(CLP) Programs

Appleton Greene corporate training programs are all process-driven. They are used as vehicles to implement tangible business processes within clients’ organizations, together with training, support and facilitation during the use of these processes. Corporate training programs are therefore implemented over a sustainable period of time, that is to say, between 1 year (incorporating 12 monthly workshops), and 4 years (incorporating 48 monthly workshops). Your program information guide will specify how long each program takes to complete. Each monthly workshop takes 6 hours to implement and can be undertaken either on the client’s premises, an Appleton Greene serviced office, or online via the internet. This enables clients to implement each part of their business process, before moving onto the next stage of the program and enables employees to plan their study time around their current work commitments. The result is far greater program benefit, over a more sustainable period of time and a significantly improved return on investment.

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. All (CLP) programs are implemented over a sustainable period of time, usually between 1-4 years, incorporating 12-48 monthly workshops and professional support is consistently provided during this time by qualified learning providers and where appropriate, by Accredited Consultants.

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Executive summary

Manufacturing Productivity

History

Frederick Taylor in the late 1900s was the first proponent of Scientific Management. In the following few decades, he had some visible and very effective assistance from a notable few but not too many other people; in developing the concepts of scientific management. Henry Ford was conspicuously cost conscious, in product design and manufacturing innovation.

Heroes to Industrial Engineers are Frank and Lillian Gilbreath, primarily for their work in time study and work measurement. As we review the writings of Frank Gilbreth literally over 100 years ago, he suggested that a primary tool to improve productivity is to reduce waste. One of the two tenants of the Toyota Production System is, you guessed it, to reduce waste.

Taylor and Frank Gilbreth both started with a stopwatch. After all, arguably the most important question in manufacturing is “how long does the job take?”

Our tool to determine priority also goes back more than 100 years, to Vilfredo Pareto who first quantified that a small number of Italian citizens possessed a large amount of Italian wealth. The concept has been broadened to show that, within a given set of elements, a small number of individual elements constitutes a very large portion of total value. We use the Pareto Principle to find productive opportunities.

Otherwise, until World War II there was little organized recognition of, or progress in, manufacturing productivity. Then because of the amounts of armaments required and a national sense of urgency, productivity which led to output was a focus of manufacturing, often skipping the theory phase and going directly into practice. Some of these oldies but goodies are still around because their value has been proven.

Productivity is measured as output divided by input. Therefore, any action taken to increase output, or decrease input, results in higher productivity.

“Productivity” can relate to any element of corporate activity; direct and indirect labor, overhead, materials, equipment, facilities, services. Direct labor cost is quite often not a large percentage of product cost, but direct labor can a good starting point for productivity improvement, for two reasons: 1) Labor has a cost of its own even if not large, and 2) the major function of labor is to operate equipment and processes efficiently and to optimize their capability; to build the product. So, good idea, let’s produce, providing output on time to meet the market demand. Let’s improve labor and equipment productivity, over a wide range of constituent parts.

The latter half of the 20th century and partway into the 21st have evidenced change on such a prolific scale that that it can hardly be defined. Semiconductors, computers, electronics in general, the space age, the growth of Asia as a supplier of products of all kinds. For manufacturers, evolving computers and electronics and programs have introduced the mechanisms to control production more accurately. A negative is that the rate of technology change that is possible has tended to obscure the crystal ball that tells us what comes next.

With the changes, the worldwide manufacturing arena is not the same as it has been, which suggests that participants in the arena may feel it necessary to make further changes on their own part.

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Current Position

There are very many facets to productivity, and very many circumstances in manufacturing which test the capability of management to optimize productivity. Aha, that means that there will also be very many opportunities for improvement.

And usually in the dynamic world of manufacturing, the most important issues and opportunities have to do with the financial picture. But the manufacturing problem of the day may also be related to labor supply, or to uncertainties in the supply chain, or to the ability to have employees report to work in an environment free of infectious disease. Welcome to the future.

The classic productivity mechanisms for manufacturing have not gone out of style, if anything computer capabilities and electronics have simplified and augmented their use. New concepts are proposed routinely, with broad or narrow application. We have available constructive, productive solutions to a wide range of challenges, in a multitude of industrial settings.

Frank Gilbreth over 100 years ago suggested that a primary tool to improve productivity is to reduce waste. One advantage of our current situation is that several very effective methods with which to reduce waste have been developed. The Pareto Principle zeroes in on the most productive opportunities, to get the biggest bang for the buck.

Any productivity improvement relies on an assumption that is often not spoken. The assumption is that any given project is expected to be beneficial assuming all other factors are equal. And of course other things are never equal; any improvement will be expected to perform within the circumstances of the time however much different from the assumptions. Really useful solutions then will have a short fuse, they will be selected and designed to contribute quickly. A better longer-term solution may be proposed as well but the emphasis will be on rapid results.

Today the situation in international trading is a significant concern. There are mechanical concerns, due to the COVID epidemic; on one hand worldwide demand has been affected and on the other hand individuals are prevented from working; there may be a shortage of oceangoing vessels, or a backup at seaports, individuals may choose to work remotely. There are broader implications too, international tensions and the supply chain imbalances both of which may be short term or longer term.

There is great interest in productivity; of personal productivity, of output in general, and in productivity which targets business and industry. But interest does not necessarily translate into specific practical action.

Work measurement, whether a formal system or otherwise, can be a primary factor in control of labor cost and activity. If measurement is formal, (and continually maintained) then management has an objective knowledge of the activity. But it is not uncommon that production tasks have not actually been observed and measured, that rates in use are from past performance or estimate, or are no longer reflective of actual equipment, methods, materials, specs. In such a case, costs may be incorrectly stated such as production worker pay; manufacturing controls such as scheduling of product or forecasting or number of people required may be off; some Key Performance Indicators that management uses will be incorrect because the value of direct labor content is not up to date.

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Future Outlook

Are you looking for a program laden with technology or buzz words? This isn’t it. This program, Manufacturing Productivity, zeros in on the heart of manufacturing, namely what happens on the manufacturing floor, the warehouse dock, the machine shop site. To describe production in one word, try Dynamic. The one production constant is change.

In the productivity arena, one size does not fit all. That is why this program offers many differentiated processes; they tend to be straightforward; specialized with a concentrated focus, yet they reinforce one another.

Initially, we will assess as-is conditions to determine just what needs attention, although probably you have an idea already. Prioritize issues, judge resources available, set a plan.

It is likely that individuals with different responsibilities at different organizational levels will attend specific portions of the multi-functional workshops, in relationship to the respon