News & Downloads

Delivering Process Improvement

We all want to improve the way that we work. Process improvement (digital or otherwise) doesn’t just happen though, someone has to drive these projects. Whose responsibility should this be? Should we ask our divisions to improve their own processes or do we create a transformation team to do it for them.     To start, […]

icon icon icon
Creating A Sense Of Belonging

In the realm of organizational practices, a diverse range of research from esteemed thought leaders is often employed. These insights span strategy development, operations management, financial acumen, risk assessment, process refinement, and adept problem-solving. These conventional management domains are pivotal in crafting robust workflows that steer organizations toward their missions. Yet, within this landscape, there exists […]

icon icon icon
Speak To Lead: How To Embrace Your Challenge Voice Webinar Recording
Are you ready to revolutionize the way you communicate and lead? Doctor of Psychology Bryan Cutliff leads this webinar centred around the transformative concept of the “challenge voice”. Discover how this unique and dynamic vocal technique can reshape your interactions, amplify your influence, and supercharge your team’s productivity. Speak To Lead: How To Embrace Your [...]
icon icon icon
Why Curiosity is Essential for Gemba

In the world of effective leadership, one invaluable skill often goes overlooked—Gemba. While Gemba is often associated with process improvement, its true power lies in its ability to transform leadership communication. In this blog, we’ll explore the critical role of communication in Gemba and provide you with two essential tips to enhance your Gemba skills […]

icon icon icon
Explore / Control / Position: What’s the Difference and Why Should you Care?​

Effective communication is the lifeblood of any successful organization. It’s not merely a tool for interaction; it’s the very essence of how we navigate challenges, share ideas, and collaborate. Yet, there are pitfalls to be aware of when it comes to communication. The Pitfalls of Communication: Unconscious Communication: Often, we communicate without conscious thought, assuming […]

icon icon icon
The SHINGO© Model that drives Enterprise Excellence & the focus on Culture & Behaviours that matter

By John Quirke, Author In 1988 as a recognition for his work across a broad range of industry sectors, Shigeo Shingo was awarded an honorary Doctor of Management from Utah State University.  Over the course of his life Dr. Shingo wrote eighteen books on the improvement of work and the processes that support the effectiveness […]

icon icon icon
Why do team members get offended by your challenges?

Why do people get offended by our challenge voice?  The challenge voice is one of the voices we most readily recognize; it’s the voice that stimulates our prehistoric brain most easily.  It triggers our most primitive reactions – flight, fight, or freeze.  Typically, when we are challenged, we know we have been so. When people […]

icon icon icon
Pocket Guide to Digital Transformation

Why Should you Digitally Transform?  Every organisation wants to do more with less while simultaneously increasing the level of service that they deliver to their customers. Given this, seemingly impossible task, winning and losing will almost certainly be determined by an organisation’s ability to leverage technology to improve the way that they work.  Digital Transformation […]

icon icon icon
Successful Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation is at the top of everyone’s agenda however studies show that 70% of Digital Transformation efforts fail. The people who achieve success don’t do so by accident and, in this 15 minute webinar, Ishan Sellahewa explains what sets success apart from failure. For more free resources on Digital Transformation, visit our resources page […]

icon icon icon
Start your Digital Transformation Journey today…

Listen in to find out how you can begin your digital transformation journey today. Ishan Sellahewa shares how to align both your digital transformation with your Enterprise Excellence journey. Contact ishan.sellahewa@sapartners.com with any questions

icon icon icon
Aligning Process Management with Enterprise Excellence

I’m guessing that, given you’ve taken the time out of your day to read a blog on process management, you understand the importance of having clear and current documented processes. What we all need to remember though is that while process documentation is a necessity, it will do nothing on its own. This is why […]

icon icon icon
Align, Engage, Improve with Effective Tiered Meetings

By Sonja Allen Have you ever considered… How many meetings you have a week? How many of these meetings could be an email? How many of these meetings have few or no results? How many rabbit holes do your meeting conversations go down? How regularly do you talk about what really matters, in a focused […]

icon icon icon
Lean Fundamentals: The Problem with Problem Solving
Across various industries, there has been a consistent demand to improveproblem-solving skills within businesses. Organizations often prioritize theuse of problem-solving tools and approaches, considering probleminvestigation and resolution as critical aspects of regulatory compliance.However, the prevailing culture associated with compliance-drivenproblem solving often leads to shallow investigations, rushed resolutions,and recurring issues. Download The Problem with Problem Solving
icon icon icon
Pocket Guide to: Changeover Optimisation
Manufacturing organisations are under pressure to increase productivity and improve flexibility & responsiveness to customer needs. Changeover optimisation is a means of improving performance to create a more flexible manufacturing environment. Equipment flexibility & responsiveness are core requirements of all modern manufacturing thinking and largely determined by process changeover capability. To download click the download [...]
icon icon icon
Managing Regional Process Variation

Many of the clients that I work with operate out of multiple national and global sites. This then naturally gives rise to the question ‘how do we deal with these geographic variations?’ I doubt I need to explain in too much detail why organisations want to get rid of their variations, there can’t be two […]

icon icon icon
Does Process Management Hinder Creativity?

Often, when I talk about process management and explain the benefits of having clear processes with detailed work instructions, I’ll get pushback like ‘we hire professionals to do a job, we don’t want to tell them exactly how to do it’.   In short, the push back is on how much detail the process needs. The […]

icon icon icon
How to Sell Process Management

Driving engagement with Process Management requires more than just telling your people that they must now be process driven. Lets consider the Prosci change management model. This clearly demonstrates the need to manage not just the technical side of change (documenting processes), but also the people side of change to enable a transition from the […]

icon icon icon
Digital Transformation in your organisations improvement journey – FREE webinar recording
Ishan Sellahewa and Conor Dawson presented at the recent Lean Business Ireland Conference. During the presentation, they discussed how organisations can use Digital Transformation to move from a state of chaos to consistency and truly achieve business excellence View the full webinar and transcript below Digital Transformation in your organisations improvement journey recording First Name* [...]
icon icon icon
Your IT department might be unknowingly undermining your culture

We all know humans are inherently lazy – we tend to take the path of least resistance. This makes sense; both mental and physical activity takes a lot of energy, something that was scarce at the time when we had to hunt and gather for our next meal. For a more recent example, if you […]

icon icon icon
Process Management and Risk

Speaking with Risk Managers, I find that risk management is often performed in Excel. There’ll be a ‘Risk Register’ file, where (generally) the Risk team document an exhaustive list of risks in one column, and in another column treatments/ controls for those risks. This Excel file typically lives in a SharePoint folder, is maintained by […]

icon icon icon
Process Management and Agile

Periodically when talking about process management, I’ll be told ’process management isn’t for us, we’re agile’.  Is agile a fair excuse to avoid process management? Short answer, in my opinion, absolutely not; in fact an agile environment makes process management more important if anything. Here’s why.   Agile and the Agile Trap First, let’s start […]

icon icon icon
Understanding Lean Leadership

By MEGAN JAMES, European Business Development Manager I previously shared the S A Partners implementation model for Enterprise Excellence and how to use this to build effective training programmes. In case you missed it, you can find it HERE. I received some great queries specifically about the design of the Leadership element so I wanted […]

icon icon icon
Resourcing For Successful Process Management

Process Management: The Ikea Approach    What does Ikea and Process Management have in common?     The decentralisation of the build phase. One way in which Ikea is able to offer furniture at a price point below its competition is that, unlike its competitors who pay labourers to assemble their furniture, Ikea makes use […]

icon icon icon
Case Study: Launching a multi-site Lean Programme in the Utilities Sector

Over the last five years, we have been supporting one of Europe’s largest utility companies to implement a multi-site/organisation-wide Lean programme. This paper shares how this organisation built both Leadership and Lean Capability throughout their organisation, as well as how the transformation programme has continued to deliver a return on investment.

icon icon icon
Making a Sustainable Impact Full Recording & Transcript
During this webinar, Dr. Bryan Cutliff & Dr. Jeff Radford share their personal experiences, ideas, and techniques that have helped them, and a number of organizations overcome organizational and personal adversity while leading national institutions. We will discuss how to build a sustainable culture of excellence, and the need to stay true to your purpose [...]
icon icon icon
Process Standardisation and Stabilisation

When embarking on an improvement journey, organisations too often give into temptation and jump directly to process improvement, either by designing a new, optimised, Lean process, or attempting to immediately create a digitised, automated version of their existing manual process.   While this approach of skipping ahead to your desired future state may seem like […]

icon icon icon
S A Partners Launches Online Learning Capability

Well, ok we may be a bit slow starting but I promise you that we have caught up fast. Over the past three years with the impact of COVID19 we have seen a significant shift in the way we all learn, we have become more comfortable with the use of technology in how we develop […]

icon icon icon
Why I’m uneasy with the term ‘True North’ by John Quirke

I came in for a bit of teasing by a work colleague recently over my uneasiness with the term True North.   We were working with a leadership community in a large automotive business, and he used the term True North, which brought about an obvious and over exaggerated wince from me which raised a few […]

icon icon icon
From Control to Collaboration – discover the new era of Digital Process Management Full Recording
Join Ishan Sellahewa & Jack Worboys for a look into how digital process management platforms can help organisations improve by creating clear and sophisticated process maps, real-time feedback & collaboration, optimizing processes; eliminating and removing waste and bottlenecks; driving standardization and continuous improvement; and encouraging collaboration. We are all aware of the benefits of process [...]
icon icon icon
6 Requirements for Successful Process Management

Too often organisations think that successfully rolling out process management (‘PM’) means simply providing their team members with a process mapping tool, some basic training, and expecting it to just get done. This approach will invariably result in either nothing getting done, or processes being mapped but never followed or updated. While PM might not […]

icon icon icon
Take the TPM Interactive Awareness Course
S A Partners have created an interactive Total Productive Manufacturing (TPM) awareness course that takes you through the background of TPM step by step. You can access this course by filling out the form below, and you will then receive the awareness course link. The purpose of this interactive awareness course is to get you [...]
icon icon icon
Celebrating 12 Years of Lean Competency Accreditation

Successful Re-Accreditation of Training, Assessment & Certification Services to the Lean Competency System (licensed by Cardiff University) S A Partners and Cardiff University – through the Lean Enterprise Research Centre and the Lean Competency System have a long-standing heritage. After 12 years, we are now celebrating the successful re-accreditation of S A Partners Trainers, Coaches and […]

icon icon icon
White Paper: Packaging Changeovers in Pharmaceutical Sector

  Check out our latest white paper on Packaging Changeovers in the Pharmaceutical Industry Over the last twenty-five years, pharmaceutical companies and packaging operations have struggled to respond quickly to market demand. Added to this, operational inefficiencies; the increase in the number and complexity of product configurations; and the ongoing demand for compliance has made […]

icon icon icon
S A Partners Named a Winner in 2022 Nintex Partner Awards
London, UK—September 28, 2022— S A Partners is pleased to announce it has been recognized as a Regional Spotlight Award winner of the 2022 Nintex Partner Awards. S A Partners was recognized for its proven ability to help organizations accelerate digital transformation and drive business outcomes with the powerful and easy-to-use capabilities of the Nintex Process Platform. [...]
icon icon icon
A Time To Celebrate
A Time to Celebrate   In May 2022 the SHINGO Institute recognized our team with a coveted SHINGO Publication Award for our book - TPM: A foundation of Operational Excellence.    The team behind the book, the authors Peter Willmott, Andy Brunskill, and John Quirke along with Alex Everitt our graphic designer,  were able to finally meet [...]
icon icon icon
Why Do An Assessment?
Enterprise Excellence is the goal for most, however so few organsitions achieve it, and even fewer sustain it. Having worked with many organsiations over the years on this journey I know it is rarely a simple journey, or one that can be copied from others. It’s not something a leader can impose, or build on [...]
icon icon icon
Team Celebrates Shingo Publication Award for TPM: A foundation of Operational Excellence
On May 19 in Orlando, Florida, John Quirke, Life Science Practice Leader at global consulting company, S A Partners, received the SHINGO Publication Award on behalf of the team for the book TPM (Total Productive Manufacturing): A Foundation of Operational Excellence.  John, along with business colleagues Andy Brunskill and Peter Willmott, are authors of the [...]
icon icon icon
Making it Happen: The Art of Strategy Deployment
Listen into this 10 minute overview of our latest popular webinar on strategy deployment.  Dr Keivan Zokaei shares insights into how to create tomorrow aggressively whilst running today successfully. To view this overview, please fill out the form details below and receive the overview link by email. If you have any issues, please email our [...]
icon icon icon
7 phases of Business Transformation
Every organisation will move through cycles of growth, change and at times decline.   To strive for success and Enterprise Excellence requires a focus on continuous improvement and the alignment of the organisations purpose, people, and processes. Employee Engagement & culture affect an organisations ability to realise its ideal results, by ensuring your transformation programme [...]
icon icon icon
S A PARTNERS receives its 5th SHINGO Award
The latest publication by global consulting company S A PARTNERS has been awarded the coveted SHINGO Publication Award™.  TPM: A foundation of Operational Excellence has received exceptional reviews since it’s first release in 2020. The SHINGO Publication Award recognises and promotes writing that has had a significant impact and advances the body of knowledge regarding [...]
icon icon icon
GWAAC opens new shop in Yate Shopping Centre
Yate’s local air ambulance, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC), has become the latest fixture in Yate’s Shopping Centre as they opened their new shop in North Walk. The new shop was opened in a small ceremony this morning with a few of the charity’s Patrons, including Countess Bathurst and former patient and Trustee, Robin [...]
icon icon icon
5 Steps to Enterprise Excellence Guide.
The Five Steps to Enterprise Excellence developed by S A Partners has successfully created over 200 roadmaps globally and has provided a framework for companies, across 20 different sectors, on their journey towards Enterprise excellence. This free booklet helps answer the following questions: What is Enterprise Excellence? How does the Enterprise Excellence model work? What [...]
icon icon icon
S A Partners team members complete the Managing & Promoting Positive Mental Health & Wellbeing Programme
Members of the S A Partners Team have successfully completed the Royal College of Psychiatrists accredited programme – Managing & Promoting Positive Mental Health & Wellbeing as part of our continued professional development.  The training was provided by accredited trainer Stephne Puddy. The team deliver training, coach and mentor UK and international candidates on our [...]
icon icon icon
Continued Success of Virtual Training
Over the last two years we have delivered our popular White Belt training virtually, demand has undoubtedly increased in recent months as we all transition to a virtual world. There are some great benefits to virtual – flexibility, accessibility for remote teams and cost.  Whilst we still advocate face-to-face training we are seeing high levels [...]
icon icon icon
S A Partners join the European Mentoring & Coaching Council
S A Partners have a number of professional coaches amongst the Executive Leadership Team, Partners and Consulting community. Our coaching and mentoring services complement consulting and training on our Improvement Coach and Leadership programmes. We work with global leaders from shop floor, first line management up to executive level, in sectors as diverse as Defence, Aerospace, Utilities, Process, Food [...]
icon icon icon
Enterprise Excellence Podcast Series
In these podcasts we interview experts on all things Enterprise Excellence, sharing their story and their insights. Experts who believe in achieving sustainable change that betters more than just an organisations’ profit line. Experts who help organisations achieve a symbiotic relationship between environment and economics. Experts who believe in a culture of continuous improvement. We [...]
icon icon icon
Insights from Seani Devlin, Abbvie

In this month’s SHINGO Forum we welcomed Seani Devlin, the brilliant and engaging Operational Excellence Lead at Abbvie, Ballytivnan. Seani shared with the group both the site and his personal insights on their Shingo journey. We invited Seani along to the Shingo Forum to talk about his employee engagement; tiered meetings and visual management. Having […]

icon icon icon
11 Step TPM Model Brochure Download
The 11 Step TPM Model developed by S A Partners has become a benchmark for excellence. This model has been deployed in companies worldwide and was the foundation of the awardwinning book TPM: A foundation for operational excellence – written by our team – John Quirke, Andy Brunskill and Peter Willmott. This free TPM brochure [...]
icon icon icon
The Future of Lean, Embracing Digital
This interactive workshop where we looked at how emerging technology can be used to unlock productivity and performance, by engaging all employees in CI. During the workshop process automation experts NINTEX who showed how organisations have embraced digital, the types of platforms available and how to get started with digital transformation. Guest Speakers: Keivan Zokaei [...]
icon icon icon
TPM, the Foundation for Operational Excellence
The highly successful book for Total Productive Maintenance written by John Quirke and Andy Brunskill is now available to purchase at Waterstones. Titled Total Productive Maintenance, a foundation of Operational Excellence. The book provides the following 5 essential outputs: Provide a practical guide of how to deliver sustainable benefits using the TPM enabling system Show how TPM [...]
icon icon icon