The FlowPlus™ transformation process
Over 30 UK Automotive companies & Tier 1 suppliers have transformed their business with our 4-step process
1. DISCOVERY
By starting with a discovery phase, we understand your unique manufacturing process and the challenges you face - uncovering areas for improvement and your gap-to-potential.
Gain all the insight in one, concise, step by step assessment report.
01
Lean Maturity Audit
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Assess your lean maturity across 25 categories including efficiency, automation, visual management, standards, process control, customer focus, product flow, leadership, culture and more.
02
Performance Analysis
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Great processes create great results, Simple but not easy.
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We review your current processes to gain an in-depth understanding of existing pain-points, where information sharing and communication breaks down & waste steps that can be eliminated/automated.
03
Gap to potential analysis
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Quantify the gap between your current state and desired state, understand what changes are needed to become best-in-class manufacturers.
04
Implementation roadmap
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Convert improvement actions into projects, and produce a bespoke improvement roadmap aligned with your company strategy.
2. ASSESSMENT
The Assessment phase investigates the unique solutions required to close your gap-to-potential and become a best-in-class manufacturer. Creating a bespoke implementation roadmap aligned with your strategic aims, we provide you with a practical step by step approach needed to get tangible results fast.
04
Customer Feedback Analysis
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Using AI and advanced machine learning techniques, we will identify what your customers care most about and innovative ways of exceeding their expectations.
05
Value Stream Mapping​
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Painting a clear picture of your manufacturing system, you will start to see the waste and improvement opportunities that have been hidden all this time.
06
Motion tracking​
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Quantify the waste of motion & transport with the latest technology. Find optimised layouts and floorplans by tracking products, people & forklifts. Increasing productivity, minimising H&S risks and improving communication.
07
Flow Analysis
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There is often huge untapped potential when improving the flow of your system. Understand how to balance work and minimise lead time with our flow analysis tool.
3. IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation is what we pride ourselves on. We don't write reports and leave the hard part to you...We roll up our sleeves, get on the shopfloor and make the changes needed.
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Working with the operators that know the processes best, we conduct workshops as one-team, until the target is achieved.
The solutions we implement are tailored to each client and their unique challenges. Examples range from re-designing and transforming a factory layout to maximise flow and improve efficiency, through to implementing kanban system that control stock levels.
40% reduction in Lead Time
30% improvement in productivity
45% reduction in internal quality defects
55% decrease in machine downtime
"The best thing about working with FlowPlus was their can-do attitude! They did everything from design, through to testing and installation of our new CMMS (computerised maintenance management system), resulting in an increase in OEE of 38% on our bottleneck machine"
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David Carrick - Production Director, Automotive Tier 1 Supplier
4. TRAINING
We offer both in-person & online training. Both training courses are deliberately different to other training providers in one main way, its practical & hands-on.
Our online training course has global recognition and has a review rating of 4.8/5 from over 7,5000 active students.
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Like the in-person training, the online courses provide you with the practical ability to apply the lean tools.
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We have 5 different courses varying in complexity/commitment.
+7500
No of students we have trained globally
Topics covered in the training
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What is Lean?
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​Introduction to Six Sigma
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Identifying and Eliminating Waste
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History of Lean​
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Kaizen​ (Yellow)
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Change management & Paradigms
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Flow, Batch Sizes, Push vs Pull & Takt
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Visual Management​
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Line Layout & design
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Supermarkets
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Hoshin Kanri
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Spaghetti Diagrams
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Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
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Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
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Standards & Standard Work
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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
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Quick Changeovers (SMED)
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5s - Productive Workspaces
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Collaborative Problem Solving, A3, 5Whys, Fishbone, Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
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The DMAIC Process
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Advanced DMAIC process​
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Taguchi Loss Function​
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Statistical Process Control
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Kano Model​
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Quality Function Deployment​
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Training within Industry
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Logistics trains
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Voice of the customer
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Process Mapping
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Standard work
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Work Balancing
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Heijunka
CASE STUDIES
A selection of success stories:
Automotive Manufacturing
Implemented sub-assembly U-shape cell to maximise productivity
Increased sub-assembly throughput by over 30%.
Automotive Manufacturing
Reduced paint related quality flags by over 85%
Used Six Sigma techniques to improve process repeatability
Automtotive Manufacturing
Introduced logistics train to deliver line-side parts
Eliminated line-side stock outs & saved 16FTE's to be deployed elsewhere.
Automotive Manufacturing
Implemented supermarkets with CONWIP replenishment
Increased stock replenishment productivity by >40%
TESTIMONIALS
The starter assessment provided huge insight into our operational performance and what we could do differently. The FlowPlus team provided loads of great improvement ideas that we will implement.
Graham Newman -
Site Director - Automtoive
We went straight ahead with the 5-day standard assessment with FlowPlus and were extremely impressed with the improvement roadmap they produced for us. Unlike other consultants, they worked with the staff to truly understand the processes and uncover ways of working more effectively.
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We have been working with them since on the implementation and made significant results in terms of cost saving and quality improvement.
I have recommended the starter assessment to multiple production managers - its a no-brainer. FlowPlus visit your site and use the latest tools & technology to identify waste and ways to eliminate it.
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David Palmer-
Factory Manager - Automotive