Diane Tibbles – Page 8 – Curzon Consulting

A complex multi-stage casting, machining and coating operation manufacturing precision components for the aerospace industry
Underperforming organisation and low levels of ownership for improvement
Extremely low velocity through the process, with poor yields and excessive scrap
High inventories of work in progress and finished goods
Production measures encouraging over-production
Silo mentality in operations exacerbating the WIP situation
Disaffected workforce with little interest in driving continuous improvement and no effective performance management in place

Analyse the current situation to articulate the operational improvement potential (yield uplift and inventory reduction)
Create the business case for change (P&L and cash impact)
Design a pilot to create an integrated supply chain for the largest volume product including suppliers and JV partners
Detail design of a pull model and elimination of WIP stages along the entire supply chain
Re-design of the layout and organisation to separate ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ operations to reduce rework
Launch of a continuous improvement approach within the shop floor to tackle scrap, rework and productivity issues
Design and introduction of a cascaded performance management framework

40% reduction in inventory identified through WIP elimination
The feasibility of a 50% reduction in production lead time confirmed
10 percentage-point improvement in yield performance from closer process control
Plan to deliver £5m savings in-year agreed
Changes to ways of working implemented in pilot cells with Lean work-flow approach trialled
Programme of Lean training and continuous improvement projects implemented
New KPIs are being used to drive the performance of the value chain in place of traditional cost absorption metrics

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A subsidiary of a global defence company, providing technology-based R&D solutions and advisory services to government and defence organisations and private sector companies at the cutting edge of secure communications and cyber warfare
Despite repeated calls by Group to improve, the business continuously failed to meet performance expectations on revenue growth, profit margin and free cash flow
The business was suffering from an overly-layered and siloed organisation structure, with burdensome management processes and lacking commercial focus
The underlying issues were structural and an absence of effective performance management, wrongly being justified because business discipline would stifle creativity and innovation

Undertook a business-wide design and business case development stage to anchor the current performance failings and the required changes
Implemented over a 12-month period working alongside the business unit leadership with a structured plan;
- A new leadership team established, with stronger governance processes, metrics, and proactive staff engagement
- Simplified the operating model and aligned capabilities to market needs
- Re-framed value propositions and initiated the move into critical national infrastructure
- Implemented resource management to drive productivity uplift
- Implemented new mentoring and HR processes to underpin talent management
Supported post-implementation by refreshing the plan

29% revenue uplift (versus budget target)
18% Return on Sales achieved versus a 15% target for the financial year
90% improvement in business cash flow
10% points increase in Engineer productivity, with a continued increase to 74% utilisation in year 2, and climbing
Transformed the operating model and business culture to be customer and commercially focused
- Established performance management at the business and individual level
- Underpinned changes with disciplines, governance, reward structures and visibility
The Project won the Management Consultancy Association’s award for “Performance Improvement in the Private Sector” with full sponsorship of the client