It is not news to anyone that global supply chains have taken several knocks as a result of the pandemic. With countries going in and out of lockdowns, manufacturers around the world have struggled to keep up with demand. With multiple countries closing their borders, the transportation of materials and components became near impossible. Here
Read MoreThere are numerous pressures that come with managing a team of people. Ultimately, as a manager, you will have two major objectives you need to achieve. First, you need to be able to deal with today. This means that you need to ensure that you are delivering against today’s performance requirements, whether that’s in production
Read MoreToday, many UK businesses are ensuring their development is economically and environmentally sustainable. Their experiences have largely shown that environmental and societal improvements go hand in hand with profit-making and improved competitiveness. Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are yet to embrace these great opportunities. Given the current climate, they may be struggling with their
Read MoreFor those who practice the Theory of Constraints (TOC), there are Four Pillars which represent a set of mindsets. Each pillar is representative of an attitude which helps individuals overcome challenges and reach breakthroughs. This is the third instalment of a four-part series, although each article provides its own value and can be read as
Read MoreGrowing your sales is always important, especially given the current climate. Over the past year many businesses will have been operating at significantly lower levels of sales. Now, as we emerge from the UK’s third – and with the vaccination programme underway, hopefully last – national lockdown, most businesses are looking to ramp up their sales quickly. Whether your
Read MoreMany of us are familiar with the Agile approach to Project Management. Agile is a methodology characterised by delivering projects or building products using short cycles of work which allows for rapid production/delivery, and constant revision. Essentially, Agile seeks to manage projects more efficiently through breaking them up into several phases – this allows for a continuous
Read MoreGrowing your sales is always important, especially given the current climate. Over the past year many businesses will have been operating at significantly lower levels of sales. Now, as we emerge from the UK’s third – and with the vaccination programme underway, hopefully last – national lockdown, most businesses are looking to ramp up their sales quickly. Whether your
Read MoreIn a recent interview, Terry Scuoler (Chairman of the Institute of Export and International Trade) insists that the manufacturing sector needs to be “bold” as it emerges from the pandemic. He acknowledges that whilst the pandemic has posed huge challenges (in every sense), there are opportunities for businesses now beginning to emerge – and you must be ready to grasp them. His general message for businesses
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Before COVID-19 there was a steady increase in online buying and selling, and high-street retail was becoming less popular. However, the pandemic accelerated this shift. Retail outlets were forced to close their doors and rely on online trade. Whether you work in a retail environment that’s closed at the moment due to lockdown, or you work in
Read MoreIn the final instalment of our ‘Remote Working’ blog series we will be highlighting how the importance of aligning the scope of projects and work can result in shorter lead-times, better quality, and ultimately more output. Our previous blog posts in this series looked at how good visual management can increase output and investment from
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