from order through to delivery for every customer transaction. I always call this the marmite part of the tour. I’ve watched it evolve from a very basic single washing line or rope process which allowed you to visualise where in the factory orders were to being a more complex but still very simple system which allows instant visualisation of work orders. Initial reactions to the Synchro room are either ‘put it on a spreadsheet’ or ‘wow who moves all the paper’, but there is no denying that this system is effective in supporting the smooth running of the factory. It provides a focus for the cross-departmental daily Gemba, and means problems can’t be hidden or ignored.
Takt management & Visualisation
Takt time is the maximum amount of time in which a product needs to be produced in order to satisfy customer demand – it is essentially the pulse of production set to balance a line. Bühler introduced the use of takt and a pulse line when they set up the new production process in 2004. The takt allows them to flex up and down dependent on the demand of the customer.
On the introduction of the new team leader programme, the Operations Team created a magnetic tool to show how the takt could be impacted by kitting, line side supply and part shortages. At the change of each takt all the team leaders meet to review status allowing them to pre-empt or forecast any potential variance. Whilst this was intended as a temporary training tool it has now been adopted into day to day operations.
Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)
Bühler topped off a great day with an insight into how they as a company are staying ahead of curve in relation to 4IR. To maintain their leadership position Bühler recognised that they needed to understand and plan for the next generation of technology. They shared with us some concepts which they believe will transform the way they work in the future, ideas such as google glass which could aid picking and assembly, advanced engineering and robotic equipment which will reduce repetitive tasks and improve accuracy and consistency in production. All of these concepts will impact the look and feel of the factory of the future, they will impact supply, skills, training, build and distribution. Very similar to our recent visit to Kelloggs (Click here for the case study), Bühler showed that in a world of constant change and constant innovation it is necessary to plan for the unknown and increase flexibility.
Stores Lock Out and Value Stream Mapping
Value Stream Mapping has recently come back in to favour at the site, it was used in the early days of the new factory to assist with layout and line side kitting. The team recognised recently that it was worthy of resurrecting this useful tool to aid them evaluate and review processes on a localised level. On the visit they shared with us a project undertaken in stores where a value stream mapping exercise helped them to relay the stores area to speed up picking and improve accuracy. As part of the VSM activity they also instituted a stores lock down, so that engineers and operators couldn’t just wander in and help themselves to parts. This exercise has made significantly improved stock accuracy and improved picking rates.
Our thanks go out to Nigel Whittingham, Ivan Foxcroft, Peter Parmenter and all the team leaders who gave up their time to share best practice with others.
Great article in the latest edition of the Health & Safety at Work Magazine by the very talented Bridget Leathley on the visit to one of our oldest host sites Agfa Graphics in Leeds who this year passed the 1.5 million working hours accident free! An amazing site with a real focus on Safety. #lean#bestpractices#healthandsafety
Our next Health & Safety visit to Agfa Graphics is on 25 September 2018 – they will also be looking at how they are leading the way in Environmental Manufacturing on 21 August 2018. Please email us on info@onsiteinsights.org for further information.
Agfa Case Study
Excellent case study on the pressing issues around Health & Safety at Agfa Graphics Leeds facility.
I have just attended an outstanding first visit to Dwr Cymru Welsh Water (‘DCWW’) in Cardiff, which provided numerous transferable ideas for the visitors that took part. The company began their lean journey in 2011 and shared openly some of the key highlights and activities that are driving their programme both now and into the future.
DCWW is a highly complex business that manages over 3,000 employees, 3 million customers, 60 km of pipes and 40,000 hectares of land. It contributes around £1 billion to the Welsh economy and is now also a major supplier of electricity. It differs from the UK’s other large water companies in that it is a Not-For-Profit.
What I loved was the fact that the company has considered it’s burning platform. They have understood that momentum and engagement and therefore the desire for change are improved when there is a rationale. They are facing competition, but their biggest lean drivers are to:
improve customer service and
reduce the cost to serve.
The sheer diversity of the business and the fact the majority of staff work across remote geographic areas creates a few challenges for their lean programme. They haven’t resolved all of these yet, but they have made a very good start. To date, the Lean programme has already driven significant benefits for the company, such as:
Increased gas production
80% call out reduction
25% reduction in month end reporting
Automated HR systems
Embedded Standard Work Calendar
Stabilised capacity planning
The highlights for the visitors and myself were:
Clear Roadmap
The Lean Model developed and adopted by DCWW has four key areas of focus:
Customer – Voice of the Customer
Culture – how do they get people to be re-active, how do they coach and develop the right leadership behaviours
Capability – Building and deploying the right tools for the business.
Systems of Work – Making CI business as usual
This is supported by a great six step deployment roadmap which is in the process of being rolled-out across the business. See Diagram – the roadmap outlines a 6-12 month programme and within each step there are a clear activities and measures See Diagram
Lean Leadership Programme
Building capability and the right systems of work that will support the organisations strategic vision have been fundamental to engaging all employees in lean and continuous improvement. A combination of a solid lean training programme, which is accredited by the Lean Competency Centre (LCS) and Cardiff University, combined with strong communication and strategy deployment has allowed them to gain traction across the business.
The structured programme is supported by a very useful Lean booklet which covers the strategy, definitions, useful problem-solving tools and communication guidelines. It provides a great reference for all those within the business and ensures alignment.
100 Day Plans – my favourite transferable idea!
DCWW have deployed the 100-day improvement plan to support the CI activities across their sites. Every team must set their 100-day plan which is then reported against. It is a rolling programme and is supported by awards such as the 100-day Hero, and Team Awards. The activities are all monitored and stored on the Lean Infozone for cross-company reference.
Problem Solving White Boards
During the visit to Cogs Moor we were fortunate to see how the Lean Leadership Programme translated into action. The treatment site which is just one of several hundred satellite facilities across Wales, has really engaged and adopted the tools and opportunities that the lean programme has provided. This is particularly evident in the substantial improvements in Asset Care and downtime. The Problem Solving White Boards have been developed in house and can be taken anywhere on site. They trigger best practice thinking in problem solving such as five why’s, fishbone analysis and PDCA. The team actively use the board to resolve problems on site. It is quick, efficient and practical.
Tidy Tuesdays
A great and easy quick win for DCWW was to introduce Tidy Tuesdays, where a focus is given to implementing Five S in a specific section or area. For larger or more geographically distributed sites, this is a simple yet effective solution to maintaining a regular pulse of activity.
Also…
There were some great questions during the day and brilliant dialogue from the attendees which reminded me again why these visits drive so many benefits for participants.
One of the questions was about how you overcome resistance to change. Mat Jackson, the companies CI Manager was quite open and honest saying that they were incredibly lucky at DCWW as everyone’s intentions are good and there is a clear desire to do the right thing for the customer, so the culture underpinned the ability to make the changes that were needed.
For me this reconfirms the need for organisations to get cultural alignment first before embarking on lean transformation. Always focus on the customer and their needs first to drive step change within your company.
With thanks
I would like to extend my enormous thanks to Mat Jackson, Mat Johnson and John Boyd from DCWW and all those that made our visit so welcoming.
The next visit to DCWW is on 17 May 2018. Please do contact me for further information or visit www.onsiteinsights.org
Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems (Fujifilm) achieved the highest ranking of any manufacturing site on our visit feedback last year with an outstanding +97% NPS Score. It is no surprise to anyone that has been to the site, as it not only meets, but sets, world class standards in visual management, Five S and lean deployment.
More importantly, the visit to Fujifilm stands out because of the emphasis they place on culture, and the obvious commitment to creating an environment where continuous improvement (CI) and Lean is owned by every employee.
The site at Broadstairs employs 320 (180 in Operations) and is primarily a chemical blending operation. They manufacture speciality inks for the digital and analogue printing industries. Exporting over 6,200 tonnes of finished product to 86 countries they achieve over 97% right first-time delivery levels – an industry-leading standard.
I have been visiting this site for over 10 years, and each time the new initiatives impress me, the latest being the introduction of Kamishibai and Electronic Process Control (Takt) Boards. Excellent tools which are delivering great productivity and performance improvements.
I have highlighted some information on these and some of the other learnings from their recent visit.
A Sustainable Lean Programme
Underpinning CI at Fujfilm is a home grown Lean deployment framework. A dedicated CI team of three people supports this – Gary Burgess, Gary Page and Adam Murrell.
When developing their programme Fujifilm recognized that not all of the lean tools could or should be applied at once, so they developed ‘Building Blocks’ to highlight and manage those initiatives that would drive CI through the organization, and keep a focus on quality.
Many of these areas will be familiar to those that have studied Lean or Continuous Improvement, but what makes it work is that this has not changed in ten years. The consistency and determination to re-enforce their commitment to best practice has allowed them to achieve outstanding levels of operational excellence.
Fujifilm are very open about their journey with visitors, and shared the following lessons:
It doesn’t matter what it’s called – Lean, WCM, CI – choose terminology that is homegrown and personal.
Communicate – and communicate some more (see below).
Get some early hits to gain momentum (Quick Wins)
Don’t have a big launch & never ever use the term ‘initiative’
Capture every problem as an opportunity to improve.
One of the most recent additions to the Fujifilm lean toolbox has been the introduction of Kamishibai boards to assist in daily, weekly and monthly task management in many areas of the business. This latest tool has been adopted with enthusiasm by Team Leaders, operators and office staff as it provides a simple, visual task reminder. The Kamishibai boards are a short interval control mechanism to ensure repetitive tasks are completed, such as Autonomous Maintenance, Consumable replenishment and audit control. (picture here)
Lean All areas – Laboratory and Beyond
Fujifilm are justifiably proud of how well lean and workplace organisation has been adopted in every area of the site. The laboratory is one of the finest examples of workplace organisation you could find in the UK and the improvements introduced have led to significant cost savings. The benefits are substantial, customer visits tend to focus on the laboratory area and as result of their exceptional standards they are always ‘tour ready’.
Andon & Visual Controls
2016 saw the introduction of electronic performance boards in each area of production. These allow operators and managers to see at a glance how each line is performing against Takt (pace of customer demand).
Ideas Programme – IPICS
One of the most popular ideas pinched with pride by visitors is the Fujifilm Ideas programme – IPICS. This stands for Idea, Plan, Implement, Check Sustain.
This is managed through a simple t-card system developed in-house. Ownership of each idea is the initiator and activities are monitored by the team leaders. A monthly reward and recognition programme support this. To re-enforce the effectiveness of this programme in the last four years Fujifilm have seen the following results
3039 Ideas submitted
753 Declined
2286 Implemented
Communication, Communication, Communication
Fujifilm truly believe that the bedrock of any successful lean programme is communication. If employees don’t know what is happening, they can’t possibly support or replicate it. Excellent communication allows you to gain, and sustain, momentum. When drawing up a lean programme it is imperative you address how activities and actions are disseminated. Fujifilm share their communication programme which includes:
Lean Awareness Training
Five senior management briefings per year
Employee communication forum
Operator Issue Boards
Strategy (Plan), vision & Values posted
Comments boxes – answered every month!
Annual employee survey
Television communications channel
Daily stand-up meetings & 5 min cell briefings
This seems a lot, but it all works on a holistic level, ensuring everyone who works at the site has clarity on where and what is happening. Most importantly Gary Burgess, CI Manager at the site truly believes that a Daily Gemba (walking the line) is the key to sustaining lean at such a high level.
Our thanks go to Gary Burgess, Gary Page and Adam Murrell and all of the team at Fujifilm who gave up their time to share best practice with others.
Design for Manufacture (DFM) or Design for Everything (DFx)
Enterprise Alignment
Cultural Transformation
The BAE Systems site at Rochester is part of the Electronic Systems division, which employs over 11,000 people over 23 sites worldwide. It has been at the heart of electronics manufacturing for the Defence and Civil Aviation industries for over 60 years. On the site there are over 1200 employees of which half are systems, software, electronic hardware designers, and mechanical engineers. The site is a center of excellence for a wide range of manufacturing processes – including PCB design and manufacture, optics, mechanics, assembly, and test equipment. One of the primary reasons the site is continuing to expand is due to the growth in products for the civil aviation and transport markets. It’s latest success has been the HybriDrive Solution for electric buses.
BAE Systems have been a host on the Onsite Insights programme for over 10 years and their willingness to share their journey with other companies interested in best practice has helped numerous organisations improve. On this visit BAE shared their focus on Design for Manufacture, their Continuous Improvement journey and the steps they have taken to transform their Culture.
Design for Everything (‘DFx’)
BAE’s primary objective for introducing DFx into their manufacturing process was, quite simply, to ensure products were designed in such a way that makes them easier to manufacture.
This means:
Reduced component (material) complexity and cost
Reduced assembly (labour) time
Reduced test time and opitimised the test procedures
Improved serviceability throughout the life of the product
Prevent problems and improved quality
Ensured design meets the project cost targets.
When launching this initiative they were faced with common challenges ‘there’s not enough time’, ‘we only manufacture in low volumes, assembly is only a small fraction of the total costs’, ‘We’ve been doing it for years’. BAE acknowledged these, but truly believed that by systematically introducing DFx early in the design phase they would be able to bring products to market faster and at a better quality.
So in practice, what did this mean? Their initial focus was to create a supportive DFx culture by co-locating the design team within Manufacturing, this immediately broke down barriers and opened up communication. This allowed them to address what came to be known as ‘The Ugly Baby Syndrome’ where design engineers and product managers refused any critique of their pride and joy!
BAE had some excellent advice – Every company needs to first establish what their focus for DFx needs to be. For BAE this was to provide a strong focus on Design for Test as well as Design for Manufacture (hence the use of DFx not DFM). The rationale being that when they make it easier to test and easier to support – they make the right decisions in manufacturing.
BAE introduced a balanced scorecard to determine the most cost effective and manufacturable concept. Importantly the balanced scorecard allowed them to open up engagement across the business. This scoring system allowed BAE to have better visibility of design priorities and allowed for input from different departments. The example they used to explain this was the redesign of a Chassis Assembly – by using the scorecard they gained the view point of the supply chain, engineers and design team to review and score different manufacturing approaches from machined casting to assembled extrusion. The outcome was to develop a new process which drove £200k annual savings.
Starting with the best possible design is always better than improving a weak one.
They also recommend using the Boothroyd Dewhurst Principle for parts analysis:
Essential – does the part need to be a different material? Does the part need to move in relation to the other parts? Does the part need to be removable for maintenance?
Wrong Part Right – Are there two or more parts in the BOM that are so similar that they could be confused and the wrong part fitted?
Right Part Wrong – Is the way each part is fitted error proof?
If this is considered at the design stage it is easier to rule out potential assembly errors and mistake proof processes. Creating the best possible manufacturing environment.
Design trade-offs are often presented as black and white – for example reducing complexity can increase the overall cost to produce. However, it is always necessary to look at the end-to-end manufacturing process including aspects like piece part storage, BOMs, configuration impacts. One of the lessons BAE learned during this process was the trade-off may be more complex than the data available. i.e. defect rates, full lifecycle & impact to support.
DFx is now a natural part of new product development at BAE and has allowed them to provide a framework which ensures the front end of the project is loaded with the right people – improving the quality, success and longevity of the final build and delivery to the customer.
Lean Journey
The site was an early adopter of continuous improvement and Lean, in 1998 they began their first Manufacturing Improvement Programme, this has evolved over time to include a focus on Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Office, Benchmarking and application of many of the common Lean tools and concepts such as Five S (Workplace Organisation), Visual Management, Kanban (stock control) and Poke Yoke (Error Proofing). However, in 2005 they were struck by the fact that whilst they clearly understood and applied many of the improvement tools they struggled to sustain them, a localized approach was seeing improvements in certain areas creating bottlenecks in others, a challenge many companies will empathise with.
It became clear that to move forward they needed to find a framework that considered the end-to-end manufacturing process. BAE decided to adopt the Shingo Model for operational excellence. The benefits of the Shingo Model are the focus on Cultural Enablers as a foundation. This, I believe is what sets the Shingo Model apart from the TPS (Toyota Production System model), it relies on Culture first, and on this you can build successful and sustainable Continuous Improvement. Shingo also encourages systemic thinking – the need to look across the entire business and recognize the impacts of actions on others.
One of the key practices that have supported the organization is the Standardisation of both work and daily management – this provides:
Greater process control
Reduction in variability
Improved quality and flexibility
Stability (i.e. Predictable Outcomes)
Visibility of abnormalities
Clear expectations
This approach has had a marked impact on the business. BAE have seen a 50% increase in sales per employee, 10% reduction in overheads, they now have a 99.5% on time delivery to customer and have achieved a 4 times reduction in printed circuit board processing times.
Changing Hearts & Minds
One of the most noticeable changes I have seen at BAE Systems over the last five years is the improvements they have made to employee engagement. The focus on Shingo, has made them consider their culture, values and behaviours. They asked the question – what is culture? They defined it as a sum of their behaviours, values and principles – the way one conducts oneself, the treatment of others, our worth or standards and the laws that we base our reason or action on.
The focus on people and culture has driven a number of initatives:
A Wellness Activity Programme – employees recognized there was a desire to be part of a social club – so BAE now subsdise more social activities to create a more inclusive environment, creating an organization that people want to be part
Ensuring a safe environment – it became the norm that it was a safe environment – so BAE began looking at ‘near miss’ which made Health & Safety more pro-active. This evolved into physical safety, ethical behavior and employee wellbeing.
The ‘Recognising Excellence’ scheme and Rochester Chairman’s Award is given to people to recognize desired behaviours.
Skip Meetings – are open forums with the very senior members of the organization encouraging two way communications with cross sectors of the organization.
The Improvement Matters framework – makes use of peoples thoughts and ideas. It has generated small improvements and even new product lines.
Seeing the future – BAE create a mock newspaper set three years in the future. This sets out where employees hope to be three years in the future. It’s great fun and gets people thinking creatively.
From my observation, an important outcome of this is it has created a constancy of purpose as everyone has agreed on and understood the companies strategic goals. This provides a clear and unifying vision, which in turn stops the ups and downs created when people come and go.
One Big Thing
My big take-away from the visit is what BAE call their ‘One Big Thing’. This is the one strategic goal they are going to focus on in the coming year. Yes, there are multiple other targets, but the One Big Thing is the item that will lead to the biggest transformation in their business.
Flashmobs
BAE finished their visit with the following video. I would advise you to think twice about watching it though as you will be singing the song in your head for a week (and sorry if you get the YouTube Ads!)! If you do or you don’t the message is a great one for anyone responsible for culture change – flashmobs work because they position key people within the group that know the actions (behaviours) expected, the others follow each of these people and changing behaviour is infectious.
Our thanks go out to the BAE team at Rochester who openly shared their experience with honesty, humility and a great deal of humour!
If you would like to see first-hand how BAE Systems have approached their journey to World Class Manufacturing, pre-register for their next visit in 2018.
By 2019, the UK Grocery Market will be worth over £203 billion and will look vastly different to how it does today. The growth in convenience shopping and rapidly changing purchasing patterns mean that companies that manufacture Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), need to be agile and flexible in order to survive. Logistics and distribution in this world is not for the faint-hearted, and in a world where fluctuation of demand is the norm, Kellogg’s have adopted a range of business improvement tools to allow them to respond and achieve over 99% on time delivery.
We recently visited the Kellogg’s Distribution centre at Merlin Park in Manchester. This site is one of the customer facing warehouses that receives product manufactured in Kellogg’s European manufacturing sites, who produce a diverse range of cereal and snack products. Every day on this site 60,000 cases are picked, 3,000 pallets arrive and a further 3,000 depart. Kellogg’s globally has over 31,000 employees, 350 of which are on the three Manchester distributions sites – it is a large company with a local feel.
On our recent visit, Paul Blears (Logistics & Distribution Manager UK & Europe) and Ian Walsh (Logistics Manager for XPO Logistics) shared these great insights and ideas on how they remain calm within a storm of changing demands.
Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)
On a company visit I always aim to pinpoint that one key piece of learning that is transferable to any company, which is probably why the WIGs idea resonates so well. This is one of the tools Blears and his team uses to drive engagement and encourage continuous improvement – outside of the day to day operations. Blears asks each of his reports to come up with just one WIG a year. The WIG needs to be something that is:
Wildly important to them personally; and
Will add value to Kellogg’s;
The key here is the goal is one that is owned and initiated by the team member and not by the management – the other key if it isn’t obvious is it is just ‘one’. I believe this is why it works. Everyone can focus on just one thing, right? and it makes review and reporting simpler and easier, and engagement is therefore higher. This is cascaded by down to everyone in the division, and supports one of the Kellogg core values of Simplicity.
Create a Drum Beat
To stabilise the environment and manage variability, Blears talked of creating a ‘Drum Beat’ which allows them to maintain confidence in the schedule. This is achieved through a series of five minute meetings at set points in the day. These happen daily, 364 days a year without fail, providing short interval controls needed to stay on target and stay ahead of any potential issues in supply and demand. The 5 minute meetings are taken from the ‘Agile’ toolbox and focus on reviewing recent performance, current and future states. This simple act of a regular call in meeting provides stability and consistency.
Plan for Change
Another concept championed by the team at Kellogg’s is the concept of Plan for Change. This isn’t about wasted effort, it’s about wasted frustration. By planning for change the team plan for scenarios and outcomes based on historical data but are not constrained or paralysed when the forecast doesn’t match that expected. Forecasting in FMCG can be a dark art – there are so many variables and with the growth of social media and its impact on spending patterns a random tweet or like of a product can create enormous fluctuations in demand, so the concept of planning in the knowledge that the plan will change, allows them to manage this. This approach could be adopted by all manufacturing companies that suffer from frustrations in forecasting.
Make the outside world your inside world
This is about ensuring as a business they are in touch with what is happening in the global community – from a social, economic and technological perspective. Great advice in a changing world. Kellogg’s are part of an FMCG consortia ‘Five to Drive’ looking at new solutions to improve delivery and reduce costs, Blears truly believes that the distribution model in the future will look substantially different to that of today.
Doing Good
People no longer work for salaries alone, and it helps both recruitment and retention that Kellogg’s have an outstanding legacy of altruism. In 1930 W K Kellogg founded the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to administer his $45 million in personal assets to various charities. In 1944, W. K. Kellogg also gave away 21,400 shares of company stock to a fund set up to assist veteran employees. “Dollars have never been known to produce character, and character will never be produced by money,” he once said “I’ll invest my money in people.” The foundation continues today and is one of the largest charitable foundations in the USA. To guide current and future trustees and staff, he said, “Use the money as you please so long as it promotes the health, happiness and well-being of children. The charity remains a substantial shareholder in the Kellogg Company.
Embracing Change
As you would expect in a warehouse of this scale, operators utilise state of the art voice picking technology to improve both pick rates and accuracy. We also saw evidence of a continuous improvement activity that led to the standardised cubing of pallets, improving warehouse utilisation and space management.
Kellogg’s and XPO have responded to changing market demands and brought the co-pack operation (a necessary value enabler to the business back to the site and it is managed within the warehouse operation by a flexible team, cross functional and organisational team. Variability and seasonality in co-pack is exceptionally high so flexibility in resource is a real enabler here. Whilst co-packing sends shivers down the spine of anyone obsessed with lean and right first time it does meet a market demand and is surprisingly more common than you would think.
Big Data & What’s Next
As with many other manufacturers, Big Data was raised as one of the single biggest challenges facing the organisation. Managing and providing meaningful metrics from multiple software platforms is clearly a common challenge. Kellogg’s are currently focused on combining ERP, CRM, Voice Technology and transport logistic software to create a platform that can give a snapshot of meaningful information instantly. Kellogg’s are close to a solution which they hope will allow them to correlate and sift information quickly to improve decision making in a wider scope with far fewer ‘analysis hours’ required
With a day focused on managing uncertainties it was great to finish with some sage advice about the future. Blears believes that whilst experience is a long time gained and easily lost, you must continue to focus on innovation and revolution in order to grow – in this new world, it’s key to be brave and bold, whilst maintaining the sensibilities of meeting high customer expectations, day in, day out.
Our thanks go to Paul Blears of Kellogg’s and Ian Walsh of XPO Logistics for openly sharing their ideas and insights with others.
For information on upcoming visits please go to our website www.onsiteinsights.org
DCWW is a highly complex business that manages over 3,000 employees, 3 million customers, 60 km of pipes and 40,000 hectares of land. It contributes around £1 billion to the Welsh economy and is now also a major supplier of electricity. It differs from the UK’s other large water companies in that it is a Not-For-Profit.
