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Forklift safetyAvoiding the top five crashes

About a boyMeet ChampionRichard Chambers

How seven principles took Newsprinters to the top of the world

www.worksmanagement.co.uk February 2015 2120 February 2015 www.worksmanagement.co.uk

So enlightened is the mood at Newsprinters Eurocentral plant thatyou half expect to find operators adopting the lotus position. The

site just outside of Glasgow is where spirituality meets 5S. Adopting aTen Commandments-style set of aspirational principles includinghonesty, dynamism and respect has freed the plant to transcend ontoa higher plane, becoming the first ever UK winner of the Shingo Prize –a global award for manufacturing excellence.

“A tool doesn’t change mindsets; principles do,” says GeorgeDonaldson, continuous improvement manager atNewsprinters. “That’s what consultantsdon’t bring. From Dan Jones to Womack,they’ve created the tools. Every consultantcan come in and do a 5S programme. Butwhat they’re now realising is that what theydidn’t see at companies like Toyota was theculture – the willingness to engage.”

The ‘C’ word, it seems, remains beyond thepale as manufacturing chiefs look for the fastestroute to becoming world-class. “It’s easier tofocus on tools,” reflects Ross McCombe, seniorsite manager at Eurocentral, one of threeNewsprinters’ sites. “It’s difficult to changebehaviour and people: it’s a long term thing to do.

“People won’t admit it: they’ll say ‘I just don’tthink those principles are right for us’. But I wouldhave an argument with anyone that they aren’t correct and youcan’t apply them to your business.”

Those rolling up their sleeves right now and bemoaning all thingssoft and fluffy might want to take a closer look. Besides becomingBritain’s only winner of the overall Shingo Prize in 27 years,Newsprinters credits more than £2.5 million in savings to employeeengagement. Waste bills at the site have dropped from 7% to under 3%since 2007 – a £4m saving – and manufacturing efficiency, the printingworld’s answer to OEE, has soared from 65% to 85% in the sameperiod. All achieved against the constant threat of redundancy asNewsprinters feels the pinch of 7% annual declines in newspaper sales.

Cicero meets Deming: the seven principlesThe feats stem from the Socrates and Plato of manufacturingmanagement in Donaldson and McCombe. The duo cite W EdwardsDeming [lean manufacturing guru], Stephen Covey [US businessauthor] and Roman orator Cicero as key influences in theNewsprinters Way; a set of seven principles (honesty, dynamism,respect, commitment, motivation, responsibility, and flexibility).

Encouragement and empowerment run deep at the plant.Management by the KPI is abandoned in favour of tapping intopeople’s primordial desire to see a job well done. “I’m a great believer

in respecting history and people who’ve done it right before you,” saysMcCombe. “The right things are the right things – you just have to findyour own way of saying it.”

For Newsprinters that begins, quite naturally, in print. Corridors aredecked with posters of employees holding up cards emblazoned withthe seven principles and personal achievements logs, which display

employees’ (including managers) training records andprofessional or personal achievements. A drabcorridor is transformed into a tapestry oftogetherness.

Actions speak louder than wordsHowever, the principles amount to more than justpretty wallpaper, stresses McCombe. “You have tolive them day-to-day,” he explains, with anemphasis on managers. “What happens a lot inbusiness is that managers and leaders think,somehow, they’ve been promoted beyondhaving to behave the right way, and have adifferent set of rules.” The mirror is a vastlyunderrated management accessory agreesDonaldson: “Attitudes are just a reflection. If

you give off a good vibe then you’ll get one back.” Alongside a management team prepared to walk the talk there’s one

final ingredient for anyone contemplating the path to enlightenment:patience. “It’s almost blind faith,” accepts Donaldson. “Our MD has neveronce put a timeframe on it because it’s hard. As Covey says: ‘slow is fastwith people and fast is slow’. The businesses that throw this in today andwant it done by the end of the week will take longer. If you just do theright things and listen to people you’ll get the buy in. If you govern by thewatch, you’ll fail; if you govern by the compass – be governed by what’sthe right thing to do – then you’ll succeed.”

Times were not always so illuminated. Newsprinters, one of threeUK printing sites owned by News International, moved to its £56mgreenfield home at Eurocentral in 2007. The plant was part of RupertMurdoch’s bid to bring higher quality newspapers more quickly toScottish readers.

The kit might have been state-of-the-art but the attitudes at thetime weren’t, recalls McCombe. “We were the same people whoworked at Kinning Park (former site), which was always a bit messy.The behaviours were always going to transfer across... We were giventhis vision of being recognised as the best newspaper manufacturer inthe world. But we really didn’t know how we went about it?”

Donaldson aimed to provide some answers and instigated thesite’s first 5S campaign. The former Lothian-trained electricalapprentice who had joined Newsprinters from a CI role on The TorontoStar was quickly reacquainted with some familiar local vernacular.

Newsprinters Eurocentral has just become the first ever UK site to win the global Shingo Prize for ops excellence. Success

wasn’t down to Six Sigma, or 5S, but the adoption of an enlightened set of guiding principles. Max Gosney explains

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Read all about it...

Name: George DonaldsonCV: Group CI manager at Newsprinterswith responsibility for three UK sites,including Eurocentral. Seconded toEurocentral in 2007 and implemented thesite’s 5S campaign before adding ISOstandards, SMED and TPM. Joined theNewsprinters Group from The Toronto Star(Canada’s largest newspaper) in 2007where he was the engineering and CImanager. Management philosophy: “Respect forevery individual, constancy of purpose,inclusion and continuous improvement.”Role models: W Edwards Deming andStephen Covey.

George Donaldson: Factfile

Name: Ross McCombeCV: Site manager at Eurocentral since2011. Promoted to the role after leadingthe roll out of TPM, SMED and ISO 9001within a continuous improvement taskforce. Initially worked as animplementation engineer during thetransition to Eurocentral in 2007 and hasbeen with Newsprinters since 1986.Management philosophy: “Onlythrough the engagement of a business’sgreatest asset – its staff – can we everhope to deliver on a business’s truepotential. Building a culture of respect,trust, challenge and innovation is key tothis transformational change.”Role models: “I generally findinspiration from many areas and people,but my biggest influence is the lessonshave I learned from my sporting life. Mybiggest personal influencers have beenGeorge Donaldson and the philosophiesof Stephen Covey.”

Ross McCombe: Factfile

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

www.worksmanagement.co.uk February 2015 2322 February 2015 www.worksmanagement.co.uk

“The immediate reaction was that itwasn’t going to work. Stick it up your arse,” he recalls.

Unperturbed, he pulled together key shopfloor personnel and pushedon with implementation.

“One night we couldn’t find any shop vacuums,” he recalls. “So theguy in charge said: ‘order two’ because that was the old way, if wecould solve a problem with money, then we did. When we completedthe 5S, we‘d found 13 shop vacs – we were only looking for one.” Themaths provided a powerful wakeup call even for traditionally changeresistant engineers recalls Donaldson. “They bought-in pretty muchstraight away after that.”

With 5S flourishing, Donaldson teamed up with McCombe andsuccessfully implemented the ISO 9001 quality management standard

and SMED. In 2010, the duo turned their attention to a sort of ownbrand Total Productive Maintenance, which extended beyondmaintenance to all aspects of operations, especially people.

Eurocentral was sub-divided into 12 quality processes (QP) underthe Total Productive Manufacturing model, with each QP teamempowered to drive improvements. There, amid the flipcharts andPost It notes, Donaldson and McCombe had their epiphany. “Peoplewere being engaged and listened to for the first time,” recallsDonaldson. “We brought them into a group and said: ‘what do weneed to look at today?’ They were telling us: ‘look at this process: werun over here or under there’. We found so many improvements,almost £1.5m in the first 18 months.”

The momentum fast tracked employee engagement as the site’s

Dig out the polo neck sweater and work that Gallic shrug – finding aphilosophy has been critical to Newsprinters’ road tomanufacturing excellence.

But how do you go about instigating a code of ethics at yoursite? Does it pay the bills? Or will you end up like a hopeless flockof seagulls following the trawler?

WM meditates on the five big questions about the path toenlightenment

1What is a philosophy? This is the set of beliefs governingthe way your site operates. There is a close correlation with

culture, or, in manufacturing parlance: ‘the way we do thingsaround here’. Think of a philosophy as your factory’s tribal code.The rules are typically covert, but anyone who breaks them canexpect the same browbeating as a bolshie young chimp who dares to break troop etiquette. The trick, according to Donaldson,is to shape a philosophy that reinforces useful behaviours.“Employees start challenging each other: ‘hey, that doesn’t belongthere’, or ‘clean up your mess’. There’s no better police force thanthe workers, if they’re properly engaged.”

2Does a philosophy make you more profitable? Doing it forthe money is a bit like stuffing a platinum Visa in the church

alms purely to skip the queue at the pearly gates. Principles shouldbe driven by a deeper sense of purpose, according to Donaldson.Rewards can follow. A successful philosophy is a stepping stone toboosting employee engagement, which has proven benefits onperformance. But, be warned, says Donaldson, a philosophy is not agoal. “We’ve got someone in our company who thinks it’s aproject – just write a line in there and we’ll achieve that by the endof the month. It’s not a project, it’s a constancy of purpose.”

3What is Newsprinters’ philosophy? The Newsprinters Wayis a code of conduct based on seven key principles (honesty,

dynamism, respect, commitment, motivation, responsibility andflexibility). All employees, including managers, are expected to applythe principles in daily working life. The philosophy follows theteachings of Deming who prescribed a more compassionate attitudefrom managers towards their workforce. Deming called for therejection of management by incentive and to create an environmentof trust, interdependence and pride in workmanship. Deming also

Deep and meaningful: the performance-enhancing powers of finding a philosophycalled for a unifying purpose for all, which, in Newsprinters’ case, wasto become the best manufacturer in the world.

4How do you translate the theory into practice? It startswith you. Nothing destroys a code of conduct faster than a

hypocritical leader. Signs and posters are an excellent way toreinforce and promote target behaviours, but calling for respect onthe whiteboard while balling out an operator in front of it iscounterproductive. Leaders ensured the principles became a centraldiscussion point on site and raising the topic at training,management meetings and out on the shopfloor. They also showedan interest in their employees beyond the factory gate, in line withDeming’s theory that managers must better understand what makestheir employees tick to get the best out of them.

“We asked what don’t we know about you?” says Donaldson. “It’samazing what we have found out: we have former professionalfootballers, a former storesman of the year, a policewoman – theknowledge and backgrounds people bring is phenomenal.” Uncoveringpreviously hidden talents has seen staff create a mural on thecompany’s history, a factory tour video and backing music. There’s also

a general boost in morale through site leaders showing an interestsays Donaldson. “People are proud. They just want an opportunity toraise their voice.”

5Where do I buy the guide book?It’s not available at all good book stores, stresses Donaldson. “There

is no model, no road map. You have to apply the principles in the waythat’s right for your business.” Try learning from other enlightenedmanufacturers, he advises. Newsprinters took a factory tour of formerBest Factory Award winner, Uktraframe, at the beginning of its journey.The site has also benchmarked against multiple Shingo Prize winnersand applied learning’s from The Shingo Institute in the US via TheManufacturing Institute in the UK. The Shingo model recognises cultureand guiding principles as two of five components in ops excellencealongside results, systems and tools like 5S or Six Sigma.

Find out more at:● www.deming.org● www.shingoprize.org● http://tinyurl.com/o4x5lxg

Established: In 2007 as part of £56m upgrade by parentcompany, News International, owned by Rupert Murdoch.Manufacturing: The plant turns raw paper rolls, ink, fontsand plates into copies of The Sun, The Times, The SundayTimes and The Daily Telegraph. The site features the world’slargest and fastest printing press, which can print a 144-pagetabloid straight in a single pass on the press at up to 86,000copies an hour.The CI journey: Began in 2007 with a vision to become bestnewspaper manufacturer in the world. Adopted 5S and SMEDbefore moving onto ISO accreditations. Total productivemanufacturing implemented from 2010 with extensive

employee training programme. Site benchmarks againstShingo and principle-driven system from 2011.Becomes first ever UK-based Shingo Prize Award winnerin autumn 2014.

Employees: 110 (40% Newsprintersand 60% contractor-basedbusiness partners).

Newsprinters, Eurocentralsecret weapon in delivering the ultimate goal of becoming world numberone. McCombe was promoted to site leader in 2011 and accelerated thefocus by targeting the Shingo Prize, which advocates 10 guiding principlesincluding humility and mutual respect as core to achieving ops excellence.

It would be neat to end the story there: the site sails serenely on tothe Shingo Prize and everyone lives happily after. Yet, fairytales aren’ttoo familiar in a factory about to make six staff – equivalent to 25% of itsprint team – redundant. “Of course, there’s still scepticism,” saysMcCombe. “We haven’t got 110 people who are completelybrainwashed. A lot of the guys still believe there’s a Machiavellianreason for doing it.”

The cynics will soon convertYet, turn the other cheek and practice what youpreach and you’ll be amazed how soon thecynics convert. “People want to be part of it,”says McCombe. “I was out on the press roomthis morning and a guy called StephenGallacher came up to me and started tellingme about the 5S he was doing. The days ofStephen speaking to the manager in the pastnever happened. But we’ve created anatmosphere where he wants to come and tellus about the good things he’s doing.”

There’ll be plenty more opportunities for Stephen and hiskin to wax lyrical as the Newsprinters team board a flight forthe US to pick up the Shingo Prize later this year. “We’ll betaking staff to Utah. It’s been their achievement – over 80% ofthe assessment was with the staff – we’ve just been part of theirjourney,” says Donaldson. Manager and employee in a state of Zen inthe heavens. An example to all manufacturers of the huge rewardsthat come with getting your head out of the sand and into the cloudsonce in a while. ■

5S faced early oppositionfrom the shopfloor