Welcome

What’s the best way to get your team pulling in the same direction? How do you unite everybody in your business from your cleaners through to your sales force?

Businesses need a ‘totem pole’ that everyone can dance around – something that encourages loyalty and that helps the team to feel part of something bigger. If you can unite your people towards a common purpose or goal, then you are bound to work effectively and have real strength as a business.

For some companies, such as the global heavyweight Apple, it’s the iPod or iMac that gets everyone giving more than 100 per cent. For others, like Virgin, it’s a key personality such as the CEO or a charismatic production manager. In some cases, such as Dyson, it is a combination of the product and the person. For others, it’s an over-arching theme or umbrella that embodies the values, ideas and personality of a company: the brand.

The first step to creating your company’s brand or very own ‘totem pole’ is to define yourself. What are your company’s strengths, values and goals? What characteristics does your culture consist of? What passions unite your people? Once you’ve determined what makes your manufacturing operation different from others, you need a strategy to tell your staff. Visibility and persistence are key to ensuring that the members of your team start believing in and living the brand.

At the Manufacturing Advisory Service, our brand unites us and determines the way we operate, the services we provide, the sort of people we employ and the way we do admin! We conduct ourselves internally in a lean, innovative and strategic way because these are the values that make us tick. The people we recruit are passionate about manufacturing in the UK and therefore passionate about their work supporting the sector in the region.

The advantage of having a living brand is that it can be fundamental, come rain or shine, in keeping your teams motivated and excited. Let us know if you would like one of our specialists to help you think further about your company's brand, values and culture.

Arthur Richardson

Director

South West MAS

Let us know what unites your teams. Email info@swmas.co.uk and the best email will be awarded a copy of John Bicheno's book ‘The Lean Toolbox' and included in next month’s e-Newsletter.

Case Study

Teign Pre Pack works smarter thanks to South West MAS

Based in Heathfield, Newton Abbot, Teign Pre Pack was founded in 1989 and has grown from a micro-business into an employer of more than 16 staff, winning contracts with international companies.

Teign Pre Pack provides an ‘outsource’ facility, undertaking numerous operations which include packing fasteners and components, sub assembly work, managing a large network of outworkers and stock holding. 

Richard Wells, managing director of Teign Pre Pack, got in touch with the South West MAS in October 2006 following recommendations from its customer, Rittal, which is one of the largest manufacturers in Devon. Rittal had introduced the company to lean as part of a programme addressing its supply chain and as a result, Richard was keen to have more advice and support about how he could implement lean manufacturing throughout the business. He wanted to determine where the company was wasting time, energy, resources and not adding value.

To read this story in full click here.

For more information on support available from the South West MAS, call our helpdesk on 0845 608 3838 or email info@swmas.co.uk

News

A day in the life of Jasper Heinrich, production director of Halstock Cabinet Makers

My average day consists of a mixture of activities where, on a good day, the planned events outnumber the unplanned! Out of a staff of 31, we have 20 talented individuals who make, veneer, finish and fit our work. External influences bombard and buffet our schedules and we have all come to understand the term ‘cause and effect’.

My day generally starts around 8 am when I can be found at my desk going through emails and preparing for an 8.30am workshop meeting. This involves the whole company outlining the week ahead. These meetings generally last around 15 minutes, then back to my desk to resolve any issues that have cropped up within the meeting and require a speedy resolution. I then have a brief chat with the assistant director of production prior to his workshop walk round taking place.

The rest of the morning is based around meetings, with a prospects’ meeting at 9.30am then a production meeting at 10.30am. The prospects’ meeting involves the key sales force, project managers and the head of design. Future work is discussed along with workshop capacity.

To read this story in full click here.

If you would like to be featured in the new ‘Day in the Life’ column, please contact the South West MAS on info@swmas.co.uk

There’s more to Cornish Manufacturing than pasties and surfboards!

Martyn Pearson of the South West MAS reviews the shape of the manufacturing industry in Cornwall.

I have been involved with manufacturers in Cornwall and the Plymouth Manufacturers Group for three and a half years now, working within a variety of sectors.  During this time I have noticed a huge change for good.

In 1999 the manufacturing sector in Cornwall was worth £273 million. This figure reached £355 million in 2003 with more than 9,600 new jobs created by the industry.

Across the county there are some great examples of successful manufacturing organisations, and within these companies there is a wealth of talent that is keen to put manufacturing in Cornwall firmly on the map.

A major aim of the South West MAS is to help develop the skills of those working at all levels within manufacturing operations.  This was one of the major drivers behind the South West MAS helping to create a foundation degree in Lean Manufacturing and Processing.  Working closely with Plymouth University and Cornwall Business School, the degree programme was developed with local businesses and focused on getting lean practices higher up the agenda. Launched in Cornwall, the degree is aimed at professionals currently working within industry, giving them the opportunity to find out more about the implementation of ‘lean’ methods within their own organisation.

As a result of the degree, I have seen people with limited knowledge of lean making a massive difference to the growth of their business.  Many of the manufacturers I have worked with on the course have now created official positions within their organisations, such as a lean manager or lean co-ordinator, to ensure that new techniques and tools learnt through the programme are used daily by teams throughout their company.

To read this story in full click here.

Get the right insurance for your business

Whilst insurance is not the most exciting topic of conversation for business owners and employers, events, like the recent floods in Gloucestershire, reveal just how vital it is. There are many different areas that need to be covered or considered including liability, buildings, contents and specialist insurance.

As part of its commitment to supporting the needs of small and medium businesses across the country, Business Link has put together an interactive tool and guide to help employers navigate through the insurance minefield. Click here for more information

Whatever stage your business is at, or whatever the issues you face, Business Link can help. Rather than providing all the advice and help themselves, they put you in touch with a range of expertise from across the private, public and voluntary business support sectors. Their advice is free to anyone. To access Business Link services, visit www.businesslinksw.co.uk or call on 0845 600 9 006.

South West MAS on hand to assist flood-hit manufacturers

The South West MAS is offering its assistance to any manufacturing company affected by the flooding in Gloucestershire. We are available to provide up to two days free advice to businesses resuming day-to-day operations. If this includes you, and you are facing the prospect of moving your factory to temporary premises, re-designing your layout or changing your strategy altogether, please do not hesitate to call us on 0845 6083838.

Green Entrepreneur brings Bedlam back home!

An entrepreneur, who shot to fame 18 months ago when he appeared on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, has announced that he is setting up a manufacturing facility in Wiltshire and making some products from recycled materials from now onwards.

Danny Bamping, the ‘Green’ Entrepreneur and managing director of Bedlam Puzzle Company, will be working closely with P & P Moulds, an established and award-winning moulding company, based in Wiltshire.

Plymouth-based entrepreneur Danny Bamping had the BBC Dragons fighting over each other to invest in his Bedlam cube, a unique 3-D Puzzle which has no packaging. After some clever negotiations, Bamping initially accepted a deal on camera for £100,000 in exchange for 30 per cent of his company to two of the Dragons, but after a brief period of due diligence Danny changed his mind, opted to go it alone and funded his Bedlam dream with a bank loan. Earlier last year, he was named 28 in the top 50 Entrepreneurs in Britain.

Moving the company’s main manufacturing base from Asia to Wiltshire will mean that the ‘carbon footprint’ of the product and company as a whole is greatly reduced.

To read this story in full click here.

Alert to all electrical manufacturers!

If you import, produce or sell electrical or electronic equipment, you are responsible from July 2007 for treating and recycling household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Household WEEE includes large or small household appliances, such as toasters, dishwashers, washing machines, TVs and hi-fi equipment.

If this applies to you, click here for more information about what you need to do.

SWMAS is run in partnership with:

 

 

For general business advice contact your local Business Link 0845 600 9006

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For further information on any of the issues or items mentioned above, or on the South West Manufacturing Advisory Service in general, contact us on 0845 608 3838; email info@swmas.co.uk or visit http://www.swmas.co.uk