What is world class? How do you know if you
are?
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- In the UK, it is said that fewer than 2% of our
factories are world class.
- 50% believe they are OK but realise they do need to
improve; these companies could readily become world class if
they started down the road.
- The rest believe they are OK and see no reason to
improve. These companies need to beware of their future fate
if they don’t realise their plight; a lifestyle business
will rapidly sink to failure.
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World-class factories don’t just happen by
accident. People produce them. These people understand a number
of key factors:
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- They understand the requirements of the business and its
customers. They always want to improve how they meet them.
- They not only realise that their business is not world
class but they have the burning ambition to become so - they
have a competitive spirit and don’t like coming second.
- They therefore take on the challenge to redesign the
essential processes of both manufacturing and of their
entire supply chain.
- Everyone in the organisation becomes motivated by
success; they all take responsibility for continually
eliminating all forms of waste through continually improving
every process.
- Despite even great achievement, they still don’t believe
they are world class and continue to strive for further
improvement.
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| If this approach were adopted across UK
industry, the ingenuity of our people would flourish. We would
regain our position as a dominant manufacturing nation. The
weakness of the Euro would no longer matter. We would compete
better with lower wage-cost countries. |
