PROJECT CONSULTANCY

Whether you are looking to design, build or manage change into your manufacturing process, I can help to:

Improve manufacturing efficiency
Increase profit margins
Increase capacity
Improve control of manufacturing
Reduce waste
Improve food quality
Improve food safety
Install a continual improvement methodology
Coach employees
Advise on product legality
Implement environmental management control
Implement social responsibility / sustainability programmes

All my proposals are created in a modular format where a project is divided into steps.

This allows for the flow of work to be reviewed as the project progresses.

You only commit to each module one by one as the project develops.

how it works

Get in touch...it's that simple.

We can have a no obligations discussion about what you'd like to achieve.

From that discussion, I can create a draft scope of work for you to consider.

We can fine tune that scope and add a timeline and costs.

Then, we are good to go!

project examples

ready meals

The business produces premium quality, frozen ready meals and needed to increase their manufacturing capacity to match impressive sales growth.

During an online meeting to establish the project's boundaries it was agreed that 3 fold increase in capacity was a desired outcome.

A business audit on site revealed knowledgeable and well motivated management supported by a team of capable operatives. However, the control systems were not sufficient to ensure product consistency in current or future manufacturing. The business was preparing for SALSA certification and this needed to be factored into change plans.

So, the target deliverables were:

A factory re-design including the installation of appropriate machinery to accommodate increased capacity. The design addressed the movement of materials, people and information and their impact on efficiency and pending SALSA certification. The build of the new capacity needed to be staged to match budgeted spend.
The installation and training of Standard Operating Procedures (including training programme and matrix).
The installation of a business dashboard reporting on KPIs to drive a programme of continual improvement.

The outcomes are:

The business turnover has grown 1.5 times. Expansion has been achieved on time and on budget.
Plans are in place to be able to double capacity.
SALSA certification has been secured.
Product consistency has been improved by the standardization of process steps which are trained across existing and new operatives.
Management review existing performance monthly and set in house targets for improvement.

shakes

The business produces over 60 SKUs of shakes and was on a high growth trajectory. It was evolving at an electrifying pace.

The senior management team needed to know why they were not realising their target profit margins. Product defects were also at a level likely to cause customer dissatisfaction.

After two online meetings with members of the senior management, it was agreed that I should spend time auditing the manufacturing process and its people to establish a road map to improvement.

The target deliverables were:

An audit report identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the manufacturing discipline of the business.
A road map signposting a staged improvement programme with the target outcomes of achieving target profit margins and reducing defects (no target identified at outset).

Two main issues that the audit revealed;

A strong and committed management team that communicated well but shared too much detail, too often across departments that were not able to effect change on the issues presented to them.
Unacceptable levels of product wastage had become accepted across manufacture due to ineffective, old technology handling and filling systems.

The deliverables are:

Fewer meetings of a higher quality that deliver greater impact. The reduction of meeting fatigue.
The reduction of silo management in favour of collaboration by changing the ethos of sharing all of the information all of the time to only sharing information with stakeholders who can actively influence outcomes.
The re-setting of manufacturing standards and the implementation and training of 'one piece flow' methodology to target a reduction on filling 'give away' by 70%.
Recommended new filling, weighing and sealing machinery commensurate with the size and scale of the operation to reduce defects (e.g. sealing, product leakage).
Recommended revised systems of product handling, mixing to reduce wastage by 50%.

Outcomes:

More cohesive senior management as measured by post audit qualitative interviews.

Increase manufacturing efficiency by packs per hour +25%.

Reduced filling 'give away' by 70%.

Plans in place to replace old filling machinery for newer technology.

Plans in place to install recommended systems to install new handling machinery to reduce wastage.