Challenge

One of Europe’s leading food processing companies sought to improve their competitiveness and recognised the need to bring significant improvement to their operational processes. Importantly, they understood to sustain the improvements a change in the culture was necessary. Transforming the company became a business imperative.

Solutions

The Business Transformation was led by the Senior Management Team in the company and supported by LBSPartners. The programme concentrated on two key deliverables. Process Improvement and People Development.

The first phase of the Business Transformation was to introduce standard processes in boning halls. A Visual Management Programme involving the introduction of PIT boards was introduced to make the work more visible and improve daily performance. To make the workplace safe and conducive to repeatable and productive work an extensive 6S programme was deployed. The development of Standard Work ensured a “one best way” to carry out any process in the company. These standard processes were shared across the company.
To sustain the operational benefits a programme was implemented to develop the people capable of performing the improved processes. The management team and supervisors undertook the Lean For Leaders training to be clear on the scope of the Business Transformation. The transfer of knowledge was undertaken through a number of Green and Yellow belt training courses. A variety of improvement projects were delivered out of the training which demonstrated the learnings.  Coaching was delivered on specific projects and also on development of processes.

LBSPartners continue to be engaged with the company to support the ongoing development of their operational and organisational models.

Impact

• Increased delegation and acceptance of responsibility
• Improved sharing of best practice across sites and understanding the “one right way”
• Clearer and more productive communication between operation and support functions
• Significant improvement in KPIs due to cost reductions, greater capacity and better productivity.