14/06/2010 by Carol Hogg.

Following our successful work with James Heal in Halifax, TheBusinessDesk.com have run an article on James Heal’s achievements.

As well as helping the directors with their strategy for growth, Andrew worked with the Engineering Director to create a long-term Operational Excellence programme from the Manufacturing strategy.  He also helped them to introduce the concept of Lean across the workforce through “hands-on” training workshops.  Neil Pryke and his team have now identified where improvements need to be made, and with help from the managers and supervisors have achieved some important “Quick-Wins”.

The full case study can be downloaded from our website.

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of using the Lean approach in your business, you might find it useful to come along to one of our Introduction to Lean workshops.

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28/05/2010 by Carol Hogg.

We’ve been working with James Heal  since February 2009, and they’re going from strength to strength.  They’re now opening their doors to the manufacturing public for one morning, through the MAS YH Inside Industry programme, to let others see how they’ve started on their Lean journey, what they’ve achieved so far, and what their next steps will be.

The visit takes place on Tuesday 15 June 2010.

If you’ve been considering introducing Lean into your business, but are still unsure, or if you’d like to see how your company could benefit by introducing Lean, come along to the vist and ask those who have taken the plunge themselves.  For more information on our work with James H Heal & Co Ltd, visit our website.  Or visit Inside Industry  to book a place on this half-day factory visit.

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05/05/2010 by Carol Hogg.

Did you know about the Business Development Vouchers accessed through Business Link Yorkshire?

Eligible businesses can now undertake a 100% funded programme with us using the Business Development Vouchers, to work with your senior management team to undergo a strategic business review; to develop a practical business strategy; and to work with you to implement the key actions to achieve your goals.

Are you eligible?

• Is the business located in Yorkshire & Humber?
• Is the business over 36 months old?
• Does the business employ over 4/5 people?
• Are you committed to achieving change and have some ideas of how to move forward?
• By undertaking the Strategic Business Review, will you create new jobs, safeguard existing jobs, increase profitable turnover?

The service is 100% funded by Business Link and delivered at a fixed price of £3,000 (exc VAT).

Why not take a look at our Business Strategy page or our downloadable Strategy information sheet, and if you have any questions either about the Business Development Vouchers, or about Business Strategy and Strategic Reviews, just drop me an email.

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21/04/2010 by Carol Hogg.

Taking place on Thursday 22 April, this Foundation Day is a great opportunity for you to learn some of the basics of Lean.  The Lean Consortium programme is an innovative training programme, designed to help you introduce and improve your employees’ understanding of Lean, and to develop your Lean Leaders skills to take your essential improvement projects forward and instil a culture of continuous improvement throughout the business.

The Foundation Day is a free day of learning and demonstration from The Lean Consortium where you will learn the foundations of implementing and sustaining key lean techniques in your company.  You can participate in a live demonstration of the difference the programme can make to your business processes.

Full information is available at The Lean Consortium website, or contact John Macdonald on 07957 336856.

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02/09/2009 by Carol Hogg.

SMED - Single Minute Exchange of Dies - is a well-established method used to reduce how long it takes to set-up or changeover your machinery.  Did you know that when applying SMED techniques for the first time it’s often possible to halve the time taken?  Just think what that could mean for your business.

Is this something you’ve implemented?  Or perhaps you’ve considered using SMED but aren’t sure how to go about it?  We’ve been working hard on putting together a SMED training package, with a 13 minute video demonstrating the SMED process, step-by-step, to help you get the benefits of set-up reduction.  We’ve also included Excel spreadsheet templates so you’ll have everything you need to get started.

The whole package is available to download at £16.95 plus VAT and we’re so convinced of its value for money that we’re offering a money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.  Take a look at our SMED video webpage for more information.

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27/07/2009 by Andrew Nicholson.

Most manufacturers are aware of the basic idea of Lean Thinking - “add value and eliminate waste” - but too many focus on the “eliminate waste” side of the equation and lose sight of the “add value” opportunities. In fact, one of the biggest hidden wastes is “unfulfilled customer needs” and a recession is the best time to tackle it.

Unfortunately - as many of you will have experienced - there’s often little point in actually asking customers what they need. There are two main reasons for this:

1. They don’t know what you could do for them. Henry Ford put it rather well - ”If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have wanted a faster horse!”.
2. They don’t want to spend lots of their time and effort helping you to run your business better - they’ve enough work to do running their own business, thank you!

So you have to make the effort to make it easy for them - here are five pointers:

1. Don’t expect them to take time out to complete lengthy questionnaires - I never do. Ask them first and, whenever you can, speak to them direct. When you do, try the following:
2. Keep it brief. Keep it simple. It’s often better to know what 100 customers think about three things than what three customers think about 100 things.
3. Offer them choices - if we can turn around your order in less than 48 hours, would that be worth having? Would a Ten-Year Gurantee be of use to you? Would it help if all of the tests were automated?
4. Give them feedback - we’re planning to report on the survey results by the end of the month - would you like a copy?
5. And - most important of all - act on what they tell you (then ask what they think and improve it again).

Let me know how you get on…

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08/06/2009 by Carol Hogg.

How often has your organisation started the drive to improve; and how often has it dwindled away?  During this workshop we will look at the necessity of good leadership and focus on developing Leadership skills at all levels of the organisation in order to sustain the momentum of an improvement initiative.  If this is a topic you’re interested in, take a look at the full details on our website.

You may not be able to attend this particular event, but the good news is we can run this - and other workshops - in-house for you for a minimum of 8 participants, giving you a more tailored event, addressing your own particular issues.  Contact us for further information.

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03/06/2009 by Carol Hogg.

Just to keep you updated - the job opportunity at RMS is no longer available (see blog posting 21/4/09).

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27/05/2009 by Carol Hogg.

We’ve introduced a new section on our website, where we’re adding downloadable documents covering various aspects of Lean.  So far we’ve added information on CANDO / 5S and the Seven Wastes.  We aim to add regularly to the information which you can download, and will be adding a SMED information page soon.

Let us know if there’s a particular Lean topic you’d like covered and we’ll try to include it.

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20/05/2009 by Carol Hogg.

Wednesday, 3 June, 9.00am to 12.30pm.

Analox Sensor Technology Ltd is hosting an Inside Industry visit, organised by MAS YH.  Analox is a company we have worked with for many years on its operational excellence programme, including developing employees’ skills in such improvement tools and techniques as Design for Manufacture, FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis), 5S / Workplace Organisation, Performance Monitoring, Process Layout, as well as helping to develop the Analox 5-year strategy for growth.  Based in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, the company specialises in the design and manufacture of gas sensors and analysers and currently employs 64 people.

If you’d like to see Analox in action, and hear the experiences of those who’ve undertaken improvement projects with us, call us on 0191 492 8200, or visit our website for more contact details.

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