December 2015 Newsletter - Best Practice Network

Welcome to the Xmas edition of our BPN newsletter. There are several reports by industry participants of our various activities over the past month or so – please read and enjoy. The Best Practice Network has had a very successful inaugural year. In Victoria 30 plus companies have signed up and BPN NSW and BPN Qld are underway. We also considering other network prospects in industry specific areas as well as the possibility of China. All this means greater opportunities for you to collaborate and share your experiences. As some one recently quoted “ There are many benefits for a strawberry farmer to visit Kenworth Trucks! We are all involved with business strategy, customers, process improvement, people and CULTURE”.

It was very pleasing to see Malcolm Turnbull’s recent Innovation announcement and support for business growth. It is a step in the right direction Please find attached AAMC Chairman, John Pollaers opinion piece in The Age. John was a keynote speaker at our recent OPEX National Summit where he elaborated on this.

Please full article here

On behalf of Yvonne and our team we wish you a very pleasant and relaxing break with your friends and family over Xmas. We look forward to your ongoing involvement and support in 2016.

Victor Caune

Best Practice Network Victorian Director

Upcoming Events

04/02/2016
CSR Monier Site Visit – VIC

10/02/2016
The A-Z of Asset Maintenance & Management – NSW

25/02/2016
Problem Solving: Which Tools to Use and When – NSW

VIC 3 Dec 2015 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE NATIONAL SUMMIT

It was a really good opportunity for me to connect with other OPEX practitioners and share war stories (both good and bad) of implementing process improvement initiatives across the diverse manufacturing environments that we work in.…..Read More

Joe Ovenden, Lean Manager – PPG Industries ANZ

“I found the Summit inspiring and it is a credit that the BPN can assemble such a large group of passionate “manufacturing minds” in the one room. The environment was stimulating and speaking for me, and on behalf of my Ontex Team, we came away very motivated indeed with a number of key business improvement “to do” items…. .Read More

Rod Evans, General Manager – Ontex

NSW 4 Dec 2015 CIMPRESS SITE VISIT

Thank you Gareth for Organising the Cimpress Visit.

This visit was well organised and has a good mix of visiting companies. The Cimpress team were very welcoming and I appreciate their hospitality at their busiest time of year. The Cimpress site was impressive with highlights being:

The material flow from raw materials through to finish product; it looked stable, smooth and in control
The factory was very visual and 5S was excellent
The kamishibai/process conformation board at the entry and its links to the layered audits in each cell
The asset management board

Thanks again…

Mark Hoogesteger, Huntingwood Manufacturing Manager Asahi Beverages

VIC 19 Nov 2015 KENWORTH TRUCKS SITE VISIT

Custom bus recently sent 4 people to Kenworth Trucks and MTM Automotive to see 1^st hand how world class organisations have used lean methodologies to set up and operate their facilities successfully.

It was a great opportunity for our team to network and question those that work at both Kenworth and MTM on how they went about their improvement as far as training, processes and employee engagement.

Matthew Brown,Transformation Manager, CUSTOM BUS

VIC 6 Nov 2015 LAMINEX SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP –

MANAGING YOUR GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS

On Friday the 6th of November the Best Practice Network held a special interest group meeting at the Laminex DC in Tullamarine. The meeting focus was on managing your global supply chains, Laminex shared their current state and Tim McLean presented a very positive case study. The group of participants found themselves sharing and discussing a wide variety of challenges they faced and by their companies and many presented their current solutions to those issues.Read More

Mark Livera, Logistics Manager, SOUTHERN CROSS CERAMICS

VIC 8 Nov 2015 BIKE TRIP TO SOUTH GIPPSLAND

For most people who have been involved in the BPN for some time enjoy seeing familiar faces at the events that Victor, Gareth and Yvonne organise. We all share a passion for continuous improvement and talking shop with like-minded people. Most of the discussions are focussed on our work. However, some time ago Victor noticed that quite a few members also enjoyed riding their motorbikes for fun or as a vehicle of choice for their daily commute.

Victor then swung into action and did what he does best: organise a BPN event. This time of a different kind. Read More

Oliver Morfeld, Operations Manager CIMPRESS

	CONGRATULATIONS Dirk Crouse Congratulations goes to Dirk Crouse, Operational Excellence Leader, Fonterra for winning the Inaugural Best Practice Networker Award for 2015. This is in recognition for contributing to promoting Operational Excellence to the business community in Australia and for helping others for his generous time and expertise. We are sure that many have benefitted from Dirk’s wisdom and good fellowship. Thoroughly deserved.

	Top 5 Lean tools you won’t need a consultant to implement Plenty of people out there will say you won’t need a consultant at all to implement Lean, but the reality is there are a lot of consultants meeting a real need in helping businesses to get started. Implementing Lean manufacturing has its challenges and most companies engage or employ experienced experts or Lean consultants such as TXM to get their Lean transformation underway. However, there are many Lean tools and principles that you can do yourself, without the need for a Lean consultant or hiring an internal expert. Read Full Article Here

VIC 13 Dec 2015 XMAS DRINKS AT THE LUSTRE BAR

	ASK YOUR NETWORK If you are searching for a solution to a specific problem or wish to benchmark, your peers are an amazing resource. Your feedback and contributions will help us build a Community of Sharing and Mutual Support that will facilitate your Operational Excellence journey.

Victor Caune

Victorian Director

+61 413 718 986

[email protected]

Gareth Brown

NSW Director

+61 408 441 670

[email protected]

Yvonne Hubbard

Network Coordinator

+61 476 244 500

[email protected]