Leaning towards an efficient business
24 June 2010
Jason Oliver from Black Widow
Graduates of the first Hume City Council-sponsored competitive manufacturing qualification recently presented impressive business results to key council and industry representatives after introducing Lean Business Systems into their workplaces.
One success story was Jason Oliver from Black Widow Vehicle Storage Solutions. Jason found the techniques taught in the qualification to be an integral part of ensuring his small business not only made it through the tough times of the global financial crisis, but continued to reach a new level of growth and profitability.
"Lean's helped Black Widow make some amazing changes," Jason says, "We've cut production time down from 11 hours to six hours, we've freed up an extra 30 percent of factory space, and seen a 40 percent increase in overall product output.
"We're now looking to introduce Lean principles to streamline the office side of our business," Jason says, "The end result is that the team's working smarter, not harder."
The one year course, which was delivered by Kangan Institute, was developed to instruct business owners in key strategies and techniques aimed to increase productivity throughout the workplace and streamline business processes.
Broadmeadows Bus Lines and Omniblend also participated in the qualification and announced similar results to representatives from Hume City Council and the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development (DIIRD).
Several other companies which completed the workplace training included Premier Plastics, Alliance Electroplaters Pty Ltd, Food Plastics, and NCI Packaging.
"Lean can provide great opportunities for improvement in business," Kangan Institute trainer Ray Perl says, "But it's an ongoing journey, something that you need to drive through your organisation and continue to look to improve on."
While future state-sponsored courses are subject to State and Local Governments training funding priorities, employers are able to enrol employees via direct entry.
For more information on Lean or to register for the Certificate IV in Competitive Manufacturing course, contact Juris Liberts from Kangan Institute on 03 9254 6168 or jliberts@kangan.edu.au.
