Sustaining Manufacturing Improvement

The research is based on eight case studies of companies that have used the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) lean production programme or intervention, delivered by the EEF South.

The report concludes that:

• The EEF South MAS programme is a cost effective way of developing improvement in manufacturing companies.
• The programme is well defined and the advisors capable and effective.
• Although sustainability is often implicit and achieved, and much of the programme has been designed with sustainability in mind, its delivery and assessment are biased towards the short term.
• This and similar programmes should have longer-term sustainability as one of the performance improvement objectives.
• Such performance improvement objectives should be accompanied by targets and measures.
• There are many factors that can lead to greater sustainability of improvements including:
• Effective pre-preparation and diagnosis
• Planned follow on activities
• Treating such initiatives as business change programmes, not just education and training
• Greater development of performance measures
• A situational approach fitting the intervention to the context and alongside other change programmes
• Addressing internal barriers and organisational issues.
• The EEF South MAS should consider how it can support companies throughout their improvement journey and whether further, more advanced programmes and events could be developed.
• There are dilemmas in the funding of the latter recommendation that needs discussion and addressing.