Productivity

Improvement

investni.com
Productivity Improvement

Make your business

more efficient,
more competitive
and more profitable
Lean Thinking is a structured approach to business
improvement looking at the end-to-end processes
to identify and eliminate anything that does not
add value to products or services.
Addressing non-value-adding areas within your business
typically results in a productivity improvement of at least
25-30%. This approach has helped both local and global
companies to become more efficient, competitive and
profitable, so it’s worth taking a look at how to make

25%
your business leaner.
The Productivity
Improvement Team
Engage with Invest NI to access expertise
and training in relation to Lean Thinking
and Supply Chain Management.
What we do

20milli
What we do
The function of the Productivity Improvement
Team within Invest NI is to help increase the
productivity and profitability of businesses
throughout Northern Ireland.

The Team has engaged with companies across all

sectors in the local economy in over 100 projects
and helped these businesses increase their gross
value added by £20 million.
We help you identify process improvement
opportunities within your business and promote
the benefits of eliminating inefficiencies.
We can co-ordinate Lean and Supply Chain
Improvement projects.
We can help embed a culture of continuous
improvement and capability within your business.
We offer training courses, specialist advice and
mentoring and run workshops and networking
events about how to get the most out of
available resources.
The Team deliver tailored support designed to
assist businesses to introduce Lean Thinking and
effective Supply Chain Management in order to
improve operational productivity.
How we work

How we work
The diagram below illustrates how we
assist businesses from referral/enquiry
to completed project.
We are experienced Lean and Six Sigma
Practitioners offering advice, on-site project
scoping, project management, support and
facilitation. We can also deliver appropriate
training courses which can either be generic
or bespoke depending on the company needs.

Advice Referral to Team Visit

Invite to Training For those companies who have

little experience in Lean, we
recommend that nominated staff
attend the Lean Fundamentals
Nominate Staff Training. This is an excellent
starting point for understanding
a number of the Principles and
applying some of the techniques
Attend Training in practical workshops.

Scope Improvement Project

On-site Support & Facilitation

The Productivity Improvement
Team members are available
to visit your facility to help with
Project Completion scoping improvement projects
and to provide on-site support
and facilitation throughout
the duration of the project.
Next Steps
Who we are

Who we are
All team members have a wealth of industrial
experience and expertise in a diverse range of
manufacturing and service businesses.
We regularly assist businesses to introduce new
concepts, tools and techniques that can effectively
and efficiently improve many areas of business.
These include mapping value streams, flow, workplace
organisation, total productive maintenance, visual
management, services and the identification and
removal of non-value-adding process steps.
The team is part of Invest NI’s Skills and
Strategy division.

Advice

Training Support
Productivity
Improvement
Team

On-site
Facilitation Project
Scoping
Customer Feedback

Customer Feedback
What they said:

“The bespoke nature of support

was very effective in meeting
our company’s needs.”

“Our business has

demonstrated a cultural
shift towards continuous
improvement.”

“Competitiveness
and sustainability
has increased.”

“One to one mentoring

was extremely valuable.”
Experience the benefits
of our Productivity
Improvement Training
The team provide these training courses.

Lean
Fundamentals

Benchmarking Supply Chain

Best Practice Management
Events Fundamentals

Training
Practical
Lean for
Problem
Services
Solving

Single Minute Total

Exchange Productive
of Dies Maintenance

After the training you will have the opportunity

to receive coaching/mentoring support from the
Productivity Improvement Team to address specific
improvement projects within your business.
Lean Fundamentals

Lean Fundamentals
This two day course is designed to provide
training and practical insights on Lean Tools
and Techniques.
Using work based simulation, the course will
provide an understanding of the application
of the tools within both a manufacturing
and service environment. The aim is to give
sufficient knowledge to apply the learning in
your workplace.
Typical modules on the course are:
• An overview of Lean and Systems
based thinking
•P
 rocess Mapping – graphical representation
of the business showing key processes and
information flow within the business
• Change Management – understanding
and coping with change
• Waste Identification - introduction
of the eight wastes and non-value-
adding operations
• Constraints Management – looks at the
overall business model and highlights the
importance of identifying and managing
the constraint operation
• V
 isual Management – looks at 5S and
visual controls
• Standard Work – understanding the
importance of having standard and
balanced operations
 Lean for Services
BC
Lean for Services
This one day course is designed to provide
training and practical insights on how to
apply Lean Tools and Techniques within
a service operation.
The aim is to give sufficient knowledge to apply
the learning in your business. The training
is supplemented by using practical work
based simulations.
Modules included are:
•W
 hy a lean service approach is important
to improving the success of your company
•S
 imple steps that you can take to improve
productivity and reduce waste
•T
 he concept of service wastes and
non-value-adding operations
• Process Mapping
•T
 he concept of value and failure demand
and how to differentiate between them
•W
 here and when traditional lean tools and
techniques can work in service businesses
Supply Chain Management Fundamentals

Supply Chain Management

Fundamentals
This one day course is designed to provide you
with practical insights on how to manage and
work with your suppliers more effectively.
At this training you will:
• Gain an understanding of why the
Supply Chain is critical to the success
of your company
•L
 earn how to monitor and improve the
performance of your current suppliers
• Understand why you should view
suppliers and customers as partners
• Identify areas in your Supply Chain processes
that will enhance performance and save
costs and learn techniques to improve
the competitiveness of your Supply
Chain processes
•L
 earn how to select the best suppliers and
ensure risk to your business is minimised
• Understand why the role of Supply Chain
management is crucial to the financial health
of your business
• Learn tips for negotiating the best deals
After the training you will have the opportunity
to receive coaching/mentoring support from
the Invest NI Supply Chain Team to assist with
addressing specific Supply Chain issues within
your business. The course is aimed at anyone
with responsibilities relating to procurement
and the management of suppliers.
 Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

Total Productive
Maintenance (TPM)
This one day course gives an introduction
to the concepts and methods that lie
23
behind TPM.
Using tried and tested methods, you will
learn that TPM is more than a maintenance
technique and understand how it can become
an organisation-wide improvement methodology.
Course modules for delegates include:
• G
 aining an understanding of TPM and
the different maintenance approaches
•L
 earning how to track the performance of
your machines using Overall Equipment
Efficiency (OEE) measures
• Identifying areas of improvement using
the ‘Six Losses’ and data analysis with
the Plan-Do-Check-Act model
•U
 nderstanding the importance of analysing
failure modes
•G
 aining the knowledge to identify and
establish daily checks and preventative
maintenance strategies
Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)

Single Minute Exchange

of Dies (SMED)
SMED is a system for dramatically
reducing the time it takes to complete
equipment changeovers.
Using a work based simulation this half day
workshop will give you an introduction to the
concepts and methods that lie behind SMED.
Typical modules include:
• Hands on experience by analysing
a simulated changeover
•L
 earning how to identify and reassign
potential ‘external’ elements
• Understanding the importance of
documenting the changeover process
8 Step Practical Problem Solving

8 Step Practical
Problem Solving
This two day workshop starts with ‘problem
identification’ and covers the tools that support
and drive problem solving.
During the event you will gain an understanding
of the 8 steps and supporting root cause analysis
tools including the A3 template. Delegates will
work through case studies and an actual work
based problem. Prior to attending this course
each delegate is expected to identify a suitable
work problem with the assistance of their Lean
Executive and complete a draft A3 report up to
step 3.
Time is allocated on day two to actively work on the
respective work based problems. Following the
completion of the course it is expected that you will
have the knowledge to progress a solution for the
problem to closure. The Productivity Improvement
Team will be available to provide on-going support
to successfully complete the A3.
This course is aimed at company staff members
who have responsibility for continuous improvement
and is a logical follow-on for people who have
attended the Invest NI Lean Fundamentals Training.
Benchmarking Best Practice Events

Benchmarking Best
Practice Events
These events are held approximately 3-4 times
per year. They deal with a specific topic or issue
and include a presentation delivered by an
industry expert.
The duration of these events range from
a breakfast meeting, half day to a full day and
typically include a Q&A session and networking
opportunities with other attendees.
Some examples of topics covered include:
• Beyond Operational Excellence
• Mastering Lean Product Development
• Hoshin Kanri – Policy Deployment
• Coaching as an enabler for
Continuous Improvement
• The people side of Lean
• Best Practice visits have also been
organised (subject to demand and
host availability)
Key Facts

Customer
savings over
Key Facts
By making changes and improvements across
its supply chain a large manufacturing company
achieved direct customer savings of over £1 million,
a 33% increase in delivery performance and savings
£1milli
of £500k from a new parts kitting service.
A service organisation increased profits by 21%
by removing significant waste from its processes.
This was achieved by improving involvement and
communication across the staff and introducing
a culture of continuous improvement.
By working with the staff at a manufacturing plant Increased
the changeover time on a machine was reduced
profit

%
by 60%. This produced significant savings and

1
helped the company to increase capacity and

2
standardise key processes. This changeover
success is being cascaded to other machines
resulting in further increased capacity.

Machinery
changeover time

60%
Reduced
Who is eligible

Who is eligible?
Support is available to all Invest NI customers
regardless of size or sector.

General advice and some information

sharing workshops are available to the
wider business community.

The training courses are ideally suited

for anyone with responsibility for driving
improvements in their business.

If you would like further information or want

to attend any of these courses please email
[email protected]
If you require this leaflet in an alternative
format (including Braille, audio disk, large print
or in minority languages to meet the needs
of those whose first language is not English)
then please contact:
Invest NI Equality Team
T : 028 9069 8273
Text Relay Number : 18001 028 9069 8273
E-mail : [email protected]

Bedford Square
Bedford Street
Belfast BT2 7ES

T: 028 9069 8000

F: 028 9043 6536
Text Relay Number: 18001 028 9069 8000
investni.com