Testimonials/Case Studies

Case Study: Potton Homes

How “Onsite Insights” has helped Potton on their journey to excellence

With over forty years experience in the timber frame industry, Potton Limited has an enviable reputation in the market place. Underpinning everything the company does is a strong commitment to both excellence and continuous improvement, and Potton has been using the Business Excellence Model as the framework to help achieve this.

Their Business Improvement Manager, Tina Nash, learned about the “Onsite Insights” programme and saw an opportunity for Potton to be involved. The company selected three hosts to visit during 2006, involving the majority of their senior management team – and each visit was both interesting and beneficial. What were the things that inspired the team?

• Styles and Wood: the approach to learning for the company’s staff. The “Academy” approach of modular, business focused workshops is one that the team thought particularly useful, and the people focused culture clearly delivers results.

• Woburn – the sheer enthusiasm of the team which is clearly a result of their vision for the business, and how their management have communicated it.

• HFL – an inspiring visit showing new ways to promote creativity and continuous improvement. The organisation had been through a culture change and shared many useful tools and techniques.

As a direct result of the visit programme Potton has benefited from the exposure to new ideas and the sharing of best practice with others. Tina told us about the impact the visits had made on the team:

“Potton’s theme for “Service First Through Teamwork” builds on the Potton commitment to customer satisfaction whilst drawing on the people focused cultures that we saw on our visits. We saw for ourselves the value of strong communication and a clear message: this gave added impetus and enthusiasm to our managers for their own projects.

We have worked on our Vision, Mission and Values statements: these now align with the aspirations of our people and will ensure you we continue to lead our industry. We are improving our communication strategy with all of our staff: and we are putting achievement and personal development at the very heart of our agenda.”

“Visiting these companies and discussing our ideas afterwards was invaluable. It helped us to clarify our own vision and to “steal with pride” some of the good tools and techniques we saw on our visits. It also gave us the enthusiasm to move forwards at a faster pace than we might otherwise have set.”

Case Study: Carlisle Process Systems (SME)

Before visiting Abro in Bovington, Simon Randall, Production Manager of Carlisle Process Systems (CPS) in Sherborne, had been contemplating the ‘lean’ route for his own factory, and wanted to find out about lean from other companies. His initial thoughts and perceptions were that a company who overhauled and repaired tanks, troop carriers and other military equipment would have a workshop that was relatively cluttered, and grubby – but was pleasantly surprised to find a clean and well laid out workshop.

CPS had already appointed team leaders, but there was a minor issue with how team members knew what they should be doing if the team leader was temporarily unavailable. An obvious answer hit Simon from his visit to the Abro workshop – team notice boards. He implemented these following his visit, and now team members can simply look at the board in their area of the CPS workshop to ensure an effective communication flow and ensure full involvement of all Team Members.

All teams have also been colour coded and some KANBAN has been implemented. All tools and equipment are colour coded for the team to which they belong – so that they are easily identified and can be returned. Borders have been marked on the floor to designate areas where equipment and supplies are kept so that it is easy to see when something is being used elsewhere, or when supplies need replacing.

These are simple ideas but very effective, and it was seeing them in action that showed Simon just how useful they can be. The reduction in lost and missing equipment has been very evident, saving search time and supply replacement problems.

Following this visit, CPS have also taken advantage of the advice provided by their local Manufacturing Advisory Service, which has complemented the ideas and assisted with their implementation.

“This was a very valuable and enlightening day,” says Simon. “I have come away with several ideas, some of which have been implemented and some that are still under consideration. For me, the new process needs to save time in the long run to be worth doing – and the ideas we gained from Abro have certainly lived up to this objective. Different companies will be able to offer different ideas, and I will certainly be making other visits in the future.”

Testimonials

We receive numerous testimonials following each visit and event, a summary of the feedback for each of the host companies is contained under each of their pages, a sample of the feedback is outlined below:

BGB Innovation
"Gave lots of good ideas to take away."
"Good open frank presentations about the challenges of the business."
"BGB appears to be run very efficiently. The staff look content and well trained."
"Very impressed. A lot of thought planning and time have gone into developing the processes."
"Company appears very efficient, happy and a motivated workforce, all working towards the same goals"
"People involvement at all levels was very good."
"Very interesting and will give me a good background to overall changes to our industry."
"Happy to discuss anything, no secrets, very open and honest."
"Very Interesting to see how the company made a culture change."

Buhler Sortex Ltd
"“As my first such visit, I was very impressed with the hosts presentations, their objectives, goals and achievements.”"
"“Well organised and very professional.”"
"“Very impressed on all levels – a good company to demonstrate good business practices.”"
"“Knowledgeable presenters, clear messages, positive.”"
"“Very well presented.”"
""Very knowledgeable and very good visual management.""
"“Very useful visit providing a great insight on lean manufacturing and the ability to see where we are aiming for.”"
"It was an excellent opportunity to get an excellent exposure to the manufacturing process of a lead organisation in their field. Also, the ideas being incorporated by HR to harmonise and give a sense of value to the workers is excellent."
"Very open and honest."
"Everything on the floor was very visual and clear to see what needed to get done."

Cummins Power Generation Ltd
"Very clean and impressive company."
"6sigma is a great tool for all industries."
"Excellent talk at the correct depth."
"Impressive continual improvement structure and processes."
"Enjoyed the explanation of the company's business improvement structure and the drive for standardisation amongst all functions."
"Very knowledgeable in subject areas and engaged group well."
"Interesting visit made me realise that we are not the only company with the same issues and nice to see how some one else tries to tackle them."
"I thought overall the visit was worth while and have come out with some good positive thoughts on how we can improve our implementation of PPI within our company, the method used to filter projects was good & backed up my thoughts upon CI engineers. "

Double H Nursery
"Well planned and structured. Good speakers and presentation."
"A great introduction to Lean management - many practical procedures can be applied to any business."
"Fantastic, what a great example."
"Provides a good overview of what works for Double H."
"Found communication great."
"A good insight into a totally different product being produced on a continuous production line."
"Good overall impression, very helpful and forthcoming with ideas."
"Very impressed in the running of the whole unit ,and the turn round of the business over the last few years, the way they have maintained their focus and carried on with improvements."

Dutton Engineering (Woodside) Limited
"“By far the best visit I have attended”"
"“A very well organised and enjoyable visit.”

"
"“Thoroughly enjoyable day.. Obviously a very committed management team and customer focussed production team.”

"
"“Open management with equality throughout and a key linkage from profitability down to the goals which are set.”"
"“Very positive – a good focus on culture.”

"
"“Fantastic people culture.”

"
"“It was an enjoyable visit and the speakers where excellent and thorough.”

"
"“Very experienced hosts.”"
"“Very impressed with the visit.”"

Entek International
"“Excellent visit – very impressed with the tour and the presentation before hand.”"
"“Very informative.”"
"“Good example of a business really working on change.”"
"“The presentation was very well structured and backed up well with the factory tour where we could see theory in practice.”"
"“I gained a lot of information to take back to my company.”"
"“I was impressed by the presentation and the presenters.”"

Happy
"A lively and thought provoking visit, delivered by a passionate, and sincere host."
"Very useful group discussions."
"A very refreshing, relevant and interesting learning experience."
"I found the course very enjoyable and I will be taking lots more away than I thought, I would recommend this visit."
"Obvious best practice in many areas."
"Excellent, thought provoking and very informative."
"It has opened my eyes."
"A very positive day."
"Very interactive and thoroughly enjoyable."
"It was one of the best training days I have ever spent!!
"
"Really relaxed atmosphere, a very positive way of learning"

Hayter Limited
"“Very good, good insight into the path the company has taken regarding lean.”"
"“Well planned with very good and relevant site tour.”"
"“Very well presented day. Good understanding of the business.”"
"“Exceptional spares warehouse (clean, tidy, good systems).”"
"“Very well organised.”"
"“Very smooth, well organised day.”"
"“Excellent knowledge and passion at all levels of the business. A very honest view of where they are and the progress needed.”"
"“The Hayter team did a great job.”"

Hi-Technology Group
"Interesting visit, good to see where Hi-Tech came from. i.e. the need to change"
"Very hospitable, friendly."
"Presenters very enthusiast and committed to continuous improvement"
"Good wide range of topics"
"Very informative presentations, enthusiasm for the business showed throughout"

HMD Kontro Seal/Less Pumps Ltd
""Great atmosphere and drive in company""
""Presentations appeared well informed and messages given were consistent.""
""A good visit. The ACE ideas take 6 sigma to the next level.""
""The change that the business managed to create from the inception of ACE was inspiring. A very good sense of Team.""
""Good insight into HMD's systems, will generate thoughts/ideas for use in our environment.""
""Very impressive. Would be proud to take visitors/auditors around if I worked here.""
""Very impresses with the controls and monitoring that are in place in all areas which are linked to overall business objectives/goals. A very simple and coordinated approach.""
""Impressive application of visual management, appeared consistent and up to date.""

Honeywell Plc
""Good visit, I got loads of ideas to take back with me.""
""Enjoyed the visit, good to see a process of change being so visually obvious in the workplace.""
""Well organised visit with plenty of practical hands-on experience in the use of tools.""
""Good visit, I am leaving with many useful thoughts which will be acted upon.""
""Fantastic - TPM was the best I have seen / heard of - very well presented.""
""Excellent, enthusiastic, passionate and honest""

Isuzu Truck (UK) Limited
"“One of the best customer care strategies I have seen.”"
"“I was very impressed, it was a very fresh, open presentation.”"
"“A very enthusiastic and open organisation, which was very inspirational.”"
"“The visit was a good eye opener to me in the customer service area.”"
"“Excellent presentation and company focus. Work practices were explained well.”"
"“It was an interesting meeting, in particular to see that customer service is the focal point of everyone in the company – and it works!”"
"“Very enjoyable and illuminating.”"

It's NOT Magic!
"Fantastic, practical and engaging event!"
"Excellent knowledge presented in a fun and enjoyable way. Thoroughly enjoyed the day and feel it was most definitely worthwhile."
"Fantastic way of presenting ideas. Good interaction and more enjoyable than most seminars that I have attended."
"Presenter was excellent and had everyone's attention for the whole event."
"Fabulous! Flowed very well. Entertaining and informative. Wonderfully visual as well as knowledgeable."
"It very much makes you think about what we do in our own business and will make me act on this."
"This event has been informative and of the most enlightening I have been on."

Kyocera Mita UK Ltd
"“Very enjoyable – good discussions.”
“Interesting and informative.”
“Excellent presentations.”
“Very impressive”
“Excellent relevant presentations.”
“Very informative.”
“Good to learn from others and find out there is support through schemes such as the green card.”
"

Mars Drinks
"“Very good visit, a good insight into an organised, structured day.”"
"“Well planned and informative.”"
"“Very useful. I was particularly impressed with new training system. Great group of people!”"
"“Excellent outlook and a deservedly successful company.”"
"“Excellent, well presented and well structured – far better than ‘workshops’ or ‘courses’.”"
"“Enjoyed it very much, very friendly and visit focused to all visitors needs.”"
"“Very informative and gave me new ideas to take back to my organisation.”"
"“Excellent example of teams performing well. Great insight into individual staff development.”"

MARS Snackfood
"Very open about lean process"
"Been made very welcome, great hosts. Very interesting visit."
"“Speakers were brilliant and knowledgeable.”"
"“A very interesting factory tour with clear and enthusiastic explanations of how things are done.”"
"“Very well organised and lots of useful information about lean production.”"
"“Extremely informative, everything was relevant.”"
"“Highly inspirational.”"

Mitsubishi Electric Air Conditioning Systems Ltd
""Excellent view into a company who has utilised well lean manufacturing techniques to really improve benefit to the company and the environment.""
""Excellent visit, informative, educational and made me think differently.""
""Excellent visual factory.""
""Informative and helpful. It shows the way we can develop.""
""The company shows great commitment to lean projects.""
""The visit was excellent and very worthwhile, I believe it would benefit some of my other managers to see this operation.""
""Very professional and well organised. Great team approach.""
"A good, well run and informative visit of the 2 factories, interesting to see a different working environment and how the same issue’s we all face are being dealt with. The Mitsubishi team were very professional, enthusiastic and had obviously given a lot of thought to what they were doing and a lot of time and resource to the visit. I was particularly impressed by the involvement of all levels of the organisation and the presentations given by the Section managers probably gave the most lasting impression. "
"Excellent view into a company who has utilised well lean manufacturing techniques to really improve benefit to company and environment for workforce."

Morgan Contract Furniture plc
"Company was very interesting to visit and several ideas are worth considering"
"Inspirational"
"Very clean factory, Lean works for them."
"Very open company and generous with knowledge."

MTM Products Ltd
"Very interesting presentation with some good examples of people focus, flexibility etc."
"A fantastic insight into a well structured and professional organization. I have been made aware of some significant areas that I'm keen to expand into our facility."
"Very good visit, staff are supported in change to their factory."
"Engaged and happy staff."

Ormiston Wire Limited
"Worthwhile seeing a dynamic small business thrive."
"I found it a most interesting and thought provoking day."
"Worthwhile visit."
"It is good to hear about other companies methods of manufacturing - very worthwhile."
"Practical, no nonsense and very honest."
"The visit was more enlightening than I was expecting and of great interest."
"It has been informative, pleasant and enlightening."

Oxoid - Thermo Fisher Scientific
"“Very interesting and worthwhile.”"
"“Very impressed with senior management attitude towards CI (continuous improvement). This obviously cascades through the workplace.”"
"Good, well balanced day"
"“Encouraging and motivating.”"
"Very well organised and informative. Open including areas in progress or that didn't work."
"Excellent day – well run and well structured.”"
"“The visit was very interesting. The performance measurement was of particular interest.”"
"“Well organised and presented. A useful informative day.”"
"“Very good visit, enjoyed the tours and found the visit very informative.”"
"“I particularly found the empowerment opportunities of interest.”"

Power Panels Electrical Systems
"“Excellent host, very good implementation of 5S and kanban.”"
"“Overall excellent.”"
"“Thought provoking topics, presented well.”"
"“Excellent, and very informative.”"
"“Very good attitude towards training staff, using a structured method.”"
"“Good mix of presentations and factory tour, informal style of presentation was good and good interaction with other delegates."

"

Richard Edward
"“Very interesting, it is good to see an example of a very well run company in such a competitive industry.”"
"“Very informative and comprehensive.”"
"“Excellent!”"
"“Presentations excellent.”"
"“Friendly people and interesting topics.”"

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Rencol Limited
"Very impressed, good presentation."
"A very good insight into a small but well organised business unit."
"Excellent hospitality, well organised."
"Very impressed with the enthusiasm of all staff. Very comprehensive."
"Great to see enthusiastic staff who are passionate about their role and their company. Good balance of sessions and good opportunity to ask questions. Thank You."
"Really enjoyed the day - an excellent visit. Particularly interested in the management of CI and employee engagement."
"Excellent, very informative. Have taken away a few ideas to adopt in my company area."

Seko Synergy
""Very informative and interesting.""
""Presentation was great. It is good to know that Seko has grown so big in such a short period. The idea of combining business consultancy and service together is a great success.""
""Seko Synergy are excellence hosts.""
""Dave Emerson was an excellent speaker and very open with information.""
""Very welcoming, an excellent visit with a valuable insight into how to develop a successful sales strategy.""
"Brilliant day - Enthusiasm and passion for their business really came across."
"A very informative and interesting presentation presented in an enjoyable way."

Siemens Magnet Technology Ltd
"“Thought provoking and relevant.”"
"“Excellent team of presenters and some of the best information I have seen on business improvement.”"
"“Very interesting visit particularly around the way the company as changed working practices and relationships with suppliers.”"
"“The visit illustrated that lean is part of the whole company’s vision.”"
"“Excellent presentations – open and honest.”
"

Spirit Circuits
"“Enjoyed the day, hosts were very informative and honest.”"
"“Excellent coverage of all aspects from customer retention to marketing.”"
"“Enlightening”"
"“Excellent, really helpful and informative day.”"
"“Very informative – excellent.”"
"“Very good visit – some issues raised will give us food for thought.”"
"“Excellent energy and enthusiasm. Very open and committed to the business.”"
"“Not what I expected, it exceeded my expectations.”"
"“It was a very good day, the hosts are honest and true.”"

Standard Life Assurance Company
""Very well presented...People clearly knew there stuff...Passion""
""Excellent to see how Standard Life have both valued technology but also how the staff have bought into it.""
""Excellent managerial team.""
""Totally Inspirational.""
""Well structured day.""
""Good confident delivery.""
""Well organised and presented.""
""Staffing improvement and development of great value.""
""Excellent venue and speakers.""

Thomas Vale Construction Plc
"“Very inspiring visit.”"
"“The construction industry challenges are similar to banking – its all about communication, engagement and delivering results.”"
"“Excellent facilities, professional presentations, good hospitality and friendly learning environment.”"
"“Very impressed with Thomas Vales philosophy, processes and procedures.”"
"“Excellent organisation and speakers.”"
"“Extremely interesting – food for thought.”"

Vitacress Salads
"“Very enjoyable, excellent information, well structured an presented by enthusiastic people.”"
"“Absolutely excellent visit.”"
"“Honest, open, transparent, passionate, eager to take on change and the individual ownership is excellent.”"
"“Very positive, one of the best (visits) I have been on.”"
"“Very impressed by the running of this factory.”"
"“I am a salad snob now! Great visit!!”"

WebMart Limited
"“Very impressive business model. Great energy and atmosphere. Lots of ideas to take back.”"
"“Very informative and relevant.”"
"“Great place, very good feeling of team work, staff morale good.”"
"“Very interesting business model, I found some ideas to consider in our own business.”"
"“I found it inspirational.”"
"“Very interesting insight into a completely different company and business model – how they are embracing technology.”"
"“This is by far the most interesting and thought provoking visit I have attended. Very impressive business model with high levels of innovation.”"

Williams Lea
"“Very open, helpful, well structured exchange of information.”"
"“Organisation was excellent.”"
"“Very friendly and refreshingly honest.”"
"“Very helpful and informative.”"
"“Excellent opportunity to see how a company is dealing with continuous improvement. Very valuable information gained.”"
"“The visit was well managed and the questions were answered honestly.”"
"“A very interesting and honest discussion.”"
"“The visit will help me in my role as a Lean champion. The topics discussed were spot on and I believe I will benefit.”"
""Extremely well presented day, speakers very good and tour excellent.""

Wyeth UK
"“Good, well organised and informative.”"
"“Very well looked after – good presentations and tour.”"
"“Excellent presentations provided a good overview of the scale of change and reasons for change. Particularly impressive cool chain management.”"
"“A very interesting day.”"
"“An excellent visit – very interesting to see the process of a world leading company.”"
"“Good overview of how a large company plans, implements and monitors change.”
"