On-line aid for food companies keen to be lean during downturn

Phil Black - PII Editor 03/04/2009

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Food and drink companies are being offered a free on-line check-up to help them get in shape to tackle the recession.

The National Skills Academy (NSA) for Food and Drink Manufacturing has launched a free-to-use Lean Manufacturing Diagnostic Tool, which analyses how and where a business could improve its efficiency and productivity.

The tool analyses the operations and structure of a company according to the principles of lean manufacturing, an approach to business improvement pioneered by the Japanese automotive industry. It uses simple questionnaires to assess current performance and offer guidance for where improvements could be made.

The tool has been developed by Grimsby-based lean training specialists Peter Rowley Ltd, champions of the NSA for Food and Drink Manufacturing’s lean network. Managing director Peter Rowley said: “Given the duress the food and drink industry is under at present, it is essential that companies look at lean. The techniques and approaches which fall under the lean label not only offer an increased chance of survival, they offer real opportunities for long-term growth and sustained profitability.

“The tool looks at the efficiency and productivity of a business and paints a picture of where it is and where it could be. It has been developed to be as quick and as easy to use as possible, but goes into enough detail to be able to pinpoint exact areas of a business which could be changed to improve overall performance. After the analysis, companies can contact us or any of our colleagues at the NSA to look in more depth at what changes are needed and how they can be implemented.”

Justine Fosh, director of the NSA for Food and Drink Manufacturing, said that the rise in interest in lean among food companies could only be of benefit to the industry. “Lean manufacturing has proved itself to be a very powerful tool for driving value and competitiveness in the automotive sector and there is a growing realisation that its principles can be applied to all process industries and beyond,” she said.
“At its heart, lean is all about eliminating inefficiency. A big part of that is training people to work in new ways, particularly with regard to streamlining operations. The NSA is committed to helping food and drink companies reap the benefits of lean, and this new tool is a great way for businesses to learn more about it and get a fresh perspective on their own operations.”

The tool, which is hosted on the NSA for Food and Drink Manufacturing website, can be downloaded and used free of charge for seven days. It offers two levels of analysis, basic and advanced, with the basic assessment involving around 50 multiple-choice questions, the advanced around 100. Questions relate to different aspects of the business, which are scored according to the answers given. In the basic analysis, each area is scored from one (lowest) to three, with a general analysis of common problems and improvements that could be made. The advanced analysis uses a wider range of scores, with a full report explaining why a particular aspect of the business is given a particular score, and going into detail about what improvements would be needed to raise performance.

The NSA for Food and Drink Manufacturing, part of food and drink sector skills council Improve, operates via a series of networks of training providers, each specialising in training for different sectors or operational areas of the industry. The lean manufacturing network is one of 16 NSA networks overall, and currently comprises three member organisations, led by Peter Rowley Ltd. The network offers a range of training options for companies looking to embrace lean, from on-site seminars and workshops to accredited qualifications such as NVQs in Business Improvement Techniques (BIT).

To download the lean diagnostic tool, log onto the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing at http://www.foodanddrink.nsacademy.co.uk/. For a free consultation on your company’s lean needs, call 0845 644 0558.