Norfolk Island
Somehow ACIG managed to be front page news in Norfolk Island. And as for Peter Johnstone OAM? Well, we think we’re lucky to have him too….
NSW Sugar
Press Release – for immediate release
Contact Michelle Scott Tucker, ACIG 203 Drummond Street, Carlton VIC michelle [at] acig.com.au 03 9650 7222.
Great News – A Win For Rural Manufacturing
The NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative is transforming the way it operates – with the ideas and the improvements coming from the mill and refinery workers themselves.
The Co-op selected its Harwood Mill and refinery, on the Clarence River, to test a new
approach. Employees and management were involved in a substantial change process, a
brick-by-brick method of continuous improvement.
After receiving some intensive training, workers formed teams to examine particular processes that had been causing problems. The refined sugar is packaged into retail paper sacks, the kind seen in the baking aisle of every supermarket. The packing line, though, was struggling to meet production targets.
“The operators on the packing line mapped the whole process, looking at every action in
detail,” said Peter Dibella, the Operations Manager at Harwood. “We used a set of structured enquiry tools to brainstorm the problems – it wasn’t as hard as we thought it might be to come up with some great outcomes. After collecting and analysing the data it was clear right away where we could make improvements. We’ve already substantially increased output on the packing line and we haven’t finished with the changes yet. The operators are very engaged in the process and can see real benefits in working this way.”
CEO Chris Connors said “The approach is simple, it works, and it will create an improvement culture within NSW Sugar.”
The new approach includes elements from a variety of methodologies, all of them widely used within the manufacturing sector generally. These include Lean Thinking with some Six Sigma, as well as classical improvement tools such as Problem Solving, Cause & Effect, and Pareto Charts.
NSW Sugar is being assisted by consulting firm ACIG – the Australian Continuous Improvement Group. “At ACIG we don’t hold a narrow focus on a single method – our focus is on excellence,” said ACIG’s Managing Director Gerard Colla. “We collaborate with the staff to develop a customised approach that best suits NSW Sugar.”
The pilot program at Harwood represented a substantial investment by NSW Sugar – in its
people, its processes and in its very future as a competitive organisation. And after less than a year the investment has been recouped many times over. The change program will now be expanded to the Condong and Broadwater Mills.
ENDS
If you’d like more information, or to schedule an interview with NSW Sugar CEO Chris Connors or ACIG Managing Director Gerard Colla, please call Michelle Scott Tucker on 03 9650 7222.