 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
|
Vol 31 - No 05 - July/August 2005 Branch news : London & Southern - Visit to COSi With manufacturing declining in the UK, it was a privilege for IOM members to be invited, by the London and Southern Branch, to visit and learn more about a West Sussex manufacturing operation, which has successfully transformed its business in 4 years. Creative Outsourcing Solutions International Ltd (COSi) is a manufacturer and product developer of cosmetics and toiletries for many of the shampoos and gels that line our bathrooms. In 2001, Creative Outsourcing Solutions International (COSi) bought the manufacturing arm from the Body Shop, but faced a number of challenges: weak stock inventory control, low levels of customer service and poor quality. Moreover, at this time the seven outsourced warehouses regularly failed to deliver the raw materials needed to start production within time. Recognising the need to improve efficiency, Bobby Tolan, an expert in business turnaround, was appointed as CEO. Bobby believes “The best companies of today, and those that will be the best of tomorrow, are those that are actively working to improve their organisations. This can only be accomplished by improving the skills of each and every team member. To do this, we must provide the tools, the time, and a good learning environment in which to develop”. Michelle Hay, Organisational Development Manager and our host for the afternoon, explained that it had not all been plain sailing. The initial improvement strategy involved lots of learning by doing and in order to truly sustain the changes in both process and culture COSi invested heavily in learning and development support. An example of one of the initiatives that delivered significant changes in the operational areas is shown in Figure 1. COSi have recently won a coveted ‘employer led learning award’ from Sussex Enterprise for their employee development programme 2002 – 2004. Alan Dunne (Operation Improvements Manager) explained how the lean journey really started with the CANDO workplace organisation. Key to this was appointing a Champion (Iain Summers, Improvements Engineer) to engage the workforce and make it their own project, whilst ensuring the right level of top management support. Walking around the plant the implementation of CANDO was evident across the plant: clean, tidy and well organised work cells, clear labelling on machinery, and everything in its place. Following this, several cross functional improvement teams were put in place to look at the broad spectrum of projects, from internal Kanban style pull systems to lines, to major product launches, and line performance for critically overloaded lines. All projects delivered vast improvements, while importantly shifting the focus from top down dictats by senior management to shop floor based improvements with the right support from management to remove any obstacles to progress. The evolution continues as each production cell has its own Key Performance Indicators (KPI) displayed alongside the line and operators maintain the performance charts themselves. Local KPIs are clearly linked to those for the plant as a whole. Impressive moving displays high above the filling hall show targets and performance in real time and there was evidence of rivalry between teams to meet and beat targets. To support the transformation to shop floor based improvements, there has been the introduction of the Lean Champion’s programme, where volunteers from the shop floor have been receiving in depth training in problem solving and lean improvement techniques and practically applying them to the line. Successes already include a £30,000/p.a. saving in consumables consumption and a 40% improvement in change-over times from applying SMED techniques. Again the critical success factor laboured by Alan was not that it was led by management, but that from the top ranks down it has to be very apparent and constant. All the initiatives are already reaping rewards for the plant and its sister in Maesteg, South Wales. Improved washout control of the huge mixers used to blend the raw materials in six-tonne batches has reduced washouts by 40% giving the potential for 30% more batches to be produced with fewer staff. COSi has reduced inventory by 48%, improved productivity by 30% and seen a waste reduction of 70%. Competition is fierce, especially from the Far East, and continuous improvements are essential if they are to remain competitive. Our thanks to Michelle Hay, Alan Dunne and their colleagues at COSi for a great example of how investing in people really pays off. Frank Wright, MIOM Related Topics:
|
