Improve Performance

There can be no improvement without change.

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Gerard Colla, Managing Director, ACIG,

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Getting results is what we’re about.  But not just one-off results: at ACIG we know the secret to sustainable continuous improvement.

“Which tool do I use?” Pick the wrong one and it could be a disaster.  Fortunately our long experience with all the major approaches means that ACIG can take the risk out of choosing.

“How do we integrate continuous improvement into our culture?” Another good question.  Culture is like wine.  Understand what you’re working with, create the right conditions and let it mature for the right time and you have a delightful result.  Try and force it or use the wrong conditions and you’ve got a mess.

Your organisation is unique and it needs unique solutions.  That’s what ACIG does.

We combine our extensive experience with your knowledge of the organisation to develop a unique solution for embedding a Continuous Improvement Program.  We work with you to implement it, ensure you can sustain it, then we leave you to reap the ongoing results.

We understand that performance improvement does not occur in isolation – sustainable improvement usually requires an integrated approach of planning, implementation and review.

Some clients implement the whole approach, others need only certain aspects – we can tailor our assistance accordingly.

Training and facilitation is an important and integral part of many of our improvement assignments.  We also deliver practical seminars and workshops about improvement methods.  Click here for more information.

A few of our recent improvement assignments are listed below.

NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative

The NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative transformed 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 in Northern NSW, 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.

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 was subsequently expanded to the Condong and Broadwater Mills.

Sydney Water

Sydney Water is Australia’s largest water utility with 3,000 staff and an area of operations covering 12,700 km2.  We implemented an organisation-wide continuous improvement (CI) program.  The program involved developing and testing a CI framework, training managers, developing a core set of facilitators, and then working with them as they facilitate improvement teams.

Department of the Premier and Cabinet, SA

We undertook a review of the processes by which the Premier receives briefings.  We were able to show the department how to reduce a three month process to two weeks, via a staged approach.

Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sports

ACIG was asked to undertake a review into the capacities and capabilities of the Norfolk Island Public Service.  Our review actively informed Australian Government funding and resourcing decisions in the face of the Norfolk Island Government’s insolvency crisis.

The report has been published online and can be accessed at:                 www.regional.gov.au/territories/norfolk_island/public_service_review.aspx

ACIG’s review recommended actions that the Norfolk Island Government and the Australian Government can take, if required, over the short, medium and long term to:

  • More efficiently and effectively provide an appropriate and sustainable range of government services to the highest ethical standards;
  • Improve the capacity and the skills of Norfolk Island Adminstration to deliver government services;
  • Deliver government services to a similar standard as those provided by a local or state level government in mainland Australia;
  • Improve resilience, change management and innovation across the public sector; and
  • Improve performance and accountability mechanisms.

Melbourne Water

ACIG helped with the design of an enterprise-wide quality management system.   And in a separate but related project, ACIG delivered an assessment of information risks.  We provided Melbourne Water with a prioritised set of risks and mitigating actions associated with information used by Melbourne Water to deliver its vision and corporate objectives.

Department of Health (Vic)

ACIG provided practical advice on ways in which the Environment Health Unit could administer its regulatory responsibilities more efficiently and better protect and improve the health of Victorians.  Our work delivered an analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Environmental Health Unit’s enforcement activities in obtaining high levels of compliance with environmental health legislation.  This included:

  • A review of the Environmental Health Unit’s regulatory processes, policies, procedures and information management systems;
  • Measurement of the recent performance of the Unit in achieving its regulatory objectives;
  • Consultation with Unit staff, regulated entities and related regulatory functions; and
  • Examination of other recent reviews of regulatory enforcement and compliance activities.

Territory and Municipal Services, ACT

We provided a benchmarking study of storm water services with partners that were a mix of municipal governments and private sector service providers.  The project measured the current performance of the ACT and identified substantial opportunities for improvement.

ETSA Utilities

ACIG worked with ETSA (formerly the Electricity Trust of South Australia) to design and implement a Lean improvement program.

Department of Human Services, Victoria

The Department wanted to develop best business practices within each division and region and thereby move DHS as a whole towards service excellence.  The strategy was to initiate a sub-program of improvement activity within each division and region. ACIG was engaged by DHS to assist in the implementation of DHS’s Service Excellence Framework, an organisational evaluation framework based on the Australian Business Excellence Model.  ACIG worked closely with stakeholders in each division and region to undertake evaluation against the SEF framework and advised on coordination of the various sub-programs so that the overall program objectives were achieved.

Department of Health, Victoria

The ten largest Cemeteries Trusts in urban and regional Victoria have just undergone a major process of review, restructure and legislative change.  ACIG provided the Department of Health with a Code of Conduct and detailed policy guidelines for the Boards and staff of Class A Cemetery Trusts.  We prepared a literature review of existing documents and policies, established benchmarks for best practice, interviewed almost thirty key stakeholders from the Boards and staff of each of the Class A Cemetery Trusts and prepared guideline documents for immediate implementation.

Consumer Affairs Victoria

Consumer Affairs Victoria is a business unit of the Department of Justice and is Victoria’s consumer affairs regulator.  We were engaged as part of CAV’s substantial (and complex) organisational change program.  Through a series of workshops we mapped existing processes throughout the organisation – identifying the various issues and opportunities for improvement.  We then moved into the process redesign phase, first working closely with senior management to develop a shared strategic view of the preferred way forward.  ACIG consultants worked closely with CAV staff to flesh out the new and redesigned processes.  We also delivered a clear and practical implementation plan, or roadmap.

In subsequent projects, ACIG also:

  • reviewed CAV’s consumer and tenancy advocacy services; and
  • assisted CAV document its call centre quality plan.

Sustainability Victoria

ACIG reviewed processes and procedures throughout the organisation, with a view to improving performance and productivity.  Our review included one-on-one interviews with over twenty internal stakeholders, where we drew out and discussed the key issues, concerns and positives.

Local Government – Business Excellence

We have helped (or are currently helping) the following councils to implement the Australian Business Excellence Framework.

  • Surf Coast Shire Council
  • Bayside City Council
  • Frankston City Council
  • Yarra Ranges Shire
  • Brimbank City Council

Local Government – Service (or Best Value) Reviews

For the following councils we have delivered various reviews with a view to improving services.  A full list of our local government clients is available here.

  • Banyule City Council – Review of engineering services
  • Bayside City Council – Review of performance management framework.  Open spaces services review.  Review of options for delivering golf facilities.  Benchmarking and efficiency review.
  • Cardinia Shire Council – HR reporting review
  • City of Boroondara – Waste Management Services review.
  • City of Greater Geelong – Planning process review.  Best value review training.  Public broadcasters review.
  • City of Melbourne – Review of business planning rating scheme.  Corporate Learning and Development KPI review.  Contract management review.  mapping and review of Council resolutions.  Review of Continuous Improvement Branch.  Mailroom review.  Review of melbourne Certification Group.  Parking and Traffic benchmarking and process review and improvement.  Review of metered parking business processes and data accuracy.  Review of Permits and Approvals Branch.  review of printing and copying services.  Review of Council resolution action management system.
  • City of Monash - Contract procedures review.  PABX requirements review.  Business planning review.
  • City of Ryde - Best Value Reviews for Parks; Urban Planning; Human Resources; and Environmental Health and Building Service.
  • Hobsons Bay City Council – Best Value Reviews
  • Kingston City Council - Review of building management services.  Review of Council business processes.
  • Nillumbik Shire Council – Review of Environmental Building Services.
  • Parramatta City Council – Centralising services review.
  • Port Macquarie-Hastings Shire Council – Strategic plan review.