Testimonials

It has been an absolute pleasure to partner with you over the course of our Lean program.

I have benefited both personally and professionally from having the opportunity to be part of the Continuous Improvement journey at Bluebird (you won’t believe how organised my office looks right now!!)

We were approached by the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce in early 2014 to evaluate areas of our business with which we needed/wanted assistance.  We were very keen to investigate ways to improve our stock systems and it was at this point that they put us in contact with Peter Maunder of Improvement Direct.

What a fortuitous meeting!

We began working with Peter almost a year ago, with priority placed on the LEAN development of our stock systems and other processes, identifying the areas of “waste” that needed our attention. Latterly, we have also worked with Peter on our time management. Over a number of sessions, we have been made to look at the way we did things, to think outside the square and find solutions for ourselves. (RBP Funding supported training)

The time we have spent with Peter has been invaluable. He has a wealth of knowledge and this was clear to us right from the start. He quickly developed a rapport with our team and we have found the process incredibly worthwhile, respecting Peter’s thorough approach and depth of experience.

We have been charged with keeping the improvements coming but know that, should we ever need a boost, Peter is only a phone call away.

We have no hesitation in recommending Peter to anyone considering a sure fire way to improve their business systems.

We have called our Lean program Aria Continuous Improvement.

ACI has revolutionized our business and the way we all think. Doing things a better and a more efficient way is what we are about all the time, it is a great culture to have and work in...

...I have learnt how to organise a lot better not only at work but also at home and everyday life.

Learning better and more efficient ways to setting up systems. Keeping area’s tidy and having a purpose for everything. Learning kanban, 5 s’s, quick change, idea mapping, personal development, scheduling etc. Lewis (Factory Manager)

We at Puma Darts started our Lean journey almost 4 years ago, and at the time engaged Peter Maunder at Improvement Direct as our consultant to get us on the way... Whilst Peter was hands-on in getting things done, he was also hands-off enough to steer us and guide us in the right direction and let us find our own path as well.  I believe that is one of the key things with Lean with Improvement Direct.  It is very much 'your' project, they are just there to train and guide and assist on the journey.

The results we have had through Lean cannot be understated.  A huge improvement in not only the factory tidiness, organisation, layout and the practicalities of the Lean journey. Team morale, and company culture have made huge improvements and really brought us all together as a team.  For me, I think a big part of Lean journey is getting the involvement and commitment from staff buy-in from the start and get everybody working together.

As a result of that, and from the improvement ideas, set-ups, and training, we have substantially reduced cost across all departments (in some cases labour per unit has halved); done almost a complete re-layout of the dart area; moved machines, people; changed processes, production lines.   We have added not only to the efficiency of the operation, but also made things easier and more practical for our staff and also produced a better quality product.

Peter from Improvement Direct has been working with us for 4 years. While we didn’t have catastrophic failures we did realise we needed help to de-risk the things we could control.

Peter's first 12 months focused on implementing a Sales & Operations Planning structure. Before we implemented S&OP failure was no surprise, Failure is now rare and now we can see what has happened and what we need to do to stop recurrence. The S&OP processes are simple, robust and work. Customer satisfaction, as reassured by our NPS tracking, has improved by 28% in the past 3 years.

We then started a full Lean Implementation plan following Improvement Directs Worxsmart tm   Improvement Program. Peter has trained all employees in Lean / Worxsmart tools and has assisted with a wide range of improvement projects in all areas of the business. Worxsmart is now part of what we do and removes +$250,000 of waste every year. I recommend you give Peter a call if your systemic, sustainable improvement.

Thanks for your help over the last six months we have achieved, among other things:

A 30% reduction in set up times, A 50% reduction in assembly times.

A significantly improved meeting structure.

The improvement in communication throughout the company has been amazing.