Process Innovation – Reduce your Cycle Time

Business is tough

The tightening of credit markets has made running prosperous enterprises even more difficult, and whilst some ‘wring their hands’ and lament the good old day of plentiful credit, how many people are looking at their business cycle time as an alternative to extended credit or increased overdrafts?

What is Cycle Time?

Cycle time is best defined as “the total time in business it takes from receipt of an order until payment is received and banked” © RLS 2006. In many businesses the cycle time is typically 90 days. In some cases it is much longer. For complex projects payment can be staggered over many years and final payments are often withheld for a guarantee period, extending even further the total cycle time.

Negative Cycle Time

Some businesses have a negative cycle time; that is the money is received and banked even before the goods or services are delivered. Airline tickets or pre-paid phone cards are typically negative cycle time businesses, so too are on-line sellers such as Amazon. Indeed, in the latter case there is not even a need to have expensive infrastructure.  Amazon, as a business, needed nothing more than a PC and a web site as its investments to get started and create a highly successful negative cycle time business.

Cycle Time can mean the difference between Success or Failure

It is important, especially in smaller businesses, to understand the influence cycle time can have on success, or perhaps failure. Indeed there are many stories of business that have failed because they grew too fast and were unable to provide the finance to support that growth.

In simplistic terms, if a business is shipping $100K per month and is operating on a three month cycle time, a minimum of $300k is needed to finance the business. Banks, especially these days, are loath to finance businesses against orders, but rather look for bricks and mortar assets as collateral. If suddenly the business starts shipping $200k per month with the same cycle time, now $600k is needed as working capital, and if that is not available, then foreclosure may be staring you in the face.

However, if the same business can reduce its cycle time to just 1.5 months, then sales of $200k can be supported with the same initial equity base. That’s how important cycle time is, but unfortunately, this is often overlooked.

Customers are slow to pay

Without doubt, the greater part of cycle time is the delay in customers paying their debts.

Whilst we can push for deposits, short term financing or even early payment incentives, we should not ignore the inbuilt delays inherent in our own internal processes. If these can be identified and rectified any reduction in cycle time will be immediately seen on the bottom line as pure profit.

So what’s the solution?

Some businesses look to ‘factoring’ their debts. This essentially means taking a short-term loan for the period of financial stress, but in many cases the interest charged is sufficient to wipeout any potential profits. Thus, whilst factoring does have a place, look closely at the costs before seeing this as a panacea. Yet another means is to offer discounts for early payment.

Unfortunately, whilst both of the above may improve cash flow somewhat, they are at a cost.

A better solution to gaining a partial reduction in cycle time is to the take immediate deposits on a customer’s placement of an order. Deposits from customers are seldom seen as your ploy to gain some payment a little earlier, but more likely embraced by many as a means to secure their place in your delivery queue, and thus they are not viewed negatively.

The best solution is to analyse your entire business cycle time. This is best done by dissecting the business into its serial components from receipt of an order; to shipment, and debt collection and to look for ways cycle time can be reduced.

Process Innovation is one way of investigating cycle time in a systematic manner. It is quite amazing what effect small changes to processes can have in delivering real cycle time reductions, and any gains made here go straight to the bottom line as profit, pure and simple.

What’s the message?

Process Innovation applied to the Cycle Time reduction should be seen as a means to reap hidden profits from transactions that may otherwise cost real money. Dissect and analyse your business, there is always room for improvement.

Roger La Salle, is the creator of the “Matrix Thinking”™ technique and is a widely sought after as an international speaker on Innovation, Opportunity and business development. He is the author of three books, Director and former CEO of the Innovation Centre of Victoria (INNOVIC) as well as a number of companies both in Australian and overseas. He has been responsible for a number of successful technology start-ups and in 2004 was a regular panellist on the ABC New Inventors TV program. In 2005 he was appointed to the “Chair of Innovation” at the Queens University in Belfast. Matrix Thinking is now used in more than 26 countries.  www.matrixthinking.com

Erasmus Student at CforC!

My name is Husniye Firat Simsek and I came to the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) from Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey, as an Erasmus student. I will be here for twelve weeks in connection with the Erasmus Programme.

Erasmus is the EU’s flagship education and training programme, enabling 200,000 students to study and work abroad each year, as well as supporting co-operation actions between higher education institutions across Europe.

I just finished my PhD lesson and I am doing research about my thesis. My core area is Innovation and I think that CforC was the best choice in Europe for me to visit. I heard the Innov8n Waves Presentation given by Bob Barbour, Adrian Gundy and Derek Johnston at KalDer’s 2005 annual congress (KalDer is EFQM National Partner for Turkey).

I did not think that I would be able to work for CforC one day! I had previously visited the CforC website and I researched the services: Innovation & Creativity, Productivity, Quality Excellence and Collaborative Working.  But now I am writing from CforC! It is great experience for me.

When I applied to the Erasmus Program I did not know much about it but I did not imagine it to be like this. This program is definitely a bridge between different cultures.

First hand, I have to say thank you to Adrian, because when I wrote to him with my application, he accepted me and immediately sent me an intention letter.  This is my second week and everything is so good, and much better than I imagined. Before leaving my country I heard that Northern Irish People are happy, good-humoured and helpful and I now know this is correct, everybody is always smiling at me! When I need something everyone is very helpful and this is not only at CforC, people are willing to help me everywhere I go. So really I love Northern Ireland’s people, you are very friendly and sincere!

My first aim was to find good research questions about my thesis and I think that I will able to find lots of thing at CforC and in Northern Ireland.  I can only encourage students to spend some time of their degree abroad on a work placement. The experience is unforgettable and will undoubtedly add much value to anyone’s life and curriculum.  Discovering the cultural differences of other countries is one of the highlights of travelling and was one of the main reasons that I applied to Erasmus.

Thanks to everybody who give to me this opportunity, and I am so glad to be here.

Husniye Firat SIMSEK

Background to the Erasmus Programme

The Programme is named after the humanist and theologian Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1465-1536) whose travels for work and study took in the era’s great centres of learning, including Paris, Leuven and Cambridge. Like the man, the Erasmus programme places great importance on mobility and furthering career prospects through learning. By leaving his fortune to the University of Basel, he became a pioneer of the mobility grants, which now bear his name.

Studies show that a period spent abroad not only enriches students’ lives in the academic field but also in the acquisition of intercultural skills and self-reliance. Staff exchanges have similar beneficial effects, both for the people participating and for the home and host institutions.

In addition to mobility actions, the Programme supports higher education institutions to work together through intensive programmes, networks and multilateral projects.
Erasmus has become a driver in the modernisation of higher education in Europe and inspired the establishment of the Bologna Process. The general aim of the Programme is to create a European Higher Education Area and foster innovation throughout Europe.

Enterprise Minister Announces £15million Scheme to Help Businesses

26/05/2009 FOSTER ANNOUNCES £15MILLION SCHEME TO HELP BUSINESSES

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster today announced a £15million scheme by Invest NI, to help businesses currently in difficulty to retain key skills.

Under Invest Northern Ireland’s Short Term Aid Scheme, qualifying businesses in the manufacturing and tradable services sectors will be able to receive support of up to approximately £450,000 at current exchange rates, enabling them to retain key staff while they plan and restructure for the future. To be eligible, a firm in difficulty will need to demonstrate a need for support and the actions already taken, or proposed to take, to address its difficulties.

Announcing the scheme to the NI Assembly, the Minister, said: “It is clear that many businesses are currently experiencing a short term reduction in demand for their products or services. This is resulting in company finances being squeezed and causing, what would otherwise be viable, businesses to experience financial difficulties.

“To help these businesses to prepare for the upturn when it comes, it is important that the Executive provides the most effective and efficient support. A key element of this will be to ensure that businesses retain and, where possible, enhance their skills base.

“The scheme I have announced today will do just that. Through Invest NI, eligible businesses that are experiencing short term difficulties will be able to obtain grants for salaries to maintain key skilled posts in their workforce. These will be at a rate of 80% for small companies, 70% for medium sized enterprises and 60% for large companies.

“The support will allow businesses to undertake a range of approved activities, including Further and Higher Education training, in-house upskilling, in-house infrastructure improvements or introducing improved management or financial control systems. Additionally, the ability to second employees to another business in order to help the latter improve its capability will also be eligible.

“To further encourage businesses to grow their exports, employees with key skills undertaking market research or developing new leads in new markets, will also be eligible under the scheme to have their salary, travel and subsistence costs covered at the appropriate rate.”

Arlene Foster continued: “This new scheme will provide crucial and invaluable support to businesses which may otherwise have to make key employees redundant, resulting in valuable skills and knowledge being lost and therefore, not readily available when economic recovery occurs.”

The scheme, which opens on 1 June 2009, is available to eligible large companies and SMEs in the manufacturing and tradable service sectors which were not in difficulty prior to July 2008 and which, although fundamentally viable, are experiencing short term difficulties.

The Minister added: “In addition to supporting training costs and avoiding the need for businesses to potentially incur redundancy costs, there are wider benefits which will accrue. These include the potential for business to generate profits arising from the activities of the maintained posts and save potential future recruitment costs when markets improve.

“This initiative is over and above what the Government and the Executive have already established, what the Banks have so far announced and complements other support mechanisms recently introduced by Invest NI to help local business navigate through the current downturn.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. Invest NI Scheme Summary
Scheme Objective
The objective of Invest NI’s scheme is to provide eligible businesses with financial assistance that will enable them to plan and, where necessary, restructure for the future, retaining key staff so they are ready to take advantage of an economic upturn.

2. Scheme Background

In January 2009 the UK, through DBERR, notified to the Commission an umbrella scheme (under para 4.2.2 of the temporary framework ie providing up to EUR 500,000 to business as a small amount of compatible aid) for up to £1billion to support UK businesses during the period February 2009 to 31 December 2010. This specifically notified measure is designed to address the potential damage to the local economy through the possible loss of fundamentally viable companies as a result of the global financial crisis.

Following approval of the UK measure by the Commission, it is up to each UK region to develop their own proposals to meet the specific needs of their regions.

Invest NI has developed the Short Term Aid Scheme announced today as best meeting the needs of local business and has allocated budget of £15million for this programme (£7million 2009/10 and £8million 2010/11).

3. Business Eligibility
Open to those companies in the manufacturing and tradable services sectors who were not in difficulty at 1July 2008 but are in difficulty now, and who currently meet the following criteria or who have the potential to meet this criteria by 3 December 2010:
(a) Have total sales of over £100,000 per annum;
(b) Have sales outside of NI greater than 25% of turnover,
or greater than £250,000 per annum; and,

4. Scheme Outline
Grant support for agreed key posts by letter of offer, paid in arrears, based on eligible salary costs (travel / subsistence costs may also be eligible when certain activities outside the workplace are undertaken).

Eligible businesses to apply by application form to Invest NI.

Three rates of grant support – 80% for small companies, 70% for medium sized enterprises and 60% for large companies.

To be eligible for assistance, a Company in difficulty must demonstrate (i) need for support, and (ii) actions it has taken to date to address its difficulties.

Only fundamentally viable businesses will be supported and no business that was in difficulty prior to 1July 2008 is eligible.

No dividend payments or increases in Directors Remuneration during the period of support are permissible.

No employee pay rises or additional bonus payments (including those linked to pay) during the period of support are permissible – only in instances where previously agreed contractual obligations exist with employees will this rule not be applied.

Support provided to give the company the opportunity to plan and restructure for its future growth (e.g. Sales, Marketing, Management, Finance, Training, HR).

Spend incurred in any claim period that is not claimed within 2 months of the end of that claim period is lost and cannot be rolled forward.

Maximum support per business is 500k Euro, (approximately £450,000 at current exchange rates) less other de-minimis aid offered in the period 1 January 2008 to 31December 2010. Costs incurred beyond 31December 2010 are not eligible for support.

11.For media enquiries please contact the DETI Press Office, telephone 028 9052 9297. Out of office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.

Original Press Release can be viewed here.

“Design Driven Innovation” Study Visit to Milan

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, 24 March 2009, twenty-three academics from Northern Ireland’s college and university community boarded a plane for Milan, heading off on a whistle-stop “Design Driven Innovation” study visit to Italy. Facilitated by Adrian Gundy, President of PDMA UK/Ireland and Paolo Zanenga, President of PDMA Mediterranean, the short visit was designed to experience at close quarters the role that ‘design’ has in innovation.

The group made their way to Boveno and Stresa, on the beautiful shores of Lake Maggiore, and were rewarded with an afternoon and evening in a most beautiful part of Italy. The next morning to work at ISTUD [http://www.istud.it/] the first independent business school in Italy, originally set up in partnership with Harvard. A series of presentations were made and discussions led on the role that design plays in product and service innovation, with particular reference to business model innovation. Discussions are well advance for integrating the NPDP Certification within the school’s curriculum.

Then it was on the coach and a 90-minute journey to Milan, where people had time to enjoy this wonderful city. A visit to the Last supper painting of course was a must for everyone – a most intriguing experience. The next day saw a visit to Domus Academy [http://www.domusacademy.com/] that was born in Milan in 1982 as an open project around the Italian design and fashion experience. It has developed an international reputation for its constant attention to borderline themes, from humanization of technology to exploring the relationship between design and fashion, from reflection on the sociology of design-to-design management and to design of services.

The last official visit was that to the Bovisa campus of the Polytechnic di Milano,
[http://www.orientamento.polimi.it/sedi/mi_durando/mi_durando.php] the most important engineering and design school in Italy, including business management. The vast array of labs, virtual prototyping, and 3D design facilities to integrate design into engineering was most interesting and impressive.

The whole tour was short and packed with things to do, people to meet and places to go. Many interesting ideas were put forward and the conclusion that design has an as yet untapped contribution to make in product and service innovation, business model innovation and much more. In fact, it’s at the fringes or interfaces of where different disciplines meet that creative friction causes a flow of new ideas, challenges and opportunities. These new innovation opportunities may well be found in the collaboration of the Arts and Literature with Science and Engineering; or in the joining together of Business and the Community; Government and the Citizen. The potential of collaborative working is simply awesome!

Dr Adrian Gundy CforC Senior Executive Innovation; PDMA President UK & Ireland

PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS COULD SAVE NI FIRMS MILLIONS, SAYS COMPETITIVENESS CHIEF

Productivity improvements at a Portadown company are being used to highlight how local businesses can make significant cost savings that could help them weather the recession. The Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) is organising for representatives of dozens of businesses to visit Seagoe Technologies this morning (Friday April 3, 2009) when the company will outline how it has saved significant amounts of money through a series of initiatives to improve productivity.

 

In the last three years, Seagoe has reduced assembly line stoppages by 89 per cent. It has also cut the number of units needing reworked on the assembly line by 35 per cent and has reduced steel wastage by 60 per cent. The company has also saved more than £100,000 through energy efficiency programmes.

 

CforC Chief Executive, Bob Barbour, says that all of these improvements have led to significant bottom line benefits.  Mr Barbour says: “Seagoe Technologies has made large productivity advances in the past three years which have positioned the company strongly to continue to succeed in the face of very strong economic headwinds. Its continuing commitment to improvement initiatives will ensure that it continues to minimise costs and maximise sales.”

 

“By adopting a similar approach to continuous improvement, other local businesses can also save large amounts of money that could be the difference between success and failure as the marketplace conditions they face deteriorate,” Mr Barbour adds.

 

Seagoe Technologies General Manager Graeme Scott says:  “Seagoe views being a world class manufacturing company as a priority to ensure that we can protect and grow our position both in current and potential markets. To us this means maximising customer satisfaction, increasing flexibility and minimising costs. We’ve used the concept of Mission Directed Work Teams to ensure that we involve our employees in managing and improving our operations in a structured manner that aligns the priorities in each area with the overall company objectives. These teams have provided a strong foundation for the various lean tools we’ve used.”

In January, Seagoe Technologies was the highest placed private sector organisation in the CforC-organised Northern Ireland Quality Awards. Seagoe Technologies General Manager Graeme Scott also won a Corporate Leadership Award.

 

Are you asking the right question?

Innovation is about finding better ways of doing – What?

As we know, a good definition of Innovation is “Change that adds Value” and embracing this term opens the way to make innovation a relatively straightforward exercise, providing you are asking the right question.

 

How many times do we solve a problem and even implement a solution, only to then realise had we asked a better question we may have come up with a much better solution. How many times do we convene a meeting without having a specific one-sentence idea of exactly what we wish to achieve in that meeting?

 

Being able to crystallise an issue to a single sentence question is so important, but few people implement that valuable practice.

 

Have you found the best question?

To put this into context, let me pose the question, and have you think of the answer, before reading on:

 

• What is the specific purpose of a written job application?

 

The obvious answer is to get the job, but this not correct.

 

The sole purpose of the written application is to get an interview, to get in front of the people making the selection.

 

With that clear purpose in mind, the written application takes on a different form.  Indeed, what you leave out is just as important as what you include. You should lead the reader to a point where they wish to speak with you to learn more. This is quite a different approach from writing everything you can think of in the hope that will win you the job. The written application never wins you the job.

 

The above is a simple example of making sure you have a properly defined objective, and that it’s the correct objective.

 

Too close to the problem

 

To cite another example, recently a workshop was undertaken in a large multinational trading bank, the team came to the session wanting to resolve the question – “How can we reduce the cost to businesses wishing to raise a Letter of Credit (LC)?”  This seemed like a sensible question and was workshopped by the group for a time until they came to the “Re -Question Catalyst in the Innovation Matrix.

 

So challenged to “Re-question” the group digged deep searching to find the real reason they wished to lower the cost? The answer that crystallised was, so that people would be more willing to use their LC facility.

 

In fact, the real and best question to ask was, ”How can we inspire businesses to raise more LC’s”?

 

On investigating this different issue it was soon realised that the cost, maybe $20.00 was irrelevant. Why would that be a show stopper for somebody wishing to raise an LC for perhaps $500k or more.

 

The real reason people were averse to raising LC;’s was the time and effort involved. The process was just too complex and time consuming. Yet the bank in its daily work transfers multi-millions of dollars around the world with little more than the click of a mouse. So why are LC’s so complex?

 

The better question, the real question was “How can we make it easier for clients to raise LC’s”? With this question in mind the workshop was continued based on a Process Innovation Matrix.  An answer was soon found.

 

There are countless examples of this, usually caused by being too close to the problem. Just ask any design engineer.

 

You can be sure almost without exception, after a complex design is implemented, and maybe even marketed, the next embodiment of the same product will be much simplified. Why, because having done it once, better designs questions and issued can now be resolved.

 

So what’s the solution?

 

The classic method of questioning with the Why? Why? Why? challenge is one way of trying to drill down to the best question.

 

Another way is to have somebody quite remote from the issue present in any meeting that addresses a problem. You can be sure that a person NOT skilled in the area will ask some very interesting and challenging questions. This always helps in drilling down to the real issue and the best question.

 

Most often when a group of people comes together to investigate a burning issue, a solution will be found, just make sure the best question has been asked, a question that leads to the best solution.

Roger La Salle, is the creator of the “Matrix Thinking”™ technique and is a widely sought after as an international speaker on Innovation, Opportunity and business development. He is the author of three books, Director and former CEO of the Innovation Centre of Victoria (INNOVIC) as well as a number of companies both in Australian and overseas. He has been responsible for a number of successful technology start-ups and in 2004 was a regular panellist on the ABC New Inventors TV program. In 2005 he was appointed to the “Chair of Innovation” at the Queens University in Belfast. Matrix Thinking is now used in more than 26 countries.  www.matrixthinking.com

 

MICKEY MOUSE FIRMS NEED NOT APPLY: DISNEY TO REVEAL SECRET OF SUCCESS TO NI BUSINESSES

Disney is coming to Belfast, but the visit isn’t for the benefit of local children. Instead, Northern Ireland’s business community is in line for a magical tale from the creators of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.

 

Dozens of local firms will learn about Disney’s legendary approach to service from the Disney Institute at an event organised by the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) and Invest Northern Ireland (INI) next week.

 

Gurus from the American creator of hundreds of kids’ favourites – such as Bambi and Lightning McQueen – will reveal the business behind the magic at the event on the morning of February 20 in Belfast’s Culloden Hotel.

 

“We wanted to help local firms learn how to deliver world-class customer service. Where better to turn than Disney,” says CforC chief executive, Bob Barbour.

 

The Disney Institute was established in 1986 and has helped thousands of companies of all sizes across the world to improve the way they do business – but never before in Northern Ireland.

 

Bob Barbour says that Disney is one of the world’s most admired organisations and local firms can learn much from its strategies.

 

“Disney is an absolute leader in creativity and innovation, which are critical to success in all sectors of business today,” he says. “It also has globally-renowned principles for service excellence and its attention to detail creates a consistent, world-class service environment. Firms in the US Fortune 100 look closely at and adopt Disney’s strategies and we are delighted to be able to offer local businesses the opportunity to do the same,” Mr Barbour adds.

 

Firms will hear how Disney anticipates the needs, wants and emotions of customers in order to exceed their service expectations. The event will also look at how to bring personality to an organisation by establishing a service theme and standards. Attendees will also hear how to design a delivery system that focuses on the employees, environment and processes that enhance service quality.

 

To find out more about the event, contact the Centre for Competitiveness via www.cforc.org/events

 

www.disneyinstitute.com

BIH Housing Association claims NI Quality Award

BIH Housing Association won the Northern Ireland Quality Award at a prestigious ceremony in Belfast’s Ramada Hotel last night (Thursday January 29, 2009). The Belfast-based housing association was the only organisation to claim the Northern Ireland Quality Award, the pinnacle in the Centre for Competitiveness recognition scheme.

 

Portadown’s Seagoe Technologies, the Triangle Housing Association and Belfast City Council’s Building Control department all won the Prize Winner accolade in the scheme – the second highest level of recognition.

 

The Northern Ireland Quality Awards are organised and managed by the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) and sponsored by Ulster Bank, the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP), HP, Northgate and Mivan. The gala awards ceremony is organised in association with Invest Northern Ireland.

 

The Northern Ireland Quality Awards measure Northern Ireland’s private, public and voluntary organisations against the globally recognised European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. Various levels of recognition are presented.

 

CforC Chief Executive, Bob Barbour, says: “The winners of these awards should provide example and inspiration to private, public and voluntary sector organisations across Northern Ireland. They have demonstrated significant tangible and measurable results which have impacted positively on their organisation’s performance. Research shows that businesses results are better, they are leaner, more agile and better able to meet challenging economic conditions as a result of their involvement in the scheme.”

 

“The Excellence Model has proven time and again to bring significant performance improvement to organisations across Northern Ireland, and indeed Europe, and to make a resulting impact on the local economy. Previous winners have continued to develop their business, increase employment and grow competitively in international markets.

 

 

WORLD-CLASS MANAGEMENT TO BE RECOGNISED AT LEADING AWARDS

World-class local organisations will be celebrated this week (Thursday January 29) at the first major business awards event of the year. Organisations that have achieved significant tangible benefits through high quality strategic management will be recognised at the Northern Ireland Quality Awards Gala Ceremony.

 

The annual event, which takes place at Belfast’s Ramada Hotel, will present awards to leading local organisations in categories for the private, public and voluntary sectors, in addition to the top award – the Northern Ireland Quality Award. This is presented to organisations that excel against an internationally recognised business assessment framework.

 

The Northern Ireland Quality Awards scheme is organised and managed by the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) and sponsored by Ulster Bank, the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP), HP, Northgate and Mivan. The gala awards ceremony is organised in association with Invest Northern Ireland.

 

Mike Bamber, Ulster Bank’s Chief Executive of Retail Markets, says: “By supporting increased business competitiveness, improved delivery of services to the community and enhanced public sector efficiency, this awards process plays a unique and important role in the local economy and society. We are proud to extend our close association with the Centre for Competitiveness and the Northern Ireland Quality Awards, which allows us to support all kinds of local organisations to maximise their performance and achieve sustainable success.”

 

CforC Chief Executive, Bob Barbour, says: “The Northern Ireland Quality Awards are recognition of superior performance compared against world-class levels of business excellence. It is a stepping-stone to competing in the UK Business Excellence Awards and the European Quality Awards, which also use the internationally acclaimed Excellence Model. Previous winners of the Northern Ireland Awards have won the top prizes in the European award programmes, including Tobermore Concrete, the Cedar Foundation, CCEA and Springfarm Architectural Mouldings, and St Mary’s College” he says.

 

“Empirical research has shown that winners of the European Quality Awards out perform their rivals by up to 70% across a range of key performance indicators. The Business Excellence Model has proven time and again to bring significant performance improvement to organisations across Northern Ireland, and indeed Europe, and to make a resulting impact on the local economy.

 

Winners have continued to develop their business, increase employment and grow competitively in international markets. In a challenging economic environment, those organisations using the Excellence Model to maximise efficiency and boost performance are well placed to weather the storm and capitalise on available opportunities. Research shows that business results are much better, they are leaner and more robust, have more highly motivated and loyal staff and are more nimble and agile than their competitors,” Mr Barbour adds.

 

I commend all the entrants for their commitment to the pursuit of excellence and for allowing their organisations to be independently benchmarked against world class standards of excellence across all areas of their business.”

 

CforC is the EFQM Partner organisation in Northern Ireland licensed to assess organisations based on the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Excellence) Excellence Model.

Copeland’s Improvement hailed by Competitiveness Chief

Northern Ireland’s business competitiveness chief has praised a Cookstown company for continuing to make significant improvements to its business. Bob Barbour, Chief Executive of the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC), says that Copeland, which employs 250 people at Ballyreagh Industrial Estate, is well placed to continue succeeding in the face of a challenging economic climate because of its commitment to business excellence.

Mr Barbour praised the firm for winning the Five Star Award in the British Quality Foundation-organised UK Excellence Awards recently.

Mr Barbour said that Copeland had also recently explained to other local firms how it had made savings of more than £1 million this year through its improvement programmes.

He says: “Copeland is one of Northern Ireland’s most innovative manufacturers and it is a worthy winner of the Five Star Award in the UK Excellence Awards. Copeland won the Northern Ireland Quality Award last year and we are confident that it will go on to further success in both the UK and European Excellence Awards, such is its commitment to business excellence.”

“Recently Copeland revealed how it has been able to make savings of £1m this year by fully engaging its 250 employees in a programme to increase efficiency and boost productivity. Copeland’s efficiency savings are absolute tangible proof of the huge benefits that firms can derive from ongoing improvement initiatives. These are more important than ever in the current climate when firms need to make savings and operate as efficiently as possible to remain competitive,” Mr Barbour adds.

Copeland, which is based at the Ballyreagh Industrial Estate, is part of Emerson Climate Technologies which is a subsidiary of global technology giant, Emerson. It supplies scroll compressors to the air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pump markets in Europe and Asia.