2019Case13Alucraft

53 L EAN C ONSTRUCTION I RELAND A NNUAL B OOK OF C ASES 2019 Figure 4. Senior Management Team Vision and Mission Brainstorm Output Benefits of CI Programme • As part of our CI programme, the senior management team reviewed and updated the Vision and Mission Statements for the company. This was an important step for our team in defining, both internally and externally, what Alucraft do and to set a long-term goal for the future. We wanted to take the next step which involved setting new Guiding Principles (GP) for the Alucraft Group and defining what those values will mean to all individuals within our organisation. These GP will form the backbone of our organisation and, when implemented and demonstrated by each individual, will underpin the success of our vision for the future. • Brainstorming and the use of Post-its have become a regular exercise in meetings throughout the company outside of the CI identified projects as Lean thinking and its benefits has been adopted and embedded throughout the company. • While the primary objective of implementing Lean into our business is to see benefits to the bottom line, we noticed a massive culture shift within the company. The CI programme breathed a collaborative life into the business. Departments work together in greater harmony than they have done previously. Projects have had a knock-on effect as they have highlighted areas that need attention and have been added to the programme for 2019/2020. • We current ly have 10 people wi thin the company undergoing Green Belt training who will become part-time Lean Six Sigma programme members able to lead a cross- functional project team using a range of Lean Six Sigma project management, problem solving, and statistical analysis tools. • We have a CI board in the main thoroughfare of the building which houses information on completed, live, and upcoming projects. The board also houses the live projects’ A3s where the status of the project is easily identifiable with the use of visual aids. The visual aid selected was a simple traffic light system to indicate the current status against pre-set milestone dates. Regular CI briefings happen where project sponsors are accountable for updating board information and reporting the status of ongoing projects. These weekly briefings hold the team accountable and ensure that completion dates are met and that programmes are kept on track. Future of Lean in Alucraft The future of Lean looks bright in the Alucraft organisation: • We continuously engage more staff in the programme. • We are developing a number of Green Belts to carry the torch for Lean thinking in their departments and cross- functionally across the company. • Our UK office has set up its own CI programme and taken learnings from the Dublin office. • Our sister company, Williaam Cox, has also set up a CI programme, with many projects currently live and one of which is aimed at making the company paperless by September 2019. Figure 5. Williaam Cox CI Team