Blom WCP Magazine

Continuous improvementThe Blom way Couleur LocaleTPMLeanSix Sigma

WCP

World Class Performance

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(RE)FRESHEN YOUR TPM KNOWLEGDE

Blom Consultancy | Heuvel 11 | 5737 BX Lieshout | T +31 (0)499 - 42 79 79 | F +31 (0)499 - 42 79 [email protected] | www.BlomConsultancy.com

TPM cannot simply be implemented from one day to the next. It requires considerable commitment from both an organisation’s management and its people to actually put TPM in place. The organisation has to have a solid implementation plan and strong in-house guidance, not to mention expert and up-to-date knowledge about TPM.

Blom Consultancy provides the answer, with its unique, highly intensive, hands-on TPM Facilitator Training for staff tasked with internal steering or supervising of TPM. The course is scheduled on a regular basis, and consists of two 3-day sessions (includes evenings) given on site at a production company. The sessions are designed to ensure that participants (plant managers, production managers, TD managers, production leaders, and others) really internalise their new knowledge by having them roll up their sleeves and put it to work in practice.

In other words, your organisation could have its own in-house TPM facilitator within only six days!

3 L e a d i n g - t o W o r l d C l a s s P e r f o r m a n c e

4 The Blom Way

8 Couleur locale

12 Mindset

14 WCP at Stork

18 World Class Performance

22 Working together

24 FullFact

27 WCP at Saint Gobain

30 Implementing TPM in the west

34 TPM Aviko Rixona

37 TPM Offi ce Unilever

40 Cosun Coen de Haas

43 Leidership

46 Seattle Study Tour

50 Lean at Corus

52 Lean at Boeing

54 Lean Healthcare

58 World Class Six Sigma

60 Six Sigma at DHL

62 Smurfi t Kappa WCQM

64 Keytec

Dear reader,

This may be your fi rst encounter with a truly World Class magazine. We mean World Class in the sense that the magazine is entirely de-voted to continuous improvement, which is something that we at Blom Consultancy call World Class Performance, or WCP. This magazine provides you with a mix of in-depth articles, reports and interviews about various subjects.

We describe, for example, how our approach has crystallised into a harmonious model over the past 15 years. People, processes and envi-ronment are central to this model that refl ects ‘continuous improvement, the Blom Way’.

We have also included an interesting article about the infl uence of local culture versus the corporate culture. Blom Consultancy works all over Europe and therefore deals with many different cultures. We use the local conditions as a means adding a splash of local colour to a centrally mapped out plan.

Probably the most interesting articles are the ones contributed by our business rela-tions. How do Royal Cosun, DHL, Saint Gobain, Keytec, Stork and Corus, for example, apply Lean, TPM, Six Sigma or WCP in their organisations?

Read what they have to say and let them in-form, motivate and inspire you. We, in turn, would love to take our inspiration from you. What are some of the concerns in your orga-nisation, and how are you tackling them? We would love to tell your story in the next edi-tion of Word Class Performance Magazine.

Read and enjoy!

15 years of World Class Performance15 years of World Class

Performance

CONTENTCONTENT


INTERVIEW

Continuous improvement – The Blom WayHarmony between people, processes and environment

Continuous improvement can be achieved in many ways and is known by just as many names. What stands out is that the main focus is on the chosen method rather than on what we actually want to achieve. Continuous improvement with Blom Con-sultancy means taking an integrated approach that incorporates all the aspects of an organisation: peo-ple, processes and their environment. The best me-thod is not the most important part. The point is to bring those three aspects into harmony. Once that balance is struck, it creates a synergy that acts as a fl ywheel, driving your development and carrying you faster and more smoothly towards your goal: towards World Class Performance.


INTERVIEW

“What we often see”, explains Blom Consultancy Managing Director Ton Aerdts, “is that organisations that want to pursue continuous improvement of-ten take a fairly one-dimensional view of it. They adopt an improvement me-thod such as Lean, TPM or Six Sigma and focus on improving a specifi c pro-duction process. Or they implement personal coaching to improve personal performance. Is there anything wrong with that? No, but… it can be so much more. If you don’t restrict yourself to just that one tool or that one aspect, but take full advantage of all the tools at your disposal – infl uencing all the re-levant aspects simultaneously – then you achieve ‘fl ow’, to borrow a sports term. Excellent performance almost comes naturally at that point, in all areas and in all your people.”

Doesn’t this sound too logical?“I don’t mind if you call it logical”, says Aerdts. “In many cases, some-thing that sounds logical is good. Or rather, if it doesn’t sound logical and it isn’t clear, it often isn’t good either.” He indicates that Blom is not alone in integrating different approaches. “We increasingly see fusions of the various improvement methods emerging: Lean Six Sigma, for example. Lean and TPM have the same origin: the Toyota Production System. So they have a lot in common.” Blom has always been on a quest for harmony, from its very beginnings. It was not known as World Class Performance back then, but the aim was to have people achieve ex-cellent performance in a harmonious environment, allowing them to make their optimal contribution to the objec-tives of their company.”

What does Blom do?An integrated approach is embedded in the DNA of the consultancy fi rm. But what about integrating the diffe-rent aspects of a company? “What we have increasingly recognised”, Aerdts says, “is that there are three aspects that are essential in creating an orga-nisation that improves continuously: the people, the processes and the envi-ronment. These are the facets you want to infl uence in order to do better. Fin-

ding harmony between the energy you invest in each individual facet is dif-fi cult and demands a lot from people; they constantly have to switch gears. What’s more, you often see each aspect being assigned to a different person, in a different job, who in turn is being coached by a different external consul-tant. Aspects are handed from person to person. What we aim to achieve is a smooth integration of all three aspects, creating synergetic strength.

PeopleThe three terms Blom uses to defi ne the essential aspects of an organisation are just as broad as the Ganges in monsoon season. How does Aerdts defi ne them? “People refers not only to the know-ledge, skills and capacities that people need to have. We also mean the com-mitment you bring to your work, how your personality is wired, how you interact with others and what mindset you have. And people means everyo-ne: from top-tier manager to operator, from cafeteria worker to line offi cer.”

ProcessesProcesses could include many diffe-rent things. According to the Blom di-rector, you could extend the concept to all processes, from order to cash, from concept to product, and to the sales process or strategic process. “And many sub-processes can be described within that set. The point is that you don’t focus on one single activity. At least not without considering the acti-vities that come before or after it. Nar-rowing the scope too far creates a very real risk of sub-optimisation. You think up a fantastic solution for department A, but that causes problems in depart-ment B, or does not add value that the client can recognise.”

EnvironmentAnd environment: does Aerdts mean nature here? “This concept could be very broad, but we primarily look at the physical setting in which the work needs to be done. That working envi-ronment needs to support the proces-ses that take place there. A product development department will need an inspiring room where people can

brainstorm. In assembly, a U-shaped workspace may be very useful; a heal-thcare institution might need a healing environment that incorporates colour, music, nature and even scent.”

Synergy“The principle here is to structure the environment in such a way that the people can carry out the processes as optimally as possible”, Ton Aerdts states. “In everything we do, we in-corporate a focus on all three facets. Even when we restructure our own offi ces. We continuously look at how we can help our working environment be a better fi t for the processes and the people. But at the same time we check to make sure that the processes are op-timal and see what we can do to help people carry those processes out even better.” Blom has attempted to capture that synergy in a single image. The three aspects (people, processes and environment) are still clearly visible, but fl ow smoothly into each other, revealing the harmonious coherence between the elements. “The image is also explicitly dynamic”, Aerdts ex-plains. “You can almost see how much faster and easier it will spin.”

How does Blom do it?“We don't look at what kind of com-pany you are, and then choose an improvement philosophy to fi t. Say,

Ton Aerdts, Managing Director


INTERVIEW

if you are a production company, we pull TPM out of the drawer. Your pri-mary process is assembly? Great, then we have Lean here for you. We prefer to look at the seven losses as formu-

lated by Toyota, and then use this as the basis for fi nding the best solution. Thinking outside the limitations of individual improvement philosophies lets you fi nd the best solution for any problem. That’s one of the strengths of World Class Performance. In essence, it is an integrated starting point; we can move on from there to choose the right approach every time.”

‘People’ peopleBesides its synergetic approach and principles of integration, there is a third dimension that makes Blom fairly uni-que as a consultancy fi rm. “One client recently explained it by saying that we are true ‘people’ people. What he me-ant”, Aerdts says, “is that our focus is not just on the technical aspects of the change, but on the human side of it all. In essence, this is an intrinsic part of our integrated approach, but you still need to have people working for you who know how to express it. Our con-sultants are open-minded and enjoy talking to people in the workplace. That’s where you hear what’s going on and how you pinpoint potentially sen-sitive areas. In other words, our people have the mindset they need to do this job right.”

Change management“Of course they can communicate just as easily with managers, too. And this is a skill they need; management plays a very important part, especially where

behavioural changes are concerned. If you, the manager, want to change a culture, you will have to act as a role model.” Aerdts knows from personal experience. “People watch your feet, not your mouth.” The proven improve-ment philosophies offer good tools for managing this ‘soft’ aspect of change. “But we often see that it takes more than that to make a change process suc-cessful. That’s why we can also rely on extensive knowledge and experience about change management, infl uen-cing corporate culture, giving perso-nal guidance to people and teams, and improving communication between them.”

Mindset, knowledge and toolsThe extensive knowledge and spot-on mindset of the Blom consultants is sup-plemented by another unique element in the Blom Consultancy approach. “We have noticed that our clients feel a strong need for support in the form of physical tools”, Aerdts relates. “This could include signs with improvement tips in production rooms, internal com-munication tools or automated resour-ces. Things that can be outsourced to

ad agencies and IT companies. But the sustentative knowledge to make it happen is oftentimes lacking, which is why we have people who can also handle these aspects.”

Capability buildingAnd there is something else that makes ‘the Blom Way’ so unique. “Blom has no desire to make its clients dependent on advice from external consultants. One of the core values of World Class Performance is ownership. That sense that you are personally responsible for your contribution to the organisation’s continuous improvement. We are com-mitted to conveying as much know-ledge and expertise as possible; once we're out of the picture, we want you to be able to keep working on conti-nuous improvement on your own. We call it capability building. Our aim is to build continuous improvement into the mindset of the organisation, its management and its people. Then the Blom Way will become your way, and we will have achieved our World Class Performance.”

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ADVICE | BOOKS | BROCHURES | CAMPAIGNS | POSTERS | TEXTS | VISUALIZATIONS

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“I want you to do it differently from now on!” It might be the most direct way to communicate change, but is it the best? Does the person know what they’re supposed to do differently? Do they have the information they need to do it differently? Are they motivated to do it differently? Can they see the change as part of a bigger picture? And after a certain amount of time, have they forgotten that they were supposed to do it differently?

Yes, change requires communication, but it must fi t the situation. Blom Consultancy’s team of communication experts are here to help. From advice to fi nished product, we customize our approach to fi t your company.

Further information: [email protected]

geheel vonden de meesten, maar wel goed om te doen. Neurochirurg Beems: “Je denkt op een gegeven moment, jeetje, moet dat nou zo uitgebreid? Maar aan het eind zie je dat je dan pas echt zicht krijgt op waar het beter kan.” Operatie-assistente Lentjens: “Ik vond het ook interessant te zien wat in de andere delen van het proces, naast het stukje waar je zelf bij betrokken bent, gebeurt.” Kortom een nuttige en interessante exercitie, die sommigen zelfs ’s nachts bezig heeft gehouden.

(Bron)oorzakenEr kwam een aantal bronoorzaken naar boven. De vele overdrachts- en communicatiemomenten enerzijds, en het ontbreken ervan anderzijds. De patiënten uit categorieën 2 en hoger blijken, na binnenkomst, vaak een tijdlang ‘spoorloos’. Niemand weet precies waar ze zich bevinden en wat er wanneer met ze gaat gebeuren (ook de patiënt zelf niet). Ze verblijven als het ware ‘in het donker’. Ook de wisselende samenstelling in het team per OK werd als hinderlijk ervaren. Het bleek dat niemand een totaaloverzicht had en dat niet altijd de juiste kennis op de juiste plek aanwezig was. Tot slot bleken opleiding en zorg af en toe met elkaar in confl ict te zijn.

Future State Al voor de lunch begon het intensieve denken, de roerige nacht in het oude Soeterbeeck en de niet milde buitentemperatuur (25°C) de deel-nemers wat op te breken. Tijd om iets anders te gaan doen; nadenken over de toekomst. Hoe zou het proces er nu idealiter uit zien? De teams mochten even wegdromen in een ‘roze wolk’. Wat is onze droom? Waar zou het toekomstige proces nou aan moeten voldoen?. Een wens was “Ik wil gewoon opereren wanneer het mij uitkomt”. En een ander melde: “het juiste team voor de patiënt”. Vanuit de droomwereld was de stap naar een toekomstige werkelijkheid niet zo’n heel grote stap. De teams gingen aan de slag om de ‘future state’van het proces van de acute zorg in kaart te

brengen. De gewenste toekomstige situatie dus. En die moet natuurlijk de geconstateerde problemen oplossen. Dus werd er driftig over mogelijke oplossingen gebrainstormd. In het team Neuro werd een strijd gestreden tussen een Australische oplossing (waarbij de medewerkers 100% fl exibel inzetbaar waren) en een meer Hollandse (die slechts van een beperkte fl exibiliteit uitging). Het creatieve brein van Anesthesioloog Tielens maakte overuren. Hij bedacht de ene na de andere oplossing, die vervolgens door zijn teamleden tegen het licht werden gehouden. Elk bezwaar tegen het ene leidde direct tot een ander idee. Team Trauma had een wat abstractere oplossing bedacht in de zin dat ze het onderscheid tussen de urgentiecategorieën ter discussie stelden.

PresentatieDe laatste uurtjes werden besteed aan het voorbereiden van de presentatie. Hiervoor was een uitgebreid gehoor

ErvaringenDe deelnemers waren het over één ding in ieder geval eens: zo’n boosterbijeenkomst is zeer intensief en vermoeiend. Een veel gehoorde opmerking was ook dat het leuk en interessant is om met mensen van verschillende afdelingen en

verschillende functies samen te werken. “Mensen die je normaal nooit spreekt, of die hiërarchisch op een ander niveau zitten, worden ineens je teamleden waarmee je op gelijk niveau intensief samenwerkt.” Ook de verschillende inbreng van de teamleden werd als positief ervaren. “Je kijkt normaal gesproken toch vooral via je eigen venstertje naar de zaken. Als je dan ineens mag meekijken via iemand anders venster dan is dat heel verfrissend.” Er waren ook kritische opmerkingen te horen: “De analyse duurde erg lang, misschien wel te lang. Je hebt de neiging direct naar de toekomstige situatie te willen kijken.” Voor Van Vugt had de analyse weinig naar voren gebracht wat hij nog niet wist. Hij was bovendien, en velen met hem, van mening dat het ontbreken van cijfers over het aantal behandeling in de verschillende categorieën een groot gemis was. “We hebben wel een gevoel over hoeveelheden, maar ondanks herhaalde verzoeken, ontbreken harde cijfers nog steeds.

VerwachtingenDe verwachtingen over het vervolg van het traject waren gemengd. Aan de ene kant hadden de deelnemers zeker het gevoel een belangrijke stap in de goede richting te hebben gezet. Aan de andere kant waren er veel twijfels bij de daadwerkelijke invoering van de oplossingen. “Men zal het met de ideeën wel eens zijn, maar zodra de beurs getrokken moet worden…” Of de beurs daadwerkelijk getrokken moet worden (misschien leveren de oplossingen wel besparingen op) en of er dan inderdaad niet thuis gegeven wordt, moet natuurlijk nog blijken. Een positieve opmerking die in dit verband werd gemaakt: “Dat zal ook afhangen van de kwaliteit van onze oplossingen en de overtuiging waarmee we die presenteren.” Een mooier bruggetje naar het vervolgtraject is eigenlijk niet te bedenken.

De boosterdagen maken onderdeel uit van een breder traject dat tot doel heeft te komen tot een “Acute Zorg van Wereldklasse”. Opvallend aan het traject is dat oplossingen niet door deskundigen achter een bureau worden bedacht, maar door de direct betrokken medewerkers zelf. De deelnemers vormden dan ook een doorsnee van alle afdelingen en functies die met de acute zorg te maken hebben.

De deelnemers werden ingedeeld in 3 groepen. De groep Neuro bestond uit: Astrid Paauwen (Anesthesie medewerker), Marcel Hasenbos (Anesthesiologie), Laura

Blok (Anesthesiologie), Francien Penders (Operatie-assistent) en Tjemme Beems (Neurochirurgie). De groep Kinderen werd gevormd door: Annemieke Lentjens (Operatie-assistent), Luc Tielens (Anesthesiologie), Jan Blankensteijn (Heelkunde), Frans v.d. Staak, Rene Severijnen (Kinderchirurgie) en Ton Eikmans (Hoofd anesthesie-ondersteuning). Het team Trauma was samengesteld uit: Janneke Hofs (Operatie-assistent), Maria Steeghs (Operationeel manager), Dennis v. Aalst (Anesthesiologie), Bob Funnekotter (Anesthesiologie) en Arie v. Vugt (Heelkunde). Dit team werd aangevuld door Dorine Pluimers

Wie op 18 en 19 juni langs het Studiecentrum Soeterbeeck in Ravenstein liep moet de hersenen hebben horen kraken. Door 17 Radboudianen van allerlei pluimage, werd namelijk enorm hard nagedacht over hoe de acute zorg beter georganiseerd kan worden. Het voorliggende probleem: hoe zorgen we dat de problemen rond de behandeling van categorie 2a, 2b en 3 opgelost worden? De zogenaamde ‘booster-bijeenkomst’ had tot doel het huidige proces in kaart te brengen en te analyseren waar verbetermogelijkheden liggen. Er werd in drie teams gewerkt die allen hun eigen analyse maakten. De teams hebben zich tijdens de tweede dag ook bezig gehouden met het bekijken van mogelijke oplossingrichtingen. Procesbeschrijving, analyse en oplossingen werden ter afsluiting gepresenteerd ten overstaan van de andere teams en een select gezelschap van collega’s.

HARD

OVER

WERELDKLASSE

ACUTE ZORG

(junior onderzoeker) vanwege haar promotieonderzoek naar de effecten van deze aanpak. De teams werden begeleid door consultants van het bedrijf Blom Consultancy uit het Brabantse Lieshout.

MakigamiHet in kaart brengen van het huidige proces gebeurde aan de hand van de zogenaamde ‘Makigami-methode’. Een, zoals de naam al doet vermoeden, uit Japan afkomstige aanpak waarbij op enorme vellen papier het proces stapje voor stapje wordt weergegeven. Bij elke stapje wordt vervolgens bekeken of het goed loopt, of niet. Een uitputtend

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Process improvement bij DHL, effectief verbeteren met SGA

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Dit handboek Process improvement bij DHL

is een uitgave van Blom Consultancy bv

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Voor meer informatie over continu verbeteren, bezoek de site van Blom Consultancy bv: Heeft u interesse in de verbeterproducten van Blom Consultancy, kijk op:

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INTERVIEW

Corporate culture versus local culture

If your organisation has multiple

branches – whether within a sin-

gle country, or spread across se-

veral countries – then you know

that there can sometimes be major

cultural differences between those

branches. In some cases, these dif-

ferences are a legacy of the past,

for example if a company was ac-

quired. Sometimes differences in

language, dialect or geography can

lead to distinctly unique cultures.

Blom Consultancy operates throug-

hout Europe and is fully aware of

these corporate and country cul-

tures. But it goes beyond that: we

take advantage of such differences

by adapting the central strategy

to local culture wherever we can.

So how can these differences be

defined more precisely, and how

do they influence the implementa-

tion of World Class Performance?

We took a tour through Europe,

talking to Blom representatives in

Belgium, Germany, Hungary and

the Netherlands.

The local colour of World Class Performance


INTERVIEW

Johan Isphording from Blom Hungary kft offers an example of the influence of the local culture, in this case the Hunga-rian culture. “In very locally-run com-panies in Hungary, people feel a strong sense of pride. It’s not easy to convince them that there might be a better way to do something. Big international com-

panies present different problems”, he explains. “On many cases there is a main office in a different country dic-tating what happens. Since measures imposed from above often encounter resistance, by the time that the employ-ees in the Hungarian branch are ‘wil-ling’, their time is almost up, and panic

breaks out. Then the changes have to be rushed through, making a normal WCP approach difficult. If an experienced international consultant isn’t involved, there is a danger that it will just be win-dow dressing. The changes are imple-mented, but people are not focused on continuous improvement.”

1 0 L e a d i n g - t o W o r l d C l a s s P e r f o r m a n c e

INTERVIEW

Ron Barten from Blom Deutschland GmbH sees different issues at work. “In Germany, the main issue you need to consider is the formal approach. What people want to see from us as Berator (which means counsellor ra-ther than consultant, another subtle cultural difference) is a clear structure that sets out precisely what needs to be done and what it will yield. Also, the formal conversational niceties are ex-tremely important in Germany. Don’t try to call people by their first name. It makes Germans feel very uneasy. You are constantly addressed as ‘Herr Barten’, which immediately confers a certain air of authority.”

“In the Netherlands”, says managing director Ton Aerdts from the Blom Consultancy main office in the Ne-therlands, “you are judged less on your title than on the basis of what you have accomplished and the relationship you have with someone.”

Chrisof Frenay from Blom Consul-tancy Belgium indicates that building a client-consultant relationship of mutual trust is very important in his country and takes quite a lot of time. “By nature, the Belgian prefers to try to introduce WCP himself first and is slow to acknowledge a consultant’s value as a source of knowledge to ac-celerate the learning curve. Good refe-rences, a convincing story and quick results are more important in starting a relationship. The underlying long-term improvement philosophy is a lower priority.” Belgians also take a fairly sceptical view of external consultants

in the workforce. People often think that they’ll have to work even harder and that the pressure from higher up in the hierarchy won’t support ideas co-ming from the workforce. Compared to such countries as the Netherlands, communication between management and employees runs through far more indirect channels. Luckily, this does not apply everywhere. Many companies have launched a WCP process in the past years, and successfully too. Actu-ally involving the workforce in finding improvement solutions - a complete change in cultural direction for some companies - is essential here.”

In Southern European countries like Spain, France and Italy, the distance between management and employees is often even greater. The workforce has less influence in what happens here. Frenay, who also works in these countries, states that seeing the ma-nagement mingling with the workforce is the exception rather than the rule. “People there believe in the hierarchy and generally launch improvements from the top down. Management is less comfortable with involving the workforce in change processes, pos-sibly fearing for their own position, or believing that they should have all the information and employees should just follow instructions.”

Ton Aerdts wonders whether that is true of all companies. “In bigger inter-national companies we see like General Electrics, Toyota, or for example Proc-ter & Gamble that the corporate culture is stronger than the local culture. It doe-sn’t matter whether a branch is located in Poland, Spain or Sweden; the way they work is the same everywhere.”

According to Frenay “that type of compa-ny invests heavily in m a n a g e -ment trai-ning and behaviour

in management roles in order to create a specific corporate culture. But even there, especially in mid-sized compa-nies, the local culture continues to play a major role. The way they work may be the same, but the way that the ma-nagement and the workforce commu-nicate with each other is still different. Compared to Northern Europe, the Southern European manager consults the workforce less, and employees are less likely to knock on the boss’s door.”

Isphording thinks this might also be related to a country’s historical deve-lopment. In countries like Hungary, communism is still present on the pro-duction floor. A manager talking to his people still looks a bit awkward to both parties. He thinks he’s doing the right thing, but the people walk out shaking their heads. The employees obediently say yes and agree with him, but don’t really believe yet that they can actually influence anything. Personal initiative was seriously discouraged in those days. People prefer to wait for the boss to tell them what to do. Aerdts believes that internationalisation and the appli-cation of WCP can help change that culture. “As I said before, corporate culture can overshadow local culture, and even influence it. A strong corpo-rate culture often spreads beyond the company’s walls.”

Familiarity or unfamiliarity with the various improvement philosophies apparently also differs from country to country. In the East, Isphording explains, terms like WCP are almost unknown. “For example, we’ll be tal-king about ‘5S’, but what we really mean is ‘cleaning up the workplace’.” Barten says that in Germany, but also elsewhere, if the management says, “we’re going to do WCP!”, people think, “ouch, that’s going to cost jobs”. In Belgium, various terms are being used, Frenay indicates, “Quality Ma-nagement, TPM, Business Process Excellence, EFQM, Six Sigma…” “It doesn’t really matter all that much what you call it”, says Aerdts. “Many companies give their improvement pro-gramme a name along the lines of the

Johan Isphording from Blom Hungary kft

Ron Barten from Blom Deutschland GmbH


INTERVIEW

Toyota Production System (TPS), i.e. the [company name]Production Sys-tem. Fine, that can be valuable if you use the name to create unity - if you use the name consistently, and don’t just stick the label on a single project or a one-time stunt.”

To what extent do preconceptions play a part? According to Isphording, spea-king the language is just as important, if not more so. “Then it doesn’t matter much where you’re from. Especially in the developing economies in Eastern Europe, where you’re often dealing with foreign head offices, your input as a Western European is valued highly.” Frenay and Barten confirm this impres-sion. According to Ton Aerdts, flexibi-lity and the ability to speak multiple languages are important characteristics that make it possible for a Blom consul-tant to anticipate the quirks of the local culture anywhere and to connect with both management and employees.

Other aspects that organisations com-mitted to continuous improvement face include works councils and trade unions. In Germany, the trade unions and works councils have considerable influence. “For us as Berators, it is crucial to get both on board”, Barten affirms. Aerdts sees the same thing in England, where you often have to deal with several different unions at once. “If they aren’t convinced, or don’t feel that they’ve been involved enough, they can stop things from happening”,

he states. “A company’s relationship with the unions is vital when it comes to change plans.” “In Hungary, the lack of funds means that the unions are not as well organised; as a result, they may be reasonably accommodating”, says Isphording.

In the former Eastern Bloc, he ex-plains, employee emancipation is not progressing very well to begin with. “A worker is a worker. There is a clear dis-tinction between the management and the workforce.” Isphording partly at-tributes the gapp between management and workforce in Eastern Europe to the fact that the employees actually need their jobs. “Minimum wages are low and many people hold down multiple jobs to make ends meet. And if you’re that dependent on your job, you tend not to stick your neck out.” According to Blom’s representative in Hungary, the low standard of living also affects loyalty to the company. “If people can earn 20 euros more somewhere else, they’re already gone.” A company that applies WCP may have an edge on the labour market in that respect. Not be-cause of the term WCP, but because of how successful it is.

“High turnover and the resulting influx of new employees is not a problem as such”, says Aerdts, “but it is frustra-ting to have to train new people over and over. As a company, your learning curve should keep going up.” Frenay agrees. “But in that case, you do have to give your people sufficient resour-ces.” Barten relates that Toyota in Ger-many specifically aims to maintain a balance between retaining experienced employees and bringing in new people. “By doing so, they hope to constantly gain new technologies and knowledge. Another obvious way to pursue conti-nuous improvement, of course.”

One of the key principles of World Class Performance is highlighting and celebrating successes. How that is done also differs significantly from country to country. “In France, I have occasionally been told that celebrating successes is simply not part of the cul-ture”, Frenay says. “We don’t really

have much of a celebration culture in Hungary either”, Isphording adds. “Celebration is normal in Germany, with cake, even including a photo of the employee or team involved”, Bar-ten relates. “That’s common in the Benelux too, but the photo quickly sprouts doodles of glasses and mous-taches”, add Aerdts laughing. He no-tes that employees in countries where celebrations are less appropriate often gain satisfaction from presenting their

work to the management. “If it makes people feel proud of their work and gives them a sense of ownership for the solutions, then that enhances en-gagement and commitment, increasing the chance that they want to participate again next time.”

Ton Aerdts from Blom Netherlands

Chrisof Frenay from Blom Belgium bvba

IN-DEPTH ARTICLE


At a time when changes are occurring rapidly one right after the other, you will have to improve continuously in order to stay ahead of the competition. Programmes such as Lean, TPM and 6 Sigma can provide the ideal tools to help you. However, you run the risk of placing too much focus on the techni-cal side of these improvement philo-sophies. Which is exactly one of the most major pitfalls that results in only one-third of these change programmes proving successful – despite having a solid strategy, clear KPIs (key per-formance indicators) and insight into where losses lie. Moreover, once a programme has failed, it is difficult to try again. You can hear them sighing already: “more change, something new again.”

People are the key to successThe most important Critical Success Factor (CSF) in your organisation is your people! They determine the rate of success for improvement and chan-ge programmes. “But”, you are about to say, “this is nothing new.” True, and yet the people side of organisations is nevertheless underestimated time and time again. Blom Consultancy not only supports and facilitates in imple-menting the technical aspects of con-tinuous improvement programmes, but we also specialis in change ma-nagement, culture change and inter-nal communication. What’s more, we have harmonised three crucial compo-nents – people, process and environ-

ment – into what we call ‘World Class Performance, the Blom Way’. This strategy is used to develop a corporate culture in which people can make op-timum contributions towards meeting company objectives.

People determine the culture But hang on; what exactly is a corpo-rate culture? The word culture comes from cultura and dates back to the Ro-mans, who used the term in agri cultu-ra (working the land to get it to produ-ce), for example. So you can think of a corporate culture as how people work in a company and how that company produces. We can best describe the term as a collection of group habits, beliefs, behaviour, rules and manners. Consider the way in which everyone does their job, and how people work together. The style of management is likewise a deciding factor in your cor-porate culture.

Culture: the soul of a companyCultures supposedly make up the soul of a company. Yet at the same time they are incredibly intangible and difficult to influence. Supervisors are often tasked with creating a ‘results-oriented’ or ‘professional’ culture. But what exactly does this mean? And does everyone in the organisation per-ceive it same way? If not, how is this dealt with? If so, how does the com-pany go from the current to the prefer-red culture?How can we describe our current cul-

ture? How do the executives, the ma-nagement team, the supervisors and the employees experience the culture and style of leadership?

MindsetEveryone brings their own personal values, standards, ideas and beliefs into an organisation. These determi-ne our mindset and are expressed in our actions – also in the workplace. The ways in which we work, super-vise, take orders and communicate are all determined by our personal way of thinking. Supervisors serve as examples to others in the organisation, and consequently their behaviour has a major influence on how the corpo-rate culture is formed, tolerated and, if necessary, adjusted.

Changing mindset: from the top downPrior to and during the change pro-cess, the company’s executives at the top level indicate which elements of the old corporate culture must go and which elements will be the main focus of the new corporate culture. Breaking out of the ‘waiting culture’ hinges on who takes the first step, who takes the next step and when, and who does not and why. Who sets who in motion? Who sets the correct example? Who creates enthusiasm, motivates and activates everyone? Which approach does this the most effectively?In order to successfully start and pro-ceed with a cultural shift, it is essential to have role models in the company.

Mind your change - change your mind According to various recent corporate studies, only 30% of all change programmes are successful. Why is that? Or more importantly: how you can ensure that your programme is a success? The answer is closer than you think. In fact, you are part of it. That’s right: the people in your company. They are the most impor-tant success factor that determines whether your change programme succeeds or fails. But how do you make sure that they will help you reach your goals?

IN-DEPTH ARTICLE


Executive staff members, management team members and supervisors from every department are the most appro-priate individuals to assume this func-tion. They play a crucial role in creating circumstances and conditions in which people dare to discuss their behaviour, openly and willingly. In other words, in this case a top down approach is re-commended.

Does your company need a cultural shift?Imagine: your organisation is in the middle of a challenging change process, or is about to implement a programme such as TPM, LEAN or 6-Sigma. People are going to have to release their old patterns and learn a new way of working. You, your MT, the super-visors and the entire staff have your work cut out for you. In addition to everything that must be done in terms of optimising skills and acquiring new knowledge, in many cases chan-ges must also be made with respect to mindset, behaviour, mentality and corporate culture in order to arrive at World Class Performance.

In addition, generally speaking a cultu-ral shift is recommended if you notice the following things in your company:- Not every individual is committed to

the departmental and company goals.- The win-win situation is unclear.

Both employer and employee should have an unambiguous answer to the question “What’s in it for us? What’s in it for me?”

- There is confusion regarding departmental and company goals.

- Leadership style and effect are not as good as they could be.

- Not every individual is pursuing the mission. Company mission versus personal mission.

- The mentality of ‘caring about the company’ is absent.

- Absenteeism is high.- Employee turnover is high.- There is a lot of negative feedback.How do you achieve a cultural shift?

The current situation in your company allows us to determine exactly where and how to begin. For example, should we start with TPM on the shop floor and top-down mindset training courses, or should we start with the culture scan in order to shed light on the overall situation in the company?

Using the Blom Way, we achieve the right harmony between people, proces-ses and environment so that we can take the fastest and most sustainable path towards World Class Performance. For specific internal problems or challen-ges Blom offers support with:

Culture change• Culture scans• Culture analyses and supervisory

programmes• Team/department culture and

mentality training courses• Objectives and culture alignment

Communication• Communication skills • Presentation techniques• Conflict resolution• Leadership style • Communication flows; top down,

bottom up and lateral

Mindset Coaching• Coaching, geared towards elimina-

ting counterproductive opinions in the mindset and developing the de-sired attitude and competencies. This method of coaching ensures that par-ticipants get more out of themselves.

What kind of companies can use Blom Leading Change (mindset training and coaching)? Companies that know that harmony (‘the Blom way’) between people, processes and environment is crucial, and: • that want to work on personal deve-

lopment and not just on process and environment change;

• in which the person behind the em-ployee counts;

• that are prepared to do everything in order to reach the desired outcome;

• that believe in themselves and their employees;

• that want to know precisely where the challenges lie and improvements can be made with respect to both indivi-dual and interpersonal cooperation, and therefore want to determine on the one hand how the ‘birds in the trees’ – i.e. executives and manage-ment – experience the culture and, on the other, how the ‘fish in the pond’ – the employees – experience it, and what they need in order to be able to do the very best job they possibly can.

Blom Consultancy BV can design a customised approach for every pro-blem and challenge you may encoun-ter in this area. Possible steps include: conducting a culture scan, a working style assessment test, a supervision assessment test, individual coaching, communication training courses, team building, motivation training courses and more.

Mind your change - change your mind

The ideal . . . (fill in job title)

Ademhaling

MISSION

IDENTITY

MINDSET

CAPACITY

PHYSIOLOGY 55 %

VOICE 38 %

CAPACITY 7 %

BEHAVIOUR

ENVIRONMENT

Thoughts,beliefs, values and standards

Loud, soft, high, low, slow, fast

Knowledge


INTERVIEW

From task-oriented to

process-oriented in less than two years

Stork Food Systems gets results with World Class Performance

In 2006, Stork PMT B.V started its branches in Boxmeer and Dongen (NL) on a continuous improvement programme. The mother group, Stork, was navigating troubled waters at the time; there were rumours of a takeover by a group of investors who threatened to split the group up into small, easily saleable parts. Stork needed to improve its results and boost its figures to make the idea of a sale as unappealing as pos-sible, and so the group dictated that the business units had to start working with Six Sigma. Today, two years later, Stork Food Systems has been taken over by Marel Food Systems and is doing well. This is due in part to the continuous improvement programme that now, along with Six Sigma, also contains elements of Lean and TPM. “We call it World Class Performance” say the programme’s proud recipients.


INTERVIEW

Fred Vijverstra (Director of Manu-facturing), Paul Moeling (Production Unit Manager) and Doede Okkema (WCP Facilitator) are enthusiastic, to put it mildly, about the results they have achieved to date. “We now have an empty, clean factory, less stock and our efficiency has climbed by 10%”, says Moeling, responsible for the plant in Dongen, about the results achieved with a year and a half of WCP. He goes on to say “But probably the most im-portant change is that we now think in processes rather than in tasks.” By this he means that employees have realised their work goes beyond just their own specific area. “It’s about the company as a whole. Their work is part of a lar-ger, value-adding process. Those who understand this and then work towards continual improvement not only help themselves, but help the entire organi-sation.”That is most definitely a major achie-vement, especially in such a short ti-meframe, but how did they achieve so much so quickly? Vijverstra, respon-sible for both plants’ progress, says that he travelled to Japan for a study trip two years ago. “There they ex-plained Lean’s basic concepts to us in a two week course”, he says. When Vijverstra returned, he couldn’t put the newly learned information directly to work. “It was partly due to Stork’s top management deciding that we had to work with Six Sigma, so initially we looked for a way to mix the two: a sort of Lean Six Sigma, if you will.” Moe-ling explains further: “But that wasn’t the extent of it. We were looking for something different and came across Blom Consultancy. The thing about them that really appealed to us is they can really get people involved. Plus Blom’s World Class Performance con-cept offered a lot of practical tools we could use right away.”There was of course some resistance at the beginning. “We had already undergone quite a few improvement programmes during our time as Stork. We’ve been introducing various mea-sures under the name Time Quality Costs (Tijd Kwaliteit Kosten, TKK) since the 1980s but they were often oriented more towards interpersonal

cooperation and not so much towards production processes”, says Dongen’s Production Unit Manager. “We heard a lot of ‘yet another new plan, even more work’” adds Vijverstra. “So then you need to take a top down approach and say: we’re going to do this. And I have to say that everyone then went along with it 100%.”And this was how WCP got its start. “We started cautiously with 5S – or 6S actually, because we added another S for safety”, says Okkema. “We gave people a day of theory first, then they got to work in Dongen and Boxmeer.” Moeling: “We included the production departments and the assembly depart-ments as well as the indirect depart-ments such purchasing in the introduc-tion. And incidentally, we didn’t call it 5S or 6S or even WCP, but DOEN (Do it)! – an abbreviation for DOngen Eerste klas Nu (Dongen First Class Now)!” The 6S introduction was an immediate success. The work spaces not only look much cleaner, we’ve reduced our stock and our efficiency is increased. And we have formulated more than 250 suggestions for improvement. With well-earned pride, Moeling tells that all these suggestions for improvement were processed by mid-June 2008. This successful start cleared the way for other changes and methods. “We started the 5S introduction pretty much simultaneously with Value Stream Mapping, Small Group Activities (SGA) and Policy Deployment”, Vij-verstra reports. “Not exactly an easy task by the way, Policy Deployment. It takes a lot of time to make the translati-on to the shop floor.” “But”, continues Moeling, “now that we have started the actual deployment, we can see the advantages. You notice that people are happy because they have something to hold on to. It clarifies what is impor-tant for the company. It also clarifies for people on the shop floor what they influence within this framework: the turnaround times and the reliability of our deliveries for example.”“You also notice that the departments appear to have conflicting interests”, Vijverstra relates. “The purchasing department for example wants to buy

as cheap as possible, but the parts pro-duction department would much rather have quality. This contrast forces you to choose what is really important for the business right now.” Vijverstra be-lieves that one of the beneficial outco-mes of Policy Deployment is that they are now guided by KPIs (Key Perfor-mance Indicators) which provide far more insight into how things are actu-ally going.These three gentlemen expect that Policy Deployment will generate a large number of suggestions for im-provement. “That’s why many of the department heads have done an ‘SGA for Managers’ course. This allows is-sues that crop up to be dealt with and resolved immediately using SGA me-thods”, chips in Okkema.Stork PMT has a large number of ac-tivities that are waiting to be or al-ready have been implemented within the company. We work with OEE and SMED, we’ve hung up improvement signs and we have set up extensive 6S audits (including interdepartmental au-dits). “Every Monday we hold an 6S discussion with all departments. We’re also still rolling out the 6S method in new departments. In non-production departments too, actually”, says Vij-verstra. “Our HRM department, for example, was so enthused by what they saw in production and assembly that they wanted to do 6S too.”It might appear as if everything just


naturally fell into place, but things are never that simple. “You need to pay constant attention”, says Moeling. “You still notice some resistance, es-pecially from the departments that are not yet working with WCP”, Vijverstra continues. Nevertheless, the three men are happy with the results thus far. Ok-kema: “I would even go so far as to say that continuous improvement has become a real part of the production departments’ work. They come up with suggestions for improvements them-selves, which shows commitment, and that in turn is a good foundation to build on.”

INTERVIEW

Stork Food SystemsThe Stork Food Systems group currently consists of several operating com-panies: Stork PMT B.V., Stork Titan B.V., Stork Gamco Inc., Stork Townsend B.V., Stork Townsend Inc. and Stork Food Systems Maquinas Alimenticias Ltda. Stork started in the poultry processing industry in 1963. While expanding its existing production facilities in Boxmeer, Stork took over a local machine factory called “De Wiericke”. In addition to manufacturing products such as piping for ships, furnaces and extractor fans, it also performs installation and service jobs in the poultry processing industry.

Poultry divisionStork decided to maintain this installation and job service and at the same time look into the possibilities of expanding these activities. The European poultry processing industry was on the brink of mechanisation and automation at the time, and it resulted in the birth of Stork Poultry Division. Originally started as a separate activity within the Boxmeer-based Stork Textile and Paper division, the poultry branch experienced rapid growth. In 1975, Stork established an inde-pendent subsidiary under the name Stork PMT (Poultry processing Machinery and Technology).

Rapid expansionOne year later, Stork PMT decided to expand its activities to the United States, the biggest poultry market in the world. Stork took over the company Gainesville Machine Corporation, which was based in Gainesville, Georgia, and renamed it Stork Gamco. As a Stork PMT sister company it reached the status of the most important poultry processing equipment supplier in the United States. Stork PMT expanded further, which resulted in the move to a new building with large production halls, more office space and a well-equipped demo centre in 1985. The facilities have been expanded several times since.

Stork PMT todayNowadays Stork PMT is the leading and trendsetting company in poul-try processing equipment and systems. In addition to the Boxmeer plant, which Stork shares with its sister company Stork Titan, it also has a second production facility located in Dongen. As of May 2005, both Stork PMT and Stork Titan present themselves under the Stork Food Systems name.

Extensive representation world wideIn addition to the Dutch plants, Stork has two sister companies that supply the American continent. Stork Food Systems USA (Stork Gamco´s new name as of May 2005) takes care of the North American, Central American and half of South America’s markets. The other half of South America is covered by the Brazilian facility, Stork Food Systems Máquinas Alimentícias Ltda. Stork Food Systems’ sales and service centres are located in all parts of the world and are supported by an extensive network of selected agents and representatives.

Additions to the Stork Food Systems groupIn April 2006 a new member joined the Stork Food Systems group: Townsend Engineering which was renamed Stork Townsend. Townsend, with offices in Oss, the Netherlands, and Des Moines, IA, USA, develops and produces speci-alised equipment for the meat processing industry.In January 2007, Stork acquired Nijal S.A.S. Based in France, Nijal manufactu-res machines for processing meat that complement those owned by Stork Food Systems.In September 2007, Stork acquired related further processing products and de-velopments from Proval B.V. The company expanded Stork´s previous capabilities significantly, especially in relation to pork and beef processing.

While many people switch off at the word ‘software’, the right software can deliver immeasurable benefits to your business. Software like our innovative web-based application, The Business Hub, which provides greater visibility of performance whether it’s used as a stand alone solution or a business-wide, multi-level application.Of course it must all start with a coherent strategy. The Business Hub will help you to make your strategy coherent and to identify any gaps. It will enable you to create a hierarchy of cockpits that are the vehicles for deploying your business objectives. These cockpits provide the key information that will become the backbone of your management process.

THE WEBBASED TOOL FOR POLICY DEPLOYMENT

www.thebusinesshub.nl

Defining what and how at every level

HowBy using the very accessible user interface, your employees are given an environment where they can bring their own strategies to life, strategies which are in turn based the strategy you deployed. When the relationship with the company’s goals becomes clear to them, your employees’ engagement will be triggered: the key to success!

WhatSetting out a Strategy is not easy. Deploying it so all your employees have the same understanding and cooperate together to achieve their targets is just plain hard to do. The Business Hub, a web-based application, can do much to assist you in this.

WhyThe goal of The Business Hub is to create insight into strategy at each level in your organisation. This insight consists of your vision, mission and up-to-date organisation objectives - thus enabling you to adjust your organisation’s focus if necessary.


World Class PerformanceMaking the impossible happen

Every organisation wants to be the best - the best in its group, the best of the sector, the best in the country, the best in the world. But what does being the best mean? And if you are better than your competitor, is that enough and can you sit back and relax?


Blom Consultancy helps organisations on the road to World Class Perfor-mance. A company is World Class if all the activities that take place in the organisation add value in the eyes of the stakeholders (this means not just your customers, but also your finan-cers, your personnel, your suppliers and your business environment). In a World Class environment, the interests of every stakeholder are 100% satis-fied.

An organisation that does nothing that does not add value. Utopia? Perhaps, but it is certainly something to dream about, isn’t it? And there is no progress without dreams. Da Vinci, Columbus, Jules Verne, Martin Luther King, Ken-nedy and even Bill Gates had dreams

and all were regarded as crazy. But with the wisdom of hindsight, we can say that many of their dreams have come true. The saying “Where there is a will, there is a way” is founded on experience. Or as George Parker, aut-hor of “The Big Book of Creativity”, says: “Where there is a will, a way will be found”.

And this way, the way to World Class Performance, can be built with 7 buil-ding blocks.

Building block 1: Create ambitionA road has a destination; in this case an ambition. What is your ambition? Where do you want to be headed? To-wards becoming World Class? It is not just the destination that is important: the stops along the way, the milesto-nes, must also be clear. The more clearly you can define the first milesto-ne, the easier it will be to reach it. For example:

A group of adventurers was on the way to Eldorado. From the top of a moun-tain, they saw their destination shining in the distance and started out in good spirits. Then their route took them through a thick forest. Evening was falling, it was growing colder and the mist was coming down. To start with, everyone kept walking, the atmosphere was relaxed and the leader showed the way. But the mist gradually became thicker and thicker. People could no longer see their own feet. Some beca-me uncertain and began to stumble.

Progress became slower. The mist grew even thicker and rose higher. Questions were asked: “How much further is it? Are we still on the right path? Why do we actually want to go to that place, which may not be as attractive as we thought?” Eventually, the group came to a standstill. They could no longer see their hands in front of their faces and had no confidence in success. It would be better to wait until the mist disappeared. Some even wanted to turn back. Until someone said, “If we stay standing here we will all get cold. There is no room to pitch our tents. El-dorado is still far away, but the end of this forest is close by. If we can get out

of the forest tonight, then we can go on to Eldorado tomorrow morning with a clear view. Then at the end of the day, we can enjoy food, warmth and good company and the gold that is waiting for us there. If we each put our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us and the man in front works his way from tree to tree, by alternately touching a tree on the right and then on the left, then we will get out of this forest in the quickest possible way.” All the members of the expedition wanted to get out of the frightening forest and thought this was a good idea. After a few hours, they left the forest and were able to rest, relieved and happy. The next day, when the sun came up, they saw Eldorado in all its glory shining on the horizon. Even those who had wanted to turn back the previous night now had enough energy to continue on their way.

The moral of this story is that just ha-ving a vision is not enough. Defining milestones ensures that focus and di-rection are created and maintained in an organisation.

Building block 2: Making waste visibleThe destination and the milestones may be clear, but this does not yet mean that the road has been laid. There are still a few obstacles to be removed. These obstacles, the difference between the present situation and the desired situa-tion, are also known as waste (or Muda in Japanese). Waste has various causes, but is manifested in the same way in every process. Once you know how to identify it, you will see it everywhere. There are seven types of waste1:1. Defects (the output of the process is

not satisfactory);2. Reprocessing (the output of the

process needs reprocessing);3. Waiting (the process is at a

standstill, because it is waiting for materials, people or information to be provided);

4. Stock (the output of the process is at a standstill in a warehouse or other stock location);

5. Monitoring (there is not 100% confidence in a good result);

6. Over-processing (or ‘gold plating’,

IN-DEPTH ARTICLE


the performance delivered is more than is actually necessary);

7. Movement (moving products, people and materials without extra value being added.

If this waste is eliminated, the objec-tive will be a step closer. The first step in eliminating this waste is to make it visible. Various techniques can be used for this: OEE measurements, Va-lue Stream Mapping, Balanced Score Card, etc. The waste must first be vi-sible so that everyone will recognise it and it can be eliminated.

Building block 3: Structured improvement in teams When the waste is clearly visible, we can eliminate it together with the peo-ple who are active in the process. After all, waste is not created out of nothing, but has all sorts of causes. At the root of many of these causes is what the Japa-nese describe as mura and muri. Mura is the imbalance, lack of uniformity in the processes; extremes of activity alternated with idling. This leads to muri, or overload of people and machi-nes. And this overload leads to Muda (waste). If all those involved look to-gether at the problem and/or the waste, we can obtain a clearer, completer pic-

ture of the problem. This improvement team can then find the fundamental causes of the problem, leading to the definition of lasting solutions that will be accepted by everyone and which will prevent sub-optimisation.

Building brick 4: Process- orientated organisationA few years ago, a road in Breda (NL) was renovated. To start with, the paving was replaced by asphalt, to reduce the noise nuisance to the local residents. Two weeks later, the road was dug up

again: the drains had to be replaced. After another two weeks, the road was opened up for the third and last time to lay extra cables. Altogether, the work on the road took longer than was re-ally necessary, cost more than neces-sary and it caused more frustration and incomprehension on the part of the residents. If the renovation had been process-orientated rather than functi-on-orientated, making use of the know-ledge of each person involved, the nui-sance caused by this road renovation would have been much reduced.

In the road renovation example, the word “process-orientated” was used.

On the way to World Class Perfor-mance, an organisation’s activities will become more and more process-orien-tated. Process-orientated means rather than focusing on the functions of the employees within the organisation, fo-cusing on the processes. Every process revolves around a physical product or a service. To create this product, we need employees to have different know-ledge and skills, which together ensure that the process runs smoothly and ef-fectively. It is important to follow the process in such a way that learning and adjustment can take place during the process. Research by the Frauenhofer Institut has shown that companies that introduce innovations and optimise their business processes are most suc-cessful in maintaining their competi-tive position.

Building block 5: Agreeing on uniform ways of workingAn important building block for the road to World Class Performance is for-med by the agreements on how we carry out our work. These agreements, also known as standards, are the foundation for further improvement. Standards give reassurance by means of clarity, but their existence is only justified until the moment that a new, better standard appears. Good standards ensure that the best way is also the easiest way. The easiest way is to ensure that there is only 1 way, which is known as poka yoke. An example of this is a tunnel under a railway so that cars and trains cannot collide. A less coercive form of standardisation is the active indicators in the workplace. Think, for example, of the lights and alarm bells at a level crossing that come into operation when a train is approaching. The least coer-cive form of standardisation is static indicators such as written procedures, but also, for example, the traffic sign at the side of the road telling drivers that they are approaching a level crossing. Building block 6: Enforcing standardsHaving a good standard is no guarantee that it will be used. How often does it happen that, if we discuss a particular problem with personnel, they say that

IN-DEPTH ARTICLE


the problem has been examined few years previously and that a solution al-ready exists? Unfortunately, the solu-tion is often unknown to many people and becomes forgotten. The solutions have not been enforced or embedded in the organisation, so that we keep rein-venting the wheel. We therefore need to pay attention to enforcing standards, so that the result of our efforts is per-manent. For there is nothing more frustrating and discouraging than, af-ter having made great efforts to solve a problem, seeing performance drop back down again not much later.

Building block 7: Making successes visibleThe last building block is often forgot-ten in our Western world: making suc-cess visible. “Improvement is part of

your work” is a comment that is often heard. Of course improvement is part of your work, but that does not mean that no attention should be paid to the result. After all, paying attention to things makes them grow. If we only pay attention to the negative things (“why did this go wrong?”), we will end up in a downward spiral and improvement will become more and more difficult. Remember the following: everyone wants to belong to a winning team.By building the road to World Class Performance with these seven building blocks, we can bring about change in the culture of the organisation. This change is that people believe that per-fection is possible, experience owner-ship, feel safe, use their knowledge and consider themselves valuable. The lea-ders in an organisation are the ones who ‘catalyse’ this change process. They are the people the organisation looks to, the people who set the example and who are the source of confidence. If they radiate assurance and confidence

and create an organisation in which people help each other in a process-orientated manner, if they ensure that the work is carried out and improved on an atmosphere of calmness and re-gularity that is conducive to learning, the probability of success is high. On the road to World Class Perfor-mance, the knowledge and skills of those involved grow and so does their sense of ownership. The environment becomes more and more supportive of the work. Processes become simpler and more robust and link together bet-ter. All this leads to increased customer satisfaction and lower costs. These improvements are the driving force be-hind becoming a continuously impro-ving organisation, which eventually leads to World Class Performance.

World Class Performance: It is possible!

1. This classification of waste is a variation on the 7 types of waste defined by Taiichi Ohno of Toyota, although it should be noted that Ohno himself said that he had never defined 7.

ACHTERGRONDARTIKEL


JIPM-SBlom Consultancy is proud to be working with Japanese fi rm JIPM Solutions. These experts operate on a global scale, focusing mainly on TPM and the systems needed to keep machines breakdown free.

For years now, Blom Consultancy and its partners JIPM-S and TPM Soluti-ons have been organising study trips to the country where TPM fi rst fl ou-rished. However, our cooperation does not stop there: it also allows us to offer

customers direct access to the source of all TPM-related knowledge.

JMAJIPM-S is part of the Japan Management Association Group (or JMA Group). JMA was originally established by the Japanese government in 1942 with a view to promoting management effi ci-ency. Today, JMA operates around the world as a management consultant spe-cialising in ISO audits, system studies and development, HR development and training and production effi ciency.

Despite the wealth of knowledge we have to offer, Blom Consultancy certainly doesn’t claim to know everything. That is why we are keen to develop knowledge and experience in coope-ration with other parties. Blom works and shares knowledge with a range of partners, whom we also offer access to our own resources. All our partners are renowned companies with their own specifi c areas of expertise. Below you will fi nd a brief overview of what these com-panies do and how (and in which areas) we cooperate with them.

Sharing knowledge


IN-DEPTH ARTICLE

The group also organises many major conferences, both in Japan and over-seas.

Legal separation In 2004, a new law on the non-domes-tic activities of non-profit organisati-ons came into effect in Japan. In res-ponse, JIPM-S was separated from the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance, an organisation operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, in 2005. The institute’s con-sultancy, publishing and seminar ac-tivities were brought together under the umbrella of JIPM Solutions. This offshoot - which has retained both the services of its original consultants and its existing customer base - has since gone from strength to strength. For more information on JIPM-S, please visit www.tpm.jipms.jp.

CETPMBlom Consultancy cooperates clo-sely with the Centre of Excellence for TPM (CETPM), a knowledge institution based in Germany that specialises in TPM. CETPM is a non-profit organisation and is part of the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences.

CETPM’s areas of focus include: • propagating TPM (Total Productive

Management) across Europe, • TPM-related research and education, • further development of TPM, • supporting businesses in their imple-

mentation of TPM.

A range of leading German TPM experts ensure a high standard of knowledge, while several of our con-sultants also offer training in their respective areas of expertise.

In the brief period since its establish-ment, CETPM has grown to become the leading European consultant in the area of TPM.CETPM offers: • Seminars• Conferences

• Workshops • Publications • Communication with experts • Online community • A global network

For more information on CETPM, please visit www.cetpm.com.

SA PartnersOur collaboration partners also in-clude SA Partners. Together, we sup-port customers operating in various European countries, such as Corus. However, our cooperation does not stop there. One example of our joint efforts is the development of The Business Hub. This software pro-gramme was specially designed to support businesses in the process of strategy deployment.

SA Partners is the UK’s longest-stan-ding Lean Enterprise consultancy and was originally formed in 1993 to trans-fer the lessons learned from the pio-neering research of Professor Peter Hi-nes from the Lean Enterprise Research Centre into the marketplace. This work was so successful that SA Partners has significantly increased its services, co-verage and size.SA Partners is an innovative consul-tancy that inspires a wide range of businesses to raise their game through the application of Lean Principles. It challenges customers to find fresh and creative ways of operating, and then facilitates, coaches and mentors – cus-tomers are responsible for making the changes themselves, but SA Partners supports, enables and encourages them at every stage from the initial diagnosis to the final implementation. The result is practical improvements for both the business and everyone working in it, which creates leaner, keener and more successful enterprises. SA Partners specialises in processes, whether business processes, group working processes, thinking processes or any other process that develops peo-ple and business.

LERC Het Lean Enterprise Research Cen-tre (LERC) is a leading organisation in the area of Lean. LERC is based in Cardiff (Wales) but is well-known throughout the world of Lean. Blom Consultancy is currently working to develop a certification system in col-laboration with LERC.

LERC’s activities can be split into three areas 1. Research2. Executive education3. Innovation and engagement

PhilosophyWhile it may be too strong a statement to claim that LERC has a tightly de-fined philosophy advocated by its staff, there is a general approach and senti-ment shared by its members, who come from a wide variety of backgrounds, disciplines and schools of thought.

LERC’s approach has a number of fea-tures: • It takes a broad definition of the term

‘lean thinking’ – viewing it as more of a philosophy than a set of tools, en-compassing all key business proces-ses and requiring an important link-age with organisational strategy.

• Lean is mainly concerned with en-hancing customer or stakeholder va-lue and releasing or creating capacity for growth; it is not just a cost reduc-tion toolkit concerned with waste re-moval.

• The definition of lean thinking will continue to evolve as its use spreads through a wide range of organisati-ons, and LERC will continue to chal-lenge and question its applicability therein.

• It is important to link lean practice with academic theory, while at the same time ensuring that lean know-ledge is utilised and applied by mana-gers for the benefit of their organisati-ons and society as a whole.

and working together

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Gaining insight into


REPORT

“WCP means workplace security!” Now, that gets right to the point! This opinion belongs to Hans-Jürgen Kol-benschlag, chairman of the works council. In 2007, management infor-med Kolbenschlag that WCP would be introduced at Saint-Gobain, as well as throughout Isover worldwide. At Isover Germany the choice was made to designate Speyer as the pilot plant. Kolbenschlag is happy that the works

council and therefore the entire staff were informed about the objectives of WCP right from the start. “At Speyer there has always been honest and con-structive communication between the works council and management. That has definitely been the case here. Gene-rally speaking, employees assume that the introduction of yet another new im-provement programme means the re-duction of jobs. With the introduction

of WCP we were given insight into the how and why by taking a very practical look at a new division of Saint-Gobain: British Plasterboard.”

Collective goalsThe works council chairman continues: “Prior to the takeover by Saint-Gobain, this chain had successfully implemen-ted a WCP programme and by talking to the workers on the shop floor we

In Germany, Isover, which is part of the Saint-Go-bain Insulation Division, is represented by four production sites: Ber-gisch-Gladbach, Laden-burg, Lübz and Speyer. In late 2007, the Speyer production site became the pilot plant and started implementing WCP. We met with Mr Hans-Jürgen Kolbenschlag (chairman of the Speyer works council) and Mr Michael Lehr (head of the Engi-neering and Maintenance department) to discuss the implementation of this pilot project. A can-did conversation!

Implementing WCP at Saint-Gobain/Isover Germany

Or: How to become a world champion


REPORT

gained a clear picture of what exactly that entailed. The idea is to use the staff’s collective knowledge in order to eliminate losses as well as to bring out the best in each employee.” Not everyone at Speyer was as en-thused. “A 5S programme was suc-cessfully introduced several years ago. However, only the employees in the production department in question were involved. Employees in other de-partments actually had no idea what was going on. Fast forwarding to the present, we see that certain things have started to lag.” According to Kolben-schlag it was vitally important to invol-ve every department at Speyer in the introduction of WCP. “Because every department was striving to meet its own individual goals, in some cases we were working against rather than with each other. By consolidating goals and communicating with one another we arrived at collective goals.”

Base of support and accep-tanceBy also compling the improvement teams so as to insure that every de-partment involved was represented, we increased the base of support and ac-ceptance enormously.” The latter was a condition laid down by the works council. Kolbenschlag: “Involving em-ployees from all of our departments and from every level of the organisation al-lowed the works council to express its confi dence in the WCP programme. Now, six months later, if you look at the actions that have been carried out we are very impressed with the work that has already been accomplished by the various improvement groups.” Of course, not everything always comes off without a hitch. A number of things were required in order to get the pro-gramme to click with employees.

Champions LeagueKolbenschlag: “Formulating a single goal, plain language, cooperation and creating understanding for one ano-ther were all essential. We formulated the object of WCP at Speyer thus: we want to become the world champion!” Comparing the factory to a soccer team in a tournament allowed them to explain to workers where they stood as a company and where they wanted to go. Kolbenschlag: “Nobody wants to be demoted out of Germany’s Bun-desliga. At the end of the day all of us want to play in the Champions League. But you should be aware of where you stand as opposed to your compe-titors, both internally and externally.” Using this sports analogy helped em-ployees realise that WCP could in fact help them win the Champions League. Kolbenschlag: “We realised that WCP can ultimately help us protect jobs at Speyer!”

The solution does not come from the bossWhen asked what WCP has meant to him personally over the past six months, Kolbenschlag replies: “Cause/effect analysis is vital. It is incredible what kind of solutions can be genera-ted by a small improvement team as long as the structure is followed. The striking thing is that most solutions do not come from the boss; they come from the workers on the fl oor. This is exactly what we want to accomplish with WCP. In addition, it is a huge suc-cess that the employees in the impro-vement groups instruct their coworkers and show them the outcome of their solutions. This quickly leads to accep-tance. Something else that simply can-not be emphasised enough is that you must compliment your employees on their achievements.”

“WCP is nothing new...” Michael Lehr, head of the Enginee-ring and Maintenance department for both the day and swing shifts, does not mince words. “In the past few years at Speyer we did 5S and then we worked with TPM. The problem is that these programmes were initiated with great enthusiasm, only to become overs-hadowed by other priorities. When


REPORT

the announcement came that we were going to implement WCP I was extre-mely sceptical. Given past experiences, I was biased.”

Plan Do Check ActNevertheless, Lehr is convinced that continuous improvement makes sense. Lehr: “Although there are certain things which we have not standardised or secured equally well, we have con-sistently seen that anytime a group of workers set out to tackle a problem they always managed to quickly and effectively get a result. The downside was that in many cases they looked to their own department. Our solution for our problem could cause a problem for another department.” The “lack of trust” among participants quickly be-came evident during the first workshop. However, the mistrust soon turned into enthusiasm. Lehr: “80% of the parti-cipants during the introduction work-shop had participated in an improve-ment programme the year before. Most of us thought, ‘here we go again...’ But this time, thanks to the group arrange-ment, the innovative approach using simulation exercises, practice, trying it ourselves, the open discussions about the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ and the role of the supervisor really got us fired up as a group. Especially when we saw that we could become the world champion. We thought, ‘hey, this Plan Do Check Act structure could very well help us.’”

Magic wordsWhen asked what he finds most ap-pealing, Lehr responds directly: “The principles of WCP and Dr. Demming’s improvement circle (Plan Do Check Act) have several things in com-mon. But for us, the magic words are

standardisation and securing solutions or working methods. By doing what we have agreed and making sure that everyone is clear on this, we can make great strides towards achieving our goal of becoming world champion.” Lehr is now the group leader of an im-provement group tasked with resolving a problem between production and his department. “We used to always think that production caused our problem. And production undoubtedly thought the same about us. Choosing the group members to make sure that all parties would be represented on every level led to very open and honest discussi-ons in which there was understanding for everyone’s problems. Consequent-ly, both sides gained understanding and acceptance, which has significantly in-creased the sense of ownership among everyone involved.”

Results already visibleLehr agrees that complimenting em-ployees can have an unexpected effect. Lehr: “We seldom pay employees com-pliments. But by experiencing firsthand what it feels like to have your boss tell you that you have done a good job ma-kes it very clear that sincere compli-ments drastically increase ownership, involvement and enjoyment on the job. And WCP helped us see this.” When asked whether WCP has had any effect on his daily work, he answers: “One of the solutions presented by one of the improvement groups is that I per-sonally need to invest a considerable amount of energy into providing daily feedback to employees in the various departments. While this takes more energy now, it is already paying off, too, thus making it a win-win situation for everyone!”

He adds: “By implementing WCP and with my role as a team member of one improvement team and the leader of another, WCP has presented me with a new challenge. It allows me to develop and to fill my toolbox with all sorts of methods and techniques. And I have insight into how you can interact with employees constructively. That will certainly come in handy in the future!”

In closing, Lehr sums it up this way: “WCP is nothing new, but it helps me achieve Isovar’s goals as well as my own.”

Isover is the main worldwide brand of Saint-Gobain’s Insulation Division. Saint-Gobain has more than 1,200 consolidated companies and over 182,800 employees with industrial locations in more than 47 countries.

The business divisions include Insulation along with Building Materials, Pipe, Ceramics and Plastics, Abrasives, Reinforcements, Flat Glass, Containers and Building Distribution. Saint-Gobain Group Insulation Division operations include glass wool (TEL process), stone wool, ceilings, and foams

(developed in partnership with major chemical companies). Insulation solutions are marketed as rolls, panels or moulded insulation. Products are mainly designed for the building market as well as industrial

applications, transport and household appliances.

Hans-Jürgen Kolbenschlag

Michael Lehr

INTERVIEW


INTERVIEW

Marchena worked till 1996 as an ope-rations manager at Calvé in Delft (NL) before he joined Blom in 2006. “Calvé was part of Unilever Neder-land, which formed a part of Unilever Foods Europe. On a European level we had already been working to increase the factories’ efficiency. The margarine factories were leading the way. In the factory in Delft, we tried to apply the MANS and Sociotech philosophies. MANS stands for Management en Ar-beid Nieuwe Stijl (New Style Manage-ment and Labour), which was inspired by the Sociotech and was especially successful in the USA and Scandinavia. The MANS Foundation, established in 1983, had the goal of making W.E. De-ming and J. Juran’s (4) way of thinking available to Dutch businesses.”As a part all these new initiatives, Calvé experimented with Autonomous Task Groups and Self-Directing Teams. “And despite us doing our very best to convert this knowledge into practical measures”, says Marchena, “the effect on our utilisation and our efficiency was barely noticeable.” At the same time, their Japanese colleagues at Nip-pon Lever were having success. Three factories for Foods, Home and Perso-nal Care had successfully made sig-nificant improvements with what they called TPM. They were supported in the process by specialists from JIPM, the Japanese Institute of Plant Mainte-

nance (nowadays JIPM-Solutions).

How did Mario Marchena find out that his colleagues at Nippon Lever seemed to have found the right answer? “Uni-lever is a multinational in which know-ledge sharing happens at an interna-tional level. JTG (Japan Technology Group), a Unilever department there that keeps track of and evaluates new Japanese developments, is responsible for this exchange. Unilever Europe Group was rather pre-occupied with the ‘Make or Buy Ques-tion’ - should we produce all of the products we sell ourselves? That was rather a threatening question for Uni-lever Nederland’s factories. It awoke our drive to survive, which meant we were ready to start looking outside for help. What I retained from our search for improvement methods and tools was a deep-rooted faith in ideas and movements like Empowerment, of people on all levels, especially on the shop floor. When we came into contact with TPM through JTG, I felt the click immediately. The philosophy appealed to me, plus the programme also offe-red a pragmatic implementation plan. ‘This is really something we could im-plement!’ I said to myself.”

The rest of Unilever reacted very posi-tively to Japan’s success. So positively, in fact, they decided at the corporate le-

vel to start working with JIPM. “Kunio Shirose (5) himself, one of JIPM’s vice presidents, became our leading person and it was him who led Unilever’s worldwide support team. In the course of that job he also paid a visit to the Netherlands. In the mean time I was given the opportunity to transfer to the ‘Unilever TPM Promotion and Imple-mentation Team’ and so I moved from Calvé Delft to the Central Manufac-turing and Engineering Group. In the beginning I was pretty much a pioneer, but we also learned a lot from JIPM - like: how to build up TPM capabilities within Unilever, how to give TPM trai-ning courses, how to guide the current management in the implementation process and how to implement TPM on the shop floor.” These actions lead to dozens of Unilever factories win-ning TPM Awards between 1996 and 2006. Two factories in Europe have even reached the World Class level: the Lipton Tea factory in Brussels and the ice cream factory in Naples.

According to Mario Marchena, how has TPM developed these past ten years? “TPM itself has stayed the same at its core but the environment in which we need to implement TPM has changed dramatically. Nowadays, people get a lot less time to run through the lear-ning curves. A consequence of high

Implementing TPM in the westRequires knowledge and careThe classic TPM, based on the work of Seiichi Nakajima (1), was developed in Japan after the Second World War. It was TPM that created the Japanese ‘Economic Miracle’ and in that sense was also Lean’s parent. Western companies started implementing these sorts of con-tinuous improvement programmes at the start of the 1990s, but TMP’s implementation in the West did not appear to run as smoothly as it did in Japan. We asked one of the TPM experts from Blom Consultancy, Mario Marchena, about the reasons for this and whether this charac-terisation is in fact true.


INTERVIEW

pressure on fi nancial performances is that everything must go faster, which presents a great danger. I have learned in the past 12 years that you must walk three paths when implementing TPM”, says 57-year old Marchena. “The fi rst is improving the technical performance of the production process, resulting in a higher Overall Equipment Effecti-veness (OEE) (6). Second of all, you must invest in the individual employ-ee’s knowledge, skills and attitude if you want to hang onto these results. An if you want to hang on to these results and want employees to the develop the quality of the organisation must impro-ve signifi cantly.”

In Japanese factories the disciplined, team-oriented, harmonious culture provided enough basis. According to Marchena, “In this system, colleagues work together as a team, which auto-matically improves mutual coopera-tion. The production teams also have closer contact with each other, which then improves cooperation bit by bit. Eventually the entire organisation im-

proves as a whole and, as happened in Japan, in a quite autonomous fashion, due in part to their long history using Quality Circles.”

So it is therefore simply a question of starting TPM and the rest will fol-low? “Well, if only that were true. This is exactly where we fi nd the greatest differences between the East and the West”, Marchena admits. “In Japan, the team and organisational improve-ments took shape in an organic way, but that approach simply won’t fl y in more individually-oriented cultures such as ours. In Europe, explicit atten-tion must be paid to points 2 (invest-ment in knowledge, skills and attitude) and 3 (the quality of the organisation). Especially to point 3.”

This has been done in all Unilever factories that have received an award. “I didn’t check it afterwards, but I don’t mind stating the following: “in every factory where this did not hap-pen we have not achieved sustainable success.”

It goes without saying that implemen-ting tools and techniques is quicker than improving people’s knowledge, skills and attitudes. It’s just as logical to say that individual employee impro-vement is easier to realise that impro-vements for an entire organisation. But it is precisely that last point, improving the quality of an organisation, that is the most important when dealing with the speed with which the permanent improvement of results is realised. The following quote from Seiichi Naka-jima illustrates the point: “TPM is the making of products through the making of people”. He expands this position with his ‘Five Satisfactions’, referring to the customer, shareholder, employ-ee, social and global satisfaction. If a modern company wants to guarantee its existence, then it is not suffi cient to merely keep the customers and share-holders happy. According to Nakajima, it is just as important to give serious attention to personnel, the direct envi-ronment and societal themes.“This leads Europe into a very dange-rous situation”, warns Marchena. “Be-

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INTERVIEW

cause if you choose speed, then you only reach for the low-hanging fruits leaving other great opportunities un-touched. This leads to great losses in the long term. If you want to get the maximum amount of profi t over the long term, then you need to invest in your organisation and your people right at the very start.”

This is the kind of talk you would ex-pect from some soft improvement guru, not a ‘hard operations man’. Marchena explains, “It might sound a bit soft, but it’s not, because you also need the hard TPM tools. Plus, the intended organi-sational development will result in a much more common focus on results. This is why it is essential in my cur-rent role as an external consultant that I teach my client how he himself can actualise his own continued improve-ment processes. Naturally I can offer quick help by teaching him a trick such as SMED (7), for example, but that’s not going to teach him the essence of TPM, and any results achieved will disappear once the external expert has disappeared.”

TPM in Europe has, along with the content of TPM, mostly to do with the explicit development of people and organisation. “Yes, that’s right. And that’s why for me personally TPM, Em-powerment, Autonomous Task Groups and Self Directing Teams overlap each other. In essence it’s about using the TPM methods, techniques and tools in combination with a common focus on the results. In practice this means: working with multidisciplinary impro-vement teams according to the Over-lapping Small Group and the Kaizen Teams method. Because management will deal more with the creation of the right conditions than the content of these methods, they must focus on their management tasks and qualities.

The operators and maintenance engi-neers will then learn to take respon-sibility for their own solutions. This will entail a re-shuffl ing of tasks and responsibilities throughout the entire organisation. The external advisor’s role here is always to make people aware of their current way of working

as compared to the ideal way. More-over, the advisor must guarantee a safe environment to experiment with new behaviour. He must also encourage and maintain mutual communication and, last but not least, he must always let people experience for themselves the link between results and the new way of cooperating.”

Blom plays an active role in the con-tinued development of TPM. “Blom has an internal team of experts actively working on further developing TPM on the basis of the classic Nakajima TPM. Their goal is to make TPM in Europe just as successful as it is in Japan using the method described above. This team of experts comprises people who have learned their trade from the source, for example at Unilever, Heineken and Holland Automotive. Blom works in intensive cooperation with JIPM-Solu-tions and TPM Solutions International in a large international customer with factories in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. This client intends to win a JIPM Award for its factories wit-hin just a few years. In my view, this all guarantees TPM’s continued deve-lopment, whereby the power and value stays at the Japanese level while it is made easier to apply in factories in our part of the world.”

Booklist:

Seiichi NakajimaIntroduction to TPM: Total Productive MaintenanceTokyo, 1988ISBN: 0915299232

Phil LandesbegIn the Beginning, There Were Deming and JuranThe Journal for Quality & ParticipationNovember, December 1999

Kunio ShiroseTPM New Introduction Program in Fabrication and Assembly Industries

Shigeo ShingoA Revolution in Manufactu-ring: The SMED System1985, Productivity PressISBN: 0915299038

Arno KochOEE for the Production TeamLieshout, 2007, FullFact B.V.ISBN: 9078210085

REPORT


”Switching from one A brand to mul-tiple private labels forces you to incre-ase your customer focus. And what our customers want above all is good pro-ducts for the lowest possible price”, ac-cording to General Manager Otto van

der Gronden. “So we produced a vision that focuses especially on those two elements (quality and costs) and that may be summed up under the label of Operational Excellence.” A clear vision is all very well, but how can you make sure it will be implemented? “You could spend a lot of time thinking up a method yourself, but there are ready-made instruments which have proved themselves to be more than adequate in practice. One such instrument is the business improvement philosophy TPM (Total Productive Manufactu-ring), which we have opted for.”

JapanThe TPM method is applied Cosun-wide, so the choice was obvious. Ho-wever, Van der Gronden himself first

took a look in Japan, the “cradle of continuous improvement”. “There it became clear to me that TPM really works, but that it is not a miracle cure. Given the cultural differences between the Netherlands and Japan, TPM calls for a creative approach. In Japan they have life-time employment and people are practically brought up on TPM. Operators in Japan are really proud of their work and their machines.” Accor-ding to Van der Gronden we have no-where near reached that stage here yet. However, he did acknowledge TPM’s strong points. “The philosophy has proved itself. It offers a ready-made structure and contains a host of control instruments for middle management.”

ImplementationBut how does one implement TPM in practice? Rixona attracted Plant Mana-ger Geert Buijsman (who had gained a great deal of experience with TPM at Unilever) and looked for an effective consultant, which it found in Blom Consultancy bv. Buijsman was already convinced of the benefits of TPM. “If you strive for ‘immediate effectiveness at the lowest possible cost’ in a pro-duction environment, then TPM is the tool.” The method’s strongest point, according to Buijsman, is that it starts on the shop floor rather than being im-posed from above. “TPM offers a clear implementation structure, but you do need to work out how that structure applies to your own company.” Jointly with the external consultant he drew up a 100-day plan, with an initial empha-sis on ‘explaining’.

Not a miracle cure, but eminently usable

In 2005, Royal Cosun took over the Aviko Rixona Venray pro-duction facility from Nestlé. Rixona produces potato flakes and granules; up until that time especially for the ‘A’ brand Maggi. Under Cosun, the company devoted itself to a great diversity of private labels – an approach that proved quite successful. The question was, What next? How do we gene-rate further growth in profitability? Should we concentrate on product innovation, or seek new markets? Or should we focus on quality improvement and cost savings in relation to current production? In mid 2007, Rixona opted for the latter choice by concentrating on operational excellence. The TPM continuous improvement strategy was chosen to achieve that goal. How did that choice pan out, slightly more than a year later?

Aviko Rixona strives for excellence with TPM


Overcoming resistance”We first held a number of sessions with top and middle management. They were fairly sceptical at first, ha-ving already worked with improve-ment tools in the pre-2005 period. So what was new about this one? We sim-ply explained that what we proposed was something more than providing some disconnected elements. On the contrary, TPM offers cohesion between all components and ensures direction and control.” Van der Gronden joins in: “We mustn’t be too afraid of resis-tance. You simply have to explain it in the clearest possible terms. If you do that, people understand perfectly well what you are talking about. With TPM as a method it is of great importance to make clear that management de-termines the ‘what’, whereas staff are deemed to structure the ‘how’.

Pilots”We started on a modest scale, with some 5S tracks and the implementa-tion of Autonomous Maintenance for two assembly lines”, Plant Manager Buijsman explains. By way of pilot projects, Rovema 1 (a small-packaging line) and a bulk line (for the filling of paper bags) were selected. “Not easy,” Buijsman admits, “When everybody is busy, it doesn’t feel nice for the line to stop all of a sudden. The line operators were surprised in the beginning. ‘Why us?’’, they wondered. However, toge-ther with a mechanic they started wor-king enthusiastically after a while.” The pilot project started with a ‘total clean out’, revealing a large number of defects. “That enables you to know where to commit your efforts. In addi-tion, checking the line gave the opera-tors much more insight into their ma-chines”, according to Buijsman. “We then started working on specific things in SGAs (Small Group Activity), and implemented Autonomous Maintenan-ce for the other lines.”

ResultsIt is now mid-2008 and the results are already visible. As Van der Gronden says, “The workplace has visually improved and is much tidier, while productivity has increased strongly.”

Buijsman: “After some eight months, production had increased from 1,500 to 3,000, with peaks of 3,500 to 4,000 bags per shift. However, a rise in pro-duction is not everything. You might increase production from 50 to 100 but if the end product is no good, the process is meaningless. Quality and reliability have also got to be raised.” So there are still plenty of steps to be taken. “We will complete, secure and evaluate the autonomous maintenance track, and then examine what went okay and what didn’t. In addition, we are going to set up an audit structure from which learning and improvement points will continually emerge”, accor-ding to Van der Gronden.

Culture change”There is more to TPM than imple-menting a few tools. What you want to achieve is a change in culture. You want to make people involved in your company. And that may be easier in Japan than in this country, where the concept of ‘my company’ is not self-evident”, according to Van der Gron-den. “But I do believe TPM will help to promote such an attitude and it might also show benefits in the area of staff recruitment. After all, we don’t just say that people are important, we also show it in practice.” Buijsman is in complete agreement. “People on the shop floor, that is our capital!”.

On to the shop floorIn this light we asked somebody on the ‘shop floor’ how he had experienced the implementation of TPM. Henk Gelden, Head of Fill Packaging: “Af-ter the first sessions we had a million questions. Hadn’t they tried something similar during the Nestlé period? But this time it quickly became clear that this wasn’t about separate projects. TPM is a binding agent that is mainly about effective communications. At every step we were given clear and personal explanations. Of course there were criticisms in the beginning, but in the main we just ‘went for it’. And now everything is well-oiled, while the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) has gone up a few percentage points. People are much more involved, our sense of responsibility has increased and everybody wants to take part in SGAs. They are actually pushing each other into doing even better.” So Henk Gelden’s evaluation of the first steps is clearly positive. “It is not an easy task to interrupt people and machines and schedule them in for an experiment. But everything has been taken care of and the losses we thought we might make have been more than compensa-ted for already.”

Henk Gelden (Head of Fill Packaging), Geert Buijsman (Plant Manager), Otto van der Gronden (General Manager)

JOIN THE 5th JAPAN STUDY TOUR IN APRIL 2009

To experience the principles of TPM in depthWhy I went to Japan. What I took home with me.

We saw good examples of visualisation. We learned how to organize and structure a company in order to create a TPM culture. We now understand the TPM philosphy and how to implement it in practice. We have seen how to identify and minimize losses (in time, product, energy etc.) We learned how to engage employees in the projects and how to initiate their active role.

More information: [email protected]

TPM STUDY TOURJAPAN



REPORT

Course participants came from all over Europe. We had people from Russia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Ger-many, Spain, England, France and the Netherlands in Bilbao. The course is open to participants from every Uni-lever company in the three divisions ‘Health and Body Care’, ‘Food’, and ‘Ice and Frozen’. It is given on site at a host, which in most cases is a Sour-cing Unit, but it can also be an office or headquarters.

PreparationsThe Course team in charge of organi-sing the event started planning as far as nine months in advance with the choice of the host site. Next, a Course Mana-ger was chosen from the host staff; this person is responsible for local organi-sation. The course addresses four to six real-life cases from the host site. A ‘Black Cap’ is appointed for each case; this is someone who is thoroughly fa-miliar with the case situation and wil-

Implementing TPM in the office: most companies expect so much resistance that they do not even dare to think about it. But it is possible. In Japan, it has been possible for years, and Europe started catching up a few years ago, too. TPM in the office is a logical step when TPM has been applied extensively in production, which is the case with Unilever. But this does not take away from the fact that it is a huge step. After all, losses are not as readily quantifi-able in an office; actually, they can be downright abstract. Looking back on the international training course ‘TPM in Support Departments’ in Bilbao for Unilever process faci-litators, coach and trainer Arno Koch from Blom Consul-tancy shares his experiences.

TPM in the officeA peek behind the scenes


REPORT

ling to make it ‘course ready’ and who will, once the course has started, act as a go-between for trainees and peo-ple involved in the process. In addi-tion, the visitors analyse the processes in question from a fresh perspective, which subsequently allows the compa-ny to get straight to work in using the implementation plan to improve their performances. Basically, the presence of a group of trainees eager to learn provides a tremendous boost to both improvement awareness and improve-ment initiatives.

Approximately four months prior to the course I pay a visit to the host and meet with the Course Manager to go over all of the checklists and see what needs to be done and how we are going to make the necessary arrangements. I also meet the Black Caps, who are gi-ven a briefing on their role and respon-sibilities. Next, I scan the chosen cases in order to get a basic idea. Not only

do these cases need to offer the host improvement potential, but they also have to provide suitable subject mat-ter for the trainees. The Black Caps are now given specific assignments.

I visit the host two additional times in order to monitor progress. My main concern is checking the Black Caps to make sure they are fit for the job. Is their English sufficient? Are they truly motivated, or is this an obligation? Of-ten, a case or a Black Cap is dismissed at this stage. We always keep this in mind when choosing the initial group! The Black Caps receive another set of instructions and are asked to prepare a case presentation for the next visit. Then it is finally time for the actual course week to begin. The participants fly in on Sunday evening, which gives them a chance to get acquainted. Mon-day is theory day, and also includes playing a round of the game Lean in the Office. The highest ranking officer, which is usually the site manager, of-ficially introduces the event. Next, the TPM coordinator explains the role of TPM and TPM in Support Departments at Unilever. Everyone introduces them-

selves and the participants share their three key expectations for the course. There is always a lot to digest on the first day, so we avoid making it too late, and everyone dines together in the hotel.

On Tuesday, the bus departs for the factory at 8:00. We start with a tour. In general, it is helpful to have an idea of

the environment; this way, when you start working on a case you have a clear picture of what it involves. After all, one of the most important principles of problem analysis is to investigate the data at the site where it actually comes from (genchi genbutsu).

Now it is time to tackle the case syndi-cates. The group is divided into teams of five or six people and their assigned Black Cap who will work on their case with them. The Black Cap presents his or her case to the team and now it is up to the teams to start the analysis based on the previous theory. I visit each of the teams, spending about ten minutes an hour with each. You can imagine that this is quite a job when six cases are involved. To lighten the load, the

What is TPM in Support Departments for Unilever

Unilever acknowledges that good office processes are an important supplement to effective and efficient production processes. Improving these processes calls for a critical mass in the organisation that is able to analyse them and then implement improvements. To do this, the company worked with Blom Consultancy bv to draw up a blueprint to train a group of 300 process facilitators. Once they have completed training, the employees return to the offices as TPM managers and team leaders and get to work. Similar initiatives are underway at other companies, including ‘World Class Office’, ‘Lean Administration’ and ‘Lean in the Office’.

A participant from the Netherlands presents a revised process.

Not your everyday example of local colour: the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao where we enjoyed our course dinner.

The Lean in the Office game offers us a preview of where we are heading.


REPORT

European TPM coordinator acts as a co-trainer.

The participants spend the entire week together, day in and day out. This is on purpose. It makes it impossible not to talk to each other, get to know each other and network! At the end of each long day, the bus picks us up and we

go to the Course Manager’s restaurant of choice. Two special evenings are arranged during the week. The first is designed to give everyone a taste of

the local colour, and could be anything. The other is the official course dinner, during which the group is joined by local management and someone from company headquarters in Rotterdam usually flies in, too.During the week, the Course Team is working constantly. Having spent so much time preparing, everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing, and the programme usually goes off without a hitch. The only problems that occasionally arise are when the site managers are suddenly occupied with urgent matters at the last minute. While that often leads to juicy discus-sions, luckily it seldom interferes with our schedule.

The participants are informed at the beginning of the week that they will be expected to present the results of their work to the group, site management and other guests on Friday. This pros-pect really adds to the pressure that

builds up during the week. The partici-pants learn that good analysis alone is not enough; you must also know how to sell it! A well supported and structu-red story is essential, and of course the presentation must include visual aids.

Once the course is over, only the Black Caps remain on site, which is why the

teams deliver not only a current and future state analysis but also a 100-day implementation plan. An outline of the plan is given during the presentation. Management team members are asked one by one whether they are prepared to commit to the implementation of the plan and, for each case, one MT mem-ber is recruited to ‘sponsor’ the plan-ned change.

The site management’s responseThe six MT members assess the pre-sentations with an extremely critical eye, but are nevertheless impressed by the quality of the work delivered. Ac-cording to the MT team “The depth of the analysis, the precision of the redesign, and also the degree of team-work and the sense of enjoyment has far exceeded our expectations!” After the five presentations we engage in a forum discussion that focuses on the

question: “What does the MT need from the teams and what do the teams need from the MT in order to imple-ment these proposals successfully?”

The trainer’s responseThe week is a championship event for participants, Black Caps, organisers and trainers alike. The best part is that it also delivers gold medal results! The participants learn how to perform a process-oriented problem analysis in a team and to arrive at solutions that act as countermeasures to source causes. At the end of the week, the participants fly home. In Bilbao we saw five posi-tively world-class cases. Of course, as experts, we know the secrets of their success:• brief and to the point hands-on

instruction;• a different view and way of thinking;• knowledge of the floor (go to

gemba);

• 360-degree perspective;• a structured approach;• a perfect analysis technique;• rapid team building;• ownership;• commitment on the part of everyone

involved;• thorough preparation that leaves

nothing to chance!

After Bilbao we are more certain than ever of what it means to “get people to deliver first class performances in a harmonious environment”. This is what being able to personally deliver a first-class performance looks like; this is how I want to work.

“In total we have trained around 300 people so far. The trainees have examined and improved some

50 business processes.”

In the factory we see numerous examples of ‘Visual Management’.

The ‘red team’ and their Black Cap (left) give the presentation

Sometimes the analysis is a real puzzle!


INTERVIEW

In 2006 Royal Cosun’s Corporate Development Manager Coen de Haas was handed an unusual assignment: see what we as a group could do with improvement methods. “A tricky question, yes. But I started loo-king; I searched all over the Internet and talked to all kinds of experts. One of our business units had already booked promising results with TPM, so of course I focused on that, too. And whether it was due to all of the results or because of my production background, I was absolu-tely smitten. If only I had known about TPM earlier,” he sighs. So the choice was made for Total Productive Maintenance and the company began implementing it in 2007. But what exactly does that entail?

Getting started with TPMOr: how to cause an oil slick, step by step


INTERVIEW

According to Coen de Haas, who is now also Corporate TPM Manager, it is by no means an overnight process. Therefore, before he advised Cosun to adopt TPM company-wide as the cho-sen improvement method, he really did his homework. “Obviously the fact that our business unit Nedalco already had had highly positive experiences with the Japanese method played a big role. Nedalco started implementing TPM in 2003. The corporate level noticed their results, which ultimately led to giving me the assignment in the first place.”

Capital intensiveBut De Haas also investigated other well-known methods such as Lean, WCM and Six Sigma. “I found out as much as I could. However, the pro-blem, which many managers in smal-ler companies (around 200 employees or less) recognise, is that you become utterly swamped in information. More often than not, it is by sheer coinci-dence that you actually find something in the whole tangled mess that ap-plies.” The Internet proved to be a real boon: the former plant manager and director of various Cosun companies quickly gathered the necessary infor-mation. “We saw a lot of differences yet also many similarities between the various methods. The next step is to figure out which one best suits your organisation. Cosun is a food company and works with commodities very ca-pital intensive production processes, in other words,” he explains. “With that in mind, we feel that TPM is the most appropriate improvement method.”

Partner(s)The next stop, having decided on an improvement method, was to find a good partner. From the beginning it was clear that we would like to make use of the knowledge of JIPM-S. This Japanese firm enjoys an international reputation as the expert on the subject. “The Japanese have a very clear, albeit strict, yet also fully crystallised ap-proach. Basically, you can start using it right away. However, if you think of the path to the ideal as a mountain climbing expedition, JIPM-S acts as your guide, someone who is mainly there to map out your route. They visit four times a year to place the climbing bolts. But we needed another partner for the day to day guidance. Coen de

Haas spoke with a dozen TPM consul-tants. In a joined decision by the opera-tions managers of the Business Group Blom Consultancy was selected. They understand the art of teaching us the necessary skills we need to be able to ascend the mountain, bolt by bolt. Ba-sically they act as our Sherpas.”

PreparationsBefore Cosun could get to work with TPM group-wide, a number of prepara-tions were necessary. De Haas: “I star-ted out by talking to as many compa-nies in the group as possible in order to get them involved in the project. Fortu-nately most of them were able to make a fresh start. In places where improve-ment projects had already been intro-duced earlier, it had never amounted to more than a few isolated activities in most cases. And there were no projects currently underway, so nobody had any thoughts along the lines of, ‘Oh great, now we have to chuck everything that we had and start all over again with something new.’” The TPM manager managed to get three Cosun companies interested in the project. The second step was to provide them with not only knowledge but also awareness most of all. “It is important to show people how TPM works in practice. Seeing is believing. We started by visiting com-panies, both inside Cosun (Nedalco) and outside. I joined the TPM Japan Study Tour, too. That really broadens your perspective.”

Step by stepA first group of people were trained as TPM facilitators. Within their compa-nies they got down to business with a number of pilots. “The pilots are designed to demonstrate on a small scale what TPM can do for your orga-nisation. After a period of five to nine months you will start seeing the initial results. This is also when various lear-ning curves start to develop: in the pi-lot department, among the supervisors and also for me personally. Only then can you start rolling out everything for other areas and in other departments, companies and business units. It is im-possible to implement every aspect of TPM into the entire organisation in one fell swoop. JIPM-S makes that very clear, too: everything is done step by step.”

Oil slickWhen various steps are being taken in numerous directions, the result is an oil slick effect. “Which is exactly the idea; however, you cannot force the oil to do what you want it to do. Instead, the spill develops according to its own dynamic. But what you can do,” De Haas explains, “is to get people excited about it. You can do so by sharing the results of the pilots with them, but of course also by being very enthusiastic yourself. After all, you are supposed to be serving as an example.” Conveying enthusiasm is one thing, but it has to stick, too. And you do have a say in that, according to the TPM Manager. “Your individual role as the TPM coor-dinator is vital because you have to get these enthused companies and people to start working with TPM. You do that by offering the opportunity to train people (for example through TPM faci-litator training), but also by providing the means to get started.”

CommitmentAccording to Coen de Haas commit-ment at the highest level will make or break the project. “Not only does ‘the top’ show that they are fully suppor-tive, but [their support] makes things easier, too. By investing times and money, for example.” Within Cosun we have been fortunate to have gained experience with TPM at Nedalco. “But whether management understands the improvement method in detail is not all that relevant; instead, it is far more im-portant for them to feel confident that this is the right way. When you have that confidence, you can start blazing new trails.” In addition to commitment from the top, it goes without saying that it is essential to get commitment from the people on the shop floor. “It is wonderful to see people pick it up. You see how, after some time, TPM offers structure that creates a sense of calm. In that environment, and with the sup-port and means from the enabling staff, this creates involvement and allows people to develop.”

Added valueThe enthusiasm and employee deve-lopment is an important advantage of TPM. But the way Coen de Haas sees it, the long-term approach is the big-gest added value of this improvement method. “It is not a question of making


INTERVIEW

a few changes and eventually having it go slack again. TPM is mainly about preserving the improvements, along with pursuing additional, new impro-vements. This is how you keep ascen-ding to a higher level, and ultimately how you fulfil your original ambition: a continuously improving organisation.” The “climbing bolts” that JIPM-S puts into place in the form of awards are not so much goals in themselves but rather an incentive to keep going. It is a very long, arduous climb, but when you see that it works, it is also a tremendously satisfying and enjoyable route,” De Haas says.

HesitantThe first positive results are already in. The group of three companies with which the TPM Manager engaged in 2007 has grown to 10 so far (distribu-

ted over the six business units). The oil slick is clearly spreading, in other words. Still, Coen de Haas seems so-mewhat hesitant to talk about these successes. “Right now, the most im-portant thing is progress. And some companies are making more headway than others. I will be satisfied when the key locations in the group are clearly on their way to continuous improve-ment. I would be terribly disappointed to see anyone give up. It has to stick. TPM must become an integrated part of everyone’s work.” And although he sees signs of this, he feels it is still too soon to call the project a success. “First let’s get through the entire 12-year pro-cess,” he says, laughing. “It certainly keeps things exciting, taking stock of where we are with each passing year. As our Japanese and Dutch ‘masters’ always remind us: step by step.”

Royal Cosun produces and sells natural ingredients and food stuffs for the international food industry, food service (ca-tering and wholesale) and the retail outlets. The group also processes organic residues into products for non-food ap-plications. Cosun comprises six business units: The entire group generates turnover of EUR 1.7 billion and has approximately 4,300 em-ployees (FTE). Cosun’s mar-keting and research expertise is at the service of today’s and tomorrow’s food market.

This expertise has been con-centrated around specific cus-tomer groups and applications. For research and quality con-trol Cosun has its own research and development organisation, Cosun Food Technology Cen-tre (CFTC).

The organisation, which bears the prestigious “Koninklijke” (royal) designation, operates as part of the first links in the food production chain, collecting and processing large volumes of agricultural raw materials into quality ingredients and food. Together with customers, suppliers and members, the or-ganisation develops products suited to the food market, now and in the future.


You head an organisation that is on its way to a World Class Performance - what are you going to do to guarantee success? When faced with disappointing results, do you cast about for a new strategy or you do you ask yourself how you could use WCP better? Blom Consultancy uses “Leadership on the way to a WCP” to support your every step towards successful results for your organisation.

Leadership on the way to World Class Performance


IN-DEPTH ARTICLE

The past few years have been charac-terised by a growing number of chan-ges at the top of organisations. These changes are often forced and are moti-vated by disappointing results and poor performance. A new leader will shake things up in the hope of creating posi-tive results. A shake-up often implies that a leader will use new strategies and accompanying methods and tech-niques to realise new improvements.

Based on its experience, Blom Consul-tancy believes that these developments can be translated into the abstract level of organisational changes/improve-ments.

This graph shows the phases an orga-nisation will experience if it decides to implement strategies to achieve the intended improvements. We see that the fi rst phase the organisation uses techniques to achieve results. In the se-cond phase, the organisation wonders why they have implemented the tech-nique and what infl uence the user will have on the expected result. During the third phase, the organisation discovers that the personal developments of the user(s) and the process development as a consequence of the technique go hand in hand.

The second phase can sometimes mean a loss of time or quality because fi n-ding answers to questions takes time. Also, the more people involved in the process, the longer this phase will last. Should an organisation not complete this phase or not complete it fully, im-

provements made earlier in the process can 0possibly diminish in quality over the course of time or be lost entirely.

As soon as results begin to stagnate and there is no clear way to achieve improvements, the organisation will, in the worst-case scenario, elect a new leader. If the established order still en-joys a certain measure of trust, the or-ganisation may decide to follow a new strategy and approach as a less drastic measure. We observe these behaviours in phase 1 where techniques, methods and, in the worst-case scenario, chan-ges in regime are used to improve the level of performance.

It is too simplistic to argue that choos-ing a new direction should not be an option because, in a number of cases, a change in direction is an essential tool for bringing about change. Howe-ver, the difference between successful and unsuccessful improvements is de-termined by the measure in which the leader dares to maintain the existing strategy, to accept his/her own respon-sibility and to show “why” the existing strategy had not been successful to date. Taking responsibility as regards the result is a very important quality for a leader to have.

Leadership: just for leaders or for managers too?

Not only an organisation’s director, but also its managers can have a real effect on whether a result is achieved or not. When we talk of leadership, we imme-

diately think of the highest executives within an organisation. Although the assignments and frameworks are diffe-rent, managers are also involved with leadership. If we think simplistically in terms of leaders, managers and em-ployees, we can say that an organisa-tion’s leader provides “the why” of the “the what” and “the how”. Providing answers to the question “why” gives meaning to a course of action and cla-rity to the greater whole to which the organisation contributes and therefore also the difference it makes. This is of-ten called an organisation’s vision. Defi ning this vision is the fi rst step in the chain of change that outlines the ingredients needed for success. The vi-sion is based on the leader’s faith and conviction and he or she will strive to-wards it with strength of will and pas-sion. Examples are essential in develo-ping a vision. Figure 1. The chain of change.

The what, the how and role-sharing

The next step is for management to forge ahead with translating the vision into “what” needs to happen in order to make it happen. This process turns the vision into concrete objectives. The organisation must, however, commit to the vision and goals before thought can be given to “how” the objectives can be achieved. In this “commitment phase”, a leader will often also have ideas about how particular challenges could be addressed. We all know the type: the leader that gets involved in the nitty-gritty on the shop fl oor (wit-hout actually having any real under-standing of how it works). It is crucial that the various levels keep to their proper roles and responsibilities to suc-cessfully translate the vision into acti-on. This gives everyone something to work with and the opportunity to show leadership in their own role.

Filip Vandendriessche describes the executives’ role (and that of manage-ment and staff carrying out the work) in his book “Leiding geven zonder bevelen” (Providing Leadership wit-hout Issuing Orders). The model be-low comprises a “management funnel” and a “confl ict pyramid” and shows in

3

timeapprox. 1.5 years

IDEAL

Impr

ovem

ent/c

hang

e

21 Awareness of the ‘why’ of

tools/methods and techniques

Process development & Personal development go hand in hand

(beliefs/paradigms)

Awareness of the effect of personal behaviour on the

desired change(behaviour)

Tools/methods/technique(environment)

IN-DEPTH ARTICLE


a clear manner the separation between the what and the how and the associa-ted roles and responsibilities.Figure 2. The management funnel.

Leadership

A World Class leader asks himself the question: “What is it that I do that stops us from obtaining results?” He takes full responsibility when the desired result is not achieved. He knows that it’s something he does, says, emanates or thinks that prevents an improvement from delivering the desired result.

A World Class Leader also uses phy-sical changes to the environment to encourage movement. By changing the environment, you influence be-haviour. A World Class Leader will therefore always take the required step to translate his vision directly into the environment. Promoting a transparent culture is a great deal easier when all unnecessary clutter is removed from the work space. It is easier to realise multidisciplinary collaboration when people are working closely together. A World-Class Leader focuses therefore on translating the vision into the envi-ronment and not into a bunch of won-derful documents (that then disappear into a filing cabinet).

The concept of leadership connects the transformation of the vision into the environment and taking and accepting complete responsibility for the result. The physical environment therefore provides the fuel for personal develop-ment by giving feedback on how well a job is done. Personal development and process development can go hand in hand if a leader acknowledges and assumes responsibility for the physical transformation or, in other words, the result of the change/improvement. We will see how this works in phase three of the Next Level curve.

This applies to managers and employ-ees as it does to leaders. Everybody impacts the process and has the op-tion of taking on board the responses to work on the process and to accept this as feedback on their own way of working. This “ownership” guarantees

that an organisation can create its own reality.

Blom Consultancy defines leadership as follows: “the behaviour of the lea-der who directs a process whereby pro-cess and person move ever closer to the ideal.”

Blom Consultancy and your organisation’s leadership

Blom Consultancy offers a supportive approach as well as various methods and techniques to bring about the changes in environment, process and structure you intend. This approach gu-arantees an environment in which the desired behaviour can be displayed. Blom offers “policy deployment” – a technique that facilitates the translati-on of a vision into objectives and even-tually into action. We therefore ask at every level what needs to be done to reach the goal. The employees in-volved at each level are given the what (the common goal) in either a direct or indirect form and they then decide what actions they themselves will take and which it would be better to leave to another level or team (deploy). Trans-lating back the results provides insight into the extent to which the goal has been achieved. This technique also manifests itself in the environment in many forms of expression and creates an environment in which the desired behaviour can be displayed.

Blom also assists you as a process lea-der in acknowledging and assuming complete responsibility for the results of the changes have achieved. Not only in situations that provide disappointing results but also in situations in which the desired result is achieved. We have noticed that a World Class Leader is modest when successful and he attri-butes the honour to those under him. The employees then view the success as a reward for their efforts. They stand in the spotlight instead of in their lea-der’s shadow. A quote for the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tse (approx. 600 BC) shows that this summation of leader-ship is nothing new:

“As for the best leadersThe people do not notice their existence,The next best people honour and praise.The next, people fear.And the next, the people hate,When the leader’s work is doneThe people say,“We did it all ourselves!”

Vision Targets Motivation Commitment

Skills Resources Action plan

Motivation Commitment

Skills Resources Action plan

Vision Targets Skills Resources Action plan


Resources Action plan


Skills Action plan


Skills Resources

Confusion

Gradual Change

Anxiety

Frustration

Risky start


Once upon a time there was a group of people, working in health care organisa-tions. They wanted to become Lean. Truth be told, it was actually the people in power in the country who, with their watchful eyes fixed on the government coffer, decided it was high time for efficiency to come to the health care system. They

tried everything: salary cutbacks, hospital mergers, cheaper purchasing, but it was all in vain. Then came tales of a marvellously effective improvement

method called Lean. The group beseeched a well-known consultant in the field of continuous improvement. “Oh, consultant, make us the

Leanest health care organisation of them all.” The consultant thought long and hard and finally gave the group two things: an order to embark on a journey and a magic mirror.

Mirror, mirror on the wallWho’s the Leanest of them all?


TRAVEL REPORT

The group, comprising a dozen doc-tors, nurses, managers and project leaders, fi rst received an explanation of Lean’s basic principles. The con-sultant explained that Lean is a phi-losophy and a management strategy designed to improve processes and develop teams. “Simply put: ‘doing more with less.’ Whether you are providing medical care or manufac-turing cars, it all comes down to cre-ating processes throughout the entire organization that offer maximum ad-ded value to customers and company alike.” It was music to the group’s ears.

The consultant’s next words had a more sobering effect. “A Lean trans-formation is not easy. It takes a lot

of work. It calls for a renewed effort every day and conscientious hard work. Without this, nothing will ac-tually change! The pitfall is,” the consultant intoned, “copying tools and solutions. You must have a good grasp of the principles behind the tools. By carefully examining ‘why it works’, principles can be effecti-vely applied to every situation. This is why I am sending you to a city far, far away from here. Fly to Seattle, and learn how to see!”

The group asked the consultant why they had to go to Seattle. The con-sultant explained that students of the Eastern wizard Ohno had settled in Seattle at the end of the previous century. The city is home to a num-ber of world-famous companies and organizations that had acquired years of hands-on experience with Lean. Plus, Seattle is positively synony-mous with enterpreneurship and am-bition! “The motto is ‘To make a dif-ference’!” the consultant exclaimed somewhat cryptically.

And so a miraculous fl ying machine transported the group to Tacoma Air-port in Seattle on 29 March 2008. During the fl ight, they were given the consultant’s fi nal words of advice to read. These were contained in a list of organizations to visit and a myste-rious assignment: “Your assignment is not to be cheap or to do your best. Your assignment is to increase the value for your customer using mini-mum effort and cost by utilizing your staff’s knowledge and creativity to the maximum.” The group also took out the mirror, which was accompa-nied by the words: “Look into this every night.”

30 March – SeattleThe fi rst day started with a huge cup of Starbucks coffee. After all, Seattle is where this coffee magnate started. The group visited the Pike’s Place Market (which has been featured in movies including “Fish”) where the fi shmongers’ enthusiasm was stri-king. These people truly want to be the most famous fi sh sellers in the

world. In order to get a better feel for the city, they organized a treasure hunt. Remember, “Everybody is an inspector” is one of the Lean princi-ples. The group also visited the Klon-dike Gold Rush Museum. Centuries ago, gold fever drew many people to Seattle in search of fame and for-tun, much like this group’s quest for success now.

31 March – BoeingBoeing, the builder of wondrous fl y-ing machines, was clearly the place for them to be. Mike Herscher, di-rector of the Lean Enterprise Of-fi ce Commercial Airplanes, took the group under his wing. Herscher described how the need for a new ap-proach dawned on Boeing when a lu-crative contract went to its competi-tor Airbus. It’s then we realized, “Fat cats don’t hunt.” It was time for the organization to go on a diet, which Boeing did with the help of Lean.

One aircraft a dayThe size of the Boeing hangars in Everett, Washington is as impressive as the activities taking place inside. The layout of the factory favours U-shaped workcells, which ensures that everything is within the employees’ reach. At Boeing Renton, where 737s are manufactured, you rarely see any-one walking around. Everyone works inside the aircraft, and has all of the necessary tools at hand. It takes only 10 days (the target is eight) to assem-ble a 737, out of the 370.000 separate components. One aircraft rolls off the assembly line every day, where the client awaits to fl y it home.

1 April – Everett ClinicThe welcome at the Everett Clinic was almost as impressive: a par-king place had been reserved for the coach, and a total of 11 employees came out to greet the group. The cli-nic, which has earned the distinction of best place to work, year after year, actively applies the Lean principles with plenty of drive and enthusiasm. Using value fl ow analyses, a great deal has been improved throughout the clinic and their focus is clearly on

The group, comprising a dozen doc-

customer service, process thinking and teamwork. The clinic’s desk of-fi ce’s motto in particular made a big impression on the group: “One call does it all!”

Gemba Research and Kaas TailoredIn the afternoon the group made its way to furniture factory Kaas Tail-ored. Several years earlier, owner Jeff Kaas “caught” the Lean bug from Jon Miller, the owner of Gemba Research. The resulting effi ciency in working procedures freed up space in the furniture factory, prompting Miller to move his offi ce to the site. Unsurprisingly, the factory is a text-book example of daily Lean manage-ment, with every employee contri-buting to continuous improvement. And literally everything is visually communicated and managed on the shop fl oor!

2 April – Genie IndustriesDuring a visit to material lifts and ae-rial work platforms manufacturer Ge-nie Industries, the group was allowed to tour the “Gemba” (shop fl oor). In the spirit of “Learning to see”, the group sketched the seven fl ows on the production fl oor. The production

time was 49 minutes and commenced with a fl ourish of trumpets. In other words, a new cherry picker rolls off the assembly line every 49 minutes! Each workspace includes trolleys stocked with the required materials for the process in question. The “wa-ter striders” (highly trained individu-als who are familiar with the entire process) make sure that everything is on hand just in time, and are quick to lend a hand in case there are any problems. The number of ad hoc trial structures was striking, too; they in-dicated the ideas and improvements currently being developed.

3 April – Group Health CooperativeAt Group Health Cooperative, a health insurance provider, the group witnessed Lean applications in an offi ce environment. A guided tour of their “model line” offered proof of a paradigm shift at every level. Daily management and Daily kaizen was visible on signs accompanying each process. Heijunka signs illus-trate workfl ows and productions. The lead times have been drastically shortened from one month to three days; they ultimately want to scale it back to one day! The vice president is present on the shopfl oor 80% of the time, offering support to employ-ees. Their progress is tracked using a moveable sign that he always takes with him out on the fl oor.

4 April – Virginia Mason Medical CentreOn the last day, the group visited Virginia Mason Medical Centre. In 2002 a number of people from the hospital fl ew to Japan to see the art of Lean in action. Since then, many processes have been set up in fl ow and dramatically improved. Lead times have been radically shortened and the work conditions for nursing staff have been signifi cantly impro-ved by introducing “nursing cells.” A copy of what a patient can expect is posted in each hospital room. Em-ployees are scheduled fl exibly every

day and new employees receive trai-ning in the Lean Health Care princi-ples. Every year approximately 25 individuals travel to Japan to learn more about the Lean principles in manufacturing companies.

Safety fi rstAt Virginia Mason, safety takes pri-ority. That’s why a patient who died during a procedure is used as an example: we do not want this to hap-pen again. There is a noticeable lack of waiting rooms and waiting times because the idea is for everyone to be helped immediately. The children’s ward uses folders featuring animals as a fun visual aid. The young patient searches the hallway for the corres-ponding animal and receives direct attention in the appropriate room. In the Cancer Institute, kanban cards are used throughout the entire process. A sign on the doors indicates the stage of treatment the patient inside has reached, and whether the room is available.

During the trip, the group went out to dinner each night at a special location in the greater Seattle area. After din-ner, the members took turns looking in the magic mirror and everyone saw something different. They saw how they could apply everything they had learned that day to their own situa-tion. Actually, they saw situations in their particular health care institution that could stand considerable impro-vement.

The exciting week concluded with an inspiring lecture by local Lean ma-gician Mark Rosenthal and a lively salsa evening. Tired, but thoroughly motivated, the group returned home on 6 April. Since then, the members of the group still look into the mir-ror every night, asking: “Mirror mir-ror on the wall, who’s the leanest of them all?” And every day they still see things that could be better in their own organization. After all, the most important thing that they learned in Seattle was how to truly see.


SEATTLELEAN

28 March - 5 April

2009

study tourExperience

The Lean Study Tour brings people in the healthcare, service and the industrial sector together, offering an opportunity to look at processes and organizations from a different perspective. Ex-perience process improvement with Lean and rise to the challenge of applying this approach to your own situation. All decision makers who feel that the healthcare and industrial sectors could learn a lot from each other, everyone who aims to structurally improve healthcare and is ready to break out of traditional patterns is welcome to attend. We’ll take you to inspiring companies including the Everett Clinic, Group Health Cooperative, Boeing, Genie Industries and Kaas Tailored. All of which have years of hands-on experience in applying Lean!

Experience Lean! Learn to see! Join us!

Bringing healthcare and industry together


Nico needs little encouragement. When asked about his experiences, he immediately launches into an animated monologue about what he feels are the most important qualities of a “Lean leader”, namely: “Offer direction, know where you want to go, translate the strategic goals of the organization into transparent, straightforward objectives for your people, and spell out what you expect from them. Generally speaking, you could say that a manager is more

focused on doing things right, whereas the challenge for a Lean leader is to do the right things.”

Bound for Easy StreetThat sounds familiar. Yet why do so many managers have such a hard time putting it into practice when faced with the challenge? According to Nico, that is one of the most significant pitfalls: the theory sounds familiar and straightforward, but it is the changing real world situation that requires Lean leaders to possess a different set of qualities. “It starts with your own personal iron-clad conviction that the desired improvement cannot be achieved in the usual way, but that continuous improvement is the way to world class status. The unruly everyday real world situation really can be changed. Armed with your conviction, you can persuade others to wade through the muck in order to reach Easy Street also. In any case, you yourself must be open to change; you must give your people freedom

and space, and encourage them to take the initiative. And provide complete support, too, of course. Nothing will change much if management simply pays lip service. As managers, a tremendous amount of involvement, availability and high profile exemplary behavior is asked of us. As we provide this, we are more than happy to have our Lean coaches act as a mirror; they have been indispensable in the steps we have taken.

Sense of urgencyCorus wants to be among the international leaders in the industry. But does this not mean that there will be even more pressure from the senior levels to perform? “Of course, the board will hand us ambitious accelerated operational targets. And rightfully so, as everyone is convinced that despite the fact that we are the best steel company in Europe, there is still a great deal of room for improvement. Plus, the international raw material market presents us with a huge challenge: we must do all we can to secure the necessary raw materials and then use them in the most effective possible ways. Of course, this sense of urgency helps underscore the improvement and change message. But at the end of the day, what matters most is that your organization is determined to be the best and considers failure a personal defeat, just like in professional sport.”

AZOver the last two years, whenever the topic turns to implementing continuous

Three years ago, the Corus steel company in IJmuiden (which joined India’s TATA Steel at the end of last year) began implementing Lean Thinking. Over 100 Lean coaches were trained, “key business chain processes” were defined and project groups were organized to tackle various obstacles throughout the entire company. Nico Bleijendaal, former manager of GrondStoffenBedrijf or GSB (the front of the process) and champion of continuous improvement, reflects on his tenure as the initiator of the process of change at GSB.

Thinking, Daring, Doing and Continuing!

Lean Coaches Jaap Klaver, Roderik van Amerongen and Ingrid Mooijman.


REPORT

change, GSB has regularly stood in the spotlight at the Corus site. What stood out so much? “It’s tough to sum it up in a few words. I would not say that we at GSB were the only ones investing so much time and attention to implementing Lean Thinking. But I can point out several noteworthy aspects. It helped us tremendously to create focus for management and middle management, partly by organizing a continuous improvement seminar for the GSB top 35 for two years in a row. At the AZ soccer stadium...” he says, clearly proud of his other team. After the first two-day meeting in 2006, supervised by Arno Koch from Blom Consultancy, thinking about continuous improvement gained tremendous momentum. When the top 35 were confronted with the new concept in such an insistent way, everyone gained far better insight into the possibilities that Continuous Improvement had for their departments. It resulted in a record 70+ new projects.

Making choicesIn October 2007 the same group converged on the AZ stadium again. The huge number of projects had tested members to the very limit and the call for choices to be made was very strong. No wonder Strategy Deployment was the theme for 2008: making choices, doing the things that

would directly contribute to Corus’ (strategic) objectives and make projects manageable. Theoretically speaking, a project lasts no longer than three months and no more than three projects are implemented at the same time in a factory, for example. In retrospect it all sounds very easy of course, but believe me, it was preceded by an awful lot of discussion.

Also, during the period between these sessions, we offered all of the supervisors at GSB (a total of some 60 employees), in cooperation with Blom, a two-day Lean and Leadership

workshop. They have to start guiding projects and stimulating the process of change immediately. If they do not understand and assume their role and responsibility in relation to continuous improvement from the start then little will come of all of the Top 35 plans in actual practice. By having members of GSB management open and close these sessions, we expressed the seriousness of the matter.

Success storySo is it all one great big success story? “There are still so many challenges; there is still so much to do. More than anything else, let us carry on. Carry on tackling the issues, having the courage to meet the challenges,

and daring to try new methods. A historically developed culture like the one at Corus generally characterized by short improvement initiatives with a cut and dried beginning and end cannot be transformed in a matter of three years into an organization where Lean-based continuous improvement is a fully developed aspect of our way of thinking and doing.

No EscapeCertain things have not gone as smoothly. Sometimes it seems as if we are allergic to best practices; adopting something positive from someone

else is hard. And as management you have to have the guts to intervene when people try to duck out. It was no coincidence that our second AZ meeting was called ‘No Escape’! But I am convinced that the pitfalls are also important for all of us to experience. You need to encounter the problems in order to experience the power of the Lean concept. The seeds have been planted and are starting to sprout. In some places shoots can even be seen. But like anything else, we must take proper care of them in order to make sure everything keeps growing.”

Nico finishes by sharing his thoughts about the years to come. “Stay confident, protect improvements and celebrate successes, and most of all stay the chosen course. When everyone, from management to the shop floor demonstrates a professional athlete’s attitude and takes responsibility, Corus IJmuiden will be able to capture the world championship title.”The GSB will shortly say farewell to an inspired manager. But we can be sure that he will continue to rise to the challenge of continuous improvement on his new assignment for Corus’ Cold Belt Rolling Mill 2. Stay tuned.

By: Ingrid MooijmanLean coach Grondstoffenbedrijf Corus

The GSB Top 35 during the First AZ session, with Nico Bleijendaal in the front row, fourth from the left.

You need to encounter the problems in order to experience the power of the Lean concept.



REPORT

We can be brief about that last questi-on; the clients themselves come to pick up the aircraft and they fly it back to its destination, so yes, they are flawless. It would be extremely bad advertising if one crashed directly after leaving the factory.

And what about the production time? A few years ago it took 29 days, but these days the machines are built in just 8 ‘flow days’. Boeing still allows two ‘buffer days’ - one before and one after. “We apologize for not being so good yet, but we will achieve eight days soon!” The company can current-ly deliver around three planes a day.

Faster, better, cheaperEvery plane is built on three produc-tion lines in one dizzyingly large han-gar. Boeing has but one building that is larger: the Boeing 747 assembly line. However, it’s not about the size of the hangar. They’re not only building fas-ter, they can now build 30% more air-craft on 16% less factory floor! They need 41% less total floor space (which they have sold off in the meantime) and the ‘inventory turn’ has climbed from 1.5 to 30 times a year. Their in-ventory has shrunk by 60%, which has dramatically lowered its value. Has all this made everything more expensive? Not at all! They used to be happy with a margin of 5 to 6%; they are now ma-king 11%!

How do they do it?What’s the secret behind this success story? Twenty years ago, Boeing star-ted implementing Lean Manufactu-ring. Boeing now has 45 internal Lean consultants and 180 ‘Kaizen Leaders’ who manage permanent improvement projects. The leader of this group

Boeing Main Assembly 737

The Boeing 737 is the world’s bestselling short-to-medium-range aircraft with more than 5,500 built so far. The aircraft comprises 376,000 (!) unique parts (to compare: a snazzy car has a mere 38,000). It takes a massive 190 litres of paint to cover the body alone, and the plane has more than 50 kilome-tres of cabling… And yet, every 737 is also unique. How long do you think it takes to build one of these giants of the air? And how many aeroplanes turn out perfectly?

Any idea how long it takes to build a Boeing 737?

Freshly painted, ready for delivery


(Mike Herscher) says about his work: “It is my job to be annoying to the sta-tus quo”.

Not only the processes have improved, the work itself has also become more fun. At the Interior Responsibility Center (producer of the luggage bins overhead, among other things) they’ve managed to decrease the turnaround time from 256 days to just 22 hours! As one of the production employees told us, “The improvement is that you know what you have to do, how it needs to be done and where every-thing is. Everything works a great deal more smoothly, easily. We now work in flow and that is much less tiring.” A team leader adds “People want to con-tribute. We are helping them to do so. It is annoying if you can’t, if there are no tools, etc.”

The work is also often a lot more di-verse. Imagine you have to make a box with six sides. You could get six people to each make one side or one person could make one complete box. The lat-ter is what they are doing at Boeing. It not only means work is carried out quicker and better, but also that it is far more enjoyable!

The principles usedHow can you get that ‘flow’? We ob-served a number of principles in use at Boeing:• They separated the production

streams into three ‘Tailored Business Streams’ (TBS) - towards dynamics instead of product. This means that specials no longer disrupt the running streams.

• Boeing balances the workload by ha-ving ‘Local Visual Controls’ every-where: indicators whereby everyone can see if a particular workcell is on schedule. Any deviation is visible immediately and, once spotted, an ‘emergency plan’ kicks in.

• Unlike a traditional ‘process centre’, a product is always moving in a flow line. “If it ain’t moving, it’s dead. We don’t want dead things!” At Boeing, even the aircraft moves (two inches a minute). The continuity of the flow is protected by Rapid Response Teams who work directly at the line. They

also work with ‘dedicated’ instead of ‘shared’ resources.

• Boeing works with ‘right sized equipment’ and says: “Use people for things that people are good at and use machines for things that machines are good at. Don’t make people into ma-chines or machines into people!”

• In the framework of the Production Preparation Process, they no longer ‘brainstorm’ but ‘try-storm’. They think of at least seven possible soluti-ons to every problem and simulate it 100 times using primitive resources. One of the questions they ask them-selves here is: “How would nature solve this problem?”

• All parts and tools are organised into ‘kits’ where it can be seen immediate-ly if they are ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’. The kit and aircraft are only released once the supervisor has determined that it is safe to do so.

Why did it take 20 years?Mike Herscher says: “We are arro-gant.” An honest, somewhat harsh ut-terance, but for many organisations, often true. How often do we hear “Yes, that’s nice, but it wouldn’t work here.” Plus you also need a lot of commitment and discipline (with regard to Lean principles), especially from manage-ment. Any manager that says they want to simplify a process and then buys a complicated machine that operates only 12 weeks a year will soon be paid a visit by ‘Annoying Mike’...

The transition from 29 to 8 daysAs Herscher relates, “In 1997 the mana-

gers managed the shortages, the things that were missing. We had aircraft at the end of the line that still needed parts. That was the way we built ae-roplanes.” At the basis of the new set-up is standardisation: everyone knows what needs to be done and everything is ‘repeatable’. All the supplies are brought to the line from the warehouse. All the subassembly takes place on the branches of the main line. We only use the main line for installations.

ResultThe result: a dramatic improvement in quality and productivity and a drastic drop in costs. They used to work se-ven days a week in three shifts with 30 to 70% overtime, now they work five days a week in two shifts with just 5% overtime. The aeroplanes now come off the line without pieces missing and employees find the work more challen-ging and fun.

Production line in Kent (WA, USA).


Lean HealthcareBut we work with people...

This is one of the statements we often hear to explain

why everything is so different in healthcare than in

other sectors.

Is healthcare really so different? We propose that

healthcare is exactly the same as other industries...

but is it really?


IN-DEPTH ARTICLE

Let’s take the time to set a few things straight...

We work with people! We sure do! And Amsterdam Air-port Schiphol ‘processes’ no less than 100,000 people a day. Do you have any idea how many meals are made in their kitchens each day? Take a peek into one of the smaller aircraft and it has at least one hundred seats, just as many as your average hospital, more than in most care homes. And while passengers don’t need operations or psychological analysis, they do have to be flown at a height of ten kilometres, a temperature of minus 50°C and a speed of 1,000 kilometres an hour and then be brought back down to earth and land with pinpoint accuracy.

Our situation is somewhat different... Well, it depends on how you look at it... In aviation, you could complain that the weather is unpredictable or you could take the changeable weather as a given and be prepared. In the aviation industry

they have ensured that the weather can’t disturb the process to the extent that safety is threatened. Air crew are trained and drilled for every possible occurrence. They are trained on a regular basis to deal with new situations and practice coping in exceptional circumstances. And what about in the care industry? Has every surgeon exhaustively practiced every operation he has ever performed in ad-vance? And has he done so under the watchful eye of an experienced master, using a technique that is internationally recognised as the best? Is the doctor, the therapist, the group leader or caregiver regularly called back to practice for ‘un-foreseen situations’ and to survive the drill without falling apart? In the aviation industry, every discipline knows exactly who does what under which circumstan-ces, meaning they can anticipate each other’s moves. The pilot can therefore rest assured that his passengers will be welcomed and shown to their seats in a timely fashion once they’ve come down the passenger bridge. Does a surgeon know what happens with his patients once they’ve left the operating room? Can he be sure that what he just repaired with dedication and professional skill will not later be destroyed by the wrong medication, an infection, bedsores or anything else for that matter?

Health care institutions are rather complex organisations... Our first reaction to this is: shouldn’t we do something about it, then? Especially

when it constantly seems as if the com-plexity is too much to control and leads to problems and inflated costs? So is this something that can be changed? Abso-lutely! The key to success for just about every example of real and lasting impro-vement has been simplification.

Our second reaction is: is complexity in healthcare really so unusual? If we com-pare Amsterdam Airport Schiphol with a hospital, you could at most argue that Schiphol has done everything within its power to create ‘flow’, so the traveller notices nothing of the incredible com-plexity that surrounds him. But let’s look a bit farther… do you have any idea just how complex the processes in a company like Unilever are? Do you know what it takes to develop, improve and produce 400 different brands, and all those dif-ferent items within each brand, each and every day? And to then get people the entire world over to buy them? The ar-gument “we’re not a simple production line” is an outrageous denial of the unbe-lievable level of difficulty involved in the production line process.

But we work with professio-nals... Yes, we do. So do aviation and industry. And that’s exactly why the quality of the healthcare industry should be so high! To put it more succinctly: both the aviation and healthcare industries have professi-onals who work with people, sometimes under difficult or unpredictable condi-


IN-DEPTH ARTICLE

tions, who are subject to a great many regulations, who are pressured to keep costs low and so on. The two are easy to compare thus far.

So what’s the real difference then...? As far as we can ascertain, the two bran-ches deal with similar challenges in very different ways. So that’s one clear diffe-rence. There is a far-reaching difference in the level of acceptance for undesirable situations. Health insurance companies and healthcare administrators (and even the minister of health) seem to accept in-cidents that would lead to great upheaval and public outcries in other industries. If we compare the aviation industry or, to use another example, the automobile industry with healthcare, then the biggest differences are in how each has evolved. The first two industries created systems and organisations within just a few de-cades, in which safety, reliability, quality and cost effectiveness are more or less ‘ingrained’. These systems still need to be created in the care industry, for va-rying reasons.

But what does this mean? We believe that a major shift will be needed to make healthcare safe, reliable, effective and efficient. Change is ne-ver easy, it’s an art unto itself! Happily, healthcare professionals can see how the chemical industry, aviation and other in-dustries have pulled it off and ‘borrow’ their learning curve. But you still have to translate that learning curve to your own situation! The real challenge is to get large groups of people to take another look at their work and thereby make a permanent change in how they work.

The transition encompasses: 1. Gaining a profound understanding of

the principles behind ‘Zero Defects’ and ‘Zero Incidents’.

2. Translating these principles into con-crete measures that can be applied to your own situation.

3. Implement these principles as quickly as possible and turn them into a new, permanent way of working for all par-ties involved.

Aviation and chemical industry profes-sionals can help the care industry with point 1. Points 2 and 3 are different ho-wever; situations in the aviation and che-mical industries are completely different and have developed over the course of many years. Blom Consultancy brings this unique combination of knowledge to-gether in its ‘Lean Healthcare’ approach. ‘Lean Healthcare’ draws on knowledge of the philosophy and principles behind ‘Zero Defects’ and ‘Zero Incidents’, as taken straight from the Japanese source and proven effective many times over in a wide range of different industries, whether carried top down or implemen-ted bottom up, and applied with an unva-rying respect for the local situation, the various stakeholders and, most of all, for the end result: healthcare that satisfies all parties involved!

Productivity solutions and tools

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F u l l F a c t - Yo u r P a r t n e r i n P r o d u c t i v i t y


World Class Six SigmaSix Sigma is a system used to realise

continual improvement in the quality

of all business processes. Six Sigma

does not offer any vague intentions

or half-baked theories, rather it is a

structured way of explaining and

solving problems using hard facts

and fi gures. The objective of Six

Sigma is to reduce variation, thereby

making processes manageable and

predictable.

Diagram:

The various Sigma levels applied to spelling errors in a book

Sigma Level No. of spelling errors

1 159 per page

2 23 per page

3 1.35 per page

4 1 per 31 pages

5 1 per bookshelf

6 1 per library


IN-DEPTH ARTICLE

The roots of Six Sigma can be traced back to Carl Friedrick Gauss (1777-1855), who introduced the con-cept of normal distribution. Howe-ver, it was not until the 1980s, when Motorola saw that their quality levels were no longer satisfactory, that they set to work using the theories of Gauss, Shewart, Deming, Juran, Ishikawa and Taguchi. The aim was to move from measuring errors per thousand to measuring errors per million. In this way, by combining familiar tools and statistical techniques into a single pro-gramme, Motorola developed the me-thod we now know as 6σ (Six Sigma). Six Sigma has provided Motorola with signifi cant quantifi able improvements, resulting in billions of dollars’ worth of savings. Many companies world-wide have since adopted the Six Sigma system, the most well-known example being General Electric.

All Processes Contain ErrorsEvery process is subject to errors, and the number of errors that occur can be seen as a measurement for quality. Sigma is the Greek letter that is used to indicate shortcomings and deviations

in business processes. Reducing the number of shortcomings improves the quality of the work, a fact that applies not only to production, but also to other activities such as purchasing, logistics and fi nancial administration.

The table below clearly explains the difference between the different levels, using spelling errors as an example. The levels have been calculated using statistical formulas.Many business processes are currently at a Sigma level of between 3 and 4. Within a 3-year period, Motorola suc-ceeded in rising from level 3 to level 5.7. Companies using sigma always strive for level 6, which means that all business processes (both production and non-production) must not exceed 3.4 defects for every million tasks! In reality, this is only a fraction away from zero defects.

The Six Sigma MethodThe philosophy underlying Six Sigma is that processes can only be improved if they are clearly understood, which requires them to be described and mea-sured. Six Sigma is based on statistical reasoning, and has its origins in the De-ming quality cycle. The strict DMAIC project phase plan methodology is also used for problem- solving. DMAIC stands for Defi ne, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control. The Six Sigma ‘toolbox’ contains an impressive range of tools that are predominantly statisti-cal in nature.

The DMAIC FunnelThe relationship between the tools and the project phases is shown in the dia-gram below. This funnel shows that, at the start of an improvement project, the number of potential causes (vari-ables) of the problem to be studied is quite large. If the phases are executed properly and the correct tools are ap-plied, at the end of the project only a few variables will remain that need to be controlled.

World Class Six SigmaSix Sigma is a very practicable me-thod being applied by many companies worldwide. However, despite the many success stories, even Six Sigma cannot escape the fact that the likelihood of a high level of acceptance will be lower than if a Small Group Activity (SGA) approach is applied. On the other hand, SGA’s lack of statistical tools means that it falls short when applied to com-plex problems. The obvious solution would be to combine both methods.

E = Q x AThe Effectiveness of any solution will, of course, depend on its level of Qua-lity and Acceptance (E = Q x A). Six Sigma provides the facts and statistical basis (Q), and the SGA method en-sures that a solution will be accepted and maintained (A). This ‘marriage’ between SGA and Six Sigma is now a reality, and is called World Class Six Sigma.

DMAIC Funnel

Phases: Steps: Tools:Define 1. Choose subject Frame in frame out

Project inventory

IPO

C&E-Matrix

FMEA

MSA, SPC, Process results7 basic tools

DOE, SPC

30+ Inputs

10-15

8-10

5-8

3-5

All X’s

1st ‘Hit list’

Screened list

Critical Xs found

Manage critical Xs

2. Set goal

Analyze

Improve 4. Devise solutions

3. Investigate problem

5. Create implementation plan 6. Execute implementation plan

Control 7. Measure impact 8. Standardize working method

Critical input variables


REPORT

In 1990, Deutsche Post began a number of internal improvement projects (primarily in German postal services). They wanted to grow to be one of the largest international logistic service providers in the world. They renamed the company Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) and went looking for suitable companies, both domestic

and international, to take over. They subsequently acquired DHL in its entirety in 2002.

First ChoiceAfter this successful period, DPWN did indeed grow to be the largest logistics provider in the world, with nearly half a million employees. The next logical

next step was to go from being not only the largest, but also the best. Or, to put it differently: they wanted to be ‘the First Choice’ company for both customers and employees.

To help them reach this goal, they started the First Choice programme in mid-2006, something that involved every employee. According to DPWN, the following things are of great importance in becoming First Choice: • Fully involved management;• Motivating and involving every

employee;• Controlled change in the right

direction;• Continuous process improvement.

DMAICContinuous improvement is only successful, however, if handled in a structured way. The underlying methodology used within the DPWN is called the DMAIC circle, the building blocks of which derive from recognised improvement strategies such as Lean and Six Sigma. The figure below shows when particular methods are chosen and clarifies DMAIC’s central role at DPWN.

Various levels, various solution methodsChanges have different levels: 1. Small process changes that every

employee can carry out in his daily work.

2. Changes that can be made within a team (or terminal) are structured in line with the Small Group Activity (SGA) method.

3. Changes to processes that transcend department lines are too large for the SGA approach. This mostly means that a lot more data and process research is needed before anyone can find the right solution.

DHL and Blom integrate DMAIC with SGA

A global player such as DHL (subsidiary of Deutsche Post) cannot and does not want anything other than to continually improve its performance. The company has therefore set up an impressive programme called First Choice – because, after all, every company wants to be “the customer’s supplier of choice”. One of the key elements of First Choice is the DMAIC method. Using DMAIC is the perfect way to analyse and gain insight into any problems. In DMAIC, small process changes are implemented directly while complex, department-transcending problems are dealt with using First Choice Initiatives. DHL Benelux were looking for a structural way to handle problems at the team level, however. Blom Consultancy provided the solution by combining the DMAIC approach with the successful SGA (Small Group Activity) approach.


REPORT

SGAWhat exactly does the SGA approach entail? During the 1970s, Japan was strongly oriented towards improving the quality of its products and services. They had working groups that met regularly to study the techniques of statistical quality control and to apply what they learned. These working groups evolved into improvement groups that worked on solving concrete quality problems in their own area of expertise. Such improvement groups are called improvement teams.

In the meantime, these improvement teams have really taken off in popularity, both in and outside of Japan. Improvement teams can be found in a large number of production and service companies around the world. These improvement teams go by various names. Sometimes they are called quality circles, for example, or quality groups, company rings or Small Group Activities (SGA).

De SGA approach is based on the idea that improvements thought up by a group of employees themselves are more easily accepted than improvements that are imposed from the top down. In addition to faster and better acceptance of the improvement,

the group of employees also feel ‘ownership’ of the problem and the improvement.

An SGA improvement team works to solve problems and improve processes in a relatively short amount of time. When solving problems, SGA team members use a structured procedure depicted in the SGA circle below. This structured procedure forces the team members first to think about the origins of the problem before trying to create solutions. This procedure is a combination of the strong points

from the improvement team approach and a few (statistical) techniques and tools from Six Sigma. This procedure helps the SGA team members describe, research and solve the problem. Decisions are not made on the basis of feelings, but rather on the basis of facts and figures.

Using an SGA team to solve work problems gets employees moving and has a highly motivating effect. Starting

an SGA team is an effective use of the knowledge, experience and creativity of employees at every level within an organisation, meaning the quality of products, services and the content of work will improve.

The integrationBlom Consultancy has succeeded in combining the DMAIC circle and the SGA circle. The advantages of this approach are evident: this procedure is a combination of the strong points of the improvement team approach and a few (statistical) techniques and tools from

Six Sigma. This procedure helps the SGA team members describe, research and solve the problem. Decisions are made not on the basis of feelings, but rather on the basis of facts and figures. This new combination has not yet been given a name. At DHL they talk about process improvement – effective improvement with SGA.

CommunicationTo give every DHL Express Benelux employee the opportunity to work with this new method, the company, with Blom Consultancy’s help, made a helpful booklet. The booklet briefly explains the framework of the First Choice programme method. Readers can then easily immerse themselves further in the theoretical background of both SGA and DMAIC. The booklet also describes many of the practical tools that the reader can put to work straight away. The booklet was made by Blom’s internal communications department and of course reflects with DHL design.

The findingsMore proof that the approach is successful came with the World Class Team elections at the end of last year. A whopping three SGA teams from DHL managed to get through to the final rounds of this annual contest.

A quote from Philip Bos

SGA makes people extremely enthusiastic. This generates a great deal of positive energy, which we can use to work together to make

successful improvements. SGA also offers a clear structure that ensures changes are firmly anchored in the organisation.

Obviously, SGA is an enormous help to us.

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Early in 2005, Blom consultant Mir-jam ten Dam spoke to Henk Hoven, at that time the plant manager in what was still Kappa Triton in Nieuwe-schans. The topic of the day was con-trolling and improving quality. Henk said that quality was very important to the continued existence of the board factory and therefore had his constant attention. In order to make that quality a reality, they had started measuring process variation (process capability, or CP), and the score needed to go up.

This was easier said than done.

Hoven and Ten Dam discussed the fol-lowing questions at length: why is the CP value so important for factors like moisture? What is quality? And is Ho-ven's defi nition of quality the same as of any other random employee here? How can someone tell whether they consider quality important? An impor-tant part of the discussion was about building a sense of ownership in rela-tion to quality, and ensuring it was felt

by all the people in the value stream. How can a smaller quality department go hand in hand with quality increa-ses?Quality management systems come in all shapes and sizes, but only a few are truly excellent. A management system that supports a commitment to achie-ving World Class Performance has to be geared towards eliminating losses and should in any case not contribute to increasing them. Accordingly, excel-lent systems focus on two objectives:

The time has come: the World Class Quality Management (WCQM) workshops to introduce the approach to all Smurfi t Kappa Solid Board employees are about to start. The fi rst session for the staff of the Nieuweschans branch will be held today. The workshop will be taught by the plant manager and the quality team leader, in person. These sessions will cla-rify the principles of a Quality Assurance (QA) environment, so people will understand better what is changing and why. Yes, today marks another milestone in the implementation of WCQM at Smurfi t Kappa, a process which was set in motion several years ago.

The time has come: the World Class Quality Management (WCQM) workshops to introduce the approach to all Smurfi t

We are moving from QC to QA


IN-DEPTH ARTICLE

1. Zero defects: a process that only produces products according to spe-cifications.

2. Zero variance: a process that does not allow for any variation.

Both objectives lead to high customer satisfaction and minimal production costs to make the products.

World Class Quality Management has nine golden rules:1. The customer's requirements are

known;2. The customer's requirements are

translated into verifiable product specifications;

3. Product specifications are translated into process specifications;

4. The guarantees that a product meets the specifications are provided by the person who makes the product;

5. The most important control mecha-nism is process control;

6. Measurement methods are validated to ensure accuracy and reproducible results;

7. All deviations in quality detected by the customer or by employees are reported and acted on;

8. Quality indicators are known and used to define priorities in improve-ment plans;

9. Knowledge on customers, pro-ducts and processes is shared and increases.

The introduction of World Class Qua-lity Management produces a learning organisation where the customer takes centre stage; everyone knows the cus-tomer's requirements, their own indi-vidual contribution to meeting those requirements and the extent to which the requirements are met.

For Henk Hoven, the matter was clear: he also wanted to implement these nine golden rules to make quality a key pri-ority at Kappa Triton Nieuweschans. Hoven sums up the change: “Right now we’re a Quality Control or QC or-ganisation, where a quality department measures and checks lots of things. We conduct entry inspections and lose a lot of time looking into complaints. And

we want to be a QA organisation, in which we control our processes, work according to a set protocol and use va-lidated measurement methods. It is a change from QC to QA.”

The first step in that direction was in-terviewing various people in the orga-nisation. The interviews made it plain that there was no clear consensus at Kappa Triton Nieuweschans about what quality actually is. Everyone did their very best to deliver quality, but primarily assumed that what was causing deviations and problems was attributable to others. People neither trusted nor understood the quality measurements. Knowledge about pro-cesses and products was shared with immediate co-workers, but the concept of sharing that knowledge with others was considered superfluous and point-less. Quality improvement projects took a long time, in part because too much was going on at once. The qua-lity department primarily responded to indications and did not take the lead.

In response to these findings, work started on validating the measurement methods. This generated a great deal of knowledge on measurement reliability and what should be done with the data. The quality department also gained a clearer understanding of their role in the process.

In the meantime, Kappa Triton merged with Smurfit in 2006, forming Smurfit Kappa, and Henk Hoven is now Opera-tions Manager at Smurfit Kappa Solid Board. He is responsible for the bran-ches in Nieuweschans, Coevorden, Hoogkerk and Oude Pekela. One of the strategic choices for all the locations is that they want to have a QA organisati-on. Naturally, each location has its own point of departure, so each also takes its own route to achieve quality. Still, the plant managers at the various lo-cations and the QA team leaders regu-larly touch base with each other. They discuss the status of various projects and exchange best practices. After all, why reinvent the wheel?

To get the change into full swing, the time had come to introduce everyone to the QA philosophy. The concept is explained to employees during day-long small group meetings in which they learn the essence of QA.

Over the course of that day, they hear why Smurfit Kappa chose to implement QA and what the nine golden rules are. After lunch, the nine characteristics of QA are further clarified using a game. Employees are also told what has al-ready changed at all the locations after QA was introduced. The group was ini-tially reluctant to embrace the concept. The prevailing idea was that QA me-ant that the operators would have to do a lot more measuring on the line. The resulting debate continued through the day – but by the end of the day everyo-ne was convinced: QA is good news! We can only make it a success if we all go for it and give it 100%. And in the end, the result will be not more measu-ring, but less! And the customers will be satisfied.

Smurfit Kappa

Smurfit Kappa Solid Board Pac-kaging Benelux specialises in the production and sale of solid paper-based packaging for fruit, vegetables, flowers, meat and poultry, fish, liquid and many other products. The company offers a wide range of transport, consumer and retail packaging, tailored to each customer's pro-ducts and specifications.

Smurfit Kappa solid board packa-ging is distinctive in its:• Optimal logistic implementation• Customised solutions• Flexibility and efficiency• Quick, reliable deliveries • Quality and hygiene assurance

We are moving from QC to QA


“How can we sustain our growth and maintain an exceptional service level at acceptable cost?” This was the main ques-tion Keytec Sárbogárd needed to answer earlier this year. For a customer active in the flat screen television market, 2008 promised to be a year with three busy seasons instead of one: the European Championships Football in Austria/Switzerland, the Olympic Games in Beijing and the traditio-nal Christmas period. An internal audit revealed that the site would be up to the challenge if the company could improve process flow and reduce downtimes of lines and machines.

How can we sustain our growth and maintain

an exceptional service level at acceptable cost?


IN-DEPTH ARTICLE

Keytec is a multinational company with HQ and a development centre in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Producti-on facilities are based in the Czech Re-public, China and Hungary. With some 300 employees, the Hungarian site has three major activities: metal stamping, plastic injection moulding and assem-bly. The main activities in flat screen television production are metal stam-ping and assembly. In mid-2008, the first meeting between Keytec management and a representa-tive of the Hungarian Blom office took place. The main results of the meeting were:

I. The customer service must always comply with existing agreements.

II. The cost of customer service (stock level, production cost, other infra-structural resources) should grow at a significantly slower rate than the output.

III. The improvements need to be sus-tainable.

In sum, the company needed to achieve higher output using the same resour-ces.

TPM or Lean – the answer is on the shop floorTo decide on the priorities, a small team observed the activities on the shop floor. The first choice to be made was between two main directions: would it be better to start with a TPM (machine-based) approach, or to focus on the flow of products and informa-tion through the factory? Though an OEE Toolkit had yet to be introduced and the measurements were scattered, OEE provided the basic decision-ma-king premise, namely: What are the main reasons that the machine (or line) produces less than its maximum theo-retical output?

Observations and discussions with shop floor staff yielded the following information:• Quality is a result of the clarity and

ease of work.• The availability of machines and

lines were no serious issue.• The main reason for standstills and

short stoppages was the unavailabi-lity of materials.

• Actual tact time losses versus the standards were apparent, but had much less influence on output loss than the reason mentioned above.

• The main bottleneck seemed to be as-sembly.

Based on this information, a list of pri-orities was made:1. Address quality during production

itself and not as part of an overall check at the end of the process.

2. Improve the flow of materials through the factories, starting with the assembly hall.

3. Do not attempt to address tact times, but monitor development (i.e. mea-sure and monitor, and only act if and when necessary). Action is only ne-cessary if tact time itself becomes a bottleneck.

Despite high time pressure on the im-provement schedule, the team sought ways to create optimal employee in-volvement. To this end, an internal facilitator was appointed and small groups were formed to tackle the dif-ferent areas requiring attention. For all involved it has been and remains a matter of learning on the job!

Pull productionOne of the major new insights genera-ted was the fact that it is the customer who defines the production level and timing. When a customer wants a pro-duct, the company must be able to sup-ply it within the short time span agreed upon. At the same time, the company does not want to be left with too much stock, should there be no orders. Pull production turned out to provide a means of addressing this issue. As one group member put it: “The customer is like a large hoover sucking goods from the end of the assembly line into their truck and their factory. Our task is to replenish these goods in the best pos-sible manner.”

Maximum and minimum stock levels were defined at the different levels of production, based on previous custo-mer orders, order forecasts, supply fre-quencies and internal capacities. How much safety stock would be needed to ensure direct delivery to the customer? How could the company secure delive-ry of raw material to the assembly line? How could it ensure availability of all materials needed from internal and external suppliers for the assembly li-nes? And how big would the influence of Mr Murphy be, should he suddenly make an appearance?

Given that there were quite a few ques-tions to answer, the decision was made to start with a pilot on one of the as-sembly lines. The goal of this exercise would be to develop a working envi-ronment in which a better product could be made with less effort and which it would always be transparent whether the flow of production is secured.


Better ProductsQuality must be built into the producti-on design; quality control at the end of the process is simply not enough. Using the existing data, one of the groups ana-lysed quality issues and worked out as-sembly process adjustments that could prevent these problems from recurring in the future. Several very simple but effective Poka-yoke solutions were identifi ed and implemented, reducing rework and end-of-line quality issues signifi cantly.

Less effortLean manufacturing identifi ed seven losses in the production system. One of them was quality, as discussed abo-ve. Another was waiting: waiting for one step in the process to be fi nished before the next could start, waiting for machine maintenance following a breakdown and waiting for raw mate-rial. Waiting for materials had already been mentioned as a major factor be-hind assembly line downtimes during the shop fl oor visits and the discussi-ons and interviews with operators and other people on the fl oor. What made this especially challenging was that it wasn’t clear at any moment in time when availability was in fact going to be an issue. It was just so diffi cult to see!

The group went to work on the waiting issue, with the main goal of always ha-ving material available at the line. All materials would need to be replenished before they went out stock and there would have to be a straightforward system for identifying stock levels at any given moment.

The assembly line and work areas were cleaned out completely and a new wor-king environment was designed. Ma-terials were prepared and put into two crates at fi xed places in the work area: one for assembly and one as a backup. Whenever one of the crates was emp-tied, it was replenished, with the status visible for everyone on the fl oor.

The pilot was successful and was im-plemented at all the other lines as well, resulting in a doubling of total assem-bly line output. Movements in the hall have been reduced as a result of these actions as well. People now have a bet-ter understanding of what is expected of them and therefore work more ef-fi ciently.

The next stepsSince the customer is a ‘hoover’ for products, and stock replenishment is based on this, the implementation of improvements mirrored the route of the replenishment process. Assembly was already geared towards the custo-mer, and now pre-assembly activities are being organised in the same way. As more and more people get involved, there has been a growing conviction that this is the right way to work. It just makes sense, plain and simple!

Contributors to this issue: Jeroen Neve, Arnout Orelio, Rudi Haryono, Debbie van der Heijden, Ton Aerdts, Johan Isphording, Ron Barten, Christof Frenay, Mario Marchena, Otto van der Gronden, Geert Buijsman, Henk Gelden, Coen de Haas, Ingrid Mooijman, Philip Bos, Jeroen Loeffen, Henk Hoven, Carla Latijnhouwers, Anton van Lankveld, Mirjam ten Dam, Arno Koch, Rob de Kort, Marco Tielemans, Raymond Lowis, Eef Oom, Doede Okkema, Fred Vijverstra, Paul Moeling, Metamorfose vertalingen.

Graphic Design:Rudi Haryono

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Blom Consultancy bvHeuvel 115737 BX Lieshout (NL)T +31 (0)499 42 79 79 F +31 (0)499 42 79 78E [email protected] www.BlomConsultancy.com

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