June 16, 2015 News Industry Forum is delighted to have presented a cheque for £3,530, along with a selection of goods and gifts, to its chosen charity, Acorns Children’s Hospice. The funds and gifts were raised through activities of Industry Forum staff donating to events such as ‘Dress Down Friday’ and also donating their staff incentive scheme rewards. Established in 1988, Acorns Children’s Hospice Trust is a registered charity offering a network of care for life limited and life threatened children and young people, and their families, across the heart of England. These children and young people are not expected to reach adulthood and require specialist care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the last year Acorns has supported over 700 children and more than 1,050 families, including those who are bereaved. Acorns is the only organisation that provides this level of care to these vulnerable youngsters whilst offering a range of support services to the whole family to help them cope at every stage of their child’s life and beyond into bereavement. Acorns relies on the community to fund the majority of its activities. To learn more about Acorns, or how you can help support the charity, please visit the Acorn’s website.
June 11, 2015 News Industry Forum has launched its 2 day AS13000 8D Problem Solving training course. 8D Problem Solving is a structured approach following the 8 disciplines of: D0 – Implement Immediate Containment and Prepare for 8D D1 – Form the Team D2 – Define the Problem D3 – Develop Containment Actions D4 – Identify and Verify Root Causes D5 – Identify Corrective Action D6 – Implement Corrective Actions D7 – Define and Plan Preventive Action D8 – Recognize the Team The course is primarily aimed at those who will lead supplier 8D problem solving activities. It will help delegates develop the relevant skills and knowledge required for using this highly effective problem solving tool within their organisation. Following training delegates will be able to lead 8D problem solving activities, root causes of problems will be identified more easily and corrective and preventative actions implemented more quickly. Visit the webpage to learn more about the 8D Problem Solving course.
June 10, 2015 Industry Forum Blog Today’s managers are under tremendous pressure to meet delivery targets with less and less resource, let alone meet the changing demands of the customer. Shorter deadlines, smaller delivery quantities, tighter quality standards and all of that cheaper please! Who needs the added pressure of lean improvement programmes or a Kaizen event? Releasing people from their day job and equipment from production is a tough ask when the customer is breathing down your neck. Unfortunately continuous improvement activities, just like training activities, are usually the first casualties in a pressured environment. However, while your brilliant trouble shooting may have saved the next delivery, has it really helped you longer term? Ask yourself “Did we really solve the problem or will it come back to hit us again?” To break out of fire-fighting mode you have to bite the bullet and start to solve the recurring issues. Don’t think of continuous improvement as a cosy training session, used cleverly it will make it easier for you to hit your daily targets and make all those improvements required to boost your competitiveness. I’m not pretending it’s easy to make a start. As a shift manager I was very proud of my trouble shooting ability, but in hindsight I realise how limiting that was. However, with some basic preparation and a plan ready to go you can break the fire-fighting cycle. Collect some figures on what is stopping you achieving your daily targets. Analyse them to find out what the biggest problem is. This analysis may be by cash, downtime or quality. Break the biggest problem down into smaller categories. Find out what the most appropriate improvement tools or techniques are to resolve your problem. You may have an internal improvement team to help you or you can find an external specialist who can work with you to deploy the techniques you need. Now you are ready for when you get a slight lull in the fire-fighting, or if worst comes to worst it’s a few extra hours! Display the figures and analysis on a board in the workplace area with the biggest problem. Handwritten is fine. Brief the whole area team round the board. Select a small team and deploy the tool or technique. At the start of your improvement journey the tools and techniques are easy to pick up and deploy. Have a go, learn by doing and next time you use the tool you will be more experienced. Show your results on the board and keep briefing the wider team. You can show results not only in the original analysis format but with before and after pictures, graphs and monetary savings. Different people will be looking at your results; you need to show them in different ways. The finance department love money – they want to see savings on the bottom line! Your team are probably more interested in how much easier the job has become without all the problems and hassle. When you have reduced the first problem pick the next biggest and keep going! It takes time and perseverance but if you keep plugging away you will break out of the fire-fighting mode and release time for more improvement. Achieving daily targets becomes possible as you tackle each of the problems that exist now. Once stable you can concentrate on making those improvements you need to be competitive. This is how I did it, but let me know how you have broken out of the fire-fighting cycle
June 3, 2015 Industry Forum Blog Do your team leaders need to lead, manage and motivate their team as well as improve the quality, cost and delivery performance of their area? If so, do they have the necessary team leadership skills? Team leader training is a very popular request from clients and courses are usually bespoke to the client’s needs. However over the years a clear pattern has emerged in the core topics chosen to start the team leader’s journey for leading in a lean environment. These are a mix of continuous improvement techniques and key interpersonal skills. They are designed to work together to give the team leader the ability to change behaviours and improve performance. They are also the foundation on which to build a sustainable improvement culture. Quality, Cost and Delivery Data Analysis to assess performance Eliminating waste using 7 Waste Effective communication, whether sending or receiving this is an essential core skill Visual Management of performance and workplace conditions Effective team working techniques 5S to organise the workplace Managing people through change Standardised Work to analyse work and capture current best methods Delegation Motivation The most effective way to train people in these techniques is learning by doing. A short theory session followed by practical deployment in the workplace ensures the team leader learns about what they are aiming to achieve and the whole team see the benefits. Bear in mind that for some of the interpersonal skills role playing simulations can be a safer way to practise and build confidence before launching yourself on the team! As I said, this is just the start of the journey in a lean environment and no doubt you are already thinking of other essential techniques and skills that the team leader needs, probably Problem Solving, Time Management and Health and Safety are near the top of your list. To get a good grounding in the 10 skills listed would typically take 3 weeks of training sessions phased over a 3 to 4 month period with ongoing practical deployment. My advice is to discuss your specific needs with your training provider and tailor the content of the sessions to meet your own requirements. For more interpersonal skills and how to use them in the workplace read Deploying the 12 Interpersonal Team Leader Skills. Let us know what skills you would need in your environment or which skills you have found most useful to you. If you want to understand more about lean techniques visit our Lean Transformation page or contact the Industry Forum team today.
June 1, 2015 News Industry Forum has today launched it’s full range of APICS CPIM Supply Chain Management training courses, starting with The Basics of Supply Chain Management module running in September 2015 at the Industry Forum Learning Centre, Birmingham, UK. The APICS CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) programme focusses on an organisation’s internal operations taking an in-depth look at the production and inventory activities within the internal operations of a company providing a comprehensive view of materials management, master scheduling, forecasting, production planning and much more. To date, over 100,000+ professionals are CPIM certified. The APICS CPIM programme is divided into five process orientated topic areas to provide participants with the best possible educational assessment and knowledge base. Basics of Supply Chain Management The basic concepts in managing the complete flow of materials in a supply chain from suppliers to customers. Supply chain concepts are introduced and basic terminology emphasised, as are relationships among activities in the supply chain. Master Planning of Resources The topics of demand management, sales and operations planning and master scheduling are examined in-depth. Detailed Scheduling and Planning Inventory management, materials requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, procurement and supplier relationships. Execution and Control of Operations The principles, approaches and techniques needed to schedule, control, measure and evaluate the effectiveness of production operations. Strategic Management of Resources Strategic planning and implementation and a look at how market requirements drive the resources and processes of an organisation. If you would like to know more about the individual topics please visit the webpages on the Industry Forum website.
June 1, 2015 Articles The success of car making in the UK is now widely recognised with the stream of good news stories continuing into 2015. The situation in the UK supply chain has not been so widely publicised but a recent report from the Automotive Council by Phil Davies at BIS helps put this right. Davies concludes that good progress is being made in bringing automotive supply back to the UK from overseas and that the activities of the Automotive Council have been important in bringing this about. Changing assessments of risk are a significant factor. A recent study by Deloittes predicts that automotive suppliers who get risk management right will be more competitive, more profitable and less likely to encounter the threat of disruptive recalls with serious financial consequences. Risk management continues to rise up the strategic agenda of OEMs and this makes supply chain proximity is an increasing priority for vehicle manufacturers. Back in 2011 Matthew Holweg of Cambridge University had shown that around 80 per cent of all component types required in vehicle assembly could in principle be produced in the UK. In fact, the volume of UK supply chain business increased from £11.8 billion in 2009 to £15.9 billion in 2013. In 2014 the turnover of the parts manufacturers expanded more rapidly than that of the car manufacturers and so it is likely that the share of their purchasing which goes to UK firms is now increasing after a long period when the trend was in the other direction. The Automotive Council was set up in 2009 to strengthen the links between government and industry and is a model which has been widely adopted by other sectors. This led to the formation of the Automotive Investment Organisation in 2013 to make the case for overseas investment in the UK supply chain. 10,000 new supply chain jobs as a result of inward investment from overseas have been created in the two years to April 2015. The Coalition’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative has supported 48 individual supplier projects in the automotive sector and nearly £90 million investment has been secured. The investment goes into capex, R&D and skills and so far more than 1200 jobs have been safeguarded. There are a number of projects in development. In addition the Employer Ownership Automotive Supply Chain Project has bought a further £20m government funding for skills development. Davies’ analysis highlights the importance of well-designed business to business communication in achieving strategic business goals for the supply chain. He finds that SMMT ‘Meet the Buyer’ events are effective and there should be stronger efforts to communicate with lower tiers in the supply chain. He concludes that despite the efforts so far which have clearly bought excellent results, there remains an information failure where buyers and sellers are unaware of what each other has to offer, despite the range of new communication channels now available in the digital realm. These findings are particularly important given the expansion opportunities that exist elsewhere in the UK transport equipment supply chain cluster such as aerospace and railway equipment where significant development programmes are under way. In 2014 BIS published a study of how good practice in industry and government could strengthen UK supply chains. It highlighted major business challenges where the evidence shows that supply chain collaboration produces results. For example, supply chain collaboration can solve problems in skills, finance, innovation and supply chain efficiency, balancing the whole supply chain. A report in 2014 by the All Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group – Making Good, A Study of Culture and Competitiveness in UK Manufacturing – developed the theme of effective communication for strategic change. It concluded that there is still too much reluctance on the part of owners and managers in UK manufacturing to engage with the kind of support packages and business development programmes that would boost business competitiveness via innovation, automation, skills, exporting and long-term financing. The Group recommends that politicians need to focus on changing the overall business culture and promoting the long-term attitude changes required. They issue the stark warning to the new government it would be disastrous if the result is a change in the rules of the game. A sustained cross-party approach is needed to press home the key messages. In the robotics industry, ABB Robotics have endorsed the All Party Manufacturing Group Study highlighting the importance of effective supply chain communication in boosting UK productivity. Apart from the automotive sector, the UK lags international competition in the use of robots as a means of getting better value added per person. ABB and other robot manufacturers know they must convince manufacturing SMEs to invest and to abandon the prevailing approach identified in the Parliamentary Group study of ‘make do and mend’. ABB’s own research shows the UK SMEs lack the skills and resources to use robotics confidently. ABB tackle this by demonstrating the benefits that robot investment has brought elsewhere to SMEs in competitor countries and showing how robot investment can produce a rapid return. They endorse the Parliamentary Group’s stress on the need for a consistent long term policy framework. This should cover a much better integration of industrial and educational strategies. Improving supply chain collaboration is a priority across major economies, including for example in the US Defence Industry. In April the Pentagon have released Better Buying Power 3.0, the latest iteration in a strategic long term drive to improve defence acquisition and supply chain collaboration. Under earlier iterations, the US Navy piloted a Superior Supplier Incentive Program and this approach is to be adopted by other services. To achieve the US’s strategic goals, defence acquisition has to integrate inputs from many perspectives, balance competing needs and satisfy different stakeholder requirements. This means that more technically qualified program leadership is needed with proven competence in terms of experience based standards. Stronger partnerships between different communities are also required so that emerging threats are spotted earlier and effectively countered more rapidly. Just as in ABB Robotics’ analysis, the Pentagon see the need for continued efforts to promote technical education right the way across the defence supply chain. The key point from all these different initiatives and studies is that better supply chain collaboration means a long term strategic commitment involving multiple stakeholders delivering consistent messages, particularly to smaller firms at the lower levels in the supply chain. The importance of this approach is the way it delivers real and tangible results as the world becomes more uncertain and risks proliferate. Further information: enquires@if.wearecoal.work +44 (0)121 717 6600 Download article (pdf)
May 29, 2015 News For the second consecutive year Industry Forum is proudly sponsoring The Manufacturer MX Awards Supply Chain Excellence Award. The Award recognises UK companies that are making measurable progress towards realising a fully integrated network of supply chain partners that demonstrably reduce cost and increase efficiency. A panel of independent judges, drawn from industry, will look for an integrated supply chain strategy that embraces the whole business process, from raw materials or component procurement, through to customer delivery. Judges will also look for demonstration of innovative thinking and measures to improve business performance, and improvements in the efficiency of operations to achieve greater agility, profitability and customer responsiveness. Being shortlisted or winning an award puts you and your work in the spotlight – highlighting your success to colleagues, stakeholders, suppliers and customers. If you would like to enter your company as an entrant for the Supply Chain Excellence Award please visit The Manufacturer MX Awards website
May 27, 2015 Industry Forum Blog There are over 200 Computerised Maintenance Management Systems on the market and these asset management applications are changing all the time. The danger of just buying a system off the shelf without considering what your business really requires is shown by the results of a survey (A.T. Kearney 1993). Out of 3300 CMMS users, 80% of CMMS did not meet the expectations of the user. This was despite 74% reporting improved equipment history, 58% improved maintenance productivity, 58% improved stores and inventory control and 45% controlled and reduced maintenance costs! Use these 10 tips to help you select the best option for your business. 1. Establish why you need a maintenance system and what you want from it A useful start point is to map what you have now and assess how effective it is. Mark up any problem areas as well as areas you would like to be strengthened now and in the future. Be as prepared as possible before you start your search for a supplier. List what you want in terms of: Maintenance planning functions Asset and inventory management Analysis and reporting 2. Define who will use the system and their requirements Decide who is going to use the system as well as who will implement it. It is vital to get user buy in so involve as many of the stakeholders as possible and agree the primary goals of the system. You may want to: Speed up the analysis of Emergency Work Orders to prevent reoccurrence of identical or similar failures. Reduce the amount of time required to collect and analyse maintenance data. Improve the management of the maintenance budget. Improve the issuing of work orders. 3. Define budget and timescales Understand the budget available to you and the savings you expect to make as a result of introducing the CMMS. What is your target Return On Investment? 4. Search for suitable suppliers Armed with your requirements you can now assess the different suppliers and applications available to find the best fit for your functionality requirements and value for money. Comparison websites and reports are widely available and most vendors offer demonstrations or free trials of their product. Then ask these 6 questions. 5. Is the application user friendly? It must be simple to use for every level of user. From data entry and raising requests to planning work and running reports. Look for; a range of data entry devices, drop down options, diagrams and pictures. 6.Will it interface with your existing business management systems? This is vital. To make the system as effective as possible it must improve information flows across the whole business and eliminate wasteful activities. If it doesn’t then you will probably make these worse. 7. Is full training is available for all user levels. Key to achieving your ROI is that everyone uses and adopts the system. 8. Is the supplier stable? This system is going to be in use for some years, you need a partner. Check their history, case studies, experience and references. 9. Is there ongoing customer support? Can the supplier offer prompt issue resolution for the whole time your plant is operating? 10. What about future developments? Over time you will need to expand your CMMS and make improvements to it as you review its ongoing use. Ensure the supplier can show their competence here. Let us know your top tips for selecting the best CMMS system.
May 16, 2015 Industry Forum Blog We all know how easy it is to get bogged down creating detailed guidelines, slavishly following stepped structures and learning new terminology. Over the years I have deployed many lean and Total Productive Maintenance techniques across a wide range of businesses. Recently it occurred to me that instead of creating ever more complicated explanations it’s sometimes better to get back to basics. Can we describe what we want to do in very simple terms? Light bulb moment – all of our successful improvement methodologies are based on just 4 key principles! Understanding these allows us to move forward and ensure our lean implementation is successful. Think of the task you are improving as a process. Eliminate what does NOT add value. Pursue your implementation with unrelenting rigour and discipline. Involve everybody in the implementation programme. 1. Think of the task you are improving as a process It doesn’t matter if you are machining a piece of metal or writing code for a program. What you are doing is transforming something from one form into another. This could be metal pipe into an exhaust, ideas into a computer programme, or telephone enquiries into quotes. Once we can identify the inputs to our process then we can observe it, capture it and improve it. 2. Eliminate what does NOT add value When we observe our process, anything that doesn’t help convert our inputs closer to the required output does not add value to our process. I started by learning to identify and eliminate the 7 Wastes, then someone added an 8th waste. Later I learned about the 16 Losses in TPM and all the phrases we use to describe waste in transactional processes like disconnects, threats and back flows. It doesn’t matter what you call it, but it is vital that you eliminate it. 3. Pursue elimination with unrelenting rigour and discipline Easy to say, much, much harder to do. I don’t think there is any substitute for leading by example and personally ensuring that everybody is doing their bit. Always follow up the improvements your team make. Ensure physical changes are completed and behavioural changes become daily habits. This will prevent the hard won improvements fading away. Once you’ve embedded that improvement you need to do it all again. And again. Improvement is infinite and better is not good enough! All of the well known improvement programmes, like the Toyota Production System, are an accumulation of small steps in learning built up over time. They started with simple waste elimination tools that gradually became more specialised as the waste became harder to eliminate. Dogged perseverance is the name of the game. 4. Involve everybody in the improvement programme Not only do you get more ideas by involving more people but you spread the word more effectively. The benefits of working in teams is a subject in its own right, but this quote sums it up for me “A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle”. My recommendation If the technique you are using has become overcomplicated look back at these four basic principles. At least one of them will explain the aspect you are trying to understand. Start with the simple and then build on it as you learn. Let me know about your experiences in mastering improvement techniques.
May 13, 2015 Industry Forum Blog Check if your New Product Introduction process features these 6 basic success factors. Before you start buying expensive design software or other automated tools to speed up your NPI process, have you examined your process procedures? Having studied and helped a variety of manufacturers, from build to print suppliers to innovators who launch to market, I have found that these 6 factors are an essential base for any robust NPI process and will result in reduced lead times and spend. 1. Use a gated process A gated process consists of sets of tasks, called stages, and review gates. See the Guide to NPI Terminology. At the end of each stage the project review board MUST formally review progress and decide if the project is still worth investing in. They need to establish: Will the customer be satisfied? Will it make us money? I’ve found that companies who don’t have a clear gated process are more likely to deliver late, allow costs to spiral and develop a firefighting regime. 2.Ensure the gates have “teeth” This is a great phrase that has been borrowed from the work done by Robert G Cooper. If the answers are NO to the questions above then be brave and either terminate or redefine the project and concentrate your precious resources on more promising ones. 3. Use cross-functional teams It’s worrying how many times I find that people and functions involved in a project have limited contact with other project members. Even though each individual believes they are working hard for a successful outcome, in reality they could bring in a better product, quicker and cheaper by working in cross-functional teams. 4. Appoint a project manager Having 1 person in charge of the day to day running of the project is more likely to result in project success (on time and in budget), but additional benefits are gained if the project manager also has strong team leadership skills. This is something I have found in organisations making improvements to established NPI processes. They improve the communication flows and engage and motivate individuals, which contribute to a better new product and improved project results. Although smaller companies may find it difficult to appoint a full time project manager, there are other options. Whichever option you choose, ensure that their role and responsibilities are well defined. 5. Have a clear set of rules for running your NPI process At the beginning these are the key elements you need to be clear on. How you will identify, assess and control risk to the project. A system for delegating authority to the different project team members. A system to escalate issues outside the levels of authority they have. A system to formally manage changes to the project. The more developed your NPI process becomes the more detailed these rules will become. 6. Set up a system to improve your process Formally manage the capture of solutions to issues that occur during each run of the process as well as team observations for improvements. Ensure these points are turned into actions for the next project to create a true Lessons Learned system.
