“At Bubblequest we sometimes find ourselves in the bizarre position of being able to guarantee, for example, production improvements of 30 per cent only to discover that the client believes it is all too good to be true. To some it all sounds like smoke and mirrors. The same organisations become enthusiastic converts once they see the systems working and delivering the kind of improvements and efficiencies they were promised,” he said.

He says that Westfield Sportscars is a perfect example of how lean management techniques can be successfully implemented. Following workshops carried out at the beginning of 2008, the company has seen big changes in the way that its assembly area is run.

Adrian Halford, production manager, says that to start with, it adopted the changes that were recommended in half of the production cells so that their effect could be measured against the existing methods.

“It soon became apparent that we needed to roll-out the changes to the remaining cells as they were lagging behind”.

“We have been so impressed by the difference that using the 5s principles has made to our production, that we are now implementing it across all other areas of our business – we’re even going to train our suppliers.”

Greg Simpson says that many organisations are missing out on opportunities to drastically improve their productivity and efficiency because they don’t know what to believe and who to listen to.

“There has been a collective failure to the get the lean management message across to the organisations that need it most. Lean management works, it can make an enormous difference to any organisation and yet its take up is being hindered to some extent by suspicions and doubts. Those of us in the lean management sector have to do more to get that message across,” he said.

In a bid to convince sceptics of the value of lean techniques, Mr Simpson is offering to provide companies with a free ‘Diagnostic Day’ that will involve setting a ‘lean benchmark’ and producing a 5S workplace organisation audit and radar score. The results of the diagnosis are revealed in a follow-up feedback session.

“The diagnostic days have convinced even the most sceptical managers of the merits of lean techniques. Once they see and understand they often become enthusiastic converts,” Greg Simpson added.

For further information contact Greg Simpson directly on 01743 362121 or email performance@bubblequest.com