allman horrocks consulting (ahc): independent management consultants - change management: case study: john parker steel

case study: John Parker Steel

Background
Established in 1904 John Parker & Son Limited is the largest independent steel stockholder in the south of England, with head offices based in Canterbury, Kent, and depots at Andover, Gatwick, and Waterbeach near Cambridge.

Parkers is a family business and the present family members felt that a more structured approach to managing the strategy would engage the senior team more and make the business more successful.

As part of a strategic review of operations Allman Horrocks Consulting identified a need, with the management team, to develop and implement a company-wide business improvement plan to reduce operating costs and improve customer service.

Approach
Initially AHC conducted a review of key business processes and interviewed operators and managers to establish the internal view of the change agenda. This was then combined with the results of the audit to provide the framework of project and the projected savings.

AHC was then engaged to develop an improvement team from the staff within the business and to develop a timeline for the programme with them. The programme included developing their skills in a number of techniques including:

Meeting management
Time management
Data collection and analysis
Presentations
The 7 quality tools: e.g. the 5why's, 5S, 7 Wastes, and Cause & Effect analysis

The structured training was structured together with materials to train the trainers, enabled the company to spread the skills with no external cost.

During the training sessions, example projects were used by each of the improvement teams to practise the new techniques and develop results early. During this period AHC acted as mentors to ensure a good learning experience and guarantee a positive improvement outcome.

The team members presented the results to senior management thus gaining further buy-in to the process and the next set of projects. The projects varied from materials handling to delivery sequencing and included process change and technology implementations.

Benefits
The company gained year-on-year benefits of over £1,000,000 from the first set of projects and a reduction of over 50% in the level of customer complaints regarding delivery performance related to timing and accuracy.

The programme became embedded in day-to-day operations and has continued to provide the mechanism for cost reductions and service improvements. Additionally, the route through business improvement provides an excellent management training ground for employees as they are selected to play more important roles in the business.

Testimonial
"We were very satisfied with the approach and implementation of the strategic planning process and went on to achieve all of the objectives laid out in the three year plan."
Guy Parker, Managing Director, John Parker & Son Ltd.