# Team Integra > Transform Your Thinking, Systems, Flow and Performance ## Posts - [OEE Double Trouble: The Biggest Danger & Most Common Mistake](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/oee-double-trouble-the-biggest-danger-most-common-mistake/): I can understand the (sometime) human craving for neat, tidy numbers to make sense of the world. It is tempting, and I can see why, as a manager or leader, you might succumb to the allure of a single, easy-to-digest metric. You want a single pseudo-scientific number with which you can quickly judge asset vs asset, line vs line, and plant vs plant. Combine that with the “85% World Class” accelerator, and you are almost guaranteeing increased “output” everywhere, all at once! But here is a gentle reality check: output isn’t “Throughput,” so even though your activity would increase, higher ... - [OEE Side Effects: Are You Becoming Efficiently Unlean?](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/oee-side-effects-are-you-becoming-efficiently-unlean/): Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) was first incorporated at DENSO CORPORATION in 1971. By 1982, Seiichi Nakajima had formally introduced Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to the world in his book, TPM tenkai (TPM Deployment). Originally, OEE sprang from TPM as a practical way to nurture equipment and help us become smarter maintainers. The dream was simple: empower local work teams to increase their knowledge and collectively solve problems to eliminate the six big losses. But fast forward to today, and we might have lost it’s original purpose and essence. The Metric Trap In 2013, Nakajima defined TPM as “eliminating losses through ... - [Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) - Is it foundational, a distraction or an obstacle?](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/%f0%9d%97%a2%f0%9d%98%83%f0%9d%97%b2%f0%9d%97%bf%f0%9d%97%ae%f0%9d%97%b9%f0%9d%97%b9-%f0%9d%97%98%f0%9d%97%be%f0%9d%98%82%f0%9d%97%b6%f0%9d%97%bd%f0%9d%97%ba%f0%9d%97%b2%f0%9d%97%bb%f0%9d%98%81/): Catalysed by Dr Wheeler’s recent Quality Digest article deconstructing OEE (link below) in my next few posts I am going to summarise a series of issues, problems, thoughts and opinions from various sources and authors. It doesn’t pay to over-simplify, sensationalise or distort without knowledge and context as there are many and varied viewpoints. This isn’t intended as a defence. OEE was always enthusiastically discussed amongst the MSc Lean Enterprise deliverers and students as it always has been at many of the facilities I have visited and supported. The validity of “world class” OEE of 85% is an example of ... - ["Fray Bentos" Motorbikes - A Honda in the 1960's](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/%f0%9d%97%99%f0%9d%97%bf%f0%9d%97%ae%f0%9d%98%86-%f0%9d%97%95%f0%9d%97%b2%f0%9d%97%bb%f0%9d%98%81%f0%9d%97%bc%f0%9d%98%80-%f0%9d%97%a0%f0%9d%97%bc%f0%9d%98%81%f0%9d%97%bc%f0%9d%97%bf%f0%9d%97%af/): Welcome to the latest installment of the 𝗦𝗶𝗱’𝘀 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝟯0 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀! Have you ever heard of 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀? In chapter 1 of the book, Sid paints a vivid picture of the 1960s when the very first Honda motorbikes appeared on the streets of Britain. The reception wasn’t exactly a red carpet! Up in Yorkshire, locals quickly dismissed the new rides as Fray Bentos motorbikes because they swore they were made out of “used corn beef tins”. But it’s not all jokes and corned beef nostalgia. The first few chapters dive headfirst into some rather weighty corporate themes, ... - [Growing Heroes (Or Crushing Them in 20 Seconds Flat!)](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/growing-heroes-or-crushing-them-in-20-seconds-flat/): Below are some further 30-year anniversary reflections of “Sid’s Heroes”! Broadcast back in 1995 on BBC1, this series of six half-hour programmes set out to celebrate the “grass-roots experts” who get mobilized in kaizen events. According to Sid, these “heroes” possess years of intuitive and tacit knowledge, making them the folks who truly know how businesses are run. However, achieving sustainable improvement means striking a very delicate balance between management and workers. It’s not always plain sailing! On one hand, Sid marvels that “People just grow in front of your eyes.” On the flip side? It only takes 20 seconds ... - [📺 30 Years Later: Are We Still Holding Out for a "Hero" at Work?](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/%f0%9f%93%ba-30-years-later-are-we-still-holding-out-for-a-hero-at-work/): Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane, shall we? Back in the early 1990s—well before “Lean Thinking” became the ultimate corporate buzzword—the UK’s industrial sector was hit by a rather energetic phenomenon known as the “kaizen blitz”. It was a transformative era. In 1992 and 1993, Paddy Hopkirk’s factories played host to the Kaizen Institute®. Hot on the heels of that, Sid Joynson rolled up his sleeves in 1994 to film the infamous “Sid’s Heroes” programmes. When the series finally aired in 1995, it gave us an unfiltered look into six different sectors and workplace settings. Spoiler alert: it ... - [Sky News SAS Heathrow Ticker Blunder - Are we all going to be replaced by AI?](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/sky-news-sas-heathrow-ticker-blunder-are-we-all-going-to-be-replaced-by-ai/): This made me chuckle but, there is an important lesson to learn. A while ago now a close old school friend of my daughter had the human job of manually typing out the Sky News Ticker so this resonated with us when we discussed it at he weekend. Sky News recently found itself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, thanks to a glaring ticker blunder. In a moment of sheer confusion, the ticker wrongly announced that due to the recent electricity outage the Special Air Service (SAS) were cancelling their 12 planned flights to Heathrow. They even flashed ... - [The infinite or forever biscuit – Produce, bake, reject, regrind, repeat….](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/the-infinite-or-forever-biscuit-produce-bake-reject-regrind-repeat/): 1. The Cookie Crumbles: An Infinite Loop Have you ever heard the urban myth about the ceramic producer who intentionally ramped up their production of “seconds” simply because their factory shop was running out of stock? It sounds absurd, but truth can be stranger than fiction! Let’s talk about the “infinite or forever biscuit”—a wild manufacturing cycle where factories produce, bake, reject, regrind, and repeat. Over the years, I have been incredibly fortunate to work in multiple snack and biscuit facilities. In some of these plants, the standard treatment for post-baking rejects and breakages has been to regrind them and ... - [Chronic Inventory Syndrome – A Self-Determined Limit to Lean](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/chronic-inventory-syndrome-a-self-determined-limit-to-lean/): Almost Lean but Without the Real and Profound Benefits When the counter-intuitive reveals itself it generates a feeling like no other. As many say it seems like a veil is lifted and our mental “blinkers” are removed. That moment of knowledge, when an idea or problem finally make sense is satisfying, exhilarating and frightening. At the heart of TPS and lean is the concept of flow and the elimination of unnecessary activity. The “sell one make one” concept drives alignment and synchronisation with your customer or user. However, it is a stark reality that many advocates, supporters and practitioners of ... - [Suddenly “Learning to See” – Lean’s Counter-intuitive Truths](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/suddenly-learning-to-see-leans-counter-intuitive-truths/): Thinking vs. Efficiency 2 A story of a beach ball, a “eureka” moment and lean success. Lean’s Uncomfortable Reality There is an uncomfortable reality when it comes to lean thinking and it’s widespread adoption. Like the Englishman shouting louder to be understood it doesn’t matter how many times or how loudly you say it’s just common sense, frustratingly, there are still many failed or lack-lustre attempts at lean adoption. In more recent times academics like Professor Bob Emiliani have written about this phenomenon and whilst there are a number of causal factors one definite contributing truth is that a number ... - [Thinking Differently vs. Efficiency Gains](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/thinking-differently-vs-efficiency-gains/): Thinking vs. Efficiency 1 A confession. Despite Deming and others’ building some of the foundational thinking for lean, as a recovering “toolhead” engineer with a technical slant, I was a relative latecomer to the world of “systems thinking”. I put it in speech marks as I know it is a massive oversimplification, generalisation and open to debate. That, however, is a rabbit hole that I do not want to go down in this brief article. What I do want to do is to try to visualise some of my basic thinking with respect to the subject and try to articulate ... - [The Kaizen-Enabled Organisation - The Nimble, Agile Chief Engineer](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/the-kaizen-enabled-organisation-the-nimble-agile-chief-engineer/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial Reset Step 2: Survival, Kaizen and Speed 3 A Stark Contrast in Approach: An Anecdote Picture the time, the middle to late 1990’s. The famous films around were “Titanic”, “The Big Lebowski” and “The Trueman Show”. The Spice Girls, Radiohead and The Verve were riding high in the UK charts and England was gearing up for hosting the European football championships. In lean terms it was 10 years since the first Bluebird was assembled at Nissan’s Sunderland plant and Womack and Jones’ “Lean Thinking” had only recently been published so, between 20 to 25 ... - [Real Kaizen - "Survival of the.....Cleverest"?](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/real-kaizen-survival-of-the-cleverest/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial Reset Step 2: Survival, Kaizen and Speed 2 Plenty of Darwin and natural selection platitudes around at present but, in fact, it was in 1864 that Herbert Spencer, not Darwin, who introduced the famous phrase “survival of the fittest” in his book, Principles of Biology. Like Darwin Spencer was enthralled with the idea of evolution. However, he didn’t apply it to the natural world but to economics where he saw a parallel between his ideas and what Darwin had written about. By drawing this same comparison many since have incorrectly used the terms “natural ... - [Ohno’s Lasting Legacy - A Survival (kaizen) Work Culture](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/ohnos-lasting-legacy-a-survival-kaizen-work-culture/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial Reset Step 2: Survival, Kaizen and Speed In the forgotten years between 1945 and 1965 Toyota and other Japanese motor manufacturers were fighting to survive. Scarce resources meant factories frequently stopped, leaving workers to beg farmers for manual work or barter parts they had made for food. This backdrop helped to forge a new, contrary, way of thinking with a new set of systems for motor manufacturing. In Toyota from these new systems and Ohno’s leadership emerged a people-centred, DIY, collective way of working and culture, “Ohno’s method”. Whilst in this blog post I ... - [Mind the “Gemba” Gap: Patchy Knowledge of “Work-as-Done” Could become a Significant Safety Risk](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/mind-the-gemba-gap-patchy-knowledge-of-work-as-done-could-become-a-significant-safety-risk/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial Reset Step 2: Safety, Spatial Awareness and Human Work 3 An Unbelievable Accelerant The pandemic has been an unbelievable accelerant and has forced us to change our habits and routines in a way in which organisations and corporations weren’t necessarily ready for, home working is one-such, obvious, example. The technology to effectively home work has been around for years but, only small numbers of organisations actually embraced it, until now. The pandemic has been a trigger and catalyst for rapid change and the need to speedily re-deign safe work places and work. Much Solid ... - [To Err is Human: Poka-Yoke Thinking and Transmission](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/to-err-is-human-poka-yoke-thinking-and-transmission/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial Reset Step 2: Safety, Spatial Awareness and Human Work 2 People, Behaviour and Poka-Yoke Thinking A crowded beach and the desire for social distancing is hard to maintain. How do you control “contact” and possible transmission? As restrictions ease the number of contacts and nature of those contacts will change. Managing workplace safety through work design will be key. Do we trust in common sense or do we do as they did in France where they shut the beaches and fined many people? Poka-Yoke Thinking and the Risk of Transmission Human beings and our ... - [A Real Test for “Safety First” as our Systems are Stretched to the Limit](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/a-real-test-for-safety-first-as-our-systems-are-stretched-to-the-limit/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial Reset Step 2: Safety, Spatial Awareness and Human Work 1 A Real Test for “Safety First” as our Systems are Stretched to the Limit As the restrictions are cautiously being lifted there will be an ever-increasing tension between the need to increase economic activity on the one hand the control the risk of transmission on the other. There is much talk of capacity and much of this is “spatial” capacity which is based strongly on assumptions of individual human behaviour. This series of Step 2 blog posts will cover these critically important topics. Safety First, Risk ... - [Sun Tzu, Maps and "Two Types of Why"](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/sun-tzu-maps-and-two-types-of-why/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial ResetStep 1: Sense Making and Situational Awareness 3 In Praise of Ordnance Survey (OS) Maps Like many others being in lockdown has meant an increase in the number of our local, daily walks. My family live close to Chester zoo and an easy walk for us in on a bridle path that dissects the zoo completely in half. As you walk there is a chance of seeing cheetah, black rhino, camels, spectacled bears and even elephants. It is amazing and we are very lucky but, it makes the bridle path an obvious draw. During ... - [Move Quickly – “Speed Trumps Perfection” – Dr Michael J Ryan](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/move-quickly-speed-trumps-perfection-dr-michael-j-ryan/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial ResetStep 1: Sense Making and Situational Awareness 2 A short, sharp and powerful piece of advice from Dr Michael J Ryan who is an Executive Director at the World Health Organisation (WHO). In an 80-second clip of Dr Ryan that has gone viral he conveyed his thoughts based on 30 years of medical experience and from working in many emergency management scenarios, such as, Iraq during the Gulf War and during the Ebola crisis. It isn’t the same I know, but, when facilitating “kaizen” events as a young management consultant one of the guidelines ... - [At the “Peak of Mount Stupid” you can be at your Most Dangerous](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/at-the-peak-of-mount-stupid-you-can-be-at-your-most-dangerous/): Phase 1: Rapid Response and Initial Reset Step 1: Sense Making and Situational Awareness 1 Self-Awareness and Staying on Safe Ground. I want to start out by stating something obvious. I am not a biochemist or a medical expert. My foundation and 25 plus year career has been in engineering, teaching, coaching and improvement. I can legitimately and credibly discuss all those topics and will be. I will not be putting forward any opinions on epidemiology or medicine. There are many commentators and armchair experts that are willing to put their opinions forward. When I read these people and hear ... - [Events and Common Sense](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/coronavirus-roadmap-1/): An Introduction to Recovery or Reset Roadmap “Events, dear boy, events”. The more recent versions of the famous Oxford Dictionary of Quotations have a section on mis-quotations and it gives an insight into the famous one liners that were never actually said. The one liner above was attributed to Conservative Harold Macmillan when he was asked to name the greatest difficulty facing a Prime Minister. It seems quite apt in this period of coronavirus uncertainty as leaders grapple with the right action to take and how to communicate that. We will judge our leaders by how they and their teams ... - [Busting Paradigms with Principles 1](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog-8/): Busting Paradigms with Principles – Part One “Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom that we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge that we have lost in information?“ T.S. Eliot, The Rock Experiencing the uncomfortable “valley of despair” In the age of “big data”, information and, paradoxically, complexity there is a fundamental truth in Eliot’s poem, “The Rock”. Lean leaders and managers often end up with knowledge lost in information, tools or models. You must aim to challenge previous paradigms about leadership, lean, TPS and systems. Unlearning and learning brings (obvious) contradictions ... - [Beer and Forrester](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog-7/): Beer and Forrester – A tale of humans vs. data The idea of a “beer game” is always tempting. Jay Forrester’s Beer Game, developed in the late 1950’s, was, until recently, a mainstay of the University of Buckingham’s Lean MSc Supply Chain module. It simulates the supply chain of the beer industry and in so doing, it illuminates aspects of system dynamics and psychological or human responses. Unfortunately, no actual beer in sight, booo! I say until recently because, ironically, we had to cut the beer game out of the module due to repeat cheating from the class. Who’d have ... - [The lean leadership dilema](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog-6/): The Daily Lean Leadership Dilema – The Reality of Competing Commitments Lean leadership behaviours and principles are discussed much more readily these days as the predictable correction away from a tool-based lean approach gathers pace. Report after report all pinpoint CEO “leadership” and “commitment” as a make-or-break fundamental of lean transformations and change programmes. Model after model are all depicted on consultants’ websites (mine included). Mostly they are mountain peaks being scaled or icebergs being discovered. There are even a few jigsaws and handshakes used to visualise lean leadership as a heady mix of inspiration and coaching. There are even ... - [The Unlearning Curve](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog-5/): The “learning curve” is only truly exploited by first “unlearning”…… It seems that almost every organisation aspiring to be lean or agile has a “system” that is visualised as a house or with pillars of varying numbers. They are mostly rigid, two dimensional structures and are often a way of linking various lean tools together. Often, they expand as more lean tools are developed or “sold” to us. In my opinion almost, all fail to portray the essence of lean and kaizen (in particular). Why is that? Well, when I say two dimensional what I really mean is that they ... - [If you change the way you look at things](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog-4/):  “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Max Planck This is a quote from the founder of Quantum Physics, German physicist Max Planck. It was popularised by the best-selling author, teacher and speaker Wayne Dyer. I have picked it as it is a fitting quote to embody the objective of the Demand, Capacity and Flow (DCAF). DCAF gives you the understanding, knowledge and objectiveness to change the way they look at your own organisations, processes and systems. In this piece I want to cover a couple of discussion points about mapping, lean, ... - [Roads Demand and the Law of Unintened Consequences](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog-3/): Roads, Demand and the Law of Unintended Consequences Thoughts from a (very busy) Manchester or Moscow Ring Road On google maps the distance from my home to Oldham is just over 50miles and should take just under an hour. Why then have I been stuck on the M60 for over 50minutes and why is my navigation system saying it will take a further 55minutes to get home? Why is it that when countries build bigger roads it actually makes traffic worse? It is a complex system issue that has many parallels with what we find in many lean manufacturing and ... - [DCAF Muda Monster](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog-2/): Lean Thinking and the Muda Monster – Beware the missed principle. You can’t move these days for a monster or a mythical creature. Is it the only way we will take note of an advert or read an article? I’m hoping so! In TV adverts debts and highly-priced insurance policies are portrayed as hairy creatures devouring our money. The Government reportedly spent £8.5million on a big purple, fluffy monster called “Workie” to promote workplace pensions. It has even progressed to our favourite Christmas TV adverts culminating in a children’s author accusing a well-known high street brand of using an illustration ... - [Notes from a small lean island](https://teamintegra.solutions/blog/blog1/): Team Integra Blog – Notes from a small lean island 16 or so years ago I read Bill Bryson’s iconic book recounting his journey around the quirky nuances of his adopted British, island home. I loved it and laughed out loud as I recognised much from the places, situations and behaviour. He delighted in uncovering places, history, traditions and humour that many British residents take for granted. From the perspective of an outsider looking in he beautifully illuminates many characteristics and treasures that are in plain sight to us all. For the last few years I have been privileged to ... - [Total Lean Transformation In Wines And Spirits](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/total-lean-transformation-in-wines-and-spirits/): Industry: FMCG – Wines and Spirits Core Processes: Brand development,bottling and distribution Core Products: Branded wines and spirits Situational Overview Traditional FMCG culture,Enormous growth of new products had out stripped the site’s output capability,Low OEE on bottling lines,Wasteful and hierarchical order capture and planning process,Huge demand amplification within the supply chain,Very large stocks of FG (not all flavours and varieties). Activities: Business Process Mapping Workshops Value Stream Definition Workshop Future State Development Workshop Operational Workshops – Initial Focus: Asset Care Kaizen Team Development and Coaching Supply Chain Development - [28% Increase In Output With NO Investment](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/28-increase-in-output-with-no-investment/):     Sector: Speciality ChemicalsCore Processes: Solution mixing, fibre spinning, heat treatment and packagingCore Products: Saffil fibre BackgroundSaffil is a global company developing and selling high temperature solutions and performance materials. The business was created after the invention of Saffil high alumina fibre and has been established for over 20 years.Saffil’s major business areas encompass Automotive applications and Performance Materials.The Saffil business has a rich history based around the class leading Saffil® High Alumina Fibre and has received awards such as Queens Award: Technology (1978), Export Achievement (1995). The business has subsequently evolved into one of the foremost performance materials ... - [BIG Lean For BIG Products](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/big-lean-for-big-products/):   Industry: Automotive – Heavy Plant Core Processes: Forging and machining Core Products: Crankshafts Situational Overview Traditional engineering culture,Highly unionised,Skilled workforce resisting standardisation,History of massive redundancies,Suspicion of management,Massive cost pressure from group,Large potential for growth in product market. Activities: Lean Line Design Workshop JIT Manufacturing Workshop Kaizen Team Development and Coaching - [Breakdowns A "Thing Of The Past"](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/breakdowns-a-thing-of-the-past/):   Industry: AerospaceCore Processes: Machining, painting, assembly and kittingCore Products: Airframe components and turbine blades The Need for change Weston EU is a prime supplier in the aerospace sector and provides quality on time products to customers including Rolls Royce and BAE Systems A below par performance level of some of the machining centers was compromising the normal high standards of quality and on time delivery service. A practical sustainable approach was required to ensure an increase in reliability from the 27 agreed critical category ‘A’ assets and TPM was chosen to be the vehicle to drive through the changes. ... - [FE College: Getting Best "Value For Time"](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/fe-college-getting-best-value-for-time/):   Sector: Further Education College Background With settlements and budgets reducing this leading UK college needed to improve external delivery performance and reduce cost to the taxpayer. They had experience of delivering Business Improvement Training and NVQ’s with external companies and wanted to try the techniques on their own processes. Aim To create a waste-free Employer Business Unit, built on lean principles, that is responsive to employer needs whilst delivering excellent value to the public. How? Understand the “current state” using value stream mapping. Identify waste and areas for improvement. Definition of a waste-free “future state” process. Increase flexibility and ... - [Lean FLU Results In 30% More Doses](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/lean-flu-results-in-30-more-doses/):   Whilst the client are in a very strong position in the marketplace there is a real desire to support the future of the site and the Manufacturing Management team have taken the decision to implement Lean Manufacturing Principles with the objective of developing a World Class manufacturing facility. The seed labs are the first step in the process in vaccine manufacturing process. After an £8million investment in new world beating labs the seed team wanted to develop a world beating process to maximise the opportunity. Project Objectives First to Market – reduce by 30% Produce Seeds with capability to ... - [Lean Stream For Rainwater](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/lean-stream-for-rainwater/):   Sector: Building and Hardware Background After a few years of stagnation the building and DIY markets began to grow again. It was important to the client that they were able to maximise this growth opportunity in an efficient way with minimal capital investment. Needless to say, in a commodity market, along with cost responsiveness and Customer Service Levels would be key. They were looking to grow in a synchronised and modular way ensuring a viable mix of inventory was always available through the supply chain. Aims How? By training the team in Lean Essentials and Value Stream Mapping. By ... - [Lean Workflow For Accountant](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/lean-workflow-for-accountant/): Sector: Accountancy Core Services: Business finance, auditing, financial outsourcing and tax strategies BackgroundYear end is always a busy time in an accountancy practice. The partners wanted to focus on the servicing year-end accounts to offer clients a market-leading lead-time when at their busiest. AimTo create a waste-free process for processing year-end accounts. To use teamworking and visual management to drive autonomous management. How?Using lean principles; Understand the “current state” using value stream mapping. Definition of the “future state” Development of an implementation/action plan Development of a training plan and standards development Benefits The results after the system has bedded-in for ... - [Real Improvements FAST For Payments Process](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/real-improvements-fast-for-payments-process/):   Sector: Printing and Print ManagementCore Services: Outsourced printing and stationary services BackgroundCashflow became a major concern because over 50% of invoices for a global banking customer of outsourced stationary services were being rejected. The reasons were; Prices not agreed Incorrect prices invoiced Incorrect quantities invoiced VAT issues Back up documents missing Inaccurate orders AimsWithin 7 days;To create a fully integrated process for invoice and receipt dataTo achieve 100% invoice accuracy How? Using lean principles; Training in Lean thinking Design “should be” process map Implement file order supermarkets. Review EVERY file in system and allocate status. Clean order files and ... - [Real Improvements In Ambitious Engineering SME](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/real-improvements-in-ambitious-engineering-sme/):   Industry: Engineering Core Processes: Machining, fabrication, painting and assembly Core Products: Lifting clamps, hoists and equipment Background Camlok Lifting Clamps Ltd manufactures lifting gear for a worldwide portfolio of customers.  The Chester business has been in operation since 1958 and currently employs about 40 people. Following the appointment of a new MD the business was being totally reorganised with considerable capital investment and realigning of the business taking place.The MD felt that the time was right to undertake significant business process re- engineering with the aim of introducing and implementing Lean Manufacturing processes into the business. Manufacturing Concerns People: ... - [Smart Support For Card Technology Supplier](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/smart-support-for-card-technology-supplier/): Sector: Web and Smart card Technology Background Founded in July 1998 by Debra Charles, Novacroft in Northampton specialises in data processing and management in the transport ticketing market. Debra is a UK Female Entrepreneurship Ambassador (follow link). UK Enterprise Ambassadors Novacroft designs, develops and manages smartcards for travel and leisure service-providers, such as Transport for London.The company has 96 employees, which rises to approximately 200 when extra staff are brought in to the call centre during the busy start to the academic year. See the Telegraph’s business club article about Novacroft by following the below link. Novacroft in The Telegraph ... - [Total Lean Transformation Of DNA](https://teamintegra.solutions/case-studies/total-lean-transformation-of-dna/): Industry: Biotech/Pharmaceuticals Core Processes: Research, formulation, filling and quality control Core Products: Reagents and assays. Situational Overview High product variety and varying volumes Little or no lean knowledge Highly skilled process experts Described as “Big Science” in laboratories rather than a traditional manufacturing facility Fragile processes Activities: Vocabulary and approach were critical due to the specialised nature of the facility and employees. Site Diagnosis Activity Site level current and future state mapping. Identification of business needs and issues. Constraint/bottleneck capacity analysis including understanding the functionality/culture. Continuous Improvement system and structure developed Senior management team activity to define the next steps ... - [Customers](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/customer/): Clients We have worked in many sectors and with many processes. Below are some of the companies we have worked with in the past.If you would like us to work with you and support you grow, improve and manage your business please contact us. - [Track Record](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/track-record/) - [Process Alliance 360](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/process-alliance-360/): ACCELERATE YOUR RATE OF CHANGE THINK DIFFERENTLY  CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO  GET BETTER In everything we do we believe in thinking differently; we believe in challenging the norm; we believe every business, process or product can be made better. We challenge the status quo by catalysing the evolution of your business into the business you want it to be. We remove the inhibitors that slow you down by thinking differently and getting you to think with us. We don’t accept the status quo, we don’t believe ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’, we believe everything can be improved. By challenging the status quo we develop ... - [Innovative Leadership For FE Sector](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/innovative-leadership-for-fe-sector/): Innovative Leadership for Forward Thinking FE Colleges VALUE FOR TIME (VFT) People spend time: VFT helps them spend it better WHAT IS THE ISSUE? Many colleges are struggling to achieve improvement with declining resources. This is accentuated for Colleges: Responding to a ‘requires improvement’ inspection Seeking to avoid a ‘requires improvement’ inspection There are options available to help, many of which are ‘tick the box’ approaches which can succeed in the short term. The VFT approach is that short-term gains are much more easily achieved and sustained by a drive for medium term change.  And this means a creating or enhancing a culture ... - [Lean Sigma Training](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/lean-sigma-training/): LeanSigma is an improvement methodology that incorporates Lean, six sigma and kaizen. Team Integra has developed a training programme using the recognised certification levels of six sigma: Green Belt Black Belt Master Black Belt Our programme reflects using improvement methodology using Lean as a system and six sigma as a tool. GREEN BELT Participants will be awarded Green Belt Certification following:- Attendance of a 5 day training programme. Participates in one improvement event. Can demonstrate contribution for achievement of objectives and success of the event. BLACK BELT Participants will be awarded Black Belt Certification following:- Achievement of Green Belt Additional ... - [Lean Sigma Audit](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/lean-sigma-audit/): Are we Lean/6 Sigma enough? We constantly meet companies who have “done” Lean and want to know what’s next. The answer is simple: – No you haven’t, otherwise you would not be making such a comment. Lean/6 Sigma has for far too long been considered as a target. It is not a target to be achieved. It is a Process to achieve customer requirements for SQCD. At Team Integra we have many years’ experience of assessing a company’s competency and capability to deliver the right process to achieve the desired results. We have developed both Audit and Diagnostic standards that ... - [Lean Thinking](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/lean-thinking/): Lean Thinking Optimise the Whole Before picking a lean tool from the box it is important to step back and remember that the optimisation of the whole system is important. That is what the five lean principles urge us to do. Specify value from the standpoint of end customer Identify the value stream for each product family Make the product flow So the customer can pull As you manage toward perfection   When, where and what? Lean is not a “leap of faith” as many will have you believe it is a system of work that is designed to drive ... - [Improvement Beyond Recognition](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/improvement-beyond-recognition/): Enterprise Transformations At Team Integra we recognise that there are different approaches to success. Our Lean Enterprise approach looks at your total business and your position in the global supply chain. We will: Identify your external Value Proposition. Create internal value streams Design and implement Total Flow solutions Create and recruit Value Stream organisations and management Make you more profitable What we do We develop a bespoke lean enterprise transformation by looking in detail at each phase and each system. How we do it We apply lean principles throughout the value lifecycle. Left to right and right to left. If ... - [Helping You](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/helping-you/) - [Sector Experience](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/sector-experience/): Over 15 years experience in manufacturing, engineering, automotive, aerospace, electronics, food and process sectors is typical for improvement experts. What is unique about Team Integra is our experience in many other service and public sectors…. Supporting Pharma and Biotech Innovation, time to market, technology and knowledge characterise the Pharma and Bio-tech sector. All this within a regulated and compliant system. An incredibly challenging sector in which to work and drive continuous improvement. Team Integra has experience of supporting some of the world’s leading companies to develop compliant, responsive processes within a culture of continuous improvement. From Reagents to Forensics Team ... - [About Us](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/about-us/) - [Our Values](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/our-values/): Our Values We build strong working relationships We develop workable solutions We love numbers and are data driven We are utterly objective and appropriately blunt We are truly intense about our engagements We are practical and execute the transformation ourselves We are coaches and keenly transfer our knowledge We are transparent and who you see is who you get We are open about what we can and can’t do We are clear, direct, straight-forward and straight-talking We are obvious about building a “story” for the organisation in which everyone can share We only use experience professionals We are “Gimmick free” ... - [How We Do It](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/how-we-do-it/): Real, practical, demanding and fulfilling Listen and understand first Firstly, we take time to understand your real issues are before offering a solution, if we can. Achieve your real potential Team Integra raises business performance to the highest, sustainable, level. Whilst we have very high expectations we are also pragmatic. For some this level is world class and for others it is simply to be able to realistically compete in their region, sector or specialism. Our initial aim is to help businesses achieve best practice and optimise profits. A real, bespoke plan We don’t have a ‘one size fits all’ ... - [What We Do](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/what-we-do/): Growth, improvement, stability, management or change We all relish the opportunity to support clients to make dramatic and real change but we realise that we have certain capabilities. We also recognise that all businesses, issues and situations are different so after an initial discussion we will insist on a diagnostic visit. We make an initial no-fee diagnostic visit. This involves a visit to your business during which we will gather the information necessary to make a written proposal. This will identify; Improvement within your business. Timescales for successful implementation. Costs for carrying out the work. Support and funding that is ... - [Our Team](https://teamintegra.solutions/other/our-team/): With experienced partners and a proven network in Europe and the Americas, we can coordinate multi-site transformations with local delivery. We are incredibly effective at supporting organisations. A complimentary team of experienced professionals who as a unit can provide spectacularly creative solutions for your whole enterprise. Ed Clements: Ed has 23 years experience of implementing lean in both Service and Manufacturing in many sectors ranging from Forensic Science to heavy engineering. Prior to his current role Ed was a Lead Practitioner at The Manufacturing Institute and instrumental in the first regional BERR Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS). Before that Ed worked ... - [Markup: HTML Tags and Formatting](https://teamintegra.solutions/apps/markup-html-tags-and-formatting-2/): Headings Header one Header two Header three Header four Header five Header six Blockquotes Single line blockquote: Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Multi line blockquote with a cite reference: People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things. Steve Jobs – Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference, 1997 Tables ... - [Markup: HTML Tags and Formatting](https://teamintegra.solutions/apps/markup-html-tags-and-formatting/): Headings Header one Header two Header three Header four Header five Header six Blockquotes Single line blockquote: Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Multi line blockquote with a cite reference: People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things. Steve Jobs – Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference, 1997 Tables ... - [Markup: Text Alignment](https://teamintegra.solutions/responsive/markup-text-alignment-2/): Default This is a paragraph. It should not have any alignment of any kind. It should just flow like you would normally expect. Nothing fancy. Just straight up text, free flowing, with love. Completely neutral and not picking a side or sitting on the fence. It just is. It just freaking is. It likes where it is. It does not feel compelled to pick a side. Leave him be. It will just be better that way. Trust me. Left Align This is a paragraph. It is left aligned. Because of this, it is a bit more liberal in it’s views. ... - [Markup: Text Alignment](https://teamintegra.solutions/responsive/markup-text-alignment/): Default This is a paragraph. It should not have any alignment of any kind. It should just flow like you would normally expect. Nothing fancy. Just straight up text, free flowing, with love. Completely neutral and not picking a side or sitting on the fence. It just is. It just freaking is. It likes where it is. It does not feel compelled to pick a side. Leave him be. It will just be better that way. Trust me. Left Align This is a paragraph. It is left aligned. Because of this, it is a bit more liberal in it’s views. ... - [Markup: Image Alignment](https://teamintegra.solutions/markup/markup-image-alignment/): Welcome to image alignment! The best way to demonstrate the ebb and flow of the various image positioning options is to nestle them snuggly among an ocean of words. Grab a paddle and let’s get started. On the topic of alignment, it should be noted that users can choose from the options of None, Left, Right, and Center. In addition, they also get the options of Thumbnail, Medium, Large & Fullsize. The image above happens to be centered. The rest of this paragraph is filler for the sake of seeing the text wrap around the 150×150 image, which is left aligned. As you can see the should be some space above, ... ## Pages - [Customers](https://teamintegra.solutions/customers/) - [Homepage Gallery](https://teamintegra.solutions/homepage-gallery/) - [Front Page](https://teamintegra.solutions/) - [Homepage](https://teamintegra.solutions/homepage/) - [fghfh](https://teamintegra.solutions/fghfh/) - [Elementor Page Builder](https://teamintegra.solutions/elementor-page-builder/): Design Your wordpress Get complete control over the design of your WordPress site in a matter of minutes. Go from draft to website in less time than ever before. “What really turned me over was the ability to understand how everything works without any prior knowledge.” John Doe Designer Experience design at scale I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Read More Understand your user experience I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ... - [Our Projects](https://teamintegra.solutions/our-projects/): Take a look at our most beautiful works. - [Gallery](https://teamintegra.solutions/gallery/) - [Homepage](https://teamintegra.solutions/about/): How can we help you improve? Team Integra business experts have an impressive history, working with organisations across the UK and Europe making astonishing improvements for over 20 years. We are an experienced business performance improvement team with a global network. We offer a wide range of consultancy and business support services geared towards increasing your business potential. As a team of highly regarded specialists, with individual skills and vast experience, we are waiting to help you regenerate your business in a practical, measurable, and effective way. How Can We Help You? Our goal is simple. It is to help you ... - [My Account](https://teamintegra.solutions/my-account-2/): [woocommerce_my_account] - [Checkout](https://teamintegra.solutions/checkout-2/): [woocommerce_checkout] - [Cart](https://teamintegra.solutions/cart-2/): [woocommerce_cart] - [Shop](https://teamintegra.solutions/shop-2/) - [My Account](https://teamintegra.solutions/my-account/): [woocommerce_my_account] - [Checkout](https://teamintegra.solutions/checkout/): [woocommerce_checkout] - [Cart](https://teamintegra.solutions/cart/): [woocommerce_cart] - [Shop](https://teamintegra.solutions/shop/) - [Future-proof Factory](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-6/): We believe that the future-proof factory combines the best about people, process and plant. It is a unique and powerful combination of World Class; maintenance systems, instrumentation, measurement, automation, IT, process improvement, product management, visual management, communication and engagement. We will maximise flow  by releasing the unused capacity of your equipment through Total Productive Maintenance, Overall Equipment Effectiveness and team-based process stewardship. - [Sustainable Supply Chains](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-5/): The modern supply chain is a complex network of nodes, flows and boundaries. Understanding your real demand, your supply chain landscape and your flows are all critical. Alongside this is the need for robust risk management and resilience planning. We can help support your supply chain design and management to  improve customer service levels with maximum flow and minimum inventory. Using proprietary software we can model and implement optimised inventory holding to deliver significant improvements to both customer service and cash flow simultaneously.  - [Demand Driven Flows](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-4-2/): Whatever the product or service there is a flow, be it inventory, information or knowledge. Wherever there is a flow there will be demand, variation and constraints. With our history in lean, constraint management and agility we are perfectly suited to support you. Working with you we will seek to understand demand, capacity and flow. In so doing we will identify variation and constraints whether they be physical, policy, capability or financial.   - [Service Title #4](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-4/): Morbi in sem quis dui placerat ornare. Pellentesque odio nisi euismod in pharetra a ultricies. - [Tailored Training](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-3-2/): At Team Integra we recognise that teaching and learning are not the same thing. Our unique combination of practical experience and academic rigour make us a perfect partner to support, develop and deliver your tailored training programs. With our network of world-renowned experts we can blend a unique training syllabus into your own context, location, brand and culture.  - [Service Title #3](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-3/): Morbi in sem quis dui placerat ornare. Pellentesque odio nisi euismod in pharetra a ultricies. - [Service Title #2](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-2-2/): Morbi in sem quis dui placerat ornare. Pellentesque odio nisi euismod in pharetra a ultricies. - [Coaching](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-2/): There are often times as a leader or manger when it might be beneficial to talk through your plans, strategy or thoughts. The first 100 days in a new role would be a prime example. As important is remembering to develop yourself as a leader and mentor.  Coaching is an effective way to support organisational, team and personal development. - [Consultancy](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-1-2/): Our consulting services focus on your organisation's most critical issues, opportunities and contradictions. We can cut across organisational boundaries and give a fresh viewpoint to test or help you develop your own solutions.  Our deep expertise and holistic overview can break through when you can sometimes struggle yourself. - [Service Title #1](https://teamintegra.solutions/service-title-1/): Morbi in sem quis dui placerat ornare. Pellentesque odio nisi euismod in pharetra a ultricies. - [Thinking, Values & Principles](https://teamintegra.solutions/our-vision/): At Team Integra our improvement thinking, philosophy and principles have been shaped by our experience, learning and collaborations. Our work with leaders and natural work teams is built on a foundation of flow, kaizen, constraint and systems thinking. As with the Shingo model and systems thinkers like Donella Meadows we believe that thinking and principles are the foundation for the systems and metrics that evolve in organisations. Those systems and metrics result in observable performance and an emergent organisational culture. Therefore a culture change will only occur when the foundational thinking and principles change. - [Individuality & Integrity](https://teamintegra.solutions/our-achievements-2/): Many well-known consultancies are motivated or have an interest in promoting their model(s) and allowing them to proliferate. This often has the consequence of closing down the scope for genuine knowledge gain or radical system intervention. This is because the way in which you approach and think about a situation is already constrained within those boundaries. What if you just started with a curiosity, some guiding principles and a method of experimentation and intervention. You would start to develop your own model within your own context that is right for your own people, the organisation and it's future. Our network, independence and model-free approach means we have the flexibility to support you to do just that. We will act with integrity and will be open, honest, frank and committed. You will need to be too if you really want to build your own unique model and future. - [History & Background](https://teamintegra.solutions/our-history/): Team Integra was formed in 2005 as a vehicle to support businesses and organisations continuously improve through the support of a network of experts. Since 2005 we have worked with many organisations and businesses both small and large across many territories. One of the original team and current principal is Ed Clements.  Team Integra has supported successful operational projects in many sectors including Automotive, Aerospace, Biotech, Chemical, Construction, Engineering, Food, FMCG, Materials and Pharma. We have also supported many successful Service projects in Accountancy, Forensic Science, Further Education, Software Development, Professional Services and Recruitment. - [News](https://teamintegra.solutions/news/) - [Home](https://teamintegra.solutions/home-2/) - [Home](https://teamintegra.solutions/home/) ## Optional - [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/teamintegra.solutions/mcp) [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)