Manufacturing Company

  1. Background. A business that has been in existence for 30 + years with a stable workforce.

  2. Customers: A range of impressive international organizations.

  3. Product: a critical component of aeronautical engines

  4. Reason for the Review: Two reasons:

    1. Potential sale of the business – the Directors were all considering retirement and were keen to demonstrate the characteristics of an experienced and stable workforce to potential buyers.

    2. Customer demand – customers required a systematic approach to continuous improvement. The Board interpreted this as encompassing all aspects of the business, including the workforce.

  5. The Review Process:

    1. Pre-review involved a day of data collection which involved interrogating a range of existing spreadsheets.

    2. The main Review was carried out by the Board of Directors with external facilitation. Incorporating both item relevance and item ratings, it took 4 hours. The Directors found the process so useful that they requested a second Review by the Heads of Department.

    3. The second Review used the existing item relevance and focussed on item ratings. This took 2 hours.

    4. Both Reviews were analysed. Opportunities for improvement were found as a result of Review 1 on its own, and also comparing Review 1 results with Review 2 results. Examples include:

    • Using up to date technology to its maximum potential

    • Empowering the workforce to monitor and control the quantity / quality of output 

    •  Appointing someone in the Senior Management Team to be responsible for initiating discussion on people and organisation