WBS was asked to provide Process Minimalism^® training for 12 middle management staff from a variety of departments and disciplines at Esssentra Ltd in Kidlington UK. This was to enable key staff to be fully competent in Process Improvement across the Kidlington Site and beyond. 

Think of the road network as a production line. Before you get into your car to go to work you are the equivalent of raw material. Once in your car and out on the road you have become WIP (work in progress). When you arrive at your place of work your status has changed to FG (finished goods). Once inside, depending on your job, status, mood, etc. you go to the customer adding value or you go to the FG warehouse collecting dust hoping for someone to buy you.

You have gone to great length to purchase the right machinery, you have a preventative maintenance plan in place, your operators are motivated and well trained, you are even maintaining a 5S culture complete with performance charts and KPIs, and you still cannot get product out of the door inside an acceptable lead time. What is going on?

This is an ongoing battle in many manufacturing organisations with either side blaming the other for causing long lead times, excessive work in progress, bursting finished goods stores, long changeover times, raw material shortages or missing packaging materials.

Sometimes you get a piece of advice that makes so much sense that it sticks with you forever. 20 years ago WBS Group sought advice on how to find a good dentist and was told, “Look at the waiting room. If it is messy, walk away”. The inference was that the state of the waiting room reflected the clinical standards of the dental practice.