Employee takes Lean Manufacturing to new level after company SC21 award
On the back of this, one particular employee, Production Manager Kevin Rist, has made his own spectacular personal journey inspired by the ethos of the Continuous Improvement Lean Manufacturing that is at the core of SC21.
Although Kevin was proud to accept the 2016 SC21 award on behalf of Arrowsmith he was horrified by how overweight he looked on photos of the presentation which were widely circulated in press and media.
For Kevin, a former local amateur footballer with Hinckley Town, this was the wake up call he needed to implement his own Lean strategy to reduce his weight from the 20 stones plus it had become.
Kevin set about doing all the usual lifestyle changes needed to lose weight correctly such as calorie control, nutritional advice, regular gym visits and a personal trainer. However, he also knew it would help his motivation, and make things more fun, if he could somehow incorporate his work role, which is very target driven, into the process.
Arrowsmith was only too pleased to support Kevin in this, especially as it fitted in perfectly with the company’s own focus on employee welfare which had recently resulted in the gaining of a Nation Health and Wellbeing Award
The upshot of all this resulted in Kevin having his own personal company KPI (Key Performance Indicator) which featured on the SQD board in the main company office.
In addition, Kevin was required to give colleagues weekly updates on his progress as his weight steadily and successfully came off. To date Kevin has now lost an amazing six and a half stones (over 40 kilos) and lost over six inches from his waistline meaning this is one KPI target that has been well and truly smashed!
The difference in Kevin is all too apparent and Arrowsmith felt it would be only fitting for him to once again receive the SC21 award on behalf of the company to showcase how successful both have been in implementing Lean!
This presentation was conducted by Colin Hart the Head of SC21 at ADS group onsite at Arrowsmith in February 2017.
Above: Arrowsmith’s Martin Porter and Kevin Rist (right) being presented with the SC21 Silver award by David Singleton of Rolls Royce CS in 2016.
Above:
Arrowsmith’s Kevin Rist (right) being presented with the SC21 Silver award by Colin Hart of ADS and Dave Bull of Concept Solutions in 2017.
Managing director Jason Aldridge commented “We are very proud of Kevin’s achievement and that Arrowsmith, as a company, has been able to share in his progress and support him every step of the way. It certainly gave everybody added incentive to ensure that we retained our SC21 Silver award that’s for sure! The only downside is we are not too sure about his new liking for candy floss infused grapes!”
Others have also benefitted as Kevin raised sponsorship for his weight loss from friends and colleagues which has meant he has been able to raise over £800 for local charity Myton Hospice.
2017 was also a good year for Arrowsmith, which is a member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Aerospace Forum, as it was also approved as ‘Fit for Nuclear’ under the F4N Programme; which means that the company can now provide certified parts for the civil nuclear energy industry.
On a personal level Jason Aldridge was also included in The Manufacturer’s Top 100 for 2017, notably, this being the second time he has featured on this prestigious list.
Arrowsmith specialises in the production of fully certified machined components, from metals such as titanium and magnesium, for industries including Aerospace, Motorsport, Renewable Energy and Nuclear. Blue chip companies supplied by Arrowsmith include Rolls Royce, GKN, Meggitt, ITP, Pattonair, Bombardier and Siemens.
Dave Bull, an SC21 Strategic Partner of business solutions specialist Concept Solutions Ltd, who has been involved with Arrowsmith for nearly ten years, also added his own personal congratulations to both Kevin and the company.
