I’d like to give you a brief introduction to myself and an insight into what makes me tick. I started in the improvement business quite by accident back in 1994 when, while working as a service manager of a prestige and performance vehicle dealership, I was tasked with making the dealership more profitable and was sent on a training course to learn how to do this. Some of the things I learned were the basics of capacity and demand planning, visual management, workplace organisation, standardised work and performance management systems, which I promptly began to implement in the business under my control – with astounding success. Profits went up, costs went down and it continued for another 4 years as I worked my way through to the Production Director position (Grand title – poor pay!). Prior to this I’d started my working life in engineering, completed my apprenticeship and Higher National qualification before deciding to leave this and move into sales, where the real money was (or so I thought! this however was to be a vital part of my education for my later career in consultancy training and coaching). Anyway, back to the point, in 1999 I decided that the weekend working and long hours in the automotive dealership wasn’t for me and made the move back into engineering, Aerospace engineering to be exact, just at the time when the Lean revolution was hitting the Aerospace industry and all the things I’d been implementing for the past 5 years were in that very large ‘Lean’ toolbox (albeit under a Japanese name). I spent 6 years in the Aerospace industry, working as an internal consultant alongside some of the most knowledgeable Lean practitioners you could ever wish to meet, many of them ex-Toyota managers and all trained over in Japan (one of whom used to share a desk with Toyoda San himself!). In 2005 I moved out of my comfort zone and into Airline catering (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), where the takt time went from days in the Aerospace industry to seconds in the catering industry. It was here that the requirement for my six sigma education became apparent in order to deliver what the customer needed from me (I always believe the methodology is less important than applying the correct solution for the problem at hand – Lean or Six Sigma should never be a question that is asked, just ‘How do we solve the problem at hand?’). So, after setting up Beyondlean Limited In 2006 and delivering tens of millions in benefits (I really wish some of those contracts had been profit shares!) to clients across the UK, from big 4 banks to major Media corporations and through into major government depts., here I am hoping to pass on some of that knowledge and experience to you.

Below is a download link to a really useful series of one page explanations of many of the Lean tools. I hope you find it informative Lean manufacturing pdf
I hope this issue was useful and you get some benefits from the videos.Wishing you all prosperity in everything you do!

Warm Regards,

Paul Swift.

beyondlean.com

07843 577771