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Darwin Rhodes - 13/03/2009

The investment
• International recruitment business with a strong reputation in the actuarial, insurance, pensions, banking and investments markets.
• Expanding network of offices in the UK and in Asia, Eastern Europe and the US.
• Fast growing, with income more than doubling in the last three years and plans to continue to expand both in the UK and overseas.
• Expansion/replacement capital behind an established and successful management team
• YFM Group invested a total of £1.7m into this existing investee Company funded initially three years ago with £250K.

“This is an excellent example of YFM providing larger amounts of follow on funds to an existing investee company for all the right reasons. Darwin Rhodes has continued to deliver on their clear strategy of expanding in strong market niches,
through a network of international offices. We are very much looking forward in continuing to work with them on the next stage of their growth and helping them build on their success to date.”
David Gee, Director of Investment,
YFM Private Equity

"�The additional capital from YFM will be used to expand Darwin Rhodes� unique model, organically and through acquisition, to other industries and geographies. We have a track record of successful expansion during all stages of the economic cycle and our board and investors are confident that Darwin Rhodes Group will continue to build on this success over the coming years.� "
Peter Dunphy, CEO, Darwin Rhodes Group

Ellfin Home Care - 13/03/2009

Sector: Healthcare
Date completed: December 2007
Deal type: MBI
Location: North West

The investment
• Domiciliary Care, a market driven by Government outsourcing
• Backing a team who have built and sold a business in this market before
• Introduced a high calibre chairman
• Buy and build plans to establish dominant player in the North West
• First acquisition (Able Care) was off market and second acquisition is in negotiation

“Care in people’s own homes is a growing market. We are excited to be backing this strong team in their plans to grow Able Care organically and look forward to supporting them as they look for acquisitions.”
Deborah Heyes, Investment Director, YFM Private Equity

"Many institutional investors say that they are keen to back an MBI however the reality is that backing an MBI takes vision; YFM�s investment team saw the potential of a buy and build strategy within the domiciliary home care sector. There has been a lot of consolidation within the home care sector for a number of years but the future still lies in large scale companies who can offer stability to provide a wide range of quality care services to both Local Authorities and private individuals. Any buy and build programme requires a robust attitude to regular acquisitions to achieve the required return for both YFM and the management team; YFM continue to show their committed to that plan. "
Chris Birkett, Ellfin Home Care

RMS Europe - 12/03/2009

www.rms-europe.co.uk

Sector Support Services
Date completed July 2007
Deal type MBO
Location Goole

The investment

• Port operations and logistics business

• Strong strategic presence in the business area of the Humber estuary

• MBO/MBI into a strong cash generative business

• Introduced a high calibre industry experienced NXD

“We are delighted to back Peter Aarosin and his management team. We believe the ports sector is an exceptionally strong one, with good growth opportunities.”

Nigel Barraclough, Investment Director, YFM Private Equity

"It presents an exciting new opportunity for me to work with a great management team and grow the business both organically and by acquisition. I look forward to working with YFM Group to continue to develop the group. "
Peter Aarosin, CEO, RMS Europe

Sarian Systems - The Exit - 11/03/2009

HIGH GROWTH
www.sarian.co.uk
Sector Telecommunications
Time held 8 years
Deal type Development Capital
Location Ilkley

The Investment

• Sarian became the UK’s leading manufacturer of wired and wireless communications products for mission critical applications

• In March 2000 YFM backed a start up business originally operated by a two man team in a kitchen

• YFM gave a range of financial, managerial & development advice at all stages of the companies development

• The company grew rapidly and gained clients such as American Express, BP Oil and became a major supplier to some of the world’s lottery terminal operators

• Sarian was included in the Sunday Times/Microsoft Tech Track 100and won the Yorkshire Post Small Business of the Year in 2006

• In 2008 Sarian was sold to US business Digi International, YFM funds exited the company with an overall return of 8x capital

“This demonstrates what can be achieved with the right combination of technical and commercial skills together with good old Yorkshire grit and determination.”

David Gee, Director of Investment,YFM Private Equity

"It has been a pleasure to work with YFM over the last 8 years, the relationship has not only been about the financial backing but the expertise and support which have helped make it possible for us to realise our ambitions.Andy Hood, "
Managing and Technical Director,Sarian

Pressure Technologies - 04/03/2009

BUY & BUILD
www.pressuretechnologies.co.uk
Sector Manufacturing
Time held 3 years
Deal type MBO & AIM flotation
Location Sheffield

The investment
• This was a management buy out followed by a development capital investment.
• The grand scale relocation and improvement to production facilities was completed on time and under budget
• YFM helped shape the marketing and development strategies to expand into the lucrative oil and power sectors
• YFM assisted the company in identifying vertical and horizontal integration opportunities increasing turnover and diversifying against sector risk.
• The exit made a 10x return to investors, an IRR of 122%

“It was clear to us that the management team, led by John Hayward was both high calibre and
ambitious. It’s rapid turnaround and growth over the last 24 months has exceeded our expectations.”

"Without the backing of YFM, Pressure Technologies would not be where it is today. In 2004 our manufacturing business, Chesterfield Special Cylinders, had been facing closure due to the imminent loss of its factory to developers. The funding offered by YFM was crucial to our Bankers� decision to back an MBO and also helped provide sufficient cash to relocate and expand the business. Thanks to this timely intervention we relocated to Sheffield in 2005, floated on AIM in 2007 and have enjoyed significant year on year growth over the last four years. A business that nearly closed in 2004 now has a market capitalisation of over £30 million "
John Hayward, Pressure Technologies

IPCC - Exit - 03/03/2009

www.ipccplc.co.uk

Sector Medical, Pharmaceutical
Time held 12 months
Deal type Development
Location Stockport and other North West locations

The investment

• YFM Group invested alongside a group of private investors in an £11.6m transaction to fund the fast growing Stockport based business which then operated 23 pharmacies in the North of England.

• The funding enabled IPCC to acquire a further 12 pharmacies taking the estate to 35 units.

• In 2007 it was bought out by the German-owned Lloyds Pharmacy in a £60 million deal.

“The quality, determination and dedication of IPCC's management team shone through in the initial presentation. The team had a goal to grow a quality business and had a proven model on which to expand. We were pleased to support such professionalism.”

Deborah Heyes, Investment Director, YFM

Private Equity

“

"The YFM Private Equity investment team were partners throughout the process, giving financial and expert support to achieve our goals, allowing us to expand and strengthen the business to the stage we have reached today. "
Dr Shah, Executive Chairman, IPCC

DxS - 28/11/2008

DxS provides pharmacogenomic technology and services. This is used to identify which patients will respond best to pharmaceuticals based on analysis of the individual's genetic make-up.

2008 has been an extraordinary year. The company has grown into a major player in companion diagnostics, having secured deals with Amgen, Roche and a host of other companies, and has been pivotal in the personalised medicine revolution which is now happening.

DxS recently launched its TheraScreen® diagnostic for assessing a patients KRAS mutation status.

The deal with major US company Amgen led to an increase in sales of the TheraScreen diagnostic kit, and in May DxS announced plans to expand, with the company taking over additional office space, and increasing its workforce. At the same time, DxS also received ISO 13485:2003 quality certification for the “design, development and manufacture of molecular diagnostic products for human genetic analysis”.

Tygan Motor Company - 28/11/2008

Tygan Motor Company, which produces replicas of celebrated Porsche sports cars of the 1950s, has secured finance from the YFM Group-managed South West Ventures Fund. The investment will be used to expand the company’s sales and marketing operation, to increase R&D to meet new European regulations and to increase stock.

The Tygan marque was launched at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed last year with the Speedster 356 and was given the seal of approval by Porsche itself. The Beaminster based business has a growing order book and is on track to meet sales targets for 2008.

From 2009 Tygan will be offering a second model, the 550 Spyder, derived from the famous racing Porsche that competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Mille Miglia.

Both designs are based on the running gear of the original Volkswagen Beetle. Tygan engineers use an original VW body shell for donor parts, including the chassis which is shortened, shot-blasted and refinished to accept new VW Beetle parts, including the engine, gearbox and suspension.

A GRP (glass reinforced plastic) body shell, identical in shape and form to the original Porsche models, is mounted on a steel sub-chassis and fitted over the chassis. The car, badged Tygan, is then hand built to the customer’s satisfaction by skilled craftsmen, painted in a new paint plant and delivered with a 12 months return-to-factory warranty.

Investment from South West Ventures Fund will allow Tygan to anticipate planned emissions requirements for ‘new build’ cars, particularly in the EU market. From next year standards will be met only by engines with catalytic converters and fuel injection so Tygan is currently evaluating a new engine which already meets the strict Californian regulations. From 2010, it is likely that ABS brakes will be mandatory and this issue is also being addressed.

A six-strong dealer network has been established in the UK and it is intended that this will be expanded into Europe in 2009 to cover the Mediterranean markets of France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. On the promotional front, Tygan is currently under contract to supply a Speedster 356 for use by Yorkshire TV in its productions of Heartbeat and The Royal.

Website: www.tygan.co.uk

Braham & Murray - 28/11/2008

A North Devon company which supplies premium hemp seed oils and dressings to major supermarket chains such as Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s has secured investment from the YFM Group-managed South West Ventures Fund to drive sales of its GOOD OIL range.

Braham & Murray, based in Barnstaple, was founded by Henry Braham and Glynis Murray, well known for their achievements in the film industry but who also have a hemp seed growing and processing business at nearby Collabear Farm.

The products – GOOD OIL Original, GOOD OIL Mild & Light, GOOD DRESSINGS and GOOD SEEDS – have a delicate nutty flavour and can now be found in 1,500 stores throughout the UK. The striking brand image was designed by Paul Arden, formerly Executive Creative Director at Saatchi and Saatchi.

GOOD OIL is one of the healthiest culinary oils on the market. It has half the saturated fat of olive oil and is rich in Omegas (essential fatty acids), which the body needs for a healthy heart as well as being important for the brain, nervous and immune systems. Analysis by nutritionists at King’s College London shows that 10ml of GOOD OIL per day makes a substantial contribution to the intake of essential fatty acids required for good health.

The market is being driven by changing consumer attitudes and preferences towards healthy eating, resulting in declining sales of solid saturated fats and an increase in sales of speciality and ‘special’ oils, such as those derived from hemp seed. Sales of oils are expected to grow by more than 50 per cent to reach £400 million by 2012.

Braham & Murray have generated revenues in excess of £1.5 million since the business started trading in 2006. With the two oil varieties and the dressings products proving most popular, year-on-year sales growth has reached nearly 100 per cent despite a negligible marketing budget.

Website: www.goodwebsite.co.uk

Eflow - 28/11/2008

A Wells based company which develops software for the banking and financial industry has secured £330,000 from the YFM Group managed South West Ventures Fund. The funding will enable eflow (UK) Limited to take advantage of a growth in demand for specialist software by financial traders following the introduction of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID).

eflow’s TransacTzar software provides evidence that a trading firm has achieved ‘best execution’ and has complied with the new European MiFID regulation. It does this via a comprehensive transaction monitoring platform that re-creates and stores the market conditions, trade by trade. The software is considered by Thomson Reuters (a shareholder and partner in the business) to be a unique product in terms of its flexibility and functionality. TransacTzar can be deployed in the five main asset classes: equities, foreign exchange, money markets, commodities and derivatives.

The MiFID regulations cover all companies trading financial instruments, including banks, investment banks, broking houses, market data companies, trading platforms and exchanges. The Directive requires all financial institutions to adhere to a code of best execution – taking into account price, venue, cost and speed – and to demonstrate transparency, retaining concise details of every trade for a period of five years.

eflow was founded in 2004 by Marsha Parker, who developed the successful PATH (Peer Application Transaction Hub) technology, which carries out much of the workflow between trading and settlement systems. Users include the Co-operative Bank and Hypo Vereinsbank; PATH has enabled Hypo Vereinsbank to move from 800 trades a day and 20 back-office staff to more than 6,000 trades a day and just five staff.

TransacTzar uses PATH technology to create a trades-based data model which sits alongside the trading software used by financial institutions, ‘listening’ to and recording all transactions to create a detailed record and to match this against real-time pricing data. The software then reconciles each trade and measures whether the transaction achieved best execution, ensuring compliance with the MiFID regulations and the creation of a full audit trail for FSA purposes. The results are displayed on a ‘dashboard’ that highlights any exceptions; the trader will note on the system the reason for the exception, which is then passed to the treasurer for authorisation or further action.

The technology is delivered by a hosted application service provider via the internet on a fee-per-transaction basis and as such is suitable for both small and large users.

Website: www.eflowglobal.com

Gnodal - 28/11/2008

Bristol-based Gnodal, which is developing a revolutionary technology for use in high performance data centres, has secured finance from the YFM Group managed South West Ventures Fund as part of a £1.1 million funding round. Adrian Beecroft and NESTA were co-investors in the round and a second closing saw the YFM Group managed Finance South West Growth Fund also investing in the company.

Gnodal, which is located in the SETSquared business incubator at Bristol University, has developed technology that gives an order of magnitude improvement in data centre performance and power efficiency.

With rapidly increasing volumes of information, data centres are growing in size and power consumption. Traditional technologies have become inefficient as data centres have increased in size.

At present, these problems principally affect the very largest users of high performance computing facilities, but are increasingly experienced in enterprise and Internet data centres. With the advent of virtualisation, web 2.0 and sophisticated corporate applications, this is becoming more of an issue.

The Gnodal solution, offering a unique combination of high performance, low cost and low power, enables the construction of even larger scale data centres and higher performance computing systems. The market research company Dell ‘Oro predicts that in 2011 Gnodal’s addressable market will be worth $4.8 billion.

Website: www.gnodal.com

Micrima - 28/11/2008

Micrima, a spin-out from the University of Bristol, is developing a breast imaging system that captures high-resolution, 3D images through the use of harmless radio waves. The system is called MARIA - Multistatic Array processing for Radiowave Image Acquisition.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of death for women aged between 35 and 59 in the EU1. For various reasons the under-50s are not routinely screened. Micrima’s technology has the potential to offer several advantages over existing primary screening technology, which encounters difficulties in imaging the dense tissue associated with this younger age group. MARIA promises to provide better images in such tissue, and is also relatively inexpensive, intrinsically safe, and comfortable for the patient.

The implications of this safe new technology are far-reaching, particularly as the compact size and low cost of the MARIA system will make it ideal for use in numerous alternative locations such as GP surgeries, diagnostic centres and mobile screening units.

Initial blind trials with volunteers have shown MARIA to compare very well with current X-ray technology, correctly identifying all participants with anomalies and ‘clearing’ all healthy volunteers.

The initial investment will fund on-going technical development and further clinical trials at the Frenchay Hospital’s Breast Clinic in Bristol. Clinical work will then be extended to include women from other leading centres around the UK.

Website: www.micrima.com

MMIC Solutions - 28/11/2008

MMIC Solutions Ltd is a Ledbury based supplier of innovative module and subsystem solutions for commercial millimetre wave applications.

The company has developed and sold 94GHz receivers to a number of manufacturers of millimetre wave security imaging systems. The ability to use millimetre waves to detect non-metallic materials concealed about the body including weapons, explosives, and illegal goods is generating a lot of interest, with systems being deployed at many commercial and civic infrastructure locations, and at airports in the US and Europe.

The company is also developing low cost modules for high capacity communications applications. These links support data rates of 1Gbit/sec and more, and operate in various unlicensed and ‘light-licensed’ bands between 60 and 80GHz.

Website: www.mmicsolutions.com

ProVision Communications - 28/11/2008

ProVision Communications, a spin-out from the University of Bristol, develops wireless video solutions for global clients, ranging from in-home media gateways to wireless video systems for sports and other spectator events. The company’s expertise covers most wireless standards, including WiFi, WiMAX and DVB-T.

ProVision’s technology has been proven in demanding situations and recently was successfully used to enable real-time multicast video streaming over WiFi at the 2007 World Rally Championship (WRC) Wales Rally GB. Spectators in the hospitality area were able to select from a choice of video channels showing different parts of the rally course, using WiFi enabled PDAs and smartphones equipped with ProVision’s software decoder.

Following successful demonstration of the technology, ProVision has been invited by the Government’s UK Trade & Investment export support body to showcase its wireless products at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona in February.

BeCheeky.com - 28/11/2008

Poole-based BeCheeky.com, the online retailer which specialises in selling hard-to-find and carefully-selected mainstream lingerie, has secured £200,000 venture capital funding from the YFM Group managed South West Venture Fund. This figure, which was supplemented by Angel investors, is part of a financing round totalling over £630,000.

BeCheeky.com was founded in 2005 by husband and wife team James and Sarah Akin-Smith to take advantage of the growing demand for high quality sensual women’s lingerie. It currently offers over 1,200 individual lines from brands such as Bracli, Lola Luna, Morgan, Princess Tam Tam and Sensualle, and attracts 130,000 individual visitors per month. In addition, it sources innovative lingerie and swimwear from suppliers around the world. The company has a turnover of nearly £1 million and the funding from the South West Venture Fund will assist in boosting marketing efforts and widening the product ranges.

TBiConnect - 28/11/2008

Cheltenham-based TBiConnect Limited, has secured £330,000 venture capital funding from the YFM Group-managed South West Ventures Fund. The investment supports the go-to-market strategy for the TBiConnect business-to-business eCommerce service. TBiConnect is to be chaired by David Rogers, a former chief executive of Amstrad Plc and Lucent EMEA.

TBiConnect unites corporate organisations with their supply chain securely through the internet, allowing the full automation of “Purchase to Pay” processes between suppliers and buyers. TBiConnect controls and manages the exchange of electronic transaction documents (invoices, remittances, purchase orders etc) securely between supplier and customer at very low cost and without changing IT systems at either end. The service replaces business paperwork and automates transactions quickly, simply and securely, reducing administration costs to pence per transaction.

Cornish Sea Salt Company - 28/11/2008

The Cornish Sea Salt Company operates the UK's first sea salt plant that harvests direct from the ocean in a unique location at Porthkerris on the Lizard Peninsula.

The company will be producing a flaky, white culinary sea salt that will be certified-organic and hand-harvested from the clear Atlantic waters of Cornwall and is a purer, healther and tastier alternative to traditional table salt.

The project got the go-ahead following a financial deal with Finance Cornwall, the YFM Group managed South West Ventures Fund, Bank of Scotland and the South West Investment Group.

Tony Fraser, Managing Director and resident of St Keverne, has worked on the idea for nearly 3 years and built on his experience as a natural resource specialist. His idea for the project came about after visiting an Iron Age salt production site on the Lizard. He set up the Cornish Sea Salt Company with the aim to establish the first ever sea salt facility in the UK to harvest direct from the ocean.

Lattice Voice Technologies - 28/11/2008

The Yorkshire and Humber Equity Fund, managed by YFM Group, has invested £660,000 over a number of rounds, in language tools company Lattice Voice Technologies Limited, allowing them to complete their product development and fund initial sales roll out.

Based in York, Lattice Voice Technologies has designed a solution to problems faced by many organisations who are contacted by individuals who speak a different language. The software is called ‘First Contact’ and enables rapid identification of the language being spoken and assessment of the immediate requirements.

Aimed initially at public safety access points such as the Police; Ambulance; Fire; Coastguard services, the system communicates with the operator and the caller in their respective languages.

David Livesley, Investment Manager at YFM Group, saw this as an opportunity to back a strong management team with a unique product filling a niche market, enabling emergency services to rapidly assess and respond to a situation with 24 hour support. A number of police forces have expressed interest in trialling the system, and the team hope the investment will increase the speed of product roll out and fund future product development.

“Due diligence feedback from potential customers was extremely positive, both about the product and the management team” David Livesley, YFM Group.

“Raising the investment the business required to execute our plans has been very straight forward, with YFM Group taking a thoughtful and cooperative approach that has been extremely helpful.”
Neil McCutcheon, Managing Director - Lattice Voice Technologies

Offering a number of products for operatives in the field, Lattice Voice have also developed First Contact ‘On the Street’, a portable solution that integrates with almost any mobile computing device, be it a Blackberry, PDA, or Smart phone.

First Contact – ‘In the Office’ for those in office environments allowing speakers of different languages to communicate in a wide range of dialects. Operation is simple and training is minimal for any user.

Lattice Voice sought the funding from YHEF following advice from Connect Yorkshire. The management team hope to see the company grow and become established as a high performance multi-lingual communication company used by not only the emergency services, but in any scenario where structured communication is feasible using a scripted dialog.

"Raising the investment the business required to execute our plans has been very straight forward, with YFM Group taking a thoughtful and cooperative approach that has been extremely helpful. "
Neil McCutcheon, Managing Director Lattice Voice

GO-SIM - 28/11/2008

The Yorkshire and Humber Equity Fund (YHEF), the Regional Venture Capital Fund for the Yorkshire and Humber region, managed by YFM Venture Finance has invested a further £250,000 in York-based GO-SIM – a leading provider of prepaid global SIM cards for mobile phones.

Chris Fitzsimmons, YHEF investment manager, was first introduced to GO-SIM in early 2007. He commented, “Since our original investment, we have been impressed by GO-SIM’s progress. Having recently secured a key route to market with one of Europe’s leading travel companies, GO-SIM is well placed to exploit the market opportunity for travellers to make significant savings on calls from abroad.”

David Agar, CEO of GO-SIM commented “Having YHEF onboard has enabled us to become one of the leading providers of smart, low-cost international mobile solutions. We’ve made a successful push into the US outbound traveller market, and are now looking for distribution into Asia. With an exciting product development road map ahead of us, the future is very interesting indeed”.

YHEF first invested in GO-SIM in August 2007. Seven months on, the company has seen continued growth developing voice and messaging products, an increase in staff numbers and heavily invested in marketing increasing its customer base by 214%.

GO-SIM has a client base which includes the leading airport and airlines supplier, Alpha Retail, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, British Red Cross, Visa International and the leading US-based retailer, Best Buy. The global SIM supplier plans to role out partnerships with key strategic partners in the travel industry across the world.

Customers face expensive charges when using mobile phones outside the UK due to costly roaming charges. The GO-SIM Global SIM works in more than 140 countries and unlike standard UK network providers, incoming calls and texts are free in many countries, enabling travellers to save up to 85% on the bill that would normally await them.

To use GO-SIM, customers simply swap their existing SIM card with the GO-SIM Global SIM card each time they travel abroad.

YHEF is a £25 million Regional Venture Capital Fund which invested in fast growing SMEs across the Yorkshire & Humber region, managed by YFM Venture Finance part of the YFM Group. Investments were made up to £660,000.

MyKnowledgeMap - 28/11/2008

York based e-learning company MyKnowledgeMap has received a £250,000 investment to realise its expansion plans from YFM Group managed Yorkshire & Humber Equity Fund (YHEF).

Founded in 2000, MyKnowledgeMap develops web-based software and knowledge systems to support learning and training across the educational, public and private sectors. With clients such as the British Council, GHD, Leeds University and a number of National Skills Academies, the company has developed strong partnering links and strategically managed the business to the point where further expansion capital was required.

The investment came after the management team had received assistance from a YFM Business Development managed scheme, High Growth Coaching. The introduction of MyKnowledgeMap to the YFM investment team was made internally.

The business has clear growth opportunities in both the public and private sectors where there is strong market demand for remote learning solutions. The dynamic management team, led by highly experienced CEO Rob Arntsen, will utilise the investment to help deliver its ambitious expansion plans.

“We are one of the UK's most rapidly expanding learning technology providers with a reputation for innovative solutions and strong continuing support services. The support from YFM has opened doors, we can now leverage our proprietary software and continue to support the rollout of the National Skills Academies programme” explained Rob Arntsen.

Ian Waterfield, Investment Manager at YFM said “With a strong client base and clear demand within the government’s upskilling agenda, this is a great opportunity for MyKnowledgeMap and YFM. Rob has built a team who have already demonstrated commitment to the growth and development of both the company and its employees. We look forward to working with Rob as the business evolves.”

Mobile Safety Solutions - 28/11/2008

An increasing number of mobile workers will be finding their lives easier by using software developed for PDAs and mobile phones following an investment in Mobile Safety Solutions by YFM Group managed Yorkshire & Humber Equity Fund (YHEF).

Wetherby based Mobile Safety Solutions which was formed in 2006 by Directors Brian Alsford, Tony Preston and Nick Barr has quickly established itself as a leading innovator in the provision of web-based application software for mobile workers.

The mobile workers using the software are typically inspectors or surveyors who need to record data whilst on site and benefit from the advantages which are provided by the real time capture and processing of the information.

The investment from the YHEF has come at a time when the company is looking to expand rapidly taking advantage of the growing order book and new customer relationships.

Paul Betts, Investment Manager YHEF, saw the potential of the product and its niche in the market. He commented “Since our first introduction to the business we have been very impressed with the product offering developed by Mobile Safety Solutions. This product allows customers to harness mobile technology to create greater efficiencies within their business. The return on investment provided to customers makes a compelling case for use of the software.”

Originally developed for the Health & Safety market, one of the first customers was Faithful + Gould, a global consultancy business, which rapidly rolled it out to its UK commissions. The software allows inspectors to carry out more efficient on site work and also allows instant report generation saving both on time and cost.

The business is also experiencing significant growth in other areas, particularly construction and property where the software can be applied to other survey and project management applications. The Company expects to announce some significant new customers in the commercial property, logistics and manufacturing sectors over the next few weeks.

Director, Brian Alsford commented “We have developed a proven proposition which is providing our customers with real cost savings and significant working efficiencies. Our software has many applications beyond Health & Safety and increasingly our customers are expanding its use to different areas within their businesses. We are very pleased to have secured an investment from YFM and we are glad that we now have a funding partner on board who understands the market opportunity and can help us to achieve our plans for expansion.”

New Net Technologies - 28/11/2008

Businesses can now pinpoint the route cause of IT system failures at a press of a button thanks to the software created by Otley based New Net Technologies (NNT).

YFM Group managed Yorkshire and Humber Equity Fund (YHEF) has invested £250,000 in the software company to fund its expansion plans.

The Performance, Change & Configuration Management software detects and tracks all changes in IT systems from the PC to the Data Centre and everything in between; highlighting authorised versus unauthorised changes along the way. This allows IT teams to set a ‘baseline’ of the normal, known and compliant state for their entire IT estate and where necessary roll back any system changes that may affect the normal functioning and or quality of service. In addition a unique system provides the option for users to self diagnose issues without the need of an IT helpdesk engineer, thus reducing the cost and burden placed on IT staff.

Operating in the medium to large sized enterprise market NNT’s software is one of the most competitive & easy to use in its market, providing cost effective solutions which can be used alongside existing software tools. As businesses expand and IT support is taking a greater burden, the software presents a cost saving opportunity for the business owners looking to make cut backs and to speed up IT delivery.

Phil Snell, Technical Director founded the business in 2005, after more than 30 years experience in building innovative software and software companies. In 2008 Mark Kerrison joined the company as CEO having previously worked in various senior roles for a number of IT and Software companies.

The funding will allow NNT to build a field sales force, building partnerships and increasing the existing customer base. To date the business had established an impressive portfolio of customers having only been in the market for 6 months, including National Grid, Hutchison Ports, 3 Valleys Water, Cable & Wireless and ACAS.

“We have backed an experienced and well connected management team who have produced an innovative product and have demonstrated a strong ability to create and grow sales. In the current economic climate businesses are looking to cut costs, NNT’s software is now in demand as it meets the need of the current business market where people are looking to realign their spending. We look forward to working with NNT as the company grows.” Says Ian Waterfield, Investment Manager at YFM

The management team are experienced in growing software businesses and working alongside VCs. The early success provides evidence that the business is lead by a strong and professional management team, who have created a well designed product which is gaining rapid market acceptance.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with YFM. From the outset the team at YFM demonstrated a clear understanding of the value that NNT brings to market. This investment will allow us to continue to invest in the development of our software and importantly provides us with the means of engaging with a wider customer audience through growth in both sales and marketing.” Mark Kerrison, CEO NNT

"We are delighted to be working in partnership with YFM. From the outset the team at YFM demonstrated a clear understanding of the value that NNT brings to market. This investment will allow us to continue to invest in the development of our software and importantly provides us with the means of engaging with a wider customer audience through growth in both sales and marketing"
Mark Kerrison, CEO NNT

CBG - 28/11/2008

Business:
Insurance, financial planning and other financial products for the SME market

Products:
CBG offer a range of services principally in the area of Commercial Insurance, Business Risk Management, Healthcare and Employee Benefits. In addition CBG offer a Private Client solution to individuals centred on wealth management and asset protection.

CBG have two core trading divisions:
General Insurance & Risk Management - CBG Insurance Brokers Ltd

Wealth Management, Benefit Consulting, Healthcare - CBG Financial
Services Ltd

Reason for raising funds:
Further acquisitions and to finance organic growth.

What impressed us:
Proven track record of growth, profit and cash generation.
Strong executive team and demonstrated integration capability
Skilled and experienced loyal staff
Strong organic growth.

Reaxa - 28/11/2008

Business:
Reaxa provides metal catalyst and scavengers targeted at the Pharmaceutical and Fine Chemicals sectors.

Products:
The principal product offering is novel catalyst technology, "EnCatTM," that microencapsulates and traps the catalyst's metal component to deliver cleaner products and effluents, significantly more cost effectively than existing competitive products

Reason for raising funds:
To expand the commercial resources and "bulk"-scale production of the EnCatTM polymer encapsulated catalyst.

What impressed us:
The technology
Management Team

"Having YFM on board at Reaxa has allowed us to make significant progress in commercialising our new precious metal technologies for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Their ongoing support via NWBIS in a difficult economic and financial climate is allowing us to remain focused on the core growth objectives of the company, and we look forward to continuing our very positive relationship during the coming year."
Pete Jackson, Reaxa

MiCap - 28/11/2008

Business: Development and manufacture of microencapsulation products, primarily for the food industry.

Products: Microencapsulation refers to a process by which minute particles of liquid or solid material are coated with a uniform and continuous film. A range of materials are suited for use as the capsule material: lipids, wax, crystal starch, modified starch, cellulose, phospholipids and other polymers.

Microencapsulation has a variety of purposes, such as the controlled release of active ingredients, coating liquid substances, masking or protecting core material
as well as reducing volatility.

Reason for raising funds?

Development funding

What impressed us:

•   Interesting core technology
•   Management
•   Increasingly good spread of development customers

InterCity Group - 28/11/2008

Business:
InterCity Group Ltd is a support services business founded in 2002 by a team of serial entrepreneurs. Headquartered in central Manchester, the Group has a "buy and build" strategy. The Company is achieving strong organic growth and targeting further suitable acquistions based on strict criteria.

Products:
InterCity Groups operating companies include Gorton Cleaning Services, Morris Contract Cleaning, Brian Winder GCC and Paragon Hygiene Services Ltd.

Reason for raising funds: Since NWBIS initial investment in November 2004 a total of £995,260 has now been invested in the company. Funds have been used for a number of acquisitions within the North West including specialist cleaning and hygiene management for the food manufacturing industry.

What impressed us:
experienced management team
longstanding customer base
clear long term strategy

Vindon Healthcare - 28/11/2008

Business:
Manufacture of environmentally controlled storage rooms for the pharmaceutical, life sciences and food sectors together with the provision of related services.

Products:
Operating successfully for almost 40 years, Vindon's product range now comprises items such as controlled environment rooms and cabinets, incubators, blood storage equipment, fridges and freezers. In addition, Vindon manufacture more specialist systems for pharmaceutical, plant growth and dye testing research.

Reason for raising funds:
The investment from NWBIS will help Vindon with their plans to expand the business.

What impressed us:

•   40 year reputation and technical expertise in the industry
•   Leading UK supplier to the pharmaceutical industry
•   Largest in-house storage suite in the UK
•   International growth potential

BoxLogix - 28/11/2008

Business:
Operation of vending machines in schools

Products:
Healthy drinks and confectionery

Reason for raising funds:
Rollout of a new healthy drinks concept for the schools snack vending market

What impressed us:
Substantial market opportunity
Quality management team
Support from a major industry supplier
Innovative business model

KDC - 28/11/2008

www.kdc.co.uk
Sector Construction
Date completed March 2008
Deal type MBO
Location North West

The Investment

• The business specialises in the decommissioning, demolition and remediation of hazardous sites in the nuclear, petrochemical and pharmaceutical sectors

• Employs around 100 people and is set to see strong growth over the next few years as a result of the huge drive in the UK to clean up hazardous waste

• YFM invested alongside another institutional investor providing the much needed equity gap funding to enable the deal to happen

• YFM worked to tight deadlines in providing funding which were at times challenging. However, we have a small and experienced team of professionals and were able to respond quickly and positively

“We were impressed by the quality and experience of the KDC team which displayed professionalism and a high level of sector knowledge.”

Deborah Heyes, Investment Director, YFM Private Equity

"We have seen rapid recent demand for our services across several sectors. The management team is delighted with this opportunity. We are looking forward to continuing the successful growth of KDC. "
Ian Smithson, Managing Director, KDC

Gentronix - 28/11/2008

Gentronix is a UMIST spin-out company and an innovative biotechnology company helping to accelerate the pace of drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry.

Gentronix's first product, called GreenScreen, is a novel pre-regulatory screening assay for use at the hits-to-lead and early lead optimisation stages of the drug discovery process. GreenScreen also has application in the environmental monitoring area.

Nanoco Technologies - 27/11/2008

Nanoco Technologies was established in October 2001 and is a spin out from the University of Manchester. The company is based at the Manchester Science Park.

Nanoco develops Quantum Dots and applications based on Quantum Dots. Quantum dots nano-sized particles of fluorescent semiconductor material whose small size results in unique chemical, electronic and optical properties. They are a platform technology which can be applied to a range of applications including: anti-counterfeiting tags, next generation displays, solar cells and biological imaging. The company owns key intellectual property pertaining to the manufacture and scale up of Quantum Dots.

W S Westin Ltd - 26/06/2008

Company Profile

Established in 1921, WS Westin began life as mechanical and electrical engineers serving local industry in West Yorkshire. The company remained in the ownership of the Westin family until 1994 when it was acquired by the present directors John Eastwood and John Reed.

Westin now manufactures a range of standard and custom-made kitchen products including cooker hoods and fan units; backsplashes, pan racks and worktops. Amongst its customer base are prestige kitchen furniture designers (such as Mark Wilkinson Furniture and Smallbone), interior designers, architects and distributors of semi-professional cooker ranges. The company also manufactures a small number of fireplace products for retailers and heating appliance manufacturers.

Background

Westin first met with MAS back in November 2005 when they attended a Manufacturing Conference at Elland Road. They listened to a presentation delivered by MAS Specialist Dave Roberts of Director Resource, on how he had helped a client company undergo transformational change by using a variety of lean manufacturing techniques and approaches. The directors could immediately see the opportunities at their own organisation.

Westin had experienced continued growth and success in the cooker hood market for a number of years and wanted to look at opportunities to strengthen their position and fight off growing competition. What the company really needed was a clear strategy and mission for the future, rather than simply reacting to current trends in the market. They recognised that operational changes could significantly improve working practices and help them to drive their ambition forward.

The directors had attempted to introduce "Lean" back in 2002; but with very limited success, and so following the conference, they contacted Dave Roberts to assist them in implementing strategic changes.

Key Achievements

MAS has delivered a number of manufacturing improvement projects at Westin which have collectively resulted in the following:

The business has a clear direction with common goals and objectives.
Personal development has greatly improved, with stronger emphasis on leadership, succession planning and communication at all levels.
Sales are growing by 15% per year.
Gross Value Added (GVA) has increased by £256k, without an increase in staff numbers
Productivity has increased by 36%.
Team working has been enhanced throughout the organisation; employees are visibly empowered and are contributing their own ideas for improvement.

Making it Happen

MAS specialist Dave Roberts of Director Resource began by working with John Reed and the senior management team to undertake a strategic analysis of the operation. Together they developed an ambitious vision to double the size of the business from £1.6m to £3m by 2010.

A number of corporate goals and a clear policy deployment process were determined, helping to align departmental performance measures to the overall strategy. It was clear from the outset that a culture of involvement from all areas of the business was key to its success.

Once objectives had been put into place, Westin’s management team underwent a leadership development programme to enhance their team-working and leadership skills; helping them to monitor progress and drive forward the strategic changes.

5S and Kaizen training was delivered to all production management, supervisory and operating staff through the Manufacturing MASters programme (another Yorkshire Forward-funded scheme which delivers higher level manufacturing knowledge and learning) to ensure everybody understood their role in implementing and sustaining the business improvements.

MAS Specialist Fred Bradbury of Director Resource then worked alongside the operating teams on the shop floor to introduce Lean manufacturing cells. Employees felt empowered, and were keen to contribute their own ideas. The distance that both the product and operator needed to travel were quickly reduced, which consequently removed excessive processing and reduced lead times. This made life much easier for the customer service and sales teams, who were able to quote accurate lead times for production and delivery, resulting in a significant boost in sales.

As a result of MAS assistance, the management team at Westin are much more cohesive and focused; and staff morale across the business has greatly improved. Dave Roberts has continued his relationship with the company through the Yorkshire Forward backed High Growth Coaching scheme; to mentor the senior management team in sustaining the vision long-term, ensuring the new culture really sticks. They have found the benefit of having a " friend, mentor and therapist" to hand invaluable in supporting their growth strategy. Westin also continue to work with MAS on an ongoing basis.

"Having worked with MAS and Director Resource I understand the benefit of having sound advice and a structured approach to business improvement. They have provided valuable expertise to help develop our business and our ongoing relationship means that the resources and skills of MAS are available to us as new needs arise."
John Reed, Managing Director

Wakefield Acoustic Ltd - 26/06/2008

Company Profile

Established in 1980, Wakefield Acoustics Ltd designs, manufactures and supplies a wide range of noise control products and solutions primarily for industrial and environmental applications.

It is one of only a small number of UK companies that provides a complete noise control solution from initial noise audit, assessment and diagnosis through design, manufacture and installation, recommending the most appropriate products and implementation strategies accordingly.

The company operates internationally to provide bespoke solutions and has become an established partner for noise attenuation to a wide range of blue chip companies throughout the UK and worldwide.

The Background

Jane Dawson, who became Managing Director in 2005, sought assistance from MAS to help improve the company’s manufacturing capabilities and to support sales growth in existing and new markets.

The rapid expansion in company sales meant that the company needed to implement some fundamental changes to its processes and manufacturing methods, thereby increasing productivity and capacity. Current production methods and productivity required particular attention, in order to maximise future opportunities for significant growth.

The company’s main priorities were to increase productivity by 20% and reduce lead times by 50%, achieving these with the introduction of new processes for improving product quality, such as ‘continuous improvement’ and ‘lean’ processes.

Key Achievements

As by two MAS interventions the company has achieved the following:

Initial output improvements led to 65% increase in sales in year one. Further double digit growth was achieved in year two, including a reduction in sales lead times by over 50%
Improvements in the production processes with the introduction of documented plans, leading to a 50% reduction in manufacturing lead times
Valued added improvements made through improved manufacturing processes and materials management
The introduction of new processes across all sectors of the business to improve consistency and remove variability
A Works Supervisor and a Working Team Leader were appointed.

Making it Happen

MAS specialists Stephan Matykiwicz and Ralph Woodhead began the project by carrying out a diagnostic review of the business and undertaking a value stream mapping process. This involved analysing a number of completed projects in detail by looking at, for example, process information flow, contract timescales and customer relationship management.

Based on their findings they recommended changes in three key areas: production planning, introducing new processes across all sectors of the business and training the workforce in developing lean manufacturing and team leading skills. Stefan and Ralph introduced the team to a number of techniques that would help improve workflow and bottlenecks in key areas and processes within the business.

Standard procedures and processes were also developed to provide production scheduling capabilities, allowing the team to easily identify issues. Process stream mapping was used to identify limitations and to establish all equipment throughput restrictions.

A programme of weekly review meetings were also held. The meetings helped to clarify project status and gave the team the opportunity to review performance and output requirements.

Employee participation was encouraged across all areas of the business, as was involvement and empowerment. This ensured a high level of understanding of the new processes. It also helped to develop co-ordinated improvement strategies. All the employees were given comprehensive training and support to reinforce the changes put in place, with everyone attending a Lean Manufacturing course. New roles to support the changes were set up, including a works supervisor and working team leader.

The full potential of the business is now better understood and the company is able to focus on increasing sales through a structured output capability.

The success of the project has led to Wakefield Acoustics using MAS’ services on two more separate occasions.

"The grant-subsidised consultancy help that MAS has given us to implement improvements to our manufacturing operation has resulted in a 65% increase in sales; and 25% improvement in productivity in year one with further double digit sales and profit growth in year two. Getting our people behind the changes was critical and they have given us 110% support. The feedback we have had is that they now feel more involved and empowered."
Jane Dawson, Managing Director

Bespoke Country Ltd - 26/06/2008

Company Profile

Bespoke Country is a small home accessories business run by Jenny Slade and Victoria Clark from their workshop and attached shop in Bar Street, Scarborough. Bespoke Country manufacture a range of products which are a blend of Nordic, Vintage and Shaker styles.

The company’s unique offering has ensured a popular and growing demand from visitors to the shop, mail order catalogue customers and increasingly through the popular web site www.bespokecountry.co.uk. It has also attracted interest from some major names such as Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly and the hit show Little Britain who are now customers.

Background

Bespoke Country had been looking for a business mentor for some time and it was through a referral from an existing client that they were introduced to MAS.

Jenny and Victoria met with locally based MAS specialist Michael Whiteley in July 2007 to discuss the possibility of assisting them in the development of their business; in particular to help them deliver their expansion plans for the business through increasing their manufacturing output and through better use of their supplier network. They have since gone on to complete a research day and two manufacturing improvement projects withMichael Whiteley.

The company’s design flair is now being recognised by larger businesses and Jenny and Victoria have recently accepted a commission to design home accessories for the wholesale market. This innovation has lead to an expansion of the company’s manufactured product range and Bespoke’s designs will soon be seen in retail outlets up and down the country.

Key Achievements

MAS has delivered two manufacturingimprovement projects at Bespoke Countrywhich have collectively resulted in the following:

Sales turnover has increased by over 40%.
Manufacturing output has increased by over 20%.
The company have expanded to sell unique ‘Bespoke Country’ designs to other manufacturers
One new job has been created to meet growing demand.
The team have felt a real sense of achievement and now have greater confidence in the future of their business.

Making it Happen

Following their initial research day, Jenny and Victoria found it refreshing to have dedicated support and expertise for their small business. A lot was achieved in one day but, having had a taste of MAS support, the company were keen to continue their relationship with Michael Whiteley; helping them structure their overall goals into a formal business plan and better manage their workshop and supplier network.

The first MAS improvement project focussed on manufacturing output and the use of the existing supplier base to help expand the business. Working as a team, Michael helped the company to re-model their workshop to increase productivity.

Each of their suppliers was then carefully analysed for their potential in supporting the expansion of the business. They found that setting a formal agenda for expansion encouraged suppliers to take them more seriously and were soon seeking advice on their designs.

The second MAS project looked at the company’s long term goals, working carefully with Michael to create a real business plan; understandable, achievable, a real life plan that can be reviewed regularly to help steer the business onwards and upwards.

As a small business it is so easy to focus on keeping costs under control, making do and keeping your head above water. Jenny and Victoria had ambitious plans for the company but they needed advice, support and encouragement to put actions in place. Working with MAS gave them the confidence to implement changes and keep the momentum needed to achieve their goals.

"The greatest difference now is that we are a business with real confidence in our ability to achieve the goals we have planned. In practical terms this has meant stepping back for regular strategy meetings with Victoria, taking on a fourth member of staff, and having the confidence to utilise more of the space in our building to meet the growing demand."
Jenny Slade, Director

Redshield Engineering - High Growth Coaching Scheme - 23/06/2008

Company Profile

Redshield Engineering manufactures a wide range of bespoke fabricated and machined components, brackets, structural fasteners, window sills and insulated panels to the construction industry. The company concentrates particularly in external window systems and entrances and in more recent years, has developed business in supplying and installing complete glazing systems into doors and windows for commercial buildings.

Background

Redshield was acquired in 2002 by the current owners, husband and wife team Paul Dearden and Tracey Butterfield. Back then, the company was located in a small workshop on an old run down industrial estate, employing just 10 people. Although not from the industry, Paul and Tracey carried out considerable market research prior to the acquisition and identified considerable growth potential.

They began to grow the business quickly and within 3 years had virtually doubled its turnover. Space within the existing premises was holding them back so they started the search for a larger factory with greater office capacity.

Having worked with the Manufacturing Advisory Service to develop a structured planning and scheduling system, Paul Dearden was able to recognise the benefits of taking advantage of longer term external support. He therefore seized the opportunity to be part of the High Growth Coaching pilot scheme to receive managerial guidance from an experienced coach.

High growth coach Krys Szokalo helped Paul and Tracey to identify a number of areas to be addressed if the company’s growth ambitions were to be fulfilled. The key issues included:

Managing complexity and learning to prioritise
Reorganising the company structure, establishing key roles and responsibilities as new people joined the company
Developing structured systems, procedures and disciplines in all business processes
Improving the skills and knowledge of key employees
Completing the factory relocation in reasonable time without major disruption to daily activities
Assessing whether the existing powder coating facility should be relocated or replaced by a new plant

Making it Happen

To begin the programme of work, High Growth Coach Krys Szokalo spent a few days helping to put together a 12 month action plan with specific responsibilities and tasks for both Paul and Tracey and other key members of staff. Krys then mentored the teams’ monthly management meetings to review current performance, progress with actions from the plan and conduct individual one to one reviews. These sessions were intended to help guide the owners into good management practice.

Significant progress was made but, as expected with a tightly resourced business, some delays were experienced as the odd crisis occurred. The final completion of the relocation in particular resulted in ‘all hands to the pumps’, which sidetracked the team temporarily from focusing on the plan.

One of the major targets for Krys was to guide the company into looking at the bigger picture, assessing priorities and thinking strategically about everything they do; as opposed to reacting immediately to every problem that came along.

In the summer of 2007 the company hit a rock when the key contracts and project installation manager left together with 6 other Redshield employees, leaving the company in an extremely difficult situation.

Following a strategic review with Krys, the decision was taken to withdraw from the installation business altogether and concentrate solely on manufacturing. It was felt that competing head-on with specialist installation businesses did not fit with Redshield’s long-term, particularly as their margins often tended to suffer when things went wrong during an installation.

The effect of this decision was a forecast £750k loss of turnover (almost 50% of annual turnover) that would need to be recovered in finding manufacture only contracts. This crisis resulted in a temporary but significant step back in the company’s growth plans. For the following 6 months ‘all hands were on the pumps’ trying to deal with outstanding client issues, recruiting new people and chasing new work to grow the component fabrication side of the business and restore turnover.

By the beginning of 2008, the effects of the previous summer were behind them, and Paul and Tracey are now back on track trying to build the business for the future; armed with better management skills, disciplines, procedures and a more structured approach to their daily lives.

Key Achievements

As a result of the High Growth Coaching Scheme, Redshield has achieved the following significant improvements:

Turnover has increased by over 50% since the start of the programme – way above the 20% target growth, despite significant setbacks.
6 new people have been recruited (to replace those that left in summer 2007) and 1 new job has been created to date.
A range of management control systems and procedures have been introduced including order quoting, order intake, planning, administration and regular management meetings with agreed actions and reviews.
The owners are currently undertaking leadership training through Train to Gain to improve time management and self organisation skills.

"As a growing business, we knew what we should be doing but lacked the time and focus to plan strategically for the future. Krys was able to take a step back from the day-to-day issues we faced and coached us into a more structured way of working."
Paul Dearden, Owner

Sunflower Medical - High Growth Coaching Scheme - 23/06/2008

Company Profile

Sunflower Medical provides a complete service from design, to build, supply and installation of examination room furniture and equipment for use in surgeries and consulting rooms. Its complimentary products include treatment and examination couches, storage units, trolleys, screens and ancillary furniture for the healthcare sector. The company uses the latest three dimensional computer aided design (3D CAD) software to design its new products, which are then prototyped and trialled before being batch produced at the manufacturing site in Bradford.

The company was established in 2004 by two of its current directors, Tim Wright and Marc Byrnes, after they identified a gap in the market for better design in functionality and more coordinated finishes in similar existing products.

Background

Sunflower is currently working through agents and distributors to gain market exposure. The company’s portfolio of customers is steadily growing and it manufactures on demand. Its key aim is to grow the business by 25% year on year by:

Focusing on its customers to continue developing attractive, innovative, functional products that they want to buy.
Developing its people to equip them with the skills needed to grow with the business.
Continually reviewing and improving its processes to keep them robust.

The High Growth Coaching pilot programme came at an ideal time for Sunflower Medical; just as the company was ready to take a step back and consider its strategy for the future. Phil Warrington was invited to be their High Growth Coach.

Making it Happen

Throughout the High Growth Coaching project, the directors at Sunflower have been working towards 25 key objectives that each link in to the following 5 categories:

1. Strategy and Operations

High Growth Coach Phil Warrington helped the directors recognise the need to formalise strategic and operational processes to move the business forward. As part of the project the business developed a process for revisiting its strategy on a frequent basis. Objectives and targets are now cascaded though the business and measures have been implemented to monitor performance.

The company is now currently working to develop its people processes in order to give a more structured human resource (HR) environment linked to performance management.

2. Financial

Since it was established the company had grown at a rapid rate but this was beginning to slow down due to lack of funding. The directors took advice from Phil and secured funding for the start of the High Growth Coaching project to ensure that future growth plans could be kept on target.

Measures were introduced for factory efficiency and work was carried out on productivity measurement. Recent performance now indicates an improvement of 60% in Gross Value Added, which has fed through to increased profits of over 80%.

3. People Recruitment & Development

The role of ‘production management’ and the effectiveness of work management in general, had been unstable since the business was launched. Phil revisited this role with the senior team and together they rebuilt the management structure from Production Coordinator to Production Controller. The new structure has been complemented by the appointment of an Assembly Coordinator and backed up with a newly created Sales Administrator role, giving much tighter control to the management of production.

The company has also recently installed a manufacturing software package for monitoring stock levels.

4. Process

The project highlighted that each of the assembly cells needed greater controls that would help accurately predict the quality and efficiency of day-to-day product build. To achieve this, Phil helped the company to implement standard operating procedures (SOP) to help ‘set in stone’ precisely how a product should be assembled every time.

There has since been a major drive to implement SOPs for every product in the portfolio to maintain quality, whilst also helping to assist in staff training and flexibility.

5. Stock & Suppliers

Sunflower’s reputation has been built on delivery performance. Its ability to source supplier components ‘Just in Time’ in order to meet customer demand has been critical to its success. Any instances of non-compliance tended to lead to a mad panic, having to react extremely quickly in order to put things right. In certain instances, the directors felt that this was inhibiting the company’s growth.

To combat this, Phil helped the company take a closer look at the processes for the following 3 areas:

Demand planning and forecasting
Pre-production scheduling
Daily production and distribution planning

The business then decided to move away from its current method of production planning and update the software it used for manufacturing and stock control.

This new software has given the company a more accurate forecasting mechanism for responding to customer needs.

Key Achievements

Turnover has increased by 33%.
Profit margin (PBIT) has increased by 80%.
Gross Value Added has increased by 60%.
Cellular manufacturing has been established across the business.
A new method of managing production control and customer deliveries has been introduced.
New manufacturing software has been implemented to help prepare for ‘what if’ scenarios.

"As senior managers, we know that we have to be effective in our management processes to get the most out of our business. Continuous improvement activities need to be resourced across the entire operation at one stage or another and require total commitment from everyone in and connected to the organisation. The key is maintaining momentum within the company - very often the best improvements are the result of small changes rather than large company wide actions. Through our mechanism of �Plan, Do, Check, Act� we can now learn from our failures to improve our future performance."
Tim Wright, Technical Director

The Lighthouse Group - High Growth Coaching Scheme - 23/06/2008

Company Profile

The Lighthouse Group (TLG) is a Social Enterprise provider of educational programmes for young people at risk of exclusion from mainstream education. Over the last ten years, they have developed a unique and proven approach to transforming the lives of disaffected young people. In addition, the organisation provides supported housing and employment training in the local area.

In March 2008, TLG relocated to a new purpose built 35,000 sq ft "Centre of Excellence" in Bradford, boasting vastly improved facilities.

Background

Its educational programmes are currently delivered in Bradford, Birmingham and London, but the organisation’s long term aim is to become a UK-wide initiative.

TLG were told about the High Growth Coaching pilot in May 2007 and were the only social enterprise and registered charity asked to join the scheme. Their track record had brought national recognition and commendations, but a number of key organisational challenges arose in attempting to replicate their business model across the UK. The Directors were eager to seek advice and guidance in preparing a detailed strategic plan for expansion to ensure quality and success was maintained across the board.

High Growth Coach John Lawson was introduced to the team and took on the role of helping with organisational development and coaching the Directors to improve their leadership skills. His ultimate task was to ensure that the team were properly equipped to manage their ambitious growth plans.

Making it Happen

A fundamental part of John Lawson’s coaching role was to examine the people structure of the organisation. Development options were then identified that would ensure that a growth in the number of centres did not lead to an explosion of management and administration overheads. The management team explored various models and eventually opted for an overarching matrix structure of activities and locations to manage the functions and geography. Effort was concentrated on addressing the practical consequences in terms of job roles and responsibilities, project team structures, and process definitions.

In addition to working with the Directors as a team, John was also able to advise them individually on related matters, such as sub-letting the café or presenting to the trustees. One of the Directors in particular benefited from a series of one-to-one coaching sessions focused on personal areas of improvement, helping him to better adapt to the changes taking place.

To facilitate the strategic plan, the Marketing Manager was also mentored to better determine his goals and priorities in line with growth. This included the planning and execution of a highly successful Awards and Fundraising Dinner in October 2007.

Employees underwent a continuous professional development programme, including a workshop delivered on the topic of practical team working, which was well received.

John worked closely with the leader of Com B (the IT services function used by TLG) throughout the scheme and examined the IT business processes and systems. This helped to ensure that the appropriate systems were in place to support TLG’s strategic growth plans.

In anticipation of the new building, where 20% of the office space would be reserved for let, the CEO decided to employ a Commercial Manager on a fixed term contract to find tenants for this office space. John helped him put together his marketing plan and provided ongoing coaching support; an important part of which involved networking with various local agencies and companies. By the March 2008 opening, 90% of the space was sublet which is an excellent outcome. Opening TLG up to the lettings market, together with hiring out meeting rooms and sports facilities, has ensured a stable and continued source of income for the organisation as it grows.

Since the end of the HGC pilot scheme John has continued to work at TLG part-time as Head of Commercial Activities, driving the organisational development strategy and coaching individual performance.

Key Achievements

As a result of the High Growth Coaching Scheme, TLG has achieved the following significant improvements:

A new business strategy has been established to support the organisation’s ambitious growth plans.
An additional £3.6m of private investment and £1.8m of public investment has been raised to support growth.
Operating profit has increased by £100k per annum.
As a result of the relocation, additional office space lettings have been secured worth £80k per annum, together with a further £30k per annum for meeting room hire and £40k per annum for sports facilities hire; generating a valuable and regular source of income.
8 new jobs have been created.
The management team have been coached in strategic planning, time management and interpersonal skills.
Staff have been trained in practical teamwork, management awareness and production control and scheduling.

"Our coach John Lawson settled in really quickly and has been a great support in helping us develop our strategic business plan.Thanks to the support we have received, when TLG expands beyond its current four centres the organisation will be ready and know how to manage and organise a much bigger organisation without an explosion in staff numbers."
Tim Morfin, CEO

W S Westin Ltd - High Growth Coaching Scheme - 23/06/2008

Company Profile

Established in 1921, Westin Ltd began life as mechanical and electrical engineers serving local industry in West Yorkshire. The company remained in the ownership of the Westin family until 1994 when it was acquired by the present directors John Eastwood and John Reed.

Westin now manufactures a range of standard and custom-made kitchen products including; cooker hoods and fan units, backsplashes, pan racks and worktops. Amongst its customer base are prestige kitchen furniture designers such as Mark Wilkinson Furniture and Smallbone; interior designers, architects and distributors of semi-professional cooker ranges.

Background

Westin’s management team first met with Dave Roberts of Director Resource back in November 2005 when they attended a Manufacturing Conference at Elland Road. They listened to a presentation delivered by Dave describing how he had helped a company undergo transformational change by using a variety of best practice manufacturing techniques and approaches. The directors could immediately see the opportunities for their own organisation.

Westin had experienced continued growth and success in the cooker hood market for a number of years and wanted to look at opportunities to strengthen their position and fight off growing competition. The company were keen to work with Dave and it was possible to assign him to support them through the High Growth Coaching pilot scheme to help drive their ambition forward, recognising that operational changes could significantly improve working practices.

Making it Happen

As part of Westin’s plan to grow, the High Growth Coaching scheme was intended to help the senior team take their company to the next level.

To begin the programme of work, a strategic workshop was held with Dave Roberts to review the vision of the company, define the corporate goals for each functional area and focus on the opportunities to grow the business from £1.6m to £3m. The team then agreed how the policy would be implemented using a best practice approach to achieve their business goals by 2010, and how progress would be reviewed via a new management meeting format.

A new sales manager was recruited, helping to strengthen the sales team; who then identified an opportunity to develop a new marketing strategy to enhance their competitiveness, improve their professional image and standardise their key messages to help secure their position. They agreed how they were going to measure their achievements throughout the process, by developing, agreeing and deploying key performance indicators. A number of corporate goals and a clear policy deployment process were determined, helping to align departmental performance measures to the overall strategy. A culture of involvement from all areas of the business was key to its success.

A review of the business systems and critical resources identified the need for an integrated system that introduced Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and new computer hardware. High Growth Coach Dave Roberts helped Westin to access financial assistance through the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) for some of this investment.

The team evaluated the business processes, identified weaknesses and developed a new business system to overcome deficiencies in the sales, design and manufacturing areas.This helped them to understand the current position and determine the key opportunities that would help them reach their strategic goals.

The evaluation also highlighted the need for best practice improvements and key skills training requirements in the manufacturing area. These included implementing ‘cellular’manufacturing to create flow, and improving productivity in the standard and custom cooker hood product areas. Aligned to this, the team were introduced to visual management techniques and stock control procedures. A bonus system and formal appraisal process were also introduced to help reward achievements and recognise the contribution of each employee. As a result of the High Growth Coaching scheme, significant transformational productivity achievements have resulted and profit is now meeting expectations.

Key Achievements

As a result of the High Growth Coaching Scheme, Westin has achieved the following significant improvements:

Sales growth has increased by 14%
Productivity has increased by 27 %
Profit has increased from 2.6 % to 9.3% (as a % of sales)
The business now has a clear direction with common goals and objectives.
Team working has been enhanced throughout the organisation; employees are visibly empowered and are contributing their own ideas for improvement.
Personal development has greatly improved, with stronger emphasis on leadership.
Communication has been improved at all levels

"The High Growth Coaching scheme has helped us to strengthen our leadership structure through empowerment and delegation and we now have a much clearer strategic plan to work with. Our focus has been on personal development for leadership, communications and succession planning. We have seen some fantastic results from this scheme and are developing plans to sustain momentum and help drive our ambitious plans forward with the help of Dave Roberts who has become a trusted friend and mentor. We look forward to working with him as new projects arise."
John Reed, Managing Director

Clarks Vehicle Conversions - 23/06/2008

Company Profile

Clarks Vehicle Conversions Ltd design and build customised interiors for vans, which are then supplied to customers in the construction and maintenance industries (such as Network rail). Conversions are carried out for tool storage and welfare facilities and self-contained in fleet vehicles. Clarks is now the leading provider in the vehicle conversion industry in terms of quality, safety and customer service.

The company operates from two adjacent manufacturing sites and has separate joinery and storage facilities. Turnover is currently at £8m, anticipated to grow to £10m over the next 2 years and stock-holding is currently running at approximately £1.3m.

Background

Clarks’ commercial director Paul Clark met with MAS specialist Ian Peacock in July 2007 to carry out a day of research into the company’s system requirements. Ian helped the company to establish that they should be introducing Kanban systems first before even attempting to update their systems. The interface between the Kanbans, the existing planning system and a possible new ERP type system needed to be developed in a systematic and sustainable way in order to achieve the desired results.

Impressed with his advice, the company decided to commission Ian to deliver a MAS manufacturing improvement project to help them meet their objectives and determine actions for improving profitability.

Specific actions included:

removing excess waste and costs from manufacturing processes;
improving flow and material delivery to point-of-use; and
interfacing between existing and new systems.

Making it Happen

To begin the programme of work, MAS specialist Ian Peacock worked closely with the senior management team to identify specific areas of the business that needed to be addressed. In particular, Clarks needed to gain tighter control of its purchasing, stock holding and parts supply to the assembly areas.

New systems were initially considered but Ian soon convinced the management team that visual card based Kanbans would be the best methodology to gain control of stock. The company had never worked with Kanbans so the starting point was to show them a good user site. Implementation of the new system was then rolled out across the business.

The simple Kanban methods introduced helped to improve the flow of materials through to production, helping to re-gain control of stock and minimise the risk of shortages before they occurred. Alongside this, the company began using a number of Lean tools to help eliminate waste from processes and cut out the time wasted looking for the tools needed to do the job.

Running in parallel with the project, shop floor staff at Clarks took part in Manufacturing MASters Lean training workshops to reinforce continuous improvement philosophy and keep momentum going.

The next step was to begin addressing the assembly operator’s tasks in order to increase value adding activity. This involved refining the planning process, helping to reduce parts shortages and increase the time spent actually assembling rather than unnecessary peripheral activities.

Having seen the positive effects on productivity, the company now intends to put in place dedicated continuous improvement teams to drive further changes. The next step is preparing to implement 5S and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the assembly areas.

Key Achievements

Following a 10 day MAS manufacturing improvement project, the company has achieved the following:

All manufacturing staff and main assembly personnel now have a much greater awareness of Lean Manufacturing techniques and are able to apply them in their own working environment.
Waste activities are now being actively identified and eliminated.
Kanbans have been put in place to feed parts systematically into all areas of production.
Purchase spend has been reduced from £750k to £550k per month over a three month period as excess stock has been driven down, releasing the capital needed to drive further improvements.
Stock holding has been reduced from £1.3m to £1.1m.

"The experience so far has been excellent. Ian has introduced us to new techniques and different ideas. The original contact was based around the implementation of a stock control system. Through discussion, it has turned into something quite different. The current area of success has been the control of stock which has proved to be difficult with such rapid company growth. The implementation of the Kanban system took some time to get right but is such a simple and effective range of methods. We have now trialled it in a number of different areas, using it in slightly different ways in each, but each time it has proved to be a success. The impact this has had on cash flow has been instant."
Paul Clark, Commercial Director

Sunflower Medical - 23/06/2008

Company Profile

Sunflower Medical provides a complete service from design, build, supply and installation of examination room furniture and equipment for use in surgeries and consulting rooms. The company was established in 2004 by Tim Wright and Marc Byrnes, after they identified a gap in the market for better design in functionality and more coordinated finishes in similar products.

Sunflower is currently working through agents and distributors to gain market exposure. The company’s portfolio of customers is steadily growing and it manufactures on demand.

Background

The company first became involved with MAS in 2004, when they invited MAS specialist Phil Warrington to conduct a gap analysis of the organisation. Key areas for improvement were identified, which the management team were keen to pursue.

Since then, the company has formed a four year-strong relationship with MAS who has helped them to improve operational processes and change the way the business responds to its customers.

In early 2007, the company moved into an extra 4,000ft² accommodation, and made the decision to capitalise on a cellular manufacturing approach. With support from MAS, Sunflower set about introducing cellular manufacturing to help grow its customer base and fulfil high growth aspirations; so far achieving a 400% boost in turnover.

Making it Happen

MAS Specialist Phil Warrington of The Support Group began by working with Sunflower to understand their critical business processes. He worked closely with the management team and shop floor employees to map out each process, and identify wasted activity that could be removed to better streamline the steps involved.

Once the new processes were accepted, the whole system was produced electronically and rolled out to all employees along with supporting operating instructions where required.

A number of potential new customers had expressed interest in Sunflower’s products but had stipulated that the company needed to have a robust business management system in place before they would commit to any orders.

With Phil’s help, the team made some small changes to their new processes and documented business system, and a few months later Sunflower were certified to BS EN ISO 9001, 2000.

Alongside these process improvements, Phil taught shop floor employees the basic principles of lean techniques such as 5S, Kaizen, Kanban, Value Stream Mapping. Using a number of practical exercises, Phil then encouraged the employees to become involved in contributing their own ideas for improvement in their own working environment. A progress plan was put in place, from which departmental objectives and targets were set.

On one particular value stream mapping exercise, Phil found that typically only 42% of process time was adding value. So, the process was rigorously reviewed and a cabinet cell established with a new layout. The cell was designed to give maximum visibility for stock management, using kanbans wherever possible.

A number of Sunflower products have also been redesigned to ease the build process or, where storage is inevitable, the new design has been created to accommodate the storage problem to best advantage.

MAS are continuing to provide advice where it is needed and with more new products more growth the Sunflower is looking to a bright future.

Key Achievements

MAS has delivered a number of manufacturing improvement projects at Sunflower which have collectively resulted in:

Gross Value Added (GVA) has increased by 229% since 2004.
The company has won accreditation to ISO 9001, 2000, which has opened up new markets and opportunities.
New cellular setup has typically addressed 52% of waste in the process across product families.
Kanban system has decreased stock by 80% and increased working area by nearly 20%.
Improved layout has improved visual monitoring; all equipment is now in one area which reduces time spent looking for tools.
Turnover has increased by 117% in year 2, 50% in year 3 and 33% in year 4.

"We knew from the onset that we needed manufacturing guidance and we were not afraid to ask for it. Phil Warrington from MAS started us on this journey and whilst guiding us with a steady hand has made the changes in a simplified way that everyone in the business could understand."
Marc Byrnes, Operations Director

Chem Resist Group Ltd - 23/06/2008

Company Profile

Chem Resist has over 40 years of experience in the manufacture of chemical process plant and chemical tanks; and 30 years in the supply and installation of chemical pumps. Operating from a site in Dewsbury, thecompany makes to order, producing storage tanks and vessels up to 100m3 in solid thermoplastic. Tanks can be manufactured with diameters up to 4m and heights up to 10 metres and anything in between.

Spiral wound solid thermoplastic construction means that a Chem Resist bulk chemical storage tank is corrosion resistant inside and out; something which the company has pioneered since the 1960’s. All Tanks are designed and manufactured to the European standard EN 12573: 2000.

Background

The decision to undergo a strategic review was instigated by the company’s directors. In recent years, turnover had not grown and whilst margins had significantly improved as a

result of efforts to improve efficiency across the site and reduce costs, additional new sales were required to generate the improvement in performance the business required. Although the management team already had a long-term plan in place, they questioned whether they had sufficient evidence that the right choices had been made and that all issues had been fully considered during its preparation.

MAS was asked to help facilitate a full strategic review of the business; to help them take stock of their position, review the way the business operated, to understand changes in existing markets and exploit the potential of new markets.

Key Achievements

Following a 10 day MAS manufacturing improvement project, the company has achieved the following:

Chem Resist now has a robust strategic plan for the future.
Turnover has increased by 22% with no increase in staffing levels.
New markets have been identified, including their size and potential.
New opportunities to offer "total solutions" to their existing clients have been identified, moving away from being a "single product type"manufacturer.
The company now has a better understanding of its competitors.
The real value of the market has been realised, including competitors’ turnover, highlighting the need to increase their own market share.

Making it Happen

The strategic review at Chem Resist was facilitated by MAS Specialist Krys Szokalo using the EEF Strategy Blueprint tool. Krys took Chem Resist through a structured review process which analysed the business, its people, products, stakeholders and external environment including customers, competitors’ suppliers and a range of external influences. From this analysis a series of strategic objectives evolved, including:

To achieve an increase in turnover by 30% by 2009 and sustain into the future;
To focus on becoming a more "solution" driven business;
To develop the resale/distribution business; and
To achieve a consistent gross margin and return on sales.

To increase turnover, various tactics were explored and solutions arrived at including:

The view that organic growth would provide the "best fit" solution to increasing their market share.
The opportunity to offer total solutions to clients. Chem Resist had been constraining its growth by being seen as a "single product type" manufacturer.
More focus was needed on selling and thorough research on their competitors and market.

To take forward the results of the strategic review, Chem Resist has redefined its business into three main streams, and refocused their selling process in a more structured and proactive way. They have set up three "mini" business units (Services, Systems and Fluids Transfer) with appropriate sales management and support. Each business unit has a focussed and targeted time based sales plan, providing a road map for each business manager to use to help them achieve their objectives and targets. The financial reporting system has been amended so that each business stream can be measured and monitored in its own right to ensure that margin targets are achieved.

Management have also developed and cascaded key performance indicators and milestones across the entire business, giving them regular access to accurate information which enables them to ensure strategic objectives stay on track.

The strategic review has also identified the need to change attitudes in the factory, moving towards more staff empowerment, improving focus on customer service, introducing performance measurement and more structured and regular communication with employees. The senior management team are confident that over the next 2-3 years, the strategic plan and objectives derived from the EEF Strategy Blueprint review will be achieved.

"Using a structured strategy tool like the EEF�s Strategy Blueprint gave us a fantastic opportunity to critically assess our strategic direction. This year we are on target to achieve �3.2m turnover; that�s an increase of �700k on the previous year and early achievement of our three year turnover target. The process has been well worth the effort and the help MAS Specialist Krys Szokalo gave us in facilitating the strategic planning sessions and assisting with implementation activities, highly rewarding."
Simon Hewitt, Managing Director

Atkinson Walker (Saws) Ltd - High Growth Coaching Scheme - 20/06/2008

Company Profile

Based in Sheffield, Atkinson Walker (Saws) Ltd has a proud history of quality production stretching back to 1923. Today they are recognised throughout the world for their carbide tipped circular saws, diamond blades and turf care products.

Background

Husband and wife partnership, Chris and Marg Walker took over the business in January 2007. They immediately recognised the benefit to be gained from the valuable advice and guidance of an experienced, independent mentor and joined the High Growth Coaching pilot scheme, where they first met with Mike Andrews of MCCR & Associates. Mike’s remit was to assist, guide and advise the couple and as a team they identified 4 areas which would prevent Atkinson Walker achieving their desired year-on-year growth.

The key issues highlighted were:

Lack of management time to control the day-to-day strategy and plan, and implement the strategy of the business as a whole.
Lack of key expertise in key areas of the business.
Lack of knowledge/experience in implementing change management.
Lack of experienced financial management.

Making it Happen

After a short familiarisation process the team quickly gelled, producing plans to improve key internal processes and accounts as well as implementing a focus on marketing.

By March 2007, the team undertook a detailed review of the market and a new scheme to re-brand the company. A new Sales Manager was recruited in May 2007 and significant progress was made to increase the use of technology in the business.

But Atkinson Walker suffered a major set-back when in June 2007 they were hit severely by the heavy flooding that swept South Yorkshire. The company’s premises and all its equipment was submerged under 2m of contaminated water. Production ceased for the first time in the company’s history and Chris and Marg watched helplessly as their livelihood, years of investment, innovation and hard graft disappeared. The company was insured, but not to the true value of the damage or for loss of profits. Faced with a choice of closing the business or showing true determination, the workforce rolled up their sleeves and decided that Atkinson Walker (Saws) would trade again.

The High Growth Coaching Project developed into a formulation of a strategy for recovery, as well as continuing to supply the hands-on resources necessary to help the company overcome such a devastating setback.

Mike was able to assist the company in accessing financial support via the Manufacturing Advisory Service for a specially arranged Flood Technology Upgrade Grant . He also drafted in MAS Associate David Brannock, a Plant Layout Specialist, to help with immediate flood recovery management, plant replacement decisions and to determine the best options for the layout of new equipment and production flow. Customer retention became an immediate priority for Atkinson Walker, alongside the difficult task of stripping down, cleaning and replacing ruined machine tools.

High Growth Coach, Mike Andrews was able to help with the multitude of tasks necessary to bring the company back into production as quickly as possible and provided the skills required to evaluate the financial options open to Atkinson Walker. As a result, Atkinson Walker were able to help customers supplied and to make a strategic investment of £180k in new equipment, including a new automated saw sharpening centre that will significantly improve production and competitiveness.

Atkinson Walker (Saws) Ltd is now looking to the future with renewed enthusiasm and optimism.

Key Achievements

Underwent a complete culture change, moving from old, hand-built equipment to automated machinery.
Showed true determination by refusing to close the business even when the future looked bleak.
Safeguarded 14 jobs and created 1 to date.
Increased turnover target was reached despite the setbacks experienced by the flood.

"The High Growth Coaching Scheme has provided the ability for Marg and myself to take on the task of running and growing Atkinson Walker (Saws) Ltd as a continuing part of Sheffield�s manufacturing future. I would particularly like to remember the role of the late John Chandler in introducing us to the HGC scheme which, as it turned out, has also provided immense practical help and advice in dealing with the immediate aftermath of the flood."
Chris Walker, Managing Director

Eleventeenth - High Growth Coaching Scheme - 20/06/2008

Company Profile

Established in 1999, Eleventeenth is an advanced software engineering consultancy providing digital logistics to companies in a wide range of sectors including recruitment, retail and computer games distributors. The company also assist clients with e-commerce, online reporting, publishing and marketing as well as the management and distribution of digital assets over the web.

The company’s future aim is to develop software applications into ‘boxed products’ where new markets can be exploited.

Background

In growing the company, the management team began to experience two major barriers; the first, easy to state but complex to do, was to "increase sales"; the second was a cluster of issues centred on resources and skills. They recognised that their future was dependent on the development of their existing team and their ability to manage and balance potentially conflicting demands for resources within the business (for example; bespoke projects versus packaged solutions; R & D versus customer services.)

Sales Director Phil Atkinson heard about the High Growth Coaching pilot scheme through Business Link. The company had undergone previous external support projects, which had provided some useful solutions to specific issues. But what made the HGC scheme stand out for Eleventeenth was the idea of a comprehensive range of support over an extended time period.

Once their application was accepted, the team were introduced to High Growth Coach John Lawson. His initial objectives were to focus on the company’s approach to:

Sales and marketing - campaigns, consolidation within current markets and extending reach.
Management skills – communication, financials and succession strategy.
Business Strategy – product development and organisational development.
Production Management Disciplines – estimating, planning and scheduling; service management.

Making it Happen

John Lawson began the programme of work by conducting a comprehensive staff survey, including one-to-one sessions with all employees. This process helped to inform and prioritise the tactical plan moving forward. The results were presented and discussed at a subsequent staff workshop in March and the management team then committed to an organisational development programme.

The key initiatives of the programme were to look at communications – production meetings and regular reviews; HR essentials – employment contracts, HR support (policies and procedures) and HS&E; Working methods – agreed processes and standards.

One of Eleventeenth’s main constraints was their cramped rented offices, where even their current team were bursting out at the seams. They had found a building close by with superb potential, with enough additional space to incorporate their own expansion and also provide new business incubator facilities and office rental space.

A combination of private funding and various grants was secured and the building was purchased and converted for purpose. The relocation to the new premises provided the perfect opportunity for introducing many of the desired changes; both cultural and technical.

The first half of the HGC programme focused on removing barriers to growth. Weekly production meetings became an essential discipline of good practice. Productivity also improved through better scheduling and understanding of priorities, and a clear process was defined for dealing pro-actively with the ongoing dynamics of the business. Teamwork and inter-departmental relationships have greatly improved as a result.

External HR agencies were used to draft new employment contracts for all employees and set standard terms, conditions, policies and procedures which are now in place. An "intranet" facility was also introduced, giving staff on-line access to manuals, guidelines and documents. HR has progressed essentially from nothing to a maintainable best practice position for the company.

The second half of the programme concentrated almost exclusively on sales and marketing. In particular, improving various selling skills, for example negotiating and closing deals. The ‘prospects pipeline’ from initial enquiry through to signed order was recorded and a regular management review process put in place to capture progress, determine priorities and create a monthly sales action plan.

The sales pipeline has since tripled in value to over £1m with overall growth forecast well on target. A 12 month analysis of the sales enquiries showed (unsurprisingly) that referrals were by far the best source of sales leads.

Ongoing benefits of the HGC scheme moving forward will build upon what has been achieved. The removal of barriers to sustainable growth will enable and support the professional and rigorous sales processes now in place. Phil Atkinson is keen to continue the relationship he has built with John Lawson who will be offering further support to the company in the future.

Key Achievements

As a result of the High Growth Coaching Scheme, Eleventeenth has achieved the following significant improvements:
Operating profit has increased by an estimated £70k per annum.
A new business strategy has been established to drive the business forward.
An additional £792k of private investment and £131k of public investment has been raised to support growth.
The management team have been coached in management accounting, sales pipeline analysis, time management and production disciplines.
New market sectors are now being explored, including producing resource management systems for the police force

"Our company has been transformed � 15 months ago, at the start of the High Growth Coaching scheme, we were in a very different situation. We now have a solid foundation for growth. It was a team effort that got us here and HGC was a part of that team. Personally, I couldn�t have done this without John�s help."
Phil Atkinson, Sales Director

MyKnowledgeMap - High Growth Coaching Scheme - 20/06/2008

Company Profile

Founded in 2000, MyKnowledgeMap (also known as MKM) produces web-based software and knowledge systems to support individuals in the learning process. The company’s dynamic team offers end-to-end support for learning and development; from skills self-assessment packages designed to help identify training needs, to e-learning content that supports people in closing their skills-gaps, through to personal online learning spaces and e-portfolios where people can reflect on and record the learning they've achieved.

Since it began, the business has developed strong partnering links with many blue chip organisations such as Manchester Metropolitan University and Glasgow College of Commerce as well as a strong international overseas partnership programme.

Background

In 2007 MKM was anticipating rapid growth, and Rob Arntsen the founder and CEO recognised that the management team needed support to enable the business to achieve its growth potential.

The company first became involved with Leigh Foster of Knowledge Processes Ltd in 2006 through an initiative they undertook to develop different sales channels. Recognising the company’s ambitious growth plans, Leigh suggested to the company that they could really benefit from external management support through the High Growth Coaching pilot and he was then invited to guide them through the scheme.

Making it Happen

Following an initial workshop the team rapidly took on the task of developing an action plan to identify and develop the key business processes that would make a difference to the organisation.

Specific areas addressed included; staff induction and appraisal processes, project management, sales and tendering and operations. This enabled the management team to develop the key skills needed to successfully manage the business and its growing list of clients.

During the High Growth Coaching pilot a new sales team was established. Interaction between the sales team and the existing operations group was carefully managed to ensure that clients were given the best possible experience from initial enquiry through to completion.

The management team at MyKnowledgeMap can now handle day-to-day operations with complete confidence and the directors have been given the added capacity to think strategically about driving the business forward. This has ultimately led to the achievement of a successful investment bid to help take the organisation to the next level.

Key Achievements

As a result of the High Growth Coaching Scheme, MKM has achieved the following significant improvements:

The confidence and ability of the management team has greatly improved.
Significant personal growth and development of the individual directors has been achieved, improving their capability to think strategically and manage the business.
New key business processes have been identified and implemented within a business framework; from new starter inductions, to robust internal structures, to staff appraisals.
The development and implementation of new business processes has resulted in improved staff retention and effectiveness.
More effective project management tools have been developed and implemented.
Awareness of commercial constructs has been strengthened.
The presentation skills of the senior management team have greatly improved.
Six new jobs have been created.
New solutions for Blue chip businesses have been developed, such as the Sector Skills Council – Improve & Cogent; Tesco and the NHS.

"The High Growth Coaching scheme provided a valuable opportunity for our management team to develop their skills and to really take the lead in managing our rapidly growing business, freeing up valuable time for the directors to think more strategically about the potential for further expansion."
Mike Moran

Analox Sensor Technology - 28/01/2008

Company Profile
Analox Sensor Technology, part of the Analox Group, was founded in 1981 by current chairman Alan Harbottle, and currently employs 55 people.

The company specialises in the design and manufacture of gas sensors and analysers. Its slogan ‘looking’ after the air you breathe’ is an excellent description of the products the company supplies to companies worldwide, including commercial and sports divers and the beverage and hospitality industry (monitors are a vital part of health and safety in confined spaces like pub cellars).

Background
The company first worked with MAS specialist Andrew Nicholson back in 2001. At this time, Analox had a turnover of £2.5m, employing 35 people spread across three light industrial units. This was far from an ideal situation and the management team recognised the need to seek MAS advice to optimise efficiency and boost turnover.

Earlier this year, Analox moved to a new 16,000 sq ft purpose built headquarters at Stokesley, designed by MAS Specialist Andrew Nicholson and Operations Director Linda Wells. The radically improved process layout has proved such a success that staff are already working on an improved “Version 2” - a highly flexible “Lean Factory”, able to produce virtually any product in any quantity, with minimal wasted time or effort.

Additional MAS support was sought by recently appointed Managing Director, Mark Lewis, to assist his team in developing an ambitious five year growth strategy for the business.

Key Achievements
As a result of a 30 day strategic business growth project, Analox has achieved the following:

Developed the “Analox 2012” plan to grow turnover from £5m to £15m over 5 years.

Identified and exploited new product and market opportunities.

Increased monthly output from £400,000 to £550,000.

Sustained Lean Thinking and Continuous Improvement.

Implemented “Visual Management” - targets and problems can easily be seen.

Reduced component travel by 15-25%.

Reduced Work In Progress by up to 40%.

Achieved at least £200,000 in bottom-line benefits

Making it Happen
A team of strategy consultants, led by MAS Specialist Andrew Nicholson, developed and ran a series of off-site strategy workshops with the company’s directors and senior managers. Over the course of several months Mark led the management team in developing the “Analox 2012” strategy, designed to achieve controlled sales growth towards a turnover of £15m.

This strategy was used to create operational objectives and action plans for each department to be deployed through the business. The strategy was linked to personal objectives through the company's appraisal system and appropriate measures put in place to target and monitor progress against the strategic objectives.

MAS Specialist Andrew Nicholson and his team then worked with Operations Director Linda Wells to refine the company’s manufacturing strategy through operational excellence. This programme aims to streamline and improve many of the company’s core processes.

A cross-functional project team was set up and trained to apply a design for manufacture approach, focusing on one particular product—the “Buddy” to improve efficiency and expand capacity.

In addition, key staff were trained to use Failure Mode & Effects Analysis for product and process design, and MAS also helped design, document and implement the systems to achieve this.

5S has been implemented and activities now problems can be spotted immediately - work areas are clean, tidy, well-organised and more efficient. MAS has been instrumental in helping to transfer skills and knowledge to employees in order to sustain long-term improvements.

Improved systems were developed to monitor factory performance against plan. Structured problem-solving identified the real root causes - sometimes in product design or process layout. As a result, performance is improving and “permanent cures” are being implemented.

MAS are now continuing to provide advice, training and support as Analox continues to grow. The company are now working on the new “Phase 2” factory layout, improving supply chain management and attempting to streamline the company’s non-production and administrative processes. Watch this space!

"Andrew and his team have a knack of making complex problems seem simple- very useful when we get bogged down!"
Ian Batchelor, Group Finance Director

Branova - 23/11/2007

Company Profile
Branova Ltd markets a range of world-class, innovative products exclusively through distributors and is backed by Branta Group Ltd, which has been in the cleaning products market since 1929. Utilising the experience within the Group, Branova was formed in 2000 to offer effective, value-for-money products through the distribution chain. Branova developed new ideas and concepts in the cleaning products market, including environmentally friendly Zybax.
Zybax is range of microbiological cleaning products which use carefully selected micro-organisms to take away the cause of smells such as urine, vomit and other hard to shift organic sources.

Background
The recent ‘no smoking’ ban in public places (including pubs) and a phenomenal take-up in the care home market, has resulted in a boost in business for Dewsbury-based Branova.

Following a period of outsourcing the product manufacturing, last year Branova took the decision to bring production in house. However, it was quickly realised that they would need expert help and advice on where to start and decided to call in the Manufacturing Advisory Service to guide them.

Key Achievements
As a result of a 10 day operational management systems project, the company has achieved the following:
• An overall cost reduction of 65% has been achieved compared with sub-contracted charges.
• Additional Gross Value Added of £59,000 per year has been achieved.
• A greater flexibility in supply has been recognised.
• One new job has been created.
• Turnover is expected to rise by £125,000 in anticipated growth of Zybax sales.
• Overall equipment effectiveness in set-up times has risen by an estimated 200%, from 2lts per min to 8ltrs per min.
• An additional £50,000 has been invested in the business, including refurbishment of the manufacturing area and provision of an automated filling line and conveyor system.

Making it Happen
MAS consultant Dean Morgan was called in to provide direct manufacturing and operational expertise to support Branova in introducing their manufacturing capability. His priority was the implementation of new procedures, and helping the business to identify and implement operational structures to support the changes.

Firstly, a detailed review of the margin and cost model for the move from sub-contracted to own manufacture was produced so the rationale behind it could fully understood.

A number of Lean manufacturing techniques and approaches were then implemented alongside the new equipment so it could be used to its full potential from the outset.

The management and operating teams were guided through the new systems and were fully introduced to the routine work schedule covering operational productivity, risk reduction on environmental impact and health and safety issues.

With Dean’s help, a thorough review of supply chain options on materials and services was then carried out. This helped the company to identify suitable external business relationships that would assist and support the extension of technical awareness for the business.

The team worked to develop and produce a new set of methods and procedures for management, including employee development needs, to ensure that improvements really stuck long-term.

To ensure its continuing success, procedures were implemented that allowed operational business performance to be monitored. All new systems were then fully documented.

Branova’s manufacturing facility is now fully operational and has helped the company to save a staggering 65% in overall cost reduction compared with their past sub-contracted charges.

"Introducing a brand new manufacturing process was going to be difficult but with Dean Morgan�s help it wasn�t! We now have a state-of-the-art bottle filling operation that has significantly reduced costs, stock and lead times and increased profitability. "
Tony Bishop, Operations Director

Riverdale Publishing - 11/11/2007

Stage: Early Expansion
Sector: Publishing
Fund: Partnership Investment Finance
Location: Silsden

Partnership Investment Finance (PIF) provided a £1 million investment in Riverdale Publishing Ltd, one of the leading publishers of greetings cards in the UK.

The investment in the Silsden-based publisher forms part of a wider company restructuring programme designed to provide a solid financial base from which it can fully exploit future growth plans.

Riverdale Publishing is one of the leading publishers of greetings cards, designing and distributing its long established brands throughout the world. It employs more than 100 full-time staff in addition to a number of freelance artists.

Phillip Needham, Chief Executive of Riverdale Publishing said “This new investment and strengthening of the company’s finances is a vote of confidence in the future of Riverdale. With a significant injection of new development capital, the business now has a firm financial base from which to accelerate growth in the retail sector."

Alison Stevens, Investment Manager at PIF, said: “Phillip Needham and his team have put in place all the building blocks for creating a strong and robust business. Riverdale Publishing’s future under his leadership looks very healthy indeed and with this investment from PIF we are confident the company will continue to thrive.”

"With a significant injection of new development capital, the business now has a firm financial base from which to accelerate growth in the retail sector"
Phillip Needham, Chief Executive of Riverdale Publishing

FTL Company Ltd - 31/10/2007

Company Profile
Family-owned FTL Company Ltd was established in 1965 and manufactures stainless steel hose assemblies in various types and sizes for a number of industry sectors.

The utilities market is the largest share of the business; supported by automotive tuners for power assisted steering applications, payphone handsets, stainless steel metallic hoses and associated pipe work.

The management team at FTL operate with continuous improvement in mind, and have always encouraged employee involvement in the development of new processes. The company has so far achieved ISO9001:2000 quality standard and Rolls Royce: Tier 1, and is currently working towards BS EN ISO14001.

Background
The company sought MAS assistance through Dave Roberts of Director Resource to help implement kaizen principles, reduce costs and improve output.

Over the past year, FTL had been successful in winning new contracts which required an increase in production by 50% to support the continued company growth.

The company also had an underlying need to reduce waste and improve productivity to respond to competitive pressures and offset recent energy cost increases.

FTL therefore sought assistance from MAS to help bring all of their production in house - a vital step for the company if they were to continue to grow and remain competitive, fighting off competition from India, Turkey and China.

Key Achievements
As a result of a 10 day manufacturing efficiency project, FTL has achieved the following:

· 30 new jobs created.

· 65% reduction in set-up times using SMED analysis.

· An additional £72,000 in Gross Value Added.

· 60% increase in people productivity.

· Kaizen activities highlighted a 75% reduction in rework.

· Customer demand is being satisfied from 100% in house production.

· No loss of customers to low cost labour economies of China, Turkey and India despite increasing competition.

· A quality plan introduced which checks for defects as they happen.

· A self managed Kaizen team has been established to monitor and improve production.

· Staff moral has improved as the multifunctional team has driven improvement - all ideas have been listened to and actions deployed as a team.

Making it Happen
To begin the programme of work, a presentation was delivered to the entire team explaining, in simple terms, the need for change. The principles of “Lean” were introduced along with the need for “Total Employee Involvement” in order to ensure that the Lean implementation was successful.

A Kaizen project team was then formed comprising operators from the multi spindle auto production area, engineers and supervisors. The team was invited to discuss the current method of manufacturing for turned parts and identify any areas of concern.

The major problem area they highlighted was in set-up and change over times.

SMED training was then given to the team leading to a full analysis of the process using video footage. Opportunities for improvement were identified, which resulted in a reduction from 27 mins/shift to 9.5 mins/shift in set up for turning and grinding.
The team then explored potential improvements in the machine tooling layout and the tooling technology that was being used. A number of improvements were made which extended tool change frequencies further and reduced cycle times from 12 secs/part to 10 secs/part.

Standard Work analysis was used to develop the working pattern of one man operating three machines and determine machine capacity.

With MAS support, a Quality plan was then developed and introduced to ensure that defects were checked for as they happened moving forward. The operators were fully trained to carry out the checks independently, giving them greater control of their working environment.

The Kaizen team was trained to monitor the machines ongoing performance and react to any output loss causes. Their training also covered how to deliver these results via a Power Point Presentation to management on a monthly basis.

"The training that MAS provided on Kaizen, 5S, SMED and TPM was really well received. With Fred�s help, the team came up with new ideas for improvement and worked out their own ways to implement them. Thanks to MAS we were able to save money and satisfy customers. Thank you"
Stephen Reed, Managing Director

Kostal UK - 31/10/2007

Company Profile
Rotherham based Kostal UK is a subsidiary of a German family owned business that designs and manufactures plastic moulded electrical switches for the automotive industry. The Kostal group has sites in 15 countries and employs over 10,000 people worldwide. Its major customer is the Ford Premier Automotive Group, which includes Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, BMW and VW.
Background

Kostal UK decided to embark on a Lean Manufacturing journey in 2003 and contacted MAS specialist Kerry Cochran of Lean Business Solutions for assistance. The company had come under pressure from their main customer to adopt Lean principles, but at the same time wanted to seize the opportunity to improve business efficiencies and evolve a 'culture change' across the workforce.
The purpose of the second MAS project was to further improve productivity in the mould shop to allow Kostal UK to absorb the manufacture of mould tools from their parent company in Germany and bring it in-house. This required changes to the way that Kostal UK planned its work and a revision of its current measure of data capture.
Lean Business Solutions Ltd. helped the company to focus on improving change-over time, freeing up capacity and reducing the need for overtime working.
Kostal UK is now training key personnel in Lean 6-Sigma to further improve the current production system and to maximise cost benefits for their customers moving forward. The company has also hosted four factory visits as part of the Inside Industry programme in Yorkshire and Humber, sharing their Lean experiences and best practice techniques with like-minded manufacturers.

Making it Happen
Kostal UK’s objectives during the first MAS project were to address quality (ppm), and service (availability of stock, accuracy) within the moulding department, bringing it up to speed with the rest of the business.
Kerry worked closely with the team to install 5s principles, making the working environment more manageable and embedding a culture of continuous improvement. This involved training for technical staff to improve change-over times, a review of their skills and, where necessary, providing them with additional support to improve.
An assessment of current KPIs was then carried out and recommendations made for a number of new realistic KPIs that would help measure and deliver meaningful business improvements. All waste and non value added activities in the unit were identified and eliminated. Machine availability was then addressed to improve the set up and maintenance of the equipment.

Key Achievements
As a result of a series of MAS interventions, Kostal UK has achieved the following:

• Overall sales turnover has increased by 25%.

• Overtime hours worked has reduced from a weekly average of 90 (1st quarter) to 15 (last quarter)

• Overall change-over time has reduced by 33%

• The company has won a string of recent awards, including the Silver Excellence Award for Quality, Cost and Delivery from their main customer Ford

• Kostal UK is now a host for the Inside Industry programme, sharing Lean best practice with other local manufacturers.

• On-time delivery has improved from 85% to 95%

• Overall productivity has improved by £1,350 per personTrading in the increasingly cut-throat automotive industry Kostal UK recognised the need to implement a proactive change programme to remain competitive moving forward, not only externally but also within their own organisation internationally.

"The funding we have obtained from MAS has been invaluable in helping us achieve our Lean objectives. Following our initial Lean training, we found the mould shop area was slow to pick up many of the tools and techniques that were introduced which was causing us concern. MAS helped us to turn the department around and the difference has been extremely positive. We still have a long way to go on our Lean journey but we are extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve so far."
Barry Johnson, HR Manager

Geonix Tracking - 02/09/2007

A Bath-based company has raised the resources it needs to initiate a major expansion plan following £250,000 venture capital funding from the YFM Group managed £25M South West Ventures Fund. Bath–based Geonix Tracking specialises in developing and selling satellite and GSM telecoms hardware products for the tracking and security of assets and people working in remote and insecure locations, mainly in the Middle East, Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The company has already achieved initial orders for $200k worth of products from, amongst others, the Olive Group, a leading private security group. “The funding from YFM Group has allowed Geonix to expand its operations, recruit additional staff and bring to production its innovative tracking solutions,” commented David Bland, Chief Executive of Geonix Tracking. “It’s allowed us to focus on a high tech device which is targeted at the personal security markets in the major trouble spots of the world such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Niger Delta and the Darfur area of the Sudan.” The company’s key product is the GT2000, a unit which attaches to a handheld satellite phone to enable it to be tracked on a continuous basis to within 10 metres of its location. This enables the user’s location to be monitored by their company or designated personal protection service. The GT2000’s level of performance, accuracy, portability and features are market-leading. The GT2000 also features a vehicle docking station, enabling it to be used in cars, armoured vehicles, trucks, boats and trains, and an emergency keyfob which allows instantaneous panic alarms and positions to be relayed even when the user is away from the vehicle. David added: “Geonix plans to greatly enhance its export business as a result of the South West Ventures Fund investment. Our mission is the provision of overt and covert tracking equipment for the protection of people and property worldwide.” Alison Briggs, Investment Manager from the YFM Group said: “Geonix has developed state of the art technology for use in a rapidly growing market. We are delighted to back the company’s experienced management team and look forward to being part of its successful future.”
"The funding from YFM Group has allowed Geonix to expand its operations, recruit additional staff and bring to production its innovative tracking solutions."
David Bland, Chief Executive

AB Graphic International Ltd - 01/08/2007

Established in 1977, AB Graphic International Ltd is a well respected manufacturer of self-adhesive label converting machinery and finishing equipment. The company supplies many major blue chip clients in a highly competitive global market, and has recently relocated into a new purpose built 40,000 sq. ft. factory near Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

Background
The senior management team at AB Graphic were already familiar with some of the basic ‘Lean’ principles through past experience. By recruiting assistance from MAS, they hoped to extend their knowledge of how to apply these Lean tools most effectively to improve efficiency and increase production capacity within their business. A recent relocation to new premises provided the ideal opportunity to address these issues.

A B Graphic had already identified certain capacity restraints; in particular problems relating to supply chain management and shop floor loading processes.

MAS Specialist Steve Hemming from Manufacturing Excellence was therefore asked to perform an external appraisal of existing systems and to prepare a detailed proposal for a strategic incoming supply chain improvement project.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 30 day MAS intervention, AB Graphic has achieved the following:

• Raw material and Work In Progress (WIP) stock reduction of £310k.

• Stock turn improvement of 38% (8.9 improved to 12.3)

• Stores kitting time reduced by 2 man days per week

• Stock outs and resulting downtime eliminated

• 20% reduction in purchase order processing time

• Sub assembly productivity improved by 15%

• The continuous supply of materials and the resulting removal of stoppages in assembly have improved staff morale and job satisfaction.

Making it Happen
To begin the project, the management team were introduced to the principles of Pull-scheduling and the use of Kanbans to control material supply to the assembly lines.

With the help of key personnel, supply constraints were then identified in the purchasing and shop loading departments and Key Performance measures were introduced to monitor progress.

A detailed analysis of Bills of Materials identified standard sub assemblies and common components. A pilot scheme was then designed to prove the principle of the Kanban supply system to stakeholders. Kanban levels and lineside storage facilities were created in the Knifebox sub assembly area as part of the pilot scheme.

Key suppliers were identified and trial orders placed to supply under the new arrangement. The traditional system of placing discrete orders based on the output from the companies MRP system was replaced by an annual contract for each component, with Kanban quantities being delivered within 48 hours.

Instead of kitting parts out of stores, components were fed directly to lineside, saving considerable amounts of admin time and releasing stores staff to perform more worthwhile stock control duties.

Team leaders across the business were introduced to Lean manufacturing techniques through the Factory of the Future simulation game (developed by Manufacturing Excellence.) To improve workplace organisation 5S teams were then set up and trained in 5S.

Following the successful implementation of Kanbans in the Knifebox section the system has now been rolled out to other sub assembly and manufacturing areas.

"Manufacturing Excellence provided us with the knowledge and experience to reorganise our method of procurement and issue of materials to the assembly lines. The guidance and advice received was excellent and I personally gained a great deal of support in driving the project forward. "
Phil Robson, Operations Manager

Carleton Furniture - 06/07/2007

Company Profile

Carleton Furniture Group Ltd is a privately owned business, established in Bradford in 1874. The company designs, manufactures and installs a range of furniture for residential contracts, including student accommodation, social housing, schools and offices.

Carleton combines state of the art technology with traditional craftsmanship to produce high quality furniture, which is manufactured and sold under the brands Wilkinsons and Lucas. Its core markets are well funded politically; and working with a diverse range of sectors has helped to put the company in a strong market position for future growth.

Background

Despite its strengths, the company’s performance has faced increased pressure in recent years due to a decline in markets (such as call-centres and commercial housing developments) and low cost global competition (particularly from Poland).

The management team recognised that they needed a more radical strategy than simply recruiting additional labour to improve their production throughput. In particular, they needed to convert to Just in Time (JIT) delivery to keep in line with the new market demands being placed on them.

The company approached MAS in July 2007 and were put in contact with manufacturing specialists David Roberts and Fred Bradbury of Director Resource. A strategic programme of work was agreed to address specific challenges to the company’s manufacturing systems and introduce JIT across the business.

In addition, the company needed help to redefine its markets, increase sales and reduce overheads to combat the global threat from low cost regions. Reduction in working capital, improved delivery performance, increased productivity and greater employee involvement were some of the major areas identified for improvement.

Key Achievements

As a result of the 30 day MAS strategic improvement project, the company has achieved the following:

Batch/line assembly systems have been converted to 20 JIT cells.
Productivity has increased from 24 pieces per hour to 51 pieces per hour.
Daily delivery of complete room sets is now achieved without the need for finished stocks and transport to warehouse.
On-time delivery has improved from 50% to 95%.
Kaizen self managed teams have been established to monitor and improve cells moving forward.
Visual Management boards have been established to share KPI information and manage processes.
Capacity has increased by 30%.
Staff moral has improved, as the multifunctional team.

Making it Happen

To begin the programme of work, MAS specialist Fred Bradbury delivered a Lean awareness presentation to the assembly staff. The principles of Lean were covered as was the need for ‘Total Employee Involvement’. He introduced a more open style of management which encouraged employees to take part in self-managed teams. A Lean project team was then formed comprising of operators from the assembly area.

Fred also gave an overview of the advantages of cellular manufacturing compared to the company’s current batch/line manufacturing system. After exploring the methods involved, the project team decided that a ‘JIT One Piece Flow’ cellular system would deliver the most potential benefits. MAS provided extensive training to the project team to determine the exact process requirements and sequences needed, including the principles of ‘Standard Work’ analysis and ‘Takt Times’ to be calculated for each product family group.

Following their training, the team used the valuable techniques they had learned to identify their own areas for further improvement. A full analysis of current manufacturing methods was carried out, which included videoing the processes to obtain detailed time observations. Once waste streams had been identified and process steps had been developed and balanced, the initial cells were then formed and monitored for performance and output loss causes.

The improved cell configuration showed significant potential for achieving the team’s objectives of improving quality, cost and delivery. The team were so impressed with the initial results that they decided to convert the whole assembly area to JIT cellular. 20 cells were formed in total over a 12 week period, each with raw materials pulled through via Kan Ban. Production is now carried out to each customer order, with shipments made in room sets to site on a JIT basis.

The company are now better resourced to deal with major fluctuations in customer demand and are able to respond to short lead times more time effectively. The need to place stock in warehouse storage to cope with peak demands is diminishing rapidly - the figure has reduced by £200,000 in the past 3 months as the whole business moves to JIT.

"The inspiration, coaching and vision brought by MAS lead consultant Fred Bradbury of Director Resource has equipped us with the valuable skills and knowledge needed to drive Carleton forward into a new and exciting era."
Dean Nutter, Manufacturing Manager

Independent Forging and Alloys - 30/04/2007

Company Profile

Independent Forging and Alloys is a fast growing and very successful metal forging company with a world-wide network of customers and suppliers. The company presently employs 130 staff and has an annual turnover of £20m. Its manufacturing plant is continuing to expand both with regards to forging and machining.
Following a particularly successful year IFA decided they wanted to further increase sales capacity, building on their existing activity by working more closely with their larger customers. They aimed to develop the capability to take on longer term work rather than simply reacting to immediate requirements. Their ultimate goal was to restructure the business model to grow long-term work from a current 10% to 40% of their turnover.
Background
Craig Syson, IFA’s Financial Director, contacted the Yorkshire & Humber MAS via Neale Cook of MCCR & Associates to seek support in improving the planning, tracking and progress reporting of jobs on the shop floor. This control of production would help the company to make better use of their existing plant and improve customer confidence when placing large orders.

Acquiring materials often came with very long lead times for IFA, which meant that production was being driven more by ‘material ready’ than by efficient planning.

The company already had the benefit of an extremely flexible workforce, willing to operate a number of shifts to overcome short-term problems. What they really needed was help to develop long-term production planning on site, and to implement a variety of software tools to assist in the process.

Key Achievements
As a result of a series of improvement projects, the company has achieved the following:

• Every job is now automatically monitored by management and any unreasonable delays in production highlighted immediately, thus reducing delays and giving better customer reporting.

• Delays on average for all departments have reduced by 40%

• Customer jobs are now planned according to capacity.

• Confidence in planning with major customers has been restored, and this has helped in the increasing order value and long-term relationship.

• IFA now expect 40% of their business to come from long-term strategic business.

Making it Happen
In order to begin addressing IFA’s planning concerns, MAS consultant Neale Cook of MCCR & Associates talked with the company’s major customers to gain their perspective on areas for improvement. They expressed a desire to see realistic department loading and job tracking to increase their confidence in IFA’s planning abilities.

Employee participation was encouraged from all areas of the business, to ensure that everyone fully understood the concept of knowing the exact location of every job and how many days it had been there.

Neale took the lead in designing and building a web-based reporting tool with access to IFA’s database which could be used to produce spreadsheets. This essentially allowed every user within the company to have immediate, up-to-date access to the current job status. It could also be used to produce daily work lists for each department.

Employees were then equipped to begin carefully monitoring delays to jobs and analysing the reasons with a view to improving the production. This helped them to expose and remedy a number of inconsistencies in the planned route for a job versus the actual route.

To compliment IFA’s existing job system, MAS worked with an outside supplier of ‘Preactor’ (a graphical planning software package) to produce a real time software interface. This added value to their current system by combining additional planning features, which in turn allowed IFA to plan jobs up to a year in advance.

Following a successful strategic programme of work, IFA then sought further assistance from MAS to undertake a software design and implementation project. This was intended to specifically address the company’s current delay in contract review and production of the route card into production.

IFA can now plan a job and launch a route card directly from their contracts department, thus removing unnecessary delays in the administration process. The company is fully capable of launching jobs into production much faster, saving valuable time and money and allowing further scope for potential growth in the future.

"MAS has provided IFA with specialist assistance that has enabled us to produce modern web-based reports and to develop our proficiency in planning to support production. We are now able to use our existing technology more effectively and respond efficiently to our customer demands. Without MAS support we would not have had the expertise or capability to restructure our production planning and strengthen our potential for growth. I would thoroughly recommend MAS to any other manufacturing business."
Craig Syson, Financial Director

DalePak - 27/04/2007

Company Profile

Based in Leeming Bar near Northallerton, Dalepak have an annual turnover of £30m and employ 320. Their business involves the manufacture of ranges of meat burgers and grills and high value meat-free products.

The company is part of Northern Foods Group plc which is driving implementation of lean manufacturing techniques throughout all production sites. The company is driven by pressures from their very demanding customer base, (supermarkets) to improve performance and reduce prices.

Dalepak has a track record of achieving continuous improvement in its manufacturing processes.

The company records its manufacturing performance hourly, utilises SAP systems for real time data capture and has a robust KPI measurement system.

Over the years, Dalepak has seen consistent growth in demand for its meat-free products. The meat-free line currently runs 24 hours per day; five days per week to keep up with customer orders. However, because of the risk of contamination, this production line cannot be transferred onto meat lines; resulting in difficulties when demand exceeds available capacity. This was the area that was chosen for the pilot lean project.

The key improvement target Dalepak set out to achieve as a result of the project was to increase Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to gain increased output.

The average OEE for the meat-free line before the project began was 75.4% (10 week average wks 29 to 38 2002/3)

Key Achievements
As a result of the lean project, the following measured benefits were achieved:

 Changeover times reduced by 25% from an average of 6 hours to 4.5 hours giving more production hrs available in a week;

 OEE increased from 75.4% to 85.8% (10 wk average wks 29 to 38 2003/04); and
 Financial savings of £76,000 per annum being realised.

Additional benefits included:

 Integration of Lean into the business’ Manufacturing Performance Improvement Plan.

 Greater respect, co-operation and understanding amongst employees by working in cross functional groups.

 Employees understand Lean.

 Teams are continuing to drive improvement activities to generate further benefits.

Making it Happen

The project started with Specialists Paul Bell and Andrew Nicholson of The Lean Consortium (a MAS Associate) training everyone who would be involved in the project in Lean tools and techniques; after which opportunities for applying lean at Dalepak were explored and agreed.

Key stages of work included:

 ‘Introduction to Lean’ for all shifts.

 ‘Factory of the Future’ Lean simulation training for the management team.

 Training in value stream mapping for key operatives.

 Mapping current processes.

 Identifying changeovers as a significant opportunity for improvement and capacity gain.

 Training the Change Teams in rapid changeover techniques.

Additional benefits included:

 Integration of Lean into the business’ Manufacturing Performance Improvement Plan;

 Greater respect, co-operation and understanding amongst employees by working in cross functional groups;

 Employees understand Lean; and

 Teams are continuing to drive improvement activities to generate further benefits.

"Departments have a common focus and have been pulled closer together. It is about working together using effective techniques to move the business towards a particular goal. There has been a positive response from the factory. Engineering now sees itself as an internal supplier to manufacturing"
Roger Surtees, Lean Manager

Jessop & Smith Limited - 23/04/2007

Company Profile

Jessop & Smith Limited has been trading since 1936 as a cutlery manufacturing company, making knife blanks and in particular, specialised items such as kitchen knives, which are then finished and sharpened by their customers.

Nearly 45% of the company’s output is exported to the USA and the remainder is sold to other companies within Sheffield for finishing.

In a very competitive cutlery market place, Jessop and Smith was keen to increase production and minimise their costs.

However, they identified that the heat treatment oven was a major bottleneck in them being able to achieve these goals. (All forged knives must be heat treated and the oven was in full use).

Furthermore, the operation of the heat treatment oven was expensive in terms of its energy usage. Barry Campbell, the General Manager, sought assistance from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) on how to remove this bottleneck and cut energy costs without having to buy a new oven, the cost of which would be in the order of £75,000.

MAS energy specialist, Alex Mardapittas of EMS was enlisted to help Jessop & Smith address these issues. Alex concluded that whilst heat treatment on the existing oven was satisfactory, the level of insulation around it was designed for an age when energy was cheap. This was rectified by designing and fitting an improved level of insulation and a modified door opening mechanism which ensures that when opening the door to load or unload product, the minimum of heat escapes.

Key Achievements

As a result of the project, Jessop & Smith have made significant savings and increased their sales. Specific improvements include:

• Energy savings of £11,000 per annum have been achieved;

• Additional value added of £50,000 has been achieved;

• Annealing quality has been improved, because the annealing temperature is more consistent; and

• £100,000 of increased sales without extra running costs have been made achievable because of the extra capacity.

The above savings are based upon old energy prices not current soaring levels.
Making it Happen

An evaluation of the heat treatment oven was undertaken which identified that the most significant heat losses came from the body.

Because of this, the oven took significant time to reach the required 750˚C, resulting in it being unusable for at least four hours per day because the stabilised annealing temperature had not been reached.

Furthermore, it was difficult to keep the temperature stable during the annealing process – when loading the oven, the door had to open completely, allowing the temperature to drop and extending the annealing cycle.

Analysis of the costs and cycle times identified that significant opportunities for both cost savings and extra throughput existed. The alternatives were to purchase a new oven at a cost of £75,000 or to modify the existing one for about £6,000. The company opted for the more cost effective option and EMS undertook the design and management of modifications to the existing heat treatment oven.

External insulation was designed and fitted to the oven and the door opening mechanism modified to minimise heat loss when loading and unloading product.

An additional benefit of the work has been the reduction in temperature around the oven to 20OC, eliminating a potential health and safety hazard.

"At a time when energy costs are soaring, we were delighted to receive practical help from MAS to reduce our costs and allow us to increase production."
Barry Campbell, General Manager

Meltham Mills Engineering - 22/04/2007

Company Profile

Created from the famous David Brown / JI case tractor factory near Huddersfield and operating for 12 years, Meltham Mills is a precision engineering company, manufacturing drive train components for world famous names in the earth moving and agricultural vehicle sectors. As well as making the gears, drive shafts and hydraulic motor components, the company also processes the parts for extra hardness, wear resistance and overall toughness resulting in components that are highly robust, long lasting and fuel efficient.
The company’s comprehensive metal heat treatment facilities can process small batches of one-off components quickly and efficiently, enabling them to offer a one-stop-service for manufacturers of small and medium sized batches of high precision gears and wear components.

Meltham Mills got in touch with MAS in 2003 following the recent appointment of Nigel Dyson as General Manager. Nigel quickly identified changes in the external environment that required an overhaul of the company’s culture, methods and structure in order to survive and prosper. The most critical change being outsourcing to Asia. Working with MAS Associate MCCR & Associates two projects were delivered at Meltham Mills. The aim of the first project was to improve cash flow, efficiencies and create a company that focussed on its customers. This was followed by a second project to tackle cost reduction and introduce new strategies and methods of manufacture based upon flexibility and quick response. Key Achievements

As a result of the two projects, Meltham Mills have secured long-term relationships with key customers and have significantly improved their supplier rating status. A new range of products is currently being prototyped and submitted for approval. Capacity planning has been introduced to better plan the load on the factory and give reliable delivery times to customers. The company is becoming outcomes focused with everyone working together to meet customer requirements.

 Gross value added improved by £561,000

 7% reduction in labour cost per unit of output

 50 jobs safeguarded

 7 jobs created

 £100,000 increased sales

The project has also helped the company to improve delivery performance, equipment utilisation and shop floor visibility for flow of work.

It has also strengthened the company’s financial position enabling it to commence investing in the future.

Making it Happen

The first MAS project began with a full review of costs, controls and operating efficiencies. This evaluation was undertaken with Nigel Dyson to ensure that the agreed priorities for action were effectively aligned to company needs.

Work began with the strengthening of the company’s financial position. Cash flow difficulties were reduced by tackling the high number of outstanding debts and introducing new controls and procedures to quickly identify and prompt outstanding payments.

The project also tackled supply chain issues. Introducing tighter controls on the purchasing and delivery of raw materials, improved cash flow. The management of sub-contractors was reviewed and Meltham Mills were able to significantly reduce transport costs.

The second MAS project tackled the future survival of the business. As part of a cost reduction programme, a major customer had served notice of their intention to source high volume components from Asia. The specialists from MCCR worked quickly with Meltham Mills to develop new strategies and methods of manufacture. Meltham Mills refocused on value adding activities and providing the flexibility and response that comes from short geographic chains of supply.

The percentage of available manufacturing time devoted to setting up very short production runs was identified as a major cause of restricted productivity and slow response times. Negotiations with customers to ensure that they purchased economic batch sizes resulted in improved margins for Meltham Mills and service for customers.

Management information systems were reviewed and new systems created to facilitate better forward planning. The management team now has access to simple but effective capacity and cash flow information, and are now analysing costs product by product to identify further opportunities for improvement.

To improve customer focus, current employee skill levels were assessed and training given.Operational processes were re-focussed on customer needs rather than the management of part of the operation.

"The MAS Specialists opened our eyes to what could be achieved. We have now secured long-term relationships with key customers and have significantly improved our supplier rating status. In addition, a new range of products are currently being prototyped for approval. Without MAS support and expertise we would probably not be trading now."
Nigel Dyson, General Manager

Panel Systems - 19/04/2007

Company Profile
Panel Systems has been trading since 1974 and manufactures a wide range of decorative and insulated panels. Its products are supplied into diverse markets including the building industry, caravans and office equipment.

In 2001 the company developed a new lightweight staging system which it markets under the brand name of Revostage. The product is made of a lightweight interlocking deck system combined with telescopic support. Revostage is used by schools, hotels and event organisers and has been exported to Japan, Germany, France and Finland.

Background
During 2005 Panel Systems carried out a review of the product costing for Revostage and concluded that to develop sales to the next level it needed to engineer cost out of the system. The telescopic riser system was a component from overseas and had a history of long lead times and erratic supply. The decision was therefore made to evaluate the potential not only to manufacture in house but also to re-engineer the design of the riser.

Chris Ibbotson, the Managing Director, contacted Andy Toward of Design Futures, via the Manufacturing Advisory Service, to request assistance with the re-design.

Design Futures was able to rationalise the cost of production by designing the product for in-house manufacture with components supplied locally.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 30 day Strategic product re-design project, the company has achieved the following:

• The design of the existing riser has been improved with fewer components & superior load bearing characteristics.

• Potential production cost saving to the company of 40% per unit

• Potential Gross Value Added of £100,000 per year

• One new job has been created

• The whole design system has been rationalised and the part count reduced

• The production process has been standardised.

• A greater degree of flexibility has been achieved, allowing a greater number of options for customers.

• Selling prices have been reduced, which will ultimately lead to improved sales.

Making it Happen
In order to be able to bring the production of the riser in house, Panel Systems need to re-evaluate the performance characteristics of the existing riser and the nature and function of each component. They then had to find a way to re-engineer the riser with fewer or better designed components.

MAS consultant Andy Toward of Design Futures, together with a team of colleagues, took the lead in developing concepts for a new riser. In order to optimise the design, Design Futures undertook research and an in-depth investigation to understand the use and environment of the riser and address any technical issues. A structural analysis of the existing design was then carried out to identify load distribution and options for rationalisation.

On completion of the research, Andy and the team developed a number of concepts which were refined for elements of the new system. The manufacturing and technical viabilities were considered and discussed with Panel Systems.

Following further discussions with Panel Systems, the agreed concept was then taken forward for development to provide a more tangible design. Physical compression testing of product samples was completed to assist with the refinement of the design and production procedure.

Once the testing was completed, a full engineering evaluation was conducted and communicated to Panel Systems to enable them to consider the future implementation of the riser production. The company is now fully equipped to continue evaluating the next stage of their in-house manufacture.

"Revostage has been an exciting product for the company, but following an initial steady sales growth, the product had reached a plateau. The MAS project started as a result of customers telling us they liked the system but felt that the high cost was a limiting factor. This created a need to examine the whole Revostage system and determine where we could improve and eliminate unnecessary costs. Approaching MAS was an important stage in this process and their commitment to work with us and identify a suitable partner for the work was vital. They introduced us to the Design Futures team at Hallam University, a partner not only with the skills but also the commercial acumen to determine a practical solution for the new product"
Chris Ibbotson, Managing Director

K3 Business Technology Group - 18/04/2007

K3 is a Global leader in providing next-generation enterprise software. With more than 3,000 customer installations in over 30 countries, K3 is recognised as a safe, innovative and reliable provider of world-class solutions, backed by world-class service.

Products:
K3's goal is to provide a scaleable range of Microsoft centric business solutions to the complementary markets of Retail, Distribution and Manufacturing.
Market leaders in each of these fields K3 provide innovative and proven business solutions that deliver a competitive edge to each of their 3000 UK customer installations.

Reason for raising funds?
To pursue a buy and build strategy

What impressed us:

•   A consolidator in a fragmented market
•   Experienced management team
•   Track record

Independent Forging & Alloys (IFA) Ltd - 10/04/2007

Independent Forging & Alloys (IFA) Ltd is a specialist open die forging group based in South Yorkshire. Its management team led by Managing Director Martin Burnham like to call IFA the "world's largest blacksmiths" on a site whose metals industry credentials date back to the 1500s.

Martin launched a successful management buy-in in March 2001 of the open die forging division of Doncasters to create IFA which is based at Victoria Forge in Sheffield.

The company uses a range of equipment from hydraulic presses to forge hammers to manufacture a range of industrial fittings and fixtures. It also offers a fast-track
supply of various components to customers and can offer rapid supply to the prototyping and machine testing industries. Meanwhile, IFA's service centre has also
established a reputation in the industry for providing fastest turn-round service for forging, heat treatment, machining, cutting and inspection.

Operating across the globe IFA has customers in the oil and gas; power generation; marine and defence; and aerospace industries.

THE CHALLENGE
In the first four-and-a-half years before Martin and his colleagues acquired the business its turnover had shrunk from £7 million to £2.6 million, jobs had fallen from 100 to 30 and only its 40-year-old 1,500 press was operating.

In order to operate on a global basis and ensure the new company was a success it was crucial that IFA began to invest in its plant and machinery to ensure that it could deliver on key orders and offer a genuine world-beating solution to key customers.

Martin's philosophy is simple. He says: "You don't have to accept your fate. You don't have to be led by the market conditions.You can take the lead." Instead, you create a niche business, combining a manufacturer's skills with a stock holder's optimism, response times and drive to go out and find business."

" You need to spend time developing a reliable supplier base - we buy metals world wide and we look carefully at our suppliers - and you need to look for markets worldwide."

Martin and his fellow directors accepted that if IFA was to deliver on the business plan they would need to invest in the business - but for this they would need to raise further investment capital.

THE SOLUTION
Martin and his team were introduced to South Yorkshire Investment Fund which brought together a group of funders - including Barclays Bank and the Invest for Growth team which is operated by Business Link South Yorkshire to consider IFA's proposition.

PROGRESS TO DATE
In the four years since the management buy-in turnover has grown by over 200% to £7.7 million, while the total number of jobs has risen to 87.

The investment from SYIF and others has been used to acquire and install a GFM radial forging plant capable of making forgings of between 2in-8in diameter.

Martin said:"We have put in more equipment than we could possibly have hoped, and we have a rolling programme under which we look at investment for the next three years on an annual basis."

A ring rolling mill has been installed and a seven-tonne forge have been bought back into use. There has also been a programme of continuing investment in IFA's Rolls-Royce and NADCAP-approved heat treatment facilities - so much so that the company which once relied on its former owners for heat treatment is now doing some of their work.

The Fund recently invested a further £80,000 in IFA as the company sought to introduce a new electrical supply into the Victoria Forge site following the recent installation of non-destructive testing facility and two ten-tonne cranes.

"SYIF has been very supportive throughout.They were very quick to respond to the tight timetable. This new machine represents a strategic step forward for us and we are confident that we can use it to develop new markets."
Martin Burnham, Managing Director

Lincoln & York - 03/04/2007

Company Profile
Lincoln & York is a modern company who have been providing the best roasted and packaged coffee products and services to their clients in the UK and Europe for over 13 years.

Coffee roasting is at the heart of their business and they take pleasure in sourcing the best coffee in the world. The company sources coffee direct from plantations and is also a Fairtrade supplier. This part of their business has expanded by 60% over the last 18 months and looks set to continue growing steadily.

Because of their specialised ability to handle short runs and unusual requirements, Lincoln & York not only supply coffee distributors and retailers but also work with other roasters to enable them to provide an enhanced service to their customers. They produce over 1500 different blends and have achieved grade A in the British Retail Consortium.

Background
Lincoln & York operate a private label service offering customers their own branding, which has so far proven to be an important benefit to client companies establishing themselves in expanding markets, helping add value to their business and give a competitive edge.

The UK is at the forefront of the expansion of the “coffee culture” in Europe. Lincoln & York have recognised that they are well-placed to meet the requirements of the growing international market, with ample modern roasting facilities and a flexible responsive attitude.

The company sought the help of MAS through John Scruton of BDG North to improve their current factory layout and lay the foundations for future organic growth. Their aim was to reduce the bottleneck in their packing area and help to improve the overall flow of the factory.

What they really needed was a second opinion and a more structured approach to implementing their changes, helping them to take the preliminary steps towards future expansion.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 10 day Factory Expansion Project, the company has achieved the following:

• Turnover is up 15% on the previous year

• Business performance has improved by £25,000 per annum

• 4 jobs have been safeguarded

• A continuous improvement culture has been developed

• A more efficient factory layout has been achieved, improving their visitors’ view of the company

• Overall people productivity has improved by £1,250 per person

Making it Happen

To begin the project, MAS consultant John Scruton worked with the management team to develop a current map of the existing facility. This was used as a base to conceive what a future layout might look like. This mapping process gave the company various options and recommendations with throughput figures for a staged expansion of the factory in line with the business needs they had identified.

Altering the factory layout meant that, in the short-term, production increases would be gained through the relocation of the coffee grinding operation, which would then free up floor space for the reconfiguration of the packing lines. Through a programme of rationalisation, sufficient storage space would be made available to accommodate production gains in work in progress and finished goods.

The ultimate aim of the project in the long-term is to make room for an extension to be built onto the existing factory to support the growth of the business over the next 2/3 years.

"MAS has been very useful to us and in respect of this project the results were immediate, both in terms of productivity and improvements to the working environment "
James Sweeting, Director

Sound Leisure - 03/04/2007

Company Profile
Sound Leisure Ltd was founded in 1978 and is a private family owned and run company. They entered the leisure industry in 1980 when they manufactured their first jukebox product.

Background
For over 25 years Sound Leisure Ltd has maintained its core principle, to manufacture industry-leading coin and non coin play entertainment systems.
The company recently acquired and moved into an 80,000sq.ft factory in Leeds. This has given a new home to its research and development, manufacturing, service, operations and office staff.
Sound Leisure exports jukebox equipment all around the world and supplies many well known blue chip companies including Pioneer Japan, Holland America Cruises and Harrods Department Store, as well as famous film stars, football & sportsmen and royalty. The company has won many accolades for innovation and quality including “Best Jukebox in Britain” by UK’s jukebox operators.
They already had a well laid-out and run factory, and benefited from having developed a committed workforce. Sound Leisure’s aim in recruiting MAS was to further improve workplace organisation, to reduce the lead time from customer order to despatch, to increase the productivity of the business and to gain additional manufacturing capacity. They also wanted to transfer improvement skills to the workforce.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 10 day Kaizen Improvement Project, the company achieved the following improvements:

• GVA has improved by £79,500

• The number of times that shop floor personnel go to the Stores has reduced by 50%, saving the company 4 hours per day.

• A formal process for the purchase of miscellaneous items has been set up, allowing the purchasing team to control job costing more accurately

• The current system for recording absence has been refined, enabling greater control of staffing levels

• A formal process for archiving and destroying purchase & sales ledger paperwork has been set up to provide controlled access to files for both staff and external auditors

• One new job has been created

• Staff morale has improved

Making it Happen
The management team were introduced to ‘Lean’ manufacturing through the ‘Factory of the Future’ simulation game – a hands on ‘game’ developed by Manufacturing Excellence that illustrates the techniques of ‘Lean’, with the participants running a table-top company manufacturing and delivering products. A number of year cycles were undertaken with the financial performance, customer satisfaction and employee contentment reported; and improvements implemented each year.

The company were assisted in setting up four Kaizen teams to tackle issues raised based on the feedback from the Factory of the Future sessions. These four teams were then trained, each in turn, in the ‘Plan – Do – Check – Act’ Kaizen process together with a simple 12 stage problem solving technique:

1. Define the problem (really define it properly – don’t rush this stage!)
2. Identify possible causes (Use Brainstorming technique)
3. Gather data / facts on possible causes (Use check / tally sheets)
4. Analyse data
5. Select / decide on the cause/s to tackle
6. Brainstorm possible solutions to cause/s
7. Select solution/s (Use 3 x 3 matrix for this)
8. Develop action plan (Who needs to be involved and timescale to implement)
9. Implement action plan
10. Check actions have solved the problem
11. Take corrective actions
12. Celebrate success

The teams were also trained in a basic ‘brainstorming’ and analysis process, using Ease and Effect as a way of selecting the best ideas from the brainstorming.

"Manufacturing Excellence illustrated what ‘Lean’ manufacturing can do for us and helped us identify what we need to improve and more importantly how we should do it. The ‘Factory of the Future’ game was an excellent tool for illustrating the techniques of ‘Lean’ and was presented effectively"
Chris Black, Managing Director

GW Energy - 03/04/2007

Company Profile
GW Energy are based in Sheffield, and originally specialised in providing control solutions for industrial and commercial plants, processes and buildings. Increasingly customers were looking to GWE to provide controls to save energy across their company in areas such as heating and lighting. As this demand grew, GWE decided to focus 100% on lighting control solutions, which reduced energy consumption by using standard time and occupancy controls to turn lights off when not required.

However, this solution alone did not help the thousands of companies across the UK that operated very long hours, even 24/7, and so would find it difficult to ever turn lighting off.

GWE set themselves an objective to look for a solution that would reduce consumption of electricity for these companies whilst their lights were on.

After finding a technology being used for a different application abroad, they needed assistance to develop the ECO-MAX idea into a saleable, cost effective product that was right for the UK market. At this point GWE recruited the help of MAS, via the Sheffield Manufacturing Group, to assist with the feasibility of manufacturing the whole ECO-MAX control system here in the UK.

GWE now offer a range of fully UK manufactured ECO-MAX Lighting Optimisers that will reduce electricity consumption by 20-50% across a majority of industrial and commercial businesses. This means that customers benefit from both substantial financial savings, as well as contributing to significant reductions in UK CO2 emissions.

Key Achievements
As a result of a series of MAS improvement projects covering Lean manufacturing, strategy and new product development, the company has achieved the following improvements:

• Wider range of cost effective products developed

• Increased market opportunities

• Client Return on Investment (ROI) improved by over 25%

• Production costs reduced by an average of 20%

• Lead times shortened by 35%

• Business far more focused on key success factors and direction

Making it Happen
In the first instance, MAS helped GWE to fully assess their existing products developed with imported components, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. A superior design for a new unit was then developed which built on the strengths and removed all of the weaknesses.

The feasibility of fully manufacturing the new unit in the UK was then assessed, quantifying and sourcing a bill of materials, and then using Lean Manufacturing techniques to reduce costs to a minimum.

It was noted by GWE that there were still issues with fitting the smaller ECO-MAX products’ pricing into the customers required return on investment (ROI) model. Therefore, in the second MAS project, they focused on two things, firstly, reducing the production cost of the smaller units, and secondly, reviewing the ROI model.

The result was that a further reduction in production costs was achieved, widening the market for the product at the smaller end of the ECO-MAX range.

Alongside the MAS projects, GWE has been aggressively marketing both the company and the ECO-MAX products, culminating in exhibiting at the NEMEX, a National Energy Management Exhibition held at the NEC. This was very successful, and in addition to their target market, a number of enquiries were made for a micro business sized ECO-MAX, or possibly even a unit for the domestic market.

GWE called in Michael Whiteley from MAS to discuss this opportunity, and this soon became the third MAS project, where a manufacturing strategy was looked into for breaking into this large untapped market. The outcomes were very promising and GWE expect to be developing the new ECO-MAX products very soon. What GWE’s clients said:

" MAS provided the focus, formal processes and support in order for us the make the best of this great opportunity to establish ECO-MAX at the forefront of the energy saving market."
Wayne Cramer, Operations Director

AI Materials - 03/04/2007

Company Profile
Founded in 1993, AI Materials supplies titanium, nickel alloy and stainless bar, sheet, tube and forgings to a wide variety of markets, including Oil and Gas, Industrial Fasteners and specialist Engineering industries. About 25% of its business is exported mainly to Europe, with some to Asia and South America.
The Company had initially built a good reputation, but in early 2000 it had started to lose its way. In September 2003, Mark Burton and a local entrepreneur, John Robinson bought the company. Mark is now the major shareholder. Mark and John set out to restore AI Materials’ reputation for quality and customer responsiveness.

Whilst they achieved much success, by mid 2005 delivery performance was still below one of the company’s ISO 9001:2000 objectives: to achieve 90% on time delivery. It was at this point that AI Materials Ltd contacted the Manufacturing Advisory Service (Yorkshire & Humber) ‘MAS’. Working with Manufacturing Expert,

Mike Andrews of MCCR & Associates (a MAS Associate), AI Materials undertook a 15 day manufacturing improvement project which focused on addressing the delivery performance issue.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 15 day manufacturing improvement project, the company achieved the following improvements:

● 12% improvement in delivery performance over the five months of the project;

● 35% improvement in baseline value added; and

● Increase in stock turns from 4.9 times per year to 7.9 times per year – a 62% improvement.

AI Materials is now undertaking a strategic manufacturing improvement project with MAS to further improve supply chain relations and develop stock holding processes which will enable them to effectively handle the transition to holding more stock in house.

Making it Happen
The project began by establishing delivery performance baselines so that actual performance could be captured and analysed. The result of this showed that only 40% of orders were meeting the agreed delivery deadlines – quite a way off the company’s ISO 9001:2000 objective of 90%.

With this information in hand, MAS Manufacturing Specialist Mike Andrews began to dig deeper into the deliveries which failed to meet their deadlines to try to identify common causes. Mike checked the Company’s current processes and systems and quickly identified issues that were affecting the Companies ability to meet customer expectations.

Mike then analysed the different types of orders which the company handled. He identified that stock orders were reliably good, mainly because the whole sales supply process was under the control of the Company.

However on orders where the company operated in a supply chain (receiving stock and goods from sub-contractors before dispatching to the customer), the ability to meet delivery targets was very poor.

The results of the orders analysis was presented to the company’s management team and an action plan agreed which would fundamentally change the way AI Materials looked at their supply chain. The Company agreed that they would:

a) Increase stock orders thereby reducing the reliance on sub-contractors;
b) Work with existing suppliers to improve their reliability and negotiate higher priority for AI Materials orders; and
c) Source new suppliers who can better meet AI Material’s requirements, including the sourcing of suppliers who can produce smaller sizes of ingot.

"I have seen a big improvement in output and orders since the project started"
John Rhodes, Inspector

Franklin Window & Conservatories - 02/04/2007

Company Profile
Franklin LLP is a bespoke design, manufacture and installation company providing windows, doors, conservatories and orangeries to residential and commercial properties.

A family business operating for over 30 years, the company has pioneered a unique patented Composite System combining aluminium exteriors finished to customer colour and style requirements with a natural ash hardwood internal structure.

Franklin’s Composite system provides a superior quality product that offers affordable bespoke designs to clients. This is supported by substantially lower maintenance over a 20 year life compared to the more commonly used PVCu and hardwood installations.

Background
Director Dave Franklin sought the help of MAS, through Dean Morgan of MCCR & Associates, to help improve the company’s manufacturing capabilities and increase their Composite production.

The business had experienced rising sales demands over the previous eighteen months that eventually increased beyond the potential of the production plant. They recognised the need to start making fundamental changes to their factory layout, production methods and productivity means if they were to maximise the approaching opportunity for significant growth.

The company’s priority in recruiting MAS was to help structure their operational requirements and resources to achieve a 3 fold increase in production output which would ultimately furnish their long-term expansion plans.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 30 day operational management and workplace reorganisation project, the company has achieved the following:

• Initial output improvements allowing further sales of £600,000 p.a. to be achieved

• Value added improvements of over £200,000, made through improved productivity/ materials management

• Structured growth through production allowing future output capabilities of +300% to be achieved

• The Production Manager and Installations Co-ordinator now have greater delegated powers to schedule production

• Clarity over customer requirements providing greater information to the production team, allowing improved responses to late changes

• Introduction of a dedicated service for on-site maintenance support

Making it Happen
MAS consultant Dean Morgan, with the support of colleagues from MCCR & Associates, took the lead in pulling together a strategic project of work to improve the company’s manufacturing capabilities and productivity of the Composite system, giving them the ability to make a drive into new markets.

He began by introducing the management team to a number of Lean manufacturing techniques that would help to improve their work flow and eliminate bottlenecks in their key business processes.

A new software package was then developed, providing production scheduling capabilities and allowing them to easily identify stock shortage issues. Process-stream mapping was used to identify stocking limitations and to establish all equipment throughput restrictions

A programme of weekly review meetings was established, focusing largely on production and installation. These meetings helped to clarify project status and gave the team the opportunity to review KPI performance on output requirements.
Employee participation was encouraged from all areas of the business, including the sales, production, administration and installation teams. This ensured that everyone was fully involved in the understanding and implementation of new processes, and helped to develop co-ordinated improvement strategies.

Together they began to make visible changes to the manufacturing area layout, which helped to improve workflow. Investment in new equipment increased the working space available for assembly and also for a dedicated wood profile cutting and stain treatment facility. This increased the throughput from typically 50m/day of wood processed to over 200m/day.

A number of new team members were introduced to the operation and were provided with comprehensive training and support to reinforce the changes that had been put in place. The full potential of the plant is now clearly understood and the company are able to focus on a structured output capability that can, through increasing the manufacturing teams as sales grow, meet sales of £5m+ in the next 3-5 years.

"I would thoroughly recommend MAS to any other manufacturing business as with their direct support we have seen measurable and lasting benefits to our business"
David Franklin, Sales & Marketing Director

Arkoni Limited - 29/03/2007

Company Profile
Arkoni Limited was established fifteen years ago by Mark Prentice, and is a leading supplier of quality metalwork and fabricated components in stainless steel, mild steel and aluminium. The company provides complete architectural fabrications for shop fitting, staircases, balustrades, fire screens, doors, windows and canopies. Some of its key projects over recent years have included work for the Tate Gallery, the Trafford Centre and Manchester United FC.

Background
Arkoni prides itself on its unrivalled reputation for working from concept to completion, using a “Total Package” method to provide greater flexibility in meeting customers’ requirements. Competence in manufacture and installation enables the company to offer invaluable expertise to individuals, architects, specifiers and other manufacturing businesses, and allows them to ensure that every project meets necessary quality and legislation guidelines.

Managing Director, Mark Prentice, sought assistance from MAS through Phil Warrington of The Support Group to help develop a more structured way of managing their critical business processes.

Although the company already had an excellent customer focus ethic overall, they recognised the need to address recurring faults in their order process and customer hand-overs that were holding them back by wasting valuable production time. They wanted a fresh pair of eyes to help them set out structured responsibilities and clear processes that would ultimately create long term value for the business.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 10 day Process Improvement Project, the company has achieved he following:

• £325,000 of gross value added to the company as a result of the intervention

• Overall sales have increased by over £750,000

• Employee skills in process design and improvement have improved

• A logical system of processes capable of meeting demand have been established

• Significant growth has led the business to invest over £900,000 in new premises

• Better control has given the business a clearer vision and strategy for the future

Making it Happen
MAS consultant Phil Warrington initially met with the company to conduct an overall review of their business aims, objectives and concerns, and to identify the major areas for improvement.

The management team were keen to maintain customer focus throughout the project by developing their employees to align with business improvements. This ensured that everyone was fully involved in the understanding and implementation of new processes.

Phil Warrington then took the lead in pulling together a project of work to tackle the major concerns they had identified, including a lack of structure of responsibility and accountability across the business, recurring faults on-site and poor management of customer handovers.

Firstly, a Business Management System was developed, identifying and managing the critical business processes to control the day-to-day activity and satisfy second party (customer) review. The production planning system was then upgraded to meet the present and future needs of the company.

Phil and the team then began to develop and formalise the authority and accountability structure to ensure everyone understood their role and responsibilities, allowing a greater degree of control across the business.

Together, they worked on introducing Lean improvement techniques, and Phil encouraged them to adopt a process approach to the whole operation. This is turn, helped to standardise the way the company operated.

Production planning solutions were investigated, developed and installed, leaving scope for further improvement in the future. The business is now continuing to build on its capability by introducing its own improvements, adding useful sub-processes to the existing structure so Arkoni can continue ‘raising the bar’.

The company now work to the simple model:

Customer Focus + People + Process = Improved Performance

"As a result the company has increased productivity and significantly decreased the niggling faults that used to occur and reoccur both in the works and on the customers site."
Mark Prentice, Managing Director

Autocruise - 28/03/2007

Company Profile
Based in Swinton near Mexborough, Autocruise have an annual turnover of £6m, employ 94 and manufacture a range of purpose-designed motor-homes, primarily for the UK market.
The motor-home bodies are assembled on a standard chassis, provided by automotive giants Peugeot and Renault.

Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in America in September 2001, there has been a decline in holidaymakers flying abroad; leading to a resurgence of motor-home holidays. This was good news for Autocruise who experienced a drastic increase in demand for its purpose-designed motor-homes; and predictions showed further demand increases for the year ahead.

Recognising the implications this increase in demand would have on its manufacturing operation, Autocruise enlisted the help of MAS Associate PDA Management Consultants to ensure their manufacturing processes had sufficient capacity to handle this increased demand.

Key Achievements
With support from Mike Brook of MAS Associate PDA Management Consultants, Autocruise implemented measures to improve communication between employees and management, and improved production planning, control and stock systems and resource utilisation. This resulted in:

£50,000 increased value added;
20% reduction in failure to meet delivery promise;
20% reduction in deliveries giving rise to complaints;
30% reduction in defect or fault rate per unit of output; and
10% reduction in labour costs per unit of output.

In addition to the above, the project also helped to reduce bottlenecks and freed-up sufficient production capacity to accommodate an additional £500k turnover per annum.

Making it Happen
The project began with an assessment of the company’s existing processes.

The production facility was organised in a more efficient manner using 5S techniques. Following this, a production control system was devised, and allied to quality procedures in order to improve co-ordination and planning.

Stock and Purchases were analysed, and improved buying policies recommended. This resulted in a “one stop shop” provision, and the stores area was reorganised to support this change in approach.

Finally, pay/skill levels for all workers were analysed, and a more structured system introduced.

"The opportunities for our business to grow and be more profitable are there, but we needed to increase the sharing and application of best practice amongst our workforce to maximise short-term gains."
Gordon Bentley, Managing Director

SNA Europe (UK) Ltd. - 28/03/2007

SNA Europe (UK) Ltd (formerly Bahco Metal Saws Ltd) is part of the American Snap-on Corporation. SNA Europe (UK) has operated from its Rotherham site since 2000. They manufacture a wide range of band saw blades including its carbide tipped band saw, used to cut a variety of metals including titanium and nickel alloys, tool steels and aerospace alloys. The purpose built plant has facilities for milling, grinding, heat treatment and finishing processes.

Background
In 2005, the company made the decision to tackle rising energy costs by taking proactive measures to reduce energy consumption. A Carbon Trust review of potential opportunities was commissioned, which identified possible savings of £38,000, representing over 10% of their expenditure on energy.
SNA Europe (UK) requested assistance from MAS to implement these savings, and energy specialist Alex Mardapittas of EMS was called in to oversee the implementation.

Significant improvements were achieved as a result of the initial programme of work and the company has since gone on to initiate a further two MAS energy reduction interventions.

In addition, MAS has also assisted the company in preparing to sign a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) with DEFRA which has reduced their Climate Change Levy (CCL) by 80% in return for meeting energy reduction targets. The types of companies eligible for such agreements were widened significantly in 2005 and SNA Europe (UK) fell within one of these categories.

EMS now provides continued assistance to ensure that energy reduction targets are met. Through close association with MAS, the company were made aware of the BREW Small Scale Capital grants scheme. They applied for, and were awarded, a grant of £10,000 towards a new compressor, which is anticipated to save the company a further £22,000 in energy expenditure.

Key Achievements
As a result of two 10 day energy saving projects, the company has achieved the following:

• Energy savings of £9,265 per annum have been achieved

• A reduction of £23,000 per annum has been obtained in CCL.

• Value added has been increased by £32,265 per annum

• A reduction in CO2 emissions of 53 tonnes per annum has been achieved

Further savings of £25,500 per annum are anticipated following completion of a third MAS project, currently in progress, and their recent grant-subsidised investment in a new compressor.

Making it Happen
The initial Carbon Trust opportunities assessment had recommended that furnaces be better insulated but had struggled to provide firm potential figures. The first step was to identify what energy was being consumed by one furnace. This was measured by data logging electricity consumption over a 48 hour period and showed that 18.33 kW were consumed during heat-treating and 11.78kWh during idling.

A flexible insulating jacket was then designed, manufactured and fitted and power consumption was again monitored. The results showed that consumption during running had fallen to 16.73kW and whilst idling to 11.26kW. Overall a reduction of 7.2% was being achieved, saving £897 per year.

Similar jackets were designed for the other furnaces and similar savings were achieved.

Power consumption on the factory lighting was also data-logged and the effect of introducing a lighting optimiser into the circuit was measured. This showed that savings of 20% could be achieved by such means and SNA Europe (UK) installed the device.

EMS also undertook the registration of SNA Europe (UK) for a CCA agreement. As part of the Government’s commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the Climate Change Levy (CCL) was introduced on all company bills for non-renewable energy.

Because it was recognised that this could cripple energy intensive manufacturing the CCL Rebate Scheme was introduced, which gives a rebate of up to 80% of CCL for companies in suitable industries in exchange for their commitment to meeting energy reduction targets.

"MAS has provided the practical assistance needed to implement the energy savings opportunities identified in a Carbon Trust survey, which we didn't have the resources to do ourselves."
Steve Allen, Supply Chain Manager

Jenx Limited - 28/03/2007

Company Profile
Jenx Limited is one of the U.K.’s longest established companies designing innovative, therapeutic and development products for children with spinal problems.

The company was founded in 1982 and is still run by a Paediatric Physiotherapist and her husband. The company sells its products to over twenty countries worldwide in a niche international market and is committed to a continuous process of review and improvement to offer children the best products available.

Jenx aims to be not only the most proactive company of its kind, but also to adapt to customer needs to offer a truly flexible service.

Background
In 2005 the company won the Customer Services Award at the Medilink Yorkshire and Humber Healthcare Business Awards.
Jenx decided that applying best practice would work for their business in terms of reducing costs and growing the business.
After attending a SYMA Lean training workshop in November 2005, Mr Jenkins learned about Lean, the importance of developing an improvement plan and the benefits of applying best working practice.
He could see where this could potentially help his business to improve, develop and grow and decided to pursue the help that MAS could provide.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 15 day 5S Improvement Project, the company has achieved the following:

• Noticeable change in employee commitment and contribution to business improvement.

• GVA has increased by £60,000, and productivity by 15%, as a result of the creation of manufacturing cells

• Distance travelled to manufacture products has reduced from 80 metres to 5 metres (93%)

• Manufacturing finishing cells have been developed and Lead times have reduced (60%)

• Stock and WIP has reduced

• Investment in a new extraction system and sawing equipment has been made

• Work flow and space utilisation has improved by 20%

Making it Happen
The company met with Dave Roberts from Director Resource to discuss the assistance available through MAS and to identify opportunities and potential areas for the greatest improvement.

It was agreed that the most beneficial technique would be to apply 5S to their machine shop area. This would help to create a better working environment, help productivity to increase and would be the best way forward for embarking on their change programme.

The key objective from the outset was to involve employees in an improvement programme that allowed them to learn how to make and sustain their own improvements. The plan was communicated to all employees to ensure they had a clear understanding of the project objectives and the need for change within the organisation.

The next step was to map the current business process and identify opportunities for improvement.

A team was then formed in the machine shop who were taught the fundamentals of Lean Manufacturing. This set the foundations for implementing a 5S improvement programme in the machine shop in order to increase operational efficiency.

"The physical environment has been completely transformed. The attitude and commitment shown by everyone involved has been fantastic and the whole organisational culture has changed"
Clive Jenkins, Managing Director

LCL Castings - 28/03/2007

Company Profile
Based in Malton since the 1970’s, LCL Castings manufactures cast products for the domestic market. The company has an annual turnover of £1.6m and employs 45.
With a well-established team, production is operated over two shifts, supplemented by a night shift four nights per week. Where necessary, overtime is operated on Saturday mornings.

LCL recently found itself facing a need to implement and drive forward a culture of continuous improvement to help it attract new business and improve management systems.

Following a MAS diagnostic review, a range of areas for potential improvement were identified. These included introduction of workplace management; cellular manufacturing; changeover reduction; production planning; and improving customer focus.

MAS Associate Manufacturing Excellence were invited to make a presentation to the LCL Board, after which a programme of work was agreed to help LCL start a programme of work to move the company forward in these areas.
Key Achievements

As a result of the project, the following benefits were achieved:

Failure to meet delivery promises on time and in full reduced by 15%;
Changeover times reduced by 45%;
Customer related issues reduced from 5 to 2 per month;
Production efficiencies increased from 99% to 102%;
Health & Safety issues reduced throughout the site, helped by a risk assessment by the Engineering Employers Federation; and
A reduction in shop floor inventory.

Making it Happen
An ‘Organisation of the future’ training exercise was run with the management team to introduce them to both Lean and continuous improvement tools and techniques; and to ensure they were in a position to focus on the benefits of a balanced production flow.

Brainstorming was undertaken with all site staff to establish the real issues facing the company. The results of the brainstorming session was used to develop a number of action plans to drive the required improvements forward.

SMED training was carried out with appropriate staff, giving them the skills to identify areas where potential existed for major reductions in set-up time.

5S methods were introduced in the fettling shop and Ian Kitching of MAS Associate Manufacturing Excellence was engaged to help drive production on a weekly basis.

As a result of the project, the company has significantly improved control within the manufacturing division.

This was achieved by introducing:

Production scheduling
Weekly production meetings
Monthly operations meetings
5S in the fettling shop.

Highlights of Achievements

As a result of the project, the following benefits were achieved:

Failure to meet delivery promises on time and in full reduced by 15%;
Changeover times reduced by 45%;
Customer related issues reduced from 5 to 2 per month;
Production efficiencies increased from 99% to 102%;
Health & Safety issues reduced throughout the site, helped by a risk assessment by the Engineering Employers Federation; and
A reduction in shop floor inventory.

"The implementation of a more efficient production system, and discussions in respect of future activities, has created a greater awareness of commercial issues and the bigger picture."
Jenny Loseby, Managing Director

Mailway Ltd - 28/03/2007

Company Profile
Mailway has been trading since 1976 as a manufacturer of packaging and packaging solutions. Employing 127 and an annual turnover of £7m, it sells its products and services nationally to a range of high profile blue chip customers.

In 2002, as a result of changes in the market, the requirement to manufacture in smaller batch sizes, and the need to maintain high quality levels, Mailway began to lose profitability. It was at this point that the company contacted MAS for advice about how it could improve its performance. In November 2002, Paul Bell a manufacturing Specialist with MAS Associate Manufacturing Excellence, visited the company and undertook a diagnostic of the manufacturing operation which identified a number of issues where the company needed to improve itself. Manufacturing Excellence outlined various options for tackling these problems, after which Mailway received further MAS support to help it tackle stock control issues, lift manufacturing efficiency, achieve a standard cost base and re-structure its operation to create a culture of team-work and employee participation.

Key Achievements
With support from a second MAS specialist David Roberts of Director Resource, Mailway educated employees in lean manufacturing techniques, implemented Kaizen improvement teams, undertook management training in leadership and introduced a flatter organisational structure. This resulted in:

Restored profitability;

29% improvement in sales;
21% improvement in gross margin;
58% reduction in set-up times;
42% increase in through-put; and
Increased capacity

Making it Happen
Work began with Director Resource training Mailway employees in lean manufacturing techniques. Following this, a number of Kaizen improvement teams were formed. Equipped with new skills and motivation, the Kaizen improvement teams worked with Director Resource to improve changeover times to enable Mailway to manufacture more efficiently in smaller batch sizes. To do this, they undertook a SMED set-up reduction programme.

To tackle the culture at Mailway, leadership training and development was given to the management team and the organisational structure flattened. Regular one-to-one mentoring took place between manufacturing Specilaist David Roberts and the new Mailway production manager, enabling David to transfer his experience and best practice into Mailway.

"Our aim was to reduce costs, restore profitability, and get all our employees involved in business improvement. Working closely with MAS has certainly helped us to do that."
Richard Bramma, Managing Director

Norwood Textiles - 28/03/2007

Company Profile
Norwood Textiles has been trading for over 18 years, manufacturing and supplying household curtain and textile products. Despite a highly competitive market, the company has grown strongly over the last 18 months. Key to this has been the ability to offer a bespoke as well as a standardised product range, enabling the company to achieve a higher margin.

The company has a strong reputation for quality and service. It manufactures products under its own brand and under popular brands offered by many of the UK’s premier high street multiples.

Looking to the future, the company is seeking to grow its business operation through design, innovation and best in class customer service levels. At the same time it must continue to find ways to cut its production costs and operate in a more efficient manner.

Key Achievements
With support from MAS Associates PDA Management Consultants Norwood Textiles modernised their factory layout and adopted cellular manufacturing. This led to improved workflow, a reduction in work in progress levels and improved fabric storage facilities, resulting in:

£28,000 pa increase in value added to date;
10% increase in productivity;
Gross margin improved by 1.5%;
Deliveries consistently in excess of 95% being made on-time;
Customer lead-times reduced from 10 to 7 days; and
Reduced work in progress.

Making it Happen
The company had already considered that re-organising their factory into a cellular format would improve fabric storage facilities, workflow and reduce work in progress. They sought external guidance from MAS Associate Mike Brook of PDA Management Consultants to facilitate this change.

With support from Mike, Norwood produced a scaled down version of the existing factory layout and machinery. Variations of the layout were then investigated and an initial solution proposed.

The management team approved the revised factory layout and the factory was shut down for a week whilst the new lines were set up. This was done to ensure minimum disruption to output.

The new lines were appraised for ‘leanness’ and appropriate improvement targets established to monitor performance.

Team working principles were implemented and work study techniques were used to establish new standards for custom made, next and ready made lines.

The company achieved significant improvements through this project and a new group bonus scheme was introduced to reward employees for their
contributions.

"After the introduction of custom made products, our objectives were to improve the overall factory efficiency and workflow and reduce work in progress and the lead times to customers. With the help of the MAS diagnostic, we identified that introduction of cellular manufacturing, team-working principles and accurate standard times would help to significantly reduce our throughput time."
Peter Annison, Director

Produmax - 28/03/2007

Company Profile
Produmax is a precision sub-contract engineering company and has been trading for over 40 years. They specialise in complex machined parts made from a range of steels, titanium and aluminium alloys and supply predominantly to the aerospace industry.

If Produmax had a motto it would be something like “Give us the most complex components; we will machine it if others can’t”. The organisation thrives on production engineering challenges.

Background
The company’s sales are currently made up of aerospace, telecoms and medical products and machined components and assemblies are delivered to a wide range of clients in these sectors. Component batch sizes can vary from one-off orders to over 1000 in quantity. Produmax are keen to increase their sales in assembled components and production engineering services in the future.

The organisation already had a dynamic management and shop floor team who were technically and process driven, and had invested heavily in machine tools for a small organisation.

However, Jeremy Ridyard, the Managing Director, knew there were opportunities for further improvement at Produmax. He was also sure that the key was to involve employees, utilising the huge levels of experience and skill of the workforce in order to implement changes throughout the organisation. MAS gave invaluable assistance here.

Key Achievements
As a result of the Continuous Improvement Project, the company has achieved the following:

• 7 man continuous improvement team set up in the milling cells.

• Implementation of 5S:

o Time taken to find tools and fixtures reduced.
o Appearance of shop-floor much improved.
o Increased pride in work place.
o £2k reduction in tool spend per month from £11k

• Improved set-up methods:

o Many set-up times reduced by up-to 85%.
o Better information for tool set-ups
o Working towards better pre-machining business processes.

• Produmax recently won new machining and assembly contracts worth £3M. Jeremy believes this would not have happened without the support from MAS.

Making it Happen
To begin implementing culture change across the business, a continuous improvement team was formed involving several key members of staff. The team were instrumental in putting changes in place on the shop floor and within the business processes.

Initially the team concept was met with some uncertainty, but once the staff realised that it enabled them to work towards putting in place some of the changes they had been asking about for some time, the level of scepticism reduced.

An early challenge set for the team was to run a pilot 5S project in the canteen. This was actually harder than anticipated; the difficulty is always to sustain the improvements once they have been introduced.

Finding the time to put the project actions in place between the training sessions was challenging for team members. In Jeremy’s view this was not optional to the job; improvement work needed to become part of the job. The use of MAS specialists was critical here to maintain the ongoing momentum.
The weekly meetings and techniques used, whilst straight forward, gave the team a structured approach to putting changes in place. Most people in the organisation were involved in the project in some way. A number of obstacles were encountered but the team learnt to work through them in order to make progress.

"The early apprehension and suspicion subsided as the team making changes that have improved both the working environment and techniques used for working more efficiently"
Peter Watmough, Operator

Torres Engineering and Pumps Ltd - 28/03/2007

Company Profile
Torres Engineering and Pumps Ltd was established in Sheffield in March 1981, manufacturing specialised industrial pumps. These pumps are designed and produced in Sheffield, and are approved by the "Made in Sheffield" brand for quality goods.

Background
The newly introduced government ATEX Directive (94/9/EC) applies to equipment which is used in potentially explosive atmospheres.

There are thousands of Torres manufactured pumps in use, in situations where ATEX would apply.

Torres had to prove compliance on design and performance of their pumps to be awarded ATEX certification and to safeguard their future as a pump manufacturer.
As pump engineers, Torres Pumps knew their products were technically compliant and that they could provide the relevant information. The complications arose in obtaining official certification, which is where MAS were approached to assist.

The cost of obtaining certification was kept to a minimum by doing much of the work in-house - the only costs involved were the consultation fees.

These initial costs have already started to be recovered through the additional business generated since Torres became “ATEX Approved”.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 10 day process and performance management project, the company have achieved the following improvements:

• Value added per person has increased by £2,200

• New orders have been received from the Oil and Chemical Industries

• A high national and international company profile has been achieved through exhibiting in Belgium for the first time with ATEX approval

• Overall sales have increased by £60,000

• Reinforced confidence in their products has improved staff morale and determination

Making it Happen
Objective:- To produce technical documentation in compliance with the ATEX Directive 94/9/EC (equipment for use in potentially explosive atmospheres).

The pump model chosen for the project was the Phantom 60, a popular mid range pump suited to a variety of uses.

Design drawings outlining the pump manufacture were produced along with figures, production documents and health and safety requirements to form the basis of a technical dossier.

An Ignition Hazard assessment (identifying potential fire sources) was carried out. Installation, operating and maintenance instructions were generated to ensure safe operation of the product by the end user.

A typical ‘Phantom 60’ pump was then manufactured in house, and operating temperatures under both normal and extreme conditions were measured.

These figures were added to the technical dossier and following considered by ATEX, certification was awarded to the Phantom 60’ pump.

"We wanted to meet the new legislation demands on industry and felt the need to satisfy our customers in a developing marketplace. In addition, we saw it as being of great benefit to our company"
Dawn Torres, Sales Manager

G & J Hall - 23/03/2007

Company Profile
G & J Hall is a well established, privately owned business that manufactures a range of specialised precision cutting tools for professional tradesmen. With a turnover of £4.2M, the company is based in Sheffield, employs 73 people and exports internationally.

Background
In early 2005 G & J Hall attended a MAS Lean Manufacturing workshop which highlighted the challenges facing UK manufacturing companies and the need to develop and deploy an effective response strategy.

The company’s business performance had come under pressure from low cost manufacturers and the impact of globalisation and needed an effective strategy to respond to these challenges.

Discussions between MAS associate David Roberts and the company identified the need for a strategic intervention, covering 3 key areas:

• Working with Board members to develop a new business strategy.

• Developing a leadership programme to lead the changes.

• Working with team leaders and operators on a Lean programme in line with the manufacturing strategy.

MAS associates David Roberts and Peter Burns ran an Interactive strategic workshop with the senior Directors. This taught the team the fundamentals of strategic planning techniques and applied these to the company. The Directors then developed a company strategic plan which was communicated to employees as a vision for the company to follow.

After this initial work the senior management team were involved in a leadership programme to prepare them for leading the change process, deploying the policy throughout the business, (using Hoshin Kanri policy deployment methods).

Fred Bradbury then introduced a manufacturing cell improvement programme with the objective of achieving ‘one piece part flow’.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 30 day manufacturing improvement project, the company achieved the following improvements:

• Sales have grown by £200K

• A strategic plan that meets the global challenge has been deployed

• Productivity gain from 24 pieces per hour to 51 pieces per hour

• Lead time reduction of 95% for average order size of 500 pieces

• 90% reduction in distance travelled in production

• Overall equipment effectiveness has improved by 20%

• Stock is targeted to reduce by 33% in the first phase.

• Staff morale has improved

"An enjoyable and rewarding challenge."
Niel Tilney, Settler Operator

Footprint Tools - 20/03/2007

Company Profile
Footprint Tools has been manufacturing in Sheffield for over 100 years. Employing 80 staff, the company’s business involves the manufacture of hand tools.

Over the years, the company has faced increasing competition from low cost labour economies such as China. Coupled with increases to the price of steel, gas and electricity, the company is now facing a significant challenge to improve its efficiency and productivity so that it can remain a competitive player in the ‘hand tools’ market.

In tackling these challenges, the senior management also recognised the need to address the traditional nature of its workforce and practices to identify the need for change and what would be required of everyone for the company to achieve its improvement ambitions.

Key Achievements
The project has helped to educate everyone on the shop floor about the need for change. This has led to improved involvement and commitment and a more enthusiastic approach to muiti-skilling and teamwork. As a result, Footprint have achieved the following benefits:

£20,000 increased value added per person;

Reduction in set-up times from 5 hours to 1.5 hours;

Batch sizes reduced from 10,000 to 2,000;

37.5% improvement in lead times;

4% improvement in overall equipment effectiveness; and

16 jobs safeguarded.

Making it Happen
The project began with the selection of a group of Footprint employees, who were interviewed to establish their perception of the issues facing the company. Following this, a project team was put together comprising of Managers, Foremen and Operators. This team were trained in lean tools and techniques and helped to use value stream mapping to identify areas for process improvement on the wrench production process. The analysis concluded that there were two areas on the shop floor that had the most significant potential for improvement.

A team was formed to run a SMED set-up reduction project. The aim of the project was to reduce change-over times, lift capacity and reduce lead times and work in progress. The team videoed the whole process and used the footage to identify and make a series of changes. This resulted in a process that was much easier to perform and a 3 hour reduction in set up times.

The project also involved the formation of a cell to create one-piece part flow. The layout of the cell was designed by Footprint Tools, with the help of the MAS specialists. The new cell processes eliminated waste and unnecessary human and product movement, and significantly removed non-value adding activities.

"Lean management has made me use the time available to work better, by having everything together that you need so you don’t waste time. Also we don’t need a mountain of inventory to get the orders needed out. However, trying to get others to work the same is harder than expected."
Audrey Morton, Machine Operator

Hepworth Building Products - 19/03/2007

Company Profile
Hepworth Building Products is one of the UK’s leading companies in the manufacture and supply of high quality plumbing and drainage products. In 2005 it was acquired by Wavin, the European market leader in plastic pipe systems.

Background
The Edlington, Doncaster, site which manufactures the injection moulded components, is a large user of energy and operates 24 hours per day. The company has made a positive decision to reduce the site energy consumption. A review of the opportunities to decrease expenditure on energy identified a number of initiatives which could save up to £40,000 per annum. One of these was to implement automatic shutdown on the granulators.

Injection moulding inevitably produces some scrap resulting from set ups and sprues (the short pieces of plastic from the feed to the body of the moulding). These are recycled by grinding up and mixing with new plastic granules.

The largest manufacturing cell has two such granulators (one for each colour) which were left running 24 hours per day so that the operators could regrind and recirculate the scrap. However, the material had to clear both hopper and granulator before it could be switched off.

Malcolm Lambert, the Maintenance Manager, sought help from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) on identifying how to design and implement this automatic shutdown. MAS requested their energy specialist, Alex Mardapittas of EMS, to provide this assistance.

Initial data logging on one machine confirmed that significant savings could be made and a controller was design and assembled. This was fitted and the modified machine was again monitored and a further modification identified, before fitting a similar controller to the second granulator in the cell.

Following on from this assistance, the company are receiving further help from MAS to reduce energy costs with a lighting optimiser project.

Key Achievements
As a result of the 10 day manufacturing improvement project, the company achieved the following improvements:
• Energy savings of £2,326 were achieved.

• Additional value added of £2,326.

• A reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 25 tonnes per annum.

Making it Happen
Initial data logging was undertaken on one machine and produced the result shown below.
Over the entire 22 hour period the motor was left running despite the unit not being used to granulate for a large part of that time. The data was analysed and showed that the motor was running off load for 47% of the monitored period, but even when granulating was very lightly loaded.

An Automatic Shutdown System to control the operation of the Granulator was designed. The main function was to monitor the load on the motor and switch the machine off, if it were not utilised within a given period.

The system was fitted and the timer set as requested by the operators so that it did not switch off until 10 minutes after the load came off the Motor. The modified machine was again monitored and identified that there was still a small load when not granulating. This was identified as the extractor fan for the hopper which was then rewired to switch off when the Granulator switched off.
This further monitoring allowed the savings to be calculated. A similar controller was then designed and installed for the second granulator in the cell.

The measurement identified that the unit is now running for only 28% of the monitored period producing a saving over both machines of £2326 per annum. The average current increased slightly due to the unit being loaded more heavily when switched on.

"MAS provided us with the practical assistance when we needed it to help us reduce our expenditure."
Malcolm Lambert, Maintenance Manager

Gentronix Limited - 14/02/2007

Invested Amount: £300,000
Sector – medical
Stage - Early Expansion
Fund – NWBIS
Location – Manchester

Gentronix is a UMIST spin-out company, and an innovative biotechnology company, helping to accelerate the pace of drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry.

iPLATO Limited - 14/02/2007

Location: Westminster
Total initial investment: £150,000, December 2005

Tobias Alpsten, founder and managing director runs the business together with business partner Martin Rowden, director of operations and finance. Headquartered in London, where a small marketing and sales team is located, the company has a development centre outside Prague in the Czech Republic.

iPLATO has developed and operates a secure and scalable mobile SMS platform that enables improved communication between health care professionals and their patients.. It includes service modules such as automated appointment reminders, repeat prescription reminders, test result notification and tools for creating and running healthcare information campaigns for flu-jabs and smoking cessation. The company’s R&D pipeline includes a range of applications that support patients with long term conditions such as diabetes, asthma and heart conditions.

What impressed us…

Skilled management dedicated to the healthcare sector.
Award winning technology with proven return on investment
The only SMS provider hosted within NHSnet
Scope for significant national and international expansion

PDD Innovations Limited - 14/02/2007

Location: Hammersmith, London
Total initial investment: £250,000 (13th March 2006)

PDD Innovations Ltd is developing a new infusion pump which differs from existing pump formats by using a fixed displacement pump integrated into the disposable delivery set. The pump also has wide applications in areas such as food processing, laboratory equipment and chemical dosing.

The SECTA technology is a rotary, positive displacement pump, with only one moving part, designed for high accuracy and very low cost and forms part of a disposable “active” delivery set. The SECTA pump delivery set is attached to a low-cost rotary motor and controller, requires no calibration and can be disposed of by the usual incineration process after use. The SECTA pump delivery set does not require the sophisticated computer algorithms of current pumps for mechanical wear, temperature and pressure compensation.

The Company’s initial focus is on the development of the infusion pump and identifying opportunities for licensing of the technology in other applications.

What impressed us…

Disruptive technology
Track record of CEO in product design and innovation
Product at the prototype stage
Interest in the technology by leading companies in the market

Cater Plus Services - 23/01/2007

Cater Plus Services

Fund: BSC VCT & BSTC VCT2
Location: Watford
Stage: Follow on
Sector: Services: MBO/MBI

YFM Private Equity backed the acquisition of contract catering
services provider Cater Plus Services Limited.

The business was established in 1991 suppling catering, procurement, housekeeping, training and consultancy services to a wide range of care homes, shelters and schools.

The management team aim to further expand the business throughout the UK, with an office already opened in Crewe. With over 50 customer premises, the company now has the financial backing to extend its reliable high-quality service across the country and into new markets.

“The breadth of knowledge and expertise within the new management team will help to generate significant opportunities to allow for rapid growth without losing the qualities and reputation that the business has established over the past 15 years” Nigel Barraclough- YFM Private Equity

“The opportunity to take a stake in Cater Plus Services and grow a business with a strong operational and financial platform in a sector we are familiar with is one that we are very excited about. It is our intention to continue the business’ high standards of service delivery and quality of freshly prepared food that is enjoyed by our customers’’ employees, residents, clients and pupils” Mr. Lovett, MD

"The breadth of knowledge and expertise within the new management team will help to generate significant opportunities to allow for rapid growth without losing the qualities and reputation that the business has established over the past 15 years"
Nigel Barraclough- YFM Private Equity

Avanti Screenmedia - 01/01/2007

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: March 2003
Sector: Communication
Stage: AIM
Fund: The Capital Fund
YFM Group Investment: £250k
Deal Size: £1.2m
AIM Float: July 2004
Turnover: £10.2m [2008, for the de-merged group]
Status: Partial realisation
Location: London

Launched in 1995, Avanti uses satellite broadcasting technology to bring tailored video programming to retailers, bars and shopping centres. The group enjoyed strong demand for its services and raised some funding from angel investors, but chief executive David Williams wanted to secure extra finance and venture capital support.
As a former investment banker, Williams expected little problem in finding a venture capital partner. But he approached around 240 potential investors before coming to YFM Group. YFM Group’s investment team quickly saw the potential in the business.

YFM Group led a £1.2m investment package with £250,000 equity investment from The Capital Fund, the regional venture capital fund for London. The syndicated deal also included financial and strategic investors, including HSBC Bank, and existing investors.

YFM Group identified John French, chairman of three AIM companies, as the ideal non-executive director to help the company in the next stage of its growth. French played a key role in bringing Avanti to the public market to raise further funds.

With YFM Group guidance, Avanti floated on AIM in July 2004. The flotation attracted some major institutional investors, and gave Avanti the resources to accelerate its growth plans. YFM Group invested £500,000 in Avanti shares on flotation, confirming its long-term commitment to the company’s business plan.

"YFM Group had a clear set of objectives and moved swiftly to a decision. This decisiveness was refreshing, and we found that after the investment they worked hard to add value to our business, through introductions, networking events, and advice. They have been supportive, diligent and trustworthy shareholders - traits that I have seen in their attitude towards other YFM Group investees as well."
David Williams, CEO, Avanti Screenmedia

Touch Clarity Limited - 11/10/2006

Venture Finance case study

The Capital Fund have now successfully exited Touch Clarity
Investment Date: January 2004
Sector: Computer software
Stage: Follow on
YFM Group Investment: £250k [in first round]
Fund: The Capital Fund
Deal Size: £3.6m [in follow-on round]
Location: London

Touch Clarity uses artificial intelligence to allow consumer-facing websites to automatically target visitors with optimal content and propositions. The firm&39;s software has helped its customers increase their sales by up to 70%. Founded in London in 2000, the company serves blue chip clients such as MSN, BT and HSBC.

The firm&39;s managers heard about YFM Group through one of the group&39;s investment managers. When they needed development capital, they applied online for funding from The Capital Fund, the regional venture capital fund for London, managed by YFM Group.

The Capital Fund&39;s managers were impressed by the uniqueness of the Touch Clarity marketing automation software, the experience of its management team and the quality of its clients. They backed their judgement with an initial £250,000 equity investment.

The investment allowed Touch Clarity to accelerate its growth and develop new products at a critical point in the business&39;s development. The support of YFM Group helped put the company in a position to raise further funding from major international venture capitalists.

Six months after the initial investment, Touch Clarity closed a follow-on round of 6.7 million led by technology specialists JVP and Alta Berkeley. The Capital Fund joined the syndicate and increased its investment.

In February 2007 Omniture, a leading provider of online business optimization software, acquired Touch Clarity.

"The Capital Fund provided us with the necessary financial independence to pursue a larger funding round to take the business to the next level."
Paul Philips, founder, Touch Clarity

Ad.IQ Limited - 11/10/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: December 2005
Sector: Communications
Stage: Expansion
YFM Group Investment: £250k
Fund : The Capital Fund
Deal Size: £1.5m [including follow-on round]
Status: Ongoing
Location: London

Established in 2002, Ad.IQ has developed software systems that analyse and respond to mobile phone messages generated by advertising campaigns. If a consumer responds to an advert by sending a text message, Ad,IQ's systems will extract their details, forward their request to the advertiser, and return an immediate reply. The company's services can reduce costs and increase customer response rates by up to 40%.

Ad.IQ secured blue chip clients including Ford, Oxfam and Metropolitan Police, but chief executive Tim Carrigan realised that the company needed outside investment to improve its products and expand into Europe. His advisors at technology investment bank GP Bullhound identified The Capital Fund, the regional venture capital fund for London managed by YFM Group, as the ideal partner.

Recognising the high growth potential of Ad.IQ's products and the quality of its management team, the YFM Group team invested £250,000 equity from The Capital Fund.

As well as providing the capital to allow Ad.IQ to grow, YFM Group provided management support to help the team make the most of the investment.

With YFM Group support, Ad.IQ closed a full-scale follow-on round of fundraising in March 2006. Technology specialist Oxford Capital Partners and Noble Fund Managers invested a total of £1.25 million.

"The Capital Fund has provided excellent support for Ad.IQ. They were willing to provide the risk capital we need to grow our business, and we are delighted that they have chosen to come on board."
Tim Carrigan, CEO, Ad.IQ

One Small Step One Giant Leap - 11/10/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: January 2005
Sector: Consumer: retail
Stage: Expansion
YFM Group Investment: £250k
Fund: The Capital Fund
Total deal Size: £1m
Turnover: £850k [2004]
Status: Ongoing
Location: London

Founded in 2002, One Small Step One Giant Leap (OSSOGL) sells quality children&39;s shoes from designer stores in fashionable neighbourhoods. The firm was founded in 2002 by an experienced management team led by Nick Schwefel, who as retail director at Accessorize grew the chain from five stores to 140.

OSSOGL successfully opened four stores in London and one in Bath with the help of a private backer, but the firm needed extra funding to roll the business out nationwide. Schwefel began to look for a venture capital partner.

Schwefel approached The Capital Fund, the regional venture capital fund for London managed by YFM Group. The YFM Group team was impressed by the depth of retail experience of the managers, and the performance of the existing stores.

YFM Group led the deal, investing £250,000 from The Capital Fund. High net worth individuals working with the fund as a trusted investment partner invested a further £750,000.

OSSOGL now has the resources to continue its plan to open at least 20 stores nationwide.

Since the initial investment, OSSOGL has raised further rounds of funding and has expanded its site base considerably, with more than 10 outlets. Concession outlets now form an important part of its profile and include the prestigious children’s shoe concession in Harrods, along with Bentalls, Kingston and House of Fraser in Dublin. Turnover has grown significantly and was £4.3m in 2008, with further growth being seen in the first few months of 2009.

"We now have four stores in London, this round of funding will allow us to expand further within the M25 and beyond. "
Nich Schwefel, Managing Director, One Small Step One Giant Leap

Go Outdoors Limited - 08/09/2006

Private Equity case study

Investment Date: June 1998
Fund: British Smaller Companies VCT (BSC VCT)
Stage: MBO
Sector: retail
YFM Group Investment: £500,000
Total Deal Size: £1.5m
Status: Ongoing
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Go Outdoors, a long-established camping and caravanning store, has grown to become one of the UK's largest independent retailers of outdoor activities products.

YFM Group invested in the buyout of Sheffield-based CCC in 1998, backing incumbent manager John Graham and serial entrepreneur Paul Caplan.

With YFM Group's support, the CCC team substantially expanded the business by acquiring established stores and opening new outlets. The group now operates from six sites across the North and the Midlands, and has sold online since 2001. The group was rebranded as Go Outdoors in 2005 to better reflect its expanding range of clothing and other products for the outdoor leisure market.

YFM Group invested £500,000 equity from its British Smaller Companies VCT, and brought in debt finance and a working capital facility from the Midland Bank (now HSBC).

YFM Private Equity's local presence made it the first port of call for CCC's Sheffield advisors. Providing hands on help through the Non-Executive Director from day one.

YFM Private Equity provided a further £55k equity investment to support the group's acquisition programme in 2002. The flexibility enabled rescheduled debt and preference share redemptions, recognising the changing circumstances of the growing company.

UK Explorer - 29/08/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: March 2004
Sector: Communications Technology
YFM Group Investment: £250k
Stage: Development Capital
Fund: The Capital Fund
Total deal Size: £500k
Status: Exited
Location: London

UK Explorer provides wired and wireless internet access for hotels and airports. The business was founded in 1998 by a team of young first-time entrepreneurs headed by Richard Stubbs.

The managers funded early growth from their own pockets, and secured business angel investment in 2000. The firm built up a network of over 500 units in the UK and overseas, with blue chip clients including Compass Group, BAA and Holiday Inn.

But to meet demand in a rapidly growing market, the firm needed outside investment. The team's advisors introduced them to YFM Group.

The YFM Group team used their technology experience and industry contacts to analyse the market for public internet terminals. They decided that UK Explorer was well positioned to become a market leader.

YFM Group led a £500,000 funding package, investing £250,000 equity from The Capital Fund, the regional venture capital fund for London. The package also included lease finance and angel investment from high net worth individuals.

Less than a year after YFM Group investment, UK Explorer was approached by leading internet kiosk operator Spectrum Interactive. The managers and the YFM Group investors agreed that the time was ripe to sell the business to a larger player. The managers made a highly satisfactory exit, while The Capital Fund made a 30% return on its investment.

"The YFM Group’s investment played a vital role in our expansion, enabling us to realise a number of significant contract opportunities and double our internet access points in one year"
Richard Stubbs, Managing Director, UK Explorer

Happy Days Consultancy Limited - 24/08/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: December 2003
Sector –other
Stage – Development Capital
YFM Group Investment: £250k
Fund – South West Ventures Fund (SWVF)
Status: Ongoing
Location: Newquay, Cornwall

Happy Days began looking after pre-schoolers in Cornwall over 15 years ago. The group has grown from a single site to become one of the largest providers of high-quality childcare in the South West, with a string of nurseries and an out-of-school club for older children.

By 2003, Happy Days was firmly established throughout Cornwall, and planned to roll out into Devon and beyond.. Robin Karkeek, one of the founders of Happy Days, approached Business Link Devon and Cornwall to assist the company prepare a revised Business Plan. This indicated additional equity capital was required to achieve the desired growth rate and the company was introduced YFM Group’s office in the South West at Bristol. In December 2003, £250k was invested from the South West Ventures Fund, the regional venture capital fund for the South West of England.

A Non-executive Director, Bill Hodgins was introduced to Happy Days at the time of SWVF’s investment. Bill had previous Finance Director experience in a fast growing and successful group in the nursery sector. His experience has been invaluable in helping the team to put in place the organisation and processes needed to manage a high growth business successfully.

At the end of 2005, Happy Days provided nearly 900 places in 17 nurseries, and is on track to add a further 1,000 places by the end of 2006. The group is also preparing to open five children's centres and a training academy, and is winning NHS contracts across the South West.

"After receiving funding from the South West Venture Fund, Happy Days Nurseries has continued to expand its business. The funding has meant that our plans for significant expansion have been realised and we have doubled in size."
Robin Karkeek, Managing Director, Happy Days Nurseries

VQ Communications Limited - 24/08/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: April 2006
Sector: Manufacturing
Stage: Start up
Fund: South West Ventures Fund
YFM Group Investment: £250,000
Status: Ongoing
Location: Chippenham, Wiltshire

VQ Communications provides internet-based video-conferencing services to help businesses communicate more efficiently. The group is headquartered in Chippenham with an office in the US.

VQ's team of experienced managers and technologists began developing their system in 2001, funded largely from their own resources. Clients pay a monthly fee to use the hosted IP-based service, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. Unlike competing systems, it can use virtually any network or device and is not limited by company firewalls.

By early 2006, VQ was beginning to roll out its services to banking, health and education businesses across Europe and the US, via a network of approved resellers. VQ needed funding to establish an international distribution network and for marketing. YFM Group was introduced to the company through a private investor group specialising in the telcoms and software sectors

YFM Group invested £250,000 from the South West Ventures Fund, the regional venture capital fund for the South West of England.
Significant funding from the directors and also from private investors. (No debt)

YFM Group support gives VQ the resources to reach its aims of signing up 10,000 customers within two years and securing a significant share of the rapidly expanding market for video-conferencing.

"We are delighted that the South West Ventures Fund is backing both our product and our prediction that we can deliver substantial growth over the coming years."
Giles Adams, CEO, VQ Communications

Winder Power Limited - 24/08/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: June 2005
Sector: Manufacturing
Stage: MBO
YFM Group Investment: £250k
Fund: Yorkshire & Humber Equity Fund
Total deal Size: £1,090,000
Status: Ongoing
Turnover: £8m [2004]
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire

Winder Power is the new parent company of Winder Electrical and Newton Derby, two long-established engineering firms. The businesses specialise in the design and manufacture of power generation and electrical equipment, with customers including water and power utilities and the Ministry of Defence. Although the businesses were profitable, their previous parent suffered severe cashflow problems and entered administration in early 2005.

The management team, led by chairman Richard Asquith, stepped in to rescue the two businesses with a management buyout. The team's advisors at McInnes Corporate Finance approached YFM Group for funding.

Investment managers at YFM Group backed the buyout with £250,000 from the Yorkshire & Humber Equity Fund. Further funding came from asset-based lender Enterprise Finance Europe.

YFM Group’s rapid investment process meant that the deal was completed with no interruption of production and no job losses among the 75-strong workforce at the two companies.

The buyout gives Winder Power a secure foundation to realise the full potential of the two businesses. The firms are continuing to win new business, including a contract with United Utilities worth around £3 million.

Sarian Systems - 24/08/2006

Private Equity case study

Investment Date: March 2000
YFM Group Investment: £833k
Sector: Communications
Stage: early-stage
Fund: British Smaller Technology Companies VCT
Deal Size: £500k first round
£333k in second round
Status: Ongoing
Location: Ilkley, West Yorkshire

Sarian Systems is headed by Andrew Hood, an experienced IT and technology entrepreneur. The firm was established in 2000 to target the ISDN market, the fastest-growing area of telecoms at that time. It has since grown into the UK’s leading manufacturer of wired and wireless communication products for mission critical transactions.

YFM Private Equity backed Hood and his team with a total equity investment of £500,000 to drive early-stage expansion, and an additional £333,000 follow-on finance.

YFM Private Equity put together the best package of funds to back this promising start-up. The deal was led from YFM Group’s British Smaller Technology Companies VCT with a £200,000 investment. Other funds managed by YFM Group including the HSBC Enterprise Fund and the Yorkshire Fund, made up the total.

As well as active support from a Non-Executive Director, YFM Group provided follow-on second round funding of £333k in 2002.

Sarian has adapted to the changing telecoms market and is now the UK's leading manufacturer of IP routers for mission-critical applications. Turnover, profits and cashflow have grown consistently, with customers including BP, BT and American Express.

"Five years on, the company has been through significant growth with turnover almost trebling in the last three years. At all stages of growth, including the inevitable bumps, we have always found YFM Group to be ready to support, help and advise the executive management team and, perhaps even more importantly, to be ready to 'think outside the box' and offer a different perspective on key business issues. A good VC investor should not be a source of finance to a business but also a truly useful asset to the management team and I am happy to say that YFM Group have substantially exceeded our expectations in that regard"

Andrew Hood, Managing Director, Sarian Systems

"YFM Group�s approach stood out as clear, open and thoroughly professional and has remained so. Rather than just answer, and ask, the obvious questions they took a step further even during the assessment process by providing us with a range of other help including assistance in recruiting key management staff, technology reviews with other business contacts and real help in day-to-day business start-up issues."
Andrew Hood, Managing Director, Sarian Systems

Nanosight Limited - 24/08/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: October, 2005
Stage: Expansion
YFM Group Investment: £150,000
Fund: South West Ventures Fund
Sector: biotechnology
Total deal Size: £500,000
Status: Ongoing
Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire

Salisbury-based Nanosight produces laboratory instruments for fast-growing areas of nanotechnology. The group's patent-protected technology allows researchers to detect and analyse tiny particles at around a tenth of the cost of using an electron microscope.

Nanosight's instruments are used by blue chip clients in the bioscience, electronics, cosmetics and energy industries, as well as by world-class universities. The rapidly growing nanoparticle manufacturing industry is potentially a huge and lucrative market for Nanosight, but the group needed outside investment to expand its sales efforts.

Nanosight had attracted the interest of technology specialist Strathdon Investments, but needed further funding. YFM Group had been talking to Nanosight separately many months before, along with their track record and profile within the venture capital industry this made YFM Group a natural choice as co-investor.

Investment managers at YFM Group’s Bristol office invested £150,000 from the South West Ventures Fund, the regional venture capital fund for the South West of England.

Nanosight is now able to target the nanoparticle manufacturing industry with a dedicated marketing effort. This industry is currently worth over $20 billion a year, and is expected to grow by a factor of 10 or 100 over the next five years. The group is also targeting the security market by developing applications for virus detection.

OchreSoft Technologies Limited - 24/08/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: September 2005
Stage: Expansion
Sector: Computer Software Technology
YFM Group Investment: £250,000
Fund: South West Ventures Fund
Total deal Size: £1m
Status: Ongoing
Location: Swindon, Wiltshire

OchreSoft develops software to help law firms handle documents and manage risk in everyday areas of their practice. The Swindon-based business was founded in 2003 as a spin-out from BPE Solicitors of Cheltenham, a leading conveyancing firm.

The company's first product, Icon, dealt specifically with conveyancing. The group has now developed a more flexible workflow package called Intelliworks which can cover a much wider range of legal applications such as wills, re-mortgages and personal injury claims.

OchreSoft decided to raise venture capital to develop the full range of applications and to market its products to smaller law firms who hadn't previously used such systems.

YFM Group's contacts in and background knowledge of the IT and legal markets allowed the investment managers to recognise OchreSoft's products as filling a niche in a specialised market.

YFM Group’s Bristol office led a £1 million funding round with £250,000 equity from the South West Ventures Fund, the regional venture capital fund for South West England. The round also included new investment from OchreSoft's directors and from external private investors.

OchreSoft's software is now being used by an increasing number of law firms, with the new Intelliworks package giving small firms capabilities that were previously out of their reach. The group is also leading the innovative VirtualFirm initiative, designed to help small law firms keep pace with the increasing demands of technology.

"Our faith in our product has been endorsed by the South West Ventures Fund. This additional funding will help us to grow our customer base."
Clive McCafferty, CEO, OchreSoft Technologies

Harlands of Hull Limited - 22/08/2006

Venture Finance case study

Investment Date: October 2, 2003
Sector: Manufacturing
Stage: MBO
Fund/Scheme: Yorkshire & Humber Equity Fund (YHEF) / British Smaller Companies VCT (BSC)/ Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS)
YFM Group Investment: £750,000
Total Deal Size: £4.5m
Trade Sale: June 2005
Status: Realisation
Location: Hull, UK

Harlands of Hull is one of the UK's leading printers of self-adhesive labels, with major customers in the pharmaceuticals, toiletries and cosmetics industries. Ian Wright joined as managing director in 2000, when Harlands was owned by print group Grenadier Holdings. Wright had led a restructuring and revival of the business, but wanted more investment and independence to take it to the next level.

YFM Group backed Wright in a management buy-out in October 2003, leading a total funding package of £4.5 million.

With YFM Group support, Wright's team invested in state-of-the-art printing presses, increased productivity, grew its workforce, and won a string of industry awards.

International packaging group Clondalkin identified Harlands as a highly desirable strategic acquisition and paid £8.5 million for the business in June 2005. The deal gives Harlands increased access to global markets and to Clondalkin's resources.

YFM Group invested £750,000 from its own funds, and introduced Bridges Community Ventures as a co-investor.

Ian Wright was well known to the YFM Group team as an experienced manager with a strong track record of building profitable businesses. This allowed YFM Group to make a prompt decision on backing him and his team.

The Manufacturing Advisory Service, managed by YFM Business Development, helped Harlands improve its productivity by introducing lean manufacturing and other innovative techniques.

"YFM Group helped us through two very difficult negotiations in the acquisition and sale processes, and proved to be a very supportive institutional investor. We literally couldn't have done it without them."
Ian Wright, Managing Director , Harlands of Hull

Great Northern Envelopes Company Limited - 22/08/2006

Private Equity case study

Investment Date: May 2005
Sector: Manufacturing
Stage: MBO
YFM Group Investment: £2.4m
Fund: Baring English Growth Fund North (BEGFN)
Turnover: £23m [2005]
Status: Ongoing
Location: Leeds, UK

Great Northern Envelopes (GNE) is a leading UK supplier of envelopes to major financial institutions and direct mail operators. Based in Leeds, it is widely recognised as one of the most innovative and flexible companies in its sector.

The team, led by managing director Warren Shermer, had made giant strides in developing the firm, doubling turnover in four years. Management got the green light to pursue a management buy-out of the business when GNE was deemed non-core by Adare Group.

YFM Group backed Shermer in a management buy-out (MBO) in May 2005, leading a funding package of equity, debt and ongoing banking facilities.

The deal allows GNE to develop its unique market position, and to invest further in meeting its customers' requirements.

YFM Group invested £2.4 million from the Baring English Growth Fund (North), and coordinated a funding package including equity co-investment from Matrix Private Equity and debt and ongoing facilities from Royal Bank of Scotland.

YFM Group brought in equity and debt funding from London and Manchester to back GNE.

As well as supporting the MBO, the funding package assembled by YFM Group allows GNE to purchase the specialist equipment it needs to capitalise on further market opportunities.

"We are delighted to be working with YFM Group. This transaction is supported with fresh investment in IT and machinery but, most importantly, people. It will enable GNE to maintain its market-leading quality of service."
Warren Shermer, managing director, GNE

Hargreaves (UK) plc - 08/08/2006

Private Equity case study

Investment Date: May 2004
Sector – Transportation
Stage – MBO
Fund – Barings English Growth Fund North (BEGFN)
YFM Group Investment: £3.5m
Deal Size: £19.2m
AIM Float: November 2005
Turnover: £87m [2005]
Status: Partial realisation
Location: County Durham

In the ten years following its founding in 1994, Hargreaves established itself as the largest independent bulk haulage company in Britain. The group has a national network of depots and facilities, and specialises in waste haulage and supplying and processing carbon-based minerals. Based in Esh Winning, County Durham, it is also one of the largest independent companies in North East England.

By 2004, owner and founder Bob Young wanted to take a back seat in the business and hand over control to the management team. Chief executive Gordon Banham and finance director Peter Dillon led the management buyout with support from YFM Group. YFM Group saw large potential with Hargreaves, they had strong barriers to market entry, a proven management team, attractive growth markets and potential for further acquisitions.

The Baring English Growth Fund, advised by YFM Group for the North of England, led the buyout package with £3.5 million equity investment. The investment team co-ordinated the £1million individual investments from members of the buy-out team, encouraged the management team to press ahead with plans for expansion and developed an acceptable exit strategy which involved planning for AIM listing.

Banham and his team rapidly grew Hargreaves through a series of strategic acquisitions, notably the purchase of the UK's last independent coke production unit from UK Coal.

Hargreaves floated on AIM in November 2005. The IPO was substantially oversubscribed, and ensures that the group has the funding to continue its ambitious expansion programme. The Baring English Growth Fund retained an equity stake worth over £5 million, confirming YFM Group's faith in the long-term value of the business.

The company continues to grow, jobs are secure, and the share price remains buoyant. For investors, shareholders and employees alike, the co-operation of Hargreaves and YFM Group had brought a new era of confidence to an ambitious company.

"We are pleased at the progress we have made to date and we value the support and advice that we have had from the YFM Group - in getting the MBO completed, negotiating the Monkton purchase and preparing for the IPO October 2006."
Gordon Banham, CEO, Hargreaves

Mattioli Woods plc - 01/11/2005

Mattioli Woods provides pensions consultancy and administration services primarily to owner-managers, senior executives and professional persons. The Group’s key activities include complex pensions consultancy, the provision of self-invested personal pensions (“SIPP”) and small self-administered pension schemes (“SSAS”) and advice on related business affairs. Its focus is at the higher end of the market where clients require bespoke service and specialist advice.

Action Indoor Sports Stadiums Limited - 18/01/1902

Portfolio Company: Action Indoor Sports
Fund: South West Ventures Fund
Location: Bristol
Stage: Start up
Sector: Services: Indoor sport & leisure facilities

Action Indoor Sports Stadiums, hosts of the Indoor Cricket World Cup 2007 and with Olympic standard beach volleyball training facilities, has benefited from funding by the YFM Group.

Action Indoor Sports Stadiums, based in Bristol, has secured £750,000 venture capital funding from the YFM Group. The investment was provided by two funds; £250,000 from the South West Ventures Fund and £500,000 from The Finance South West Growth Fund. In addition, Sport England has also provided a £250,000 grant, subject to completion of the final award conditions.

The unique business model, which has already taken Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan by storm, gives competitive grading to its players and offers both Olympic and popular sports such as football, netball, badminton and volleyball.

The funding from both The Finance South West Growth Fund and South West Ventures Fund will enable Actions Sports UK to achieve its goal of developing the site and provide a catalyst for expansion into the planned 27 sites throughout the UK and Ireland planned over the next few years.

"The investment from the YFM Group has meant that we can now fully take advantage of a leisure market in the UK that will be worth �1.5 billion by 2009"
Greg Van Laun, Managing Director

Atlas Genetics - 01/01/1900

Portfolio Company: Atlas Genetics
Location: Bristol
Stage – Early Expansion
Sector: Medical Diagostics
Fund – South West Ventures Fund

The company has secured £150,000 from the South West Ventures Fund. It has also received an additional £260,000 from private investors, including members of the South West Angel and Investor Network (SWAIN), plus £90,000 from GEIF (Great Eastern Investment Forum) Ventures.

Formed in 2005 as a spin-out from the University of Bath where it is based, Atlas Genetics is working on an innovative platform that will analyse a clinical sample taken from blood, urine or saliva using a test cartridge inserted into a small portable instrument. An electronic tag developed by the company automatically indicates the presence of DNA from the pathogen causing serious infectious diseases including MRSA and Meningitis.The technology developed by Atlas Genetics will allow hospitals and eventually GPs to perform such tests locally and make decisions about treatments within 30 minutes. Currently, hospitals and clinics can take up to 72 hours by which time patients may have become seriously ill.This funding round will enable Atlas, which employs seven staff and continues to work closely with academics and researchers at the University of Bath, to finalize the prototype of the test instrument.