Michael Laffan, Managing Director of Waterford Stanley
I came across WBS Group at an Enterprise Ireland event and was impressed by the degree
of attention they gave to factory processes and flows. They seemed to be very knowledgeable about layout, throughput, man-management and production efficiency.
We were at the point in our factory where some radical action was required. Our factory
was antiquated and we had a poorly performing workforce.
The WBS approach was upfront and yet methodical – they didn’t spend consultant days and
weeks at our facility – they spent a couple of days and came up with a very well documented
report. We could see at a glance what was required and how we could benefit from implementing
the changes they suggested. Waterford Stanley are a very cost conscious company and this
approach took away all the uncertainty of bringing in consultants.
WBS had to interface with a wide variety of people in a culture of anti-change. They were
able to empathise with those people and not just articulate what was necessary but also
what the benefits were. They were not at all threatening, judgmental or condescending.
They have a very good people management skill set.
Phase one of the work they did for us concerned improving the layout, materials management,
performance shortfalls and vendor management. WBS brought in lean principles for materials,
redesigned the layout for production (reducing assembly space by over 60% and reducing
assembly lines), and increased the skill sharing.
After a period of time, we realized the need to outsource and downsize our plant. We called in
WBS again who helped us relocate our business to a new site, just a couple of miles away.
We went from a 300,000 sq ft. site to a 70,000 sq ft site. WBS Group assisted in the move of
assembly operations and designed and implemented a new factory layout whilst ensuring
continuity of supply to a defined standard. After the move, WBS then helped us on the planning
capability, introduced material staging for new materials and new materials handling
capabilities.
“Overall I would say the WBS Group are skilled professionals,
capable of developing and working to, a clearly defined brief,
deliver quantitative results within defined time frames to cost budgets
agreed at the outset, and operate on the basis of working with internal
project teams to deliver results rather than telling people what should
or must be done to succeed.“