Waikato

Despite Stainless Design sweeping three awards at last year’s Waikato Business Excellence Awards, Managing Director John Cook says many of his competitors remain skeptical of his company’s lean business philosophy.

“Traditionally, people tend to associate lean manufacturing  with production  manufacturing, particularly car assembly.  I believe it is absolutely universal – every business can benefit from this way of working.  It is really about getting your organisation to peak performance.  This requires a very different style of leadership from what I used to do but it can work if a company’s CEO is fully committed to the process and follows it through,” says John.

Stainless Design is not alone, with the number of companies adopting lean processes on the rise.  “More New Zealand companies are doing lean  than ever before – local companies are waking up.  That said, there is still some resistance from owners and CEOs who may resent being told how to run their business,” he says.

“Lean is a well established technique which looks to reduce waste in every form.  It is based on the Japanese Kaizen programme which focuses on continuous improvement on the shop floor.  We were fortunate enough to be able to learn about Kaizen directly from Japanese experts thanks to our involvement in the pilot scheme run by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.  Stainless Design was able to benefit from their expertise in getting everyone in an organisation working on the everyday issues  to ensure continuous improvement,” John says. 

People working in any company in any field are likely to face daily frustrations which slow  their work and reduce productivity.  For Stainless Design, these frustrations included double handling of items, distance between processes or machines and an inability to find key items when they were needed.  “Removing these frustrations as you find them is a good place to start to engage your people.  You need to build some trust and reduce the mystique about what you are doing and why.  If you can show people their frustrations are being addressed immediately, it helps buy-in and increases productivity,” he says.

“This does require a culture shift.  Workers have to be confident in pointing out problems.  Managers need to demonstrate strong and structured leadership to ensure consistency of messages.  The main function of managers becomes being able to deliver a daily reduction of business frustrations on the shop floor.  This is the best and simplest way to gain engagement of the entire team,” says John.

When a mistake is made in business – and they will always happen - many organisations concentrate on finding the person responsible.  “We don’t play the blame game here.  We want to find the underlying reasons why there was a failure – did we set the person up to fail?  Did they have the right training?  Is there a problem with our Standard Operating Procedures?  Is there an issue with our systems?  We will make mistakes – we are humans – it is how we go about learning from them and minimising them in the future which counts,” John says.

A key tool at Stainless Design is the ‘Opportunity for Improvement’ (OFI) forms. .  “Identifying a frustration or a mistake is our treasure – we want to capture it.  We want to address the underlying issues quickly.  Lean manufacturing means getting to the root cause – eventually  it is a self learning process.  However, it does not suit everyone and some people may take a career change if they feel they don’t fit the new culture ,” he says.

John freely admits that it can be quite difficult to create a lean manufacturing culture.  “It takes some time for people to trust the process, get them feeling like their suggestions are not only valued but actually being implemented throughout the organisation .  It also involves a move away from the traditional top-down business model.  We have top-down driving and guiding the process coupled with bottom-up empowerment to be able to make changes within their environment,” he says.

Continuous improvement requires training and Stainless Design has made a promise to all staff that they can expect training at least once a year.  Training needs are identified in regular performance appraisals.  “Don’t wait for 12 months to go by before addressing any potential issues.  Identify training opportunities early and help staff achieve their goals.  People are keen to get training - I’d say 95% relish the opportunity to be adding value to the process.,” says John.

To meet this need they have set up a fully equipped training centre within the business with a training manager.  They can also bring in external training providers when they don’t have the skills in-house.   Stainless Design has a policy of cross-training individuals. 

John says  “once a person is competent in their particular skill set, we train them again in a new area of expertise.  This way, they develop a high level of competency in several areas which provides us with flexibility and the ability to cover leave, particularly with all staff having four weeks annual leave.  We often have team members on approved leave on any given day.  Having people well-skilled in a diverse range of tasks  – not just specialists in one field – helps us manage this workforce challenge.” 

The training also  reflect a business philosophy of developing the team from within.  “There are simply not the ready-skilled people we need available in New Zealand.  We take direct responsibility for training and upskilling to ensure we perform at the top of our game.  We now always have people ready and willing to step up and lead teams,” John says.

John’s experience at Stainless Design means he can provide some tips for companies looking to adopt the lean approach.  “Pick the low-hanging fruit first.  Quick results provide the funding, the time and the opportunity to get into the more difficult issues in your organisation.  We use a system of staff suggestions.  Each month we rate all the suggestions on new systems, new processes and new ways to reduce waste.  Something that scores highly is generally low cost, done internally and provides substantial benefit to the company.  Low priority items may be good ideas but require high investment and have a slower return.  This process helps us decide which ideas to implement and when.”

It is important to understand that lean does not mean staff cuts.  Since implementing the Kaizen system, Stainless Design’s staff has grown by over 20%.  The real challenge is to preserve a healthy workplace atmosphere as a company grows and becomes more productive. 

“More than all the figures, I’m proud the company is still a friendly and happy workplace.  We now have 80 staff but have managed to keep a small family business feel.  That is the precious culture we have been able to keep – something I didn’t think we would be able to do as we grew.  Traditionally, bigger companies lose the family feel as they expand.   I’m adamant you can keep this atmosphere in a company of the hundreds or even thousands,” says John.

http://www.stainlessdesign.co.nz