The latest initiative – LEAN Manufacturing – seeks to catapult the company into a more streamlined and productive entity that can continue to drive innovation in safety and other areas.

General Manager Operations, Darryl Marshall, is a huge proponent of LEAN and responsible for its roll-out at SGESCO-MAX. “It is much more than an initiative and manufacturing,” said Darryl. “It will become a core part of the company’s culture and day to day operations, benefiting every staff member – and the company – in multiple ways.”

At its heart, Lean Manufacturing is about removing waste from business processes through continuous improvement which will in turn boost staff engagement and opportunity and improve customer and company value, he said. Waste has many forms including over producing, defective products, time wasting from lost items to things not being ready / available to inefficient processes and so on.

The system was developed by Taiichi Ono and Eiji Toyoda Bergen between 1948 and 1975 for Toyota Japan and has been adopted globally by many progressive companies.

LEAN at SGESCO-MAX

SGESCO-MAX has engaged Victorian company, Vative Consulting, to develop staff’s understanding of and capability for LEAN workings. “This ensures everyone understands why we are going down this path, provides a common language for all, and an awareness that any idea for improvement ins welcome,” said Darryl. “It also provides a practical foundation for the company to start their LEAN process, geared around 5 Ss: SORT, SET, SHINE, STANDARDISE and SUSTAIN.”

Upsides to All 

Based on Darryl’s experience in operating LEAN at previous companies, he knows first-hand that the upsides to the business in improved efficiency will be hugely empowering for staff. It will mean they can do some or more processes more efficiently, freeing them and the company up to take on new growth projects.

It will give staff greater confidence and understanding of how processes impact their KPIs and what training or support they might need to better meet their KPIs and the company’s performance – because they will be more attuned to identifying a problem and looking for a solution.

“Our implementation of LEAN will also give staff the reassurance that they are working with a company that wants to improve things and that they are part of the solution. This is a positive workplace environment to be a part of, certainly one I want to belong to,” said Darryl.

“There are opportunities everywhere and through LEAN, people will see that. Everyone takes ownership, everyone does better. This will ultimately impact our customers. Can we improve our processes, lower our costs, improve our quality, and offer great price and value to our clients? Yes, I believe we can.”