Cutting waste gave us a healthy slice of profit

LOCAL businesses are being urged to think lean if they have plans to get big.

Shopfitting company Morris and Spottiswood has reaped the benefits from the new scheme

A scheme based on management principles founded in a Japanese car plant is being offered to SMEs in Glasgow and across Scotland.

Scottish Enterprise is launching the latest instalment of its Lean Thinking Programme - and the savings for firms could be huge.

Last year there were 150 participants on the scheme, and average savings per business worked out at £33,000 per company.

The programme is based on a set of ideas originally developed by car manufacturer Toyota.

The starting point for businesses is to recognise that only a small fraction of the total time and effort taking place within the company actually adds value for the customer.

By defining a clear value for a specific product or service from the customer's perspective, all the non-value activities - or waste - can be targeted for removal step by step.

According to Cardiff University's Business School, for most production operations, only 5% of activities add value, while a massive 60% of effort made adds no value at all.

Eliminating this waste is the greatest potential source of improvement in a firm's performance and customer service.

Scottish Enterprise lean manager John Peter said: "We saw this as a real opportunity to companies in Glasgow to add value to their bottom-line processes and profitability.

"This programme cuts across all sectors, so it doesn't matter if you work in production or servicing, this scheme will help businesses of all shapes and sizes and add value to products and processes.

"There is an initial interview with potential companies where we try to bottom out exactly what the issue that they are trying to find a solution to is.

"A project team is then assigned to the business, who then work with senior management to start implementing changes.

"I think it helps companies to have a fresh eye on things."

Glasgow Business Awards winner Morris and Spottiswood was one of the firms to achieve an improved bottom- line performance after taking part in the programme.

The shopfitting and property support business has been involved in various initiatives looking at external plant hire, procurement and most recently detailed analysis of its manufacturing operations.

'Lean' principles are now well imbedded in the company through measuring basic performance and looking at customer requirements.

Chief executive James Andrew said: "Overall, taking part in the programme has transformed our understanding of the benefits of lean, with real savings achieved.

"Having an external party looking at processes and procedures brings a new perspective to how the business was approaching certain tasks.

"Every firm must look for improvements and this programme has helped us."

Source: Evening Times