What you pay attention to, grows: great results with continuous improvement at Watson-Marlow Bredel

EOne of those production sites is Watson-Marlow Bredel in Delden. They are guided by Symbol in the process toward continuous improvement. And with success.

QESH & Lean Manager Arjan Oltwater explains, “Within WMFTG we have a continuous improvement program called Global Excellence for Manufacturing (GEM). From this own internal improvement methodology, the expectations in the area of continuous improvement are written out by head office, but otherwise it is up to each branch to fill this in for itself. Over the past few years we in Delden have focused mainly on increasing safety on the shop floor and improving the safety culture. As a result, GEM has been a bit understudied. However, various initiatives and KPIs from headquarters forced us to put GEM high on the agenda again, and we ourselves want to grow in maturity in terms of continuous improvement. That’s why we connected Symbol in 2020. With external help some things go just that little bit faster and there is just that little bit more commitment. And we all know the saying: everything you give attention to, grows.”

From CIMM assessment to Hoshin Kanri sessions

From Symbol, consultant Arnold Verhagen stepped forward to oversee the process at Watson-Marlow Bredel. “First, a CIMM assessment was conducted to examine where the organization stood at that time. I also organized Hoshin Kanri sessions for the MT to look at the goals from the headquarters and the goals for our own factory in Delden and what is needed to achieve them. Thus, an initial list of improvement projects has already emerged from the MT. To give an example, previously they produced what was sold from the catalog, but nowadays they increasingly have to think along in the best solution for the customer. So they now also have an advisory role and are increasingly a link in the entire sales process. The internal processes still had to be set up for that.”

Lean training for the entire company

“After the Hoshin Kanri sessions with the MT, all the people in the organization took Lean training from me,” Arnold continues. “In those trainings, I provided them with a toolkit that included 5S, Kaizen and the stand-up, where all the tools were explained using T-shirts. For example, 5S is good for tidying up those T-shirts neatly, while Kaizen is good for solving problems that arise during folding. Then, of course, the translation was made to practice. We organized the training sessions by department, with people from the shop floor as well as managers and the MT present. Deliberately, because that way they could talk to each other about themes they were currently facing within their own department. Each department then made a list of improvement projects together: small projects at the employee level, but also improvements in daily work processes. We then tried to stratify what was really important and the departments were instructed to choose a first improvement project. For example, the sales department built a database so that they no longer have to collect information over and over again. And the machining department used 5S to clean up the area around the machines.”

“Not having time is no longer an excuse.”

During the training sessions, there was healthy resistance, Arnold explains. “Many people indicated: “We may now come up with a list of improvement options, but do we actually get the time and space to work on them? And how will this be done and how should we approach this?” Following the series of Lean training sessions, I therefore provided additional training for the MT and middle management in order to give them tools on how to act as the principal of improvement projects. After all, they have to free up the time and space for it, and, as a supervisor along the sidelines, see to it that people use that time and space.” Arjan adds: “As managers, we must look ourselves in the mirror: how can we facilitate people in such a way that they do free up time for improvement projects? That works: great projects are being taken up. Having no time is no longer an excuse.”

Sparring during return days

Meanwhile, the collaboration between Watson-Marlow Bredel and Symbol is in its next phase. “About the same time as the CIMM assessment, a colleague and myself took the Black Belt training at Symbol. As Black Belt’ers, we now supervise the improvement projects initiated by the various departments. Once every few weeks a return day with Arnold is scheduled. We discuss with him which improvement projects are currently underway and what the results and challenges are,” says Arjan. “Those return days are a stick for us – exactly why we also chose an external partner at the time. After all, people don’t want to be empty-handed when Arnold is with us, and so they automatically pick up things. So continuous improvement is becoming more and more of a routine. It has to, because we want to move towards a situation where every department has an improvement project running at any time. The ball must keep rolling.

Advancing to the highest level

This approach certainly does not hurt Watson-Marlow Bredel. By 2021, the branch has realized as much as €78,000 in cost savings and saved an additional 200 man-hours. “We’ve also done projects that have not produced immediate savings, but have produced results in terms of efficiency, safety and job satisfaction – and those are just as important.” Arjan already has the next goal in mind: “Within GEM we have the maturity model that determines the level of GEM maturity. The model has four levels and we are currently at level three. Before the end of this year, we want to apply to headquarters for the audit that will allow us to grow to the highest level. We have taken the first step: under Symbol’s guidance, implementing improvement projects is becoming more and more commonplace. To achieve the highest GEM level, we must now focus even more on using tools correctly during those projects. And fortunately we have Arnold to help us with that.”