Discovering how industry training organisations can help member companies boost their operations was the key aim of a pilot productivity project held throughout the country in 2008
Last year, sponsored by the Industry Training Federation (ITF) and the department of Labour, four printing companies and PrintNZ Training took part in the pilot of an innovative productivity project. The project was one of six funded by the department of Labour since 2004 to explore different ways of supporting production and boosting manufacturing operations.
The joint venture’s aims included helping industry training organisations (ITOs) to assist companies to update their productivity, enabling firms to streamline their operations, and testing whether ITOs are the best vehicle to assist their members companies in this way. Other pilots involved representatives from Business New Zealand, the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
Running between November 2007 and December 2008, the project involved seven companies in the printing, wood and apparel and textiles industries, plus PrintNZ Training, FITEC and the Apparel and Textile ITO. Interpac Packaging, Sentra, Printlink and Leading Label participated in the project for the printing industry.
Each firm was allocated two consultants tasked with using a lean thinking model to explore workplace culture and relationships, including management and union networks. The model worked from a basic premise of more worth with less work, and looked at how value can be added to a company without disturbing operations. Each company was given two initial consulting days for the diagnostic and goal-setting phase of the project and a further seven consulting days to introduce the suggested changes into the workplace. The four firms involved saw the pilot programme as a success, with each reporting significant changes in operations.
Chris Smith, managing director of Sentra Print, says his company’s involvement in the project was an enlightening and rewarding experience. The Auckland-based company employs 35 people, and acts as a hub for a number of design, prepress, print and print production agencies. Smith says, “The project took off immediately with the majority of the staff participating. The lean manufacturing concepts were put in place with waste elimination charts in each area. The degree of interest and enthusiasm from the staff was most satisfying and it opened up a new communication opportunity which had not existed quite so openly before. We now run a far leaner business and have eliminated the majority of waste, in both time and materials.”
Printlink, with a staff of 120, specialises in book and contract printing and one-offs for the spot market. Peter Ward, general manager of Printlink, says it is hard to judge whether the project has been financially successful as the company is only just beginning to introduce many of the recommendations suggested by the consultants. However, he thinks participation has been worthwhile. He says “The main outcome of being involved is much increased awareness of the potential to improve efficiency, reduce waste and lower cost by adopting lean manufacturing techniques. It has been very useful to have some external expertise and facilitation.”
Christchurch-based Leading Label employs 23 staff, evolving over the past 18 years alongside the local wine industry, specialising in printing labels for small to medium-sized business, including wineries, breweries and the food industry.
Mike Lugg, managing director of Leading Label says the project was a catalyst for the company to move forward. He says, “We were tackling issues on a piecemeal basis and the consultant helped us focus our attention on critical areas as well as guiding us in our approach to those problems. Whilst the project period has been quite short, we have seen a significant reduction in non-chargeable hours and spoilt work. This of course is a virtuous circle because time which would have been spent re-working jobs is then available for profitable work.”
Daniel Telfer, general manager of Auckland packaging company Interpac says staff were approached during the project and asked to express their ideas about the company. Specialising in folding cartons, the company employs 42 full-time and 26 part-time staff.
Telfer says, “We’re very grateful to PrintNZ and the Department of Labour to be given an opportunity to be part of this project. It’s given us a structure for a lot of the processes we would have liked to have brought in but haven’t had the opportunity to. It’s also helped us communicate our ideas and let staff know that the changes are not just another fad.”
Joan Grace, chief executive PrintNZ Training, says the project has opened a new area in which the ITO can provide valuable assistance to its members. She says, “We wanted to turn the rhetoric into something tangible and the outcomes have been very positive. The experience of the firms has been quite similar, with the major finding being that productivity improvements mostly happen through changes in the people side of the business and not necessarily putting in lots of money in. Often process improvements come from initiatives that cost very little but make a big difference to the way work flows through the business.”
She concludes, “The challenge now for PrintNZ Training is how to take the experiences of these four companies and use their insights for the rest of the industry. We’ll be looking at ways to provide seed funding to other companies to extend the benefits that these first four companies have reported.”
