A new way of life

Continuous improvement is not just a project but a way of life, forming part of everything a company does. With a new man now at the helm, the only way is up for Doncasters Group.

As Mike Richardson discovers, Where there's a will there's a way. Although Doncasters Group's Tarek Maguid is using ‘The Doncasters Way' as a framework for a Lean-structured continuous improvement philosophy, he's fine-tuning the company's programme so that it's more about people than statistics.

Doncasters Group's recent appointment of Maguid to the role of global integrated supply chain and continuous improvement director is part of a wider programme of integrating continuous improvement (CI) into the DNA of the business.

As an international manufacturer of precision-engineered components for the aerospace sector, including turbine airfoils, rings & casings, structural castings, aerostructures and components for airframe applications - primarily from exotic alloys - Doncasters Group faces the tough challenge of implementing its CI programme across five operating divisions. No mean feat, so the company has decided to appoint operational leaders with demonstrated CI experience for each division who, as a member of Doncasters' new Operational Excellence Council, meet regularly to update on progress and share learning across the divisions.

Go your own way

The company's existing CI programme, known as ‘The Doncasters Way' applies to everyone at over 30 sites through a series of commitments that outline a way of life intrinsic to the day to day running of the businesses by identifying improvements and sharing best practice on an ongoing basis, continuously improving the Group's competitive performance.

So what is Maguid's vision for continuous improvement and how does it differ from The Doncasters Way? How will it impact the business, how is he working to integrate it throughout the business rather than being seen as a separate business unit and what are his aims and objectives?

“The Doncasters Way philosophically lays out a Lean enterprise type structure,” Maguid begins. “But the programme had a heavy Six Sigma statistical bias, whereas what we're now trying to do is shift it back to using ‘Lean' as an operating system and placing the emphasis on workflow and the entire production cycle. Part of the culture we're trying to create involves the participation of our shopfloor production people as they are all part of this equation. It means turning the traditional hierarchical pyramid upside down.”

Maguid joined Doncasters in August 2009 and has since spent the time understanding Doncasters' businesses and meeting its people. He is now putting the structure in place via a strategy and tactical delivery, which addresses the range of issues the company faces.

“Doncasters has grown fairly quickly through acquisition, evolving from a small business into a significantly larger one,” he notes. “Many small businesses are very entrepreneurial – minds that move quickly and get things done - but as you grow larger, it can actually hinder progress because of the lack of standardisation and process. We want to instil some standard management processes that everyone can use to provide both a common language and goal but, at the same time, allow the uniqueness of the business to continue. It's not about a ruthless consistency and standardisation; it makes sense for us to be more efficient as a Group. There are many synergies between our divisions and we're looking to exploit them. It's a fine line that we walk between too much processing bureaucracy versus too little and not having the level of control required to run a business of this size.”

For Maguid, the challenges of embedding continuous improvement are twofold: “Firstly it involves communication throughout businesses that are located around the globe,” he explains. “You can never communicate enough and in this kind of environment it becomes even more of an issue. Therefore, the right communication and a level of interaction is a key challenge for us. The second challenge is in getting everyone within the organisation to look at continuous improvement as a part of what they do and not as a separate entity. Some organisations start with a central continuous improvement group, but it eventually becomes a bureaucracy in itself. The evolution is to break it up and integrate it into other operations wherever they may be.”

Joined up thinking

Maguid says he will address this challenge sooner rather than later, but without creating a huge structure around it: “The thinking is that we've got 5,000 people that should be performing continuous improvement - not just a core group of ‘the chosen few' that are making changes. It's about involving the shopfloor to the greatest extent possible and getting the thinking out there that change is driven though the whole Group. We need to give them the tools and the knowledge within their scope of influence in what they do to make the best changes they can to improve their processes. We want to create a ‘thinking' organisation where everyone has a role in problem solving.”

Maguid feels Doncasters' CI principles differ from other Lean programmes because they focus on the operating system and how to schedule, execute and measure what the company is doing in terms of operational improvements - even outside of manufacturing.

“Some will tell you that one-piece flow with a focus on the shopfloor is the answer, but it's much bigger than that,” he maintains. “What we are trying to do is define our operating systems; down to explicit factory schedules. I would say our methods are more holistic in recognising there are many tools to use and everyone has a purpose. We're seeing a lot of activity, but people don't always work on the right projects at the right time, so we're developing a level of understanding of how to analyse our operations, but focusing on the right things. We do want to establish the right structure to help people solve problems and work with their teams to move the organisation forward.”

Maguid finishes by noting that perhaps the company's biggest challenge lies in differentiating itself from its competitors. This means defining what this requires and putting processes in place to take full advantage.

“Doncasters has unique capabilities and great people across the entire Group, but we must harness this in such a way that drives positive business results and gets people motivated in the process,” he concludes. “We want to create an environment where ‘no problem is a problem'. This requires exhibiting behaviours and developing our people to promote open communication and dialogue around what we are addressing to focus on what our strengths really are.”
 
www.doncasters.com

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