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 […]
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 […]
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. (Link to relevant page on sapartners web site?) After 12 years, we are now celebrating the successful […]
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 […]
For me, this is one of the most critical principles within the Shingo Model for leaders to grasp at a core, personal level. The power contained within this principle is, I believe, the source of real cultural change within organizations. Leaders, particularly in the technical and compliance-based environments where I spend a lot of my time, often […]
What makes an Organisation Great is its ability to manage and motivate its people and leaders, which is where Developing Leadership Skills come into play. There are millions of quotes, thousands of books and hundreds of professors all available to give advice to organisations, or teach us specific techniques. The problem with all this, is […]
We are pleased to announce that Colin Scott, partner and head of our USA region, will be speaking at the up coming Manufacturing Shingo Summit in Detroit Michigan, which takes place on the 24th & 25th September this month. Before joining S A Partners, Colin previously worked as a managing director and CEO in the […]
S A Partners are delighted to be attending this years Shingo conference at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, which is being attended by Prof Peter Hines, John Quirke, Chris Butterworth and Colin Scott. The Shingo conference is attended by organisations from all over the world, and runs over a week. At the conference it highlights […]
Its Effective leadership that makes an organisation Great. It’s the ability to manage and motivate its people at every level of the business. There are millions of quotes, thousands of books and hundreds of professors, all available to give us advice or teach us a specific technique. This approach ends up almost like a cockeril […]
Over the years, Lean has evolved from primarily a tools-based approach to a focus on an end to end systems view and developing people at all levels of an organization. If done correctly, managers enable people on the front lines to be confident enough to change and improve their processes. Focusing on the middle management […]
This month see’s the new issue of the ADS Advance magazine. Since yesterday was International Women’s day, we are pleased to announce an excellent article on Women working in the Aerospace and Defence sector, which also included a section on our own Dr Toni Whitehead at S A Partners. Toni had a successful career with […]
In the same week as our Continuous Improvement conference hosted at Massey University, Chris Butterworth, MD Asia Pacific, led our world class, Lean Leadership seminar in Auckland. This two-day workshop is designed for business leaders and senior managers looking to embed continuous improvement practices in their organisations, and Chris shares how to create a sustainable […]
We are pleased to announce that a book Prof. Peter Hines, S A Partners Chairman, has contributed to, has won the prestigious Shingo Research Award for 2017. The book, titled ‘The Routledge Companion to Lean Management’, has collected contributions from well-known lean experts and up-and-coming scholars from around the world. Prof. Peter Hines contribution, along […]
What does change management mean and how do people in organisations react when they experience change management activity? This paper focusses on a range of change management approaches whilst considering complex change in productivity improvement environments. This paper covers the following: The Kubler Ross Model Maslow and the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ The Lean Iceberg Model […]
This book is an excellent addition to the body of publications on the systematic application of Lean Thinking and Continuous improvement. Interestingly, whist the title quotes ‘Financial Services’, the learnings and practical application of the approaches shared within are relevant to other business sectors pursuing productivity improvement or CI in the pursuit of ‘excellence’. Anyone […]
The S A Partners team joined over 600 delegates at this years 29th Annual Shingo conference in Atlanta. Professor Peter Hines , John Quirke , Colin Scott and Chris Butterworth supported the conference and shared insights with many delegates. There was a fantastic range of speakers proving great insights including Brenton Harder from the Bank […]
Consider the enterprise excellence model to be a body – as a model it creates exceptional customer value, as a body it creates healthy happy life. The body is made up of systems that enable life to happen. Digestion, movement, growth, thought, breathing etc. All these bodily systems have to happen in an intergrated way […]
Simon Elias of the Cardiff University Lean Competency System (LCS) recently published an article on the alignment of training and application – how to get the best out of your capability development opportunities. This article talks about Linking lean training to the application of knowledge in the workplace is critical if it is to be […]
Chris Butterworth, S A Partners Asia Pacific head, has written another blog for the Shingo Institute which is entitled ‘The Principle of Flow & Pull’. In the blog Chris highlights the fact that this principle is not just for manufacturing, but can be applied in many different ways. Drawing on a recent trip to Nairobi, […]
At the velodrome – applying Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (TOC) to the Team Pursuit. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a suite of management concepts developed by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt – introduced in his book ‘The Goal’ in 1984. In the book, the Plant Manager and Operations Management Team had to decide on what and […]
Anyone watching the exciting Quarter Final match in the European Cup tournament between Wales and Belgium on Friday will have witnessed a performance by a team who want to play together and play for each other. They have both ‘will’ and ‘skill’ – a clear aim, team structure, roles and a plan of attack for […]
The Roll Out process builds on experience gained during the Pilot Process to ensure that the four development Milestones of MS1- Introduction, MS 2- Refine Best Practice and Standardise, MS3 -Build Capability and MS4-Strive for Zero Losses, becomes a reality.
In this months’ newsletter we focus upon Robin Jaques, Partner and Head of our Aerospace & Defence Sector, who is a regular speaker and thought-leader at high-profile conferences, seminars and events. One of the biggest challenges facing the UK economy is the need to increase productive output from its’ businesses. It’s on the mind of […]