North west manufacturers fight the flab

Since 2002, MAS North West has helped regional manufacturers go lean and power up their productivity by a total of £173 million.

Manufacturing companies seeking to tone up their performance and fight the flab are being offered a proven diet to put them in top shape for 2006.

"Forget the GI and Atkins diets, the lean programme will add muscle to any enterprise," said Julie Madigan, chief executive of the Manufacturing Institute, which delivers the DTI's Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) in the north west.

Since 2002, diet doctors at MAS North West have helped regional manufacturers go lean and power up their productivity by a total of £173 million.

Among them, Liverpool's Brainboxes, an award winning computer technology firm, which is working with the MAS to increase manufacturing speed and flexibility - creating nimble production systems that ensure the business responds rapidly to market demand for its cutting edge products that are exported across the globe.

The company combines excellence in innovation (applying 30% of its expenditure to research and development) with lean manufacturing - to compete successfully against the low cost manufacturing economics of south east Asia.

Chairman Eamonn Walsh said: "The only way forward for UK manufacturing businesses is to implement the correct lean manufacturing - removing the waste in current systems, streamlining processes and concentrating on creating value that customers will pay for".

Such attention to excellence has won Brainboxes many plaudits, including the 2005 European Electronics Industry Manufacturer of the Year Award.

But it's not just manufacturers that can benefit from lean thinking - many service sector organisations, such as the NHS, are pursuing a lean efficiency drive, adopting the techniques first pioneered by Toyota in Japan.

Added Madigan: "It is no accident that Toyota is forecast to become the world's top car maker".

"There is not an ounce of fat within the company, which continually strives to eliminate waste and add customer value".

"Many local manufacturers have toned up their processes through embracing lean thinking, but fewer have gone all the way like Toyota to extend this good practice throughout the entire business and beyond through their supply chain".

"Fewer still apply lean practice to their products, which can typically cut cost by up to 25%".

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