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Welcome
The aim of this site is to share knowledge, resources and experience with others who are keen to increase performance through continuous improvement and Lean principles.
In the true spirit of continuous improvement, please add your own comments to the blogs below and share your experience and ideas with others.
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Online Lean Benchmarking
Benchmarking orgnanisations in a similar industry or sector, provides a focus for improvement and can give a business that vital competitive edge.
This web based self assessment tool identifies current strengths and improvement targets across seven Lean competencies.
The personalised report provides a detailed gap analysis as well as a series of key recommendations and actions required to take your organisation to the next level.
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Lean Benchmarking
Do you need to reduce lead times, increase 'right first time' quality performance or improve productivity and bottom line profits?
Organisations that develop Lean systems are more competitive and increase their profitability in spite of tough market conditions.
This on site assessment carried out by a seasoned Lean practitioner benchmarks performance against businesses in a similar industry or sector.
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Skills Coaching
How are you developing the potential leaders within your business?
Skills Coaching enables an organisation to tap into hidden capabilities, motivate key individuals and grow potential leaders.
Through a series of monthly one to one sessions we work through nine recognised leadership competencies. The coaching sessions are designed to develop the necessary skills required in order to deliver the stated business objectives.
It seems to me that here in the UK, public sector organisations are falling over themselves in trying to provide help to small and medium sized businesses.
Two PCB manufacturers from South East England headed up by father and daughter duo; Steve and Stacey Driver go from
strength to strength with the help of The Manufacturing Advisory Service.
Spirit Circuits Ltd, based in Waterlooville, Hampshire led by its charismatic MD Steve Driver are recognised in the industry as one of the UK’s leading Printed Circuit Board manufactures.
This poster produced by the British Government in 1939 aimed to raise morale in the event of an invasion. The funny 
thing is, it seems to me that is exactly what Manufacturers are doing …Keeping Calm and Carrying On…as we continue along the bumpy road of economic recovery.
The latest Manufacturing Outlook Survey produced by EEF and BDO demonstrates the resilience of Manufacturing sector.
'I have worked with Mark over the last 18 months on a variety of Change projects. In that time, he has clearly and consistently demonstrated all the key attributes I would expect from a Business Improvement Consultant. Moreover, his fresh approach not only easily engages people in change, but also enables them to take
ownership at a very early stage. Mark is driven to provide the expertise for businesses to become sustainable quickly and he has certainly made a lasting impression on the Lean Champions within Balfour Beatty Rail UK. I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Mark to anyone who wants to achieve sustainable change, without the need to go through a long-drawn out process.
Listening to the news from Davos 2012 this week you might think so. It would appear that there is too much focus on austerity these days and too little on growth.
Heads of the IMF and World Bank have joined other influential figures in calling on countries to implement more policies to encourage economic growth. Furthermore Lord Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics didn't equivocate about his feelings on austerity in the United Kingdom when he spoke with CNBC last Thursday: It has not worked.
Students studying for their Masters degree in Operations Management interview Mark Knowlton at the University of Kent Business School. This followed a lecture he delivered covering Quality Management, Lean & Six Sigma.
Manufacturing Outlook Survey - December 2011
categories: Economy Manufacturing Reports18-Dec-11 08:36
The latest snapshot survey of business conditions in engineering and manufacturing companies is now available
(Published by EEF and BDO) download full report.
Summary
- Output and orders fall short of last quarter’s expectations
- Export balances soften in the past three months
- Sector divergence continued in Q4
- Signs that investment and recruitment is being postponed or scaled back
- Further easing of price rises
- Expectations for flat output and falling orders in Q1 2012
Glass half empty for UK Manufacturing leaders?
categories: Manufacturing news Reports11-Nov-11 15:53
The 2011 Annual Manufacturing Report for the UK has just been published.
This latest research report provides an excellent snap shot of industry trends and opinion.
Since the economic downturn there has been much greater recognition that Manufacturing is the key driver for ‘the real economy’. Despite this, 63% of respondents to this survey have a pessimistic view of the next 12 months.
Reflecting the very latest trends and opinions of Manufacturing leaders.
As the turbulent economic and political environment continues, organisations across many industry sectors are faced with fierce competition, shrinking 
operational budgets and reduced profit margins.
The latest Manufacturing survey publish by EEF and BDO shows that exports have been the main driver of growth over the last quarter. There is however some uncertainty looking ahead with signs that some sectors such as metals and electronics are experiencing weaker order intake levels.
Whilst current figures are strong, there are still fears that UK PLC is becoming a less favourbale location for future investments.
Summary of key findings within this survey are:
- 2011 Q1 brings another better than expected quarter of activity.
Download Lean Tools and Templates
Famous quotes from Lean Gurus Lean Jargon Buster 5S Audit template
Lean Benchmarking Mapping data capture templates
Reports
FREE sample Lean Benchmark Report
Supplier selection – is it an art or a science?
categories: Benchmarking supplychain30-Apr-11 18:12
Identifying suppliers that consistently meet our Quality, Cost and Delivery expectations can be a real challenge. Is there a simple formula for supplier 
selection, or is it okay to rely on our intuition and gut feel?
Click here to Benchmark your suppliers Lean performance, it takes just 15 minutes (Sample Report)
Here are my top 5 tips for supplier selection, but what do you think is important to consider when selecting a new supplier?
1.
Step 1 - Agree a common goal 'Stay ahead of the competition'
Step 2 - Map the existing value stream
Step 3 - Identify non value adding steps
Step 4 - Map the desired (Future state) value stream
Step 5 - Implement agreed improvements
Step 6 - Fine tune and then ‘simply’ continue to strive for perfection!
Download Mapping data capture templates or take the free online Benchmar
In these times of austerity, it seems to me that some business leaders in the service sector who favour ‘slash and burn’ cost cutting measures are short sighted and would do well to reach for a set of Waste Goggles first.
Many operational leaders don’t really appreciate what waste (or ‘Muda’ using the Lean jargon) actually looks like, are busy satisfying immediate (urgent and important) customer needs and cannot see the wood for the trees when it comes to improving efficiency.
Enlighten business leaders can spot waste, are Benchmarking thier Lean performance
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Welcome to the first edition of LeanMatters™ a quarterly newsletter for professionals who are keen to expand their Lean knowledge, access latest economic trends and discover innovative approaches to best practice.
MANUFACTURINGInnovation |
UK Manufacturing sector poised to fill growth gap – EEF Report
British manufacturing is poised to fill the growth gap as the public sector plays a smaller role in the economy. It is well placed to respond to the Prime
Minister's call to 'create and innovate; invest and grow' according to a major report and survey of 300 companies published today.
However, the sector would benefit from a government strategy which helps to overcome the growth barriers that companies face and to grow the next generation of large global players. The report contains new analysis by EEF of the disparity in numbers of larger UK companies compared to those in Germany and the US.
Benchmarking is a systematic process for identifying and implementing best practice - or in simple terms it is about learning from the experiences of others.
Comparing performance with organisations in either similar or dissimilar sectors enables individuals and teams to develop improvement plans and adapt specific best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance.
The age old question - how to get started with lean?
It’s a bit like Chicken or Egg…should we just try a few lean tools first and see how we get on, or begin with a clearly defined lean strategy and implementation plan.
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Lean Benchmarking Accelerates Manufacturing Performance
categories: Benchmarking Lean19-Sep-10 09:35
"There were a number of benefits to our organisation; this gave us independent feedback on the status of our lean implementation, it also allowed us to compare and highlight strengths and weaknesses with others in the lean community and analyse our current status. The gap analysis offered useful suggestions for improvement projects.
Economic Prospects 2010
The latest official statistics just released for the first 6 months of 2010 show very strong growth – the best since 1994 in fact. Growth of 1.4% in Q1 and 1.6% in Q2 suggests that the recovery in UK manufacturing is now well underway.
The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) said engineering plants in the West Midlands were humming again, supplying the German car industry and export machine with specialist parts.
Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose
Improving business performance requires effective leadership, access to relevant know how and most importantly a well motivated workforce. This video from RSA Animate presents the results of some interesting academic research in a unique and fascintaing way.
Manufacturing is key to the regions economy
Following David Camerons speech about the importance of Manufacturing in the south east, two manufacturers across the region are interviewed by BBC South East and Mark Knowlton of KPS was asked to comment on the importance of innovation within the manufacturing sector.
South East Best Practice awards
Chaired by Mark Knowlton of KPS and sponsored by MAS, In May the 2010 Manufacturing Best Practice awards were hosted at the Williams F1 facility 
in Oxford, Mark explained how South East manufacturers gained £23 million of added value through collaboration and sharing best practice. The Best Practice Network was established to help companies share knowledge, expertise and experience in the pursuit of continuous improvement.
A critically important issue in Lean success is the relationship between Human Resources (HR) and Lean transformation. 
There are two facets to the relationship between Lean and HR. First, the HR function like any other department in the company needs to apply Lean principles towards process improvement of its own work. Secondly, the HR function needs to actively support Lean transformation through out the organisation.
In addition to these broad areas of focus, robust policies and practices need to exist to enable an organisation to sustain its Lean journey.
A critically important issue in Lean success is the relationship between Human Resources (HR) and Lean transformation.
There are two facets to the relationship between Lean and HR. First, the HR function like any other department in the company needs to apply Lean principles towards process improvement of its own work. Secondly, the HR function needs to actively support Lean transformation through out the organisation.
In addition to these broad areas of focus, robust policies and practices need to exist to enable an organisation to sustain its Lean journey.
Lean HR case study
We were contacted by the MD an organisation in Kent who, quite simply told us his business was in a desperate situation.
The challenge
The challenge for this hospital trust was to reduce day to day operating costs and at the same time increase capacity &
patient throughput in Day Case wards.
This web based tool offers a FREE trial and an opportunity to assess your current Lean performance. The Advanced version provides a unique LeanBenchmark™ report (Sample Report) enabling organisations to target scarce resources, improve productivity and reduce costs.
Benefits of Lean Benchmarking:
- Identifies competitive threats
- Provides a complete picture of Lean performance
Some, more enlightened UK Manufacturers really do believe that the Chinese economy is something that should be embraced and not feared.One such company is Spirit Circuits, who have signed up to Challenge China; a new (part funded) collaborative programme recently launched by UKTI and MAS-South East,enabling businesses to access the Chinese market and improve global competitiveness.
Steve Driver (MD of the Spirit Circuits group) has been in the manufacturing industry all his life and is fed up with hearing negative press about the industry he is so passionate about.
In a recent interview where he launched the companies Think10 campaign for gro
A research report entitled ‘The Innovation Imperative in Manufacturing’ published by the Boston Consulting Group describes the most effective
tools for promoting and sustaining Innovation.
Well this obviously depends on our own personal experiences with Lean and the knowledge gained implementing Lean programmes. Reading quotes from well known Lean Gurus or taking an online Lean Benchmarking asessment is not a bad place to start expanding our Lean knowledge.
Lean is not just about Tools!
There is always a danger that Lean is considered as a set of tools that can be cherry picked.
According to the Carbon Trust, Businesses that take action to reduce their carbon footprint benefit from reduced energy costs, an enhanced reputation, motivated employees and in so doing can meet their regulatory obligations. (download free guides at end of page) & some
commentators suggest that adopting Lean principles across the organisation is the answer...but are they right?
Well of course we all appreciate that elimination of the seven wastes (Over production, Over processing, Waiting, Movement, Defects, Transport and Inventory) can help reduce the volume of materials, energy and water consumed.
LEAN - how to get started and then sustain the journey?
categories: BestPractice Lean14-Dec-09 16:08
“There are three kinds of leaders…Those that tell you what to do…Those that allow you to do what you want…and Lean leaders that come down to the work place and help you figure it out.” (John Shook). For me this quote highlights really well the critical importance of ‘Lean Leadership’.This is all well and good, but how can leaders develop or strengthen their Lean knowledge?
Lean benchmarking (Sample Report) provides a focus for continuous improvement activities, delivering real bottom line savings.
Mark Knowlton at KPS has been working with The Manufacturing Advisory Service in the South East (MAS-SE) to develop a regional network of Best Practice Clubs. This short video provides a good insight to the clubs with members talking about the benefits of getting involved.
The Best Practice Clubs encourage participants to help each other with their improvement activities, injecting friendly peer group pressure as well as peer to peer learning and support.
Price Waterhouse Coopers have published a report entitled ‘The Future of Manufacturing: reports of its death are greatly exaggerated’
To summarise, it reccomends Manufacturing Leaders should:
- Focus on Knowledge, not products
- Take a global perspective
- Take advantage of the government – don’t be afraid to lobby
- Be a champion for your business and industry
- Take advantage of the down turn, it is the best time to invest and restructure
For more details read the full report
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