1. OCTOBER 2016 BUSINESS PULSE 2120 BUSINESS PULSE OCTOBER 2016
R
apid growth within a
business can be both
a blessing and a curse,
simultaneously exciting the
accountants while sending
operations teams into a tailspin.
When the business is family
owned, the process can be even
more fraught.
That was the experience of
Aquatic Leisure Technologies (ALT),
the WA-based swimming pool
manufacturer that emerged from a
dizzying expansion in 2006-2007
with the resolve to take a deep
breath and recalibrate. “Suddenly
you’re spending all your time
in the business and not on the
business and you can quickly lose
sight of where you’ve come from
and what you’re really about,” says
Lynley Papineau.
The daughter of Lew Beale,
who took over a fledgling pool
business 40 years ago and turned
it into a leading WA manufacturer
and exporter, Papineau says
remaining a family business is
important to ALT. But that’s easier
said than done with 160 staff
on board.
“Our approach has always been
that we’re a family that cares
about our customers’ families, so
even when we grew very quickly,
we were mindful of not losing
that,” Papineau says. “So we took
a step back after that growth
surge and really looked at things
and decided we wanted to work
on the culture of the business –
get back to our core values and
vision. Having pride in the work
we do is really important to us.”
Also agitating change was
increasing competition from
manufacturers in Asia and other
countries, as well as concrete pool
makers. Papineau says: “It wasn’t
just about wanting to change;
we knew we had to change and
do so relatively quickly. To be
a successful manufacturer in
WA’s biggest fibreglass pool builder has paved the way for
future growth through a transformative training program
Change from the top
and bottom
Not so long ago, the provision of Lean and Continuous
Improvement training was a crowded space – think
hordes of training providers wanting a piece of the
lucrative pie while it was hot. Inevitably the result was
that a small number of rogue operators almost burnt
the pie.
Fast-forward to 2016 and a handful of national training
providers have stood their ground, believing that the
tangible benefits of Lean training would outlast the
industry shake-up.
One such provider, WA-based Think Perform, says the
“quick buck” mentality of some training providers in the
past ran counter to the principles of Lean, which embody
holistic workplace change to drive value creation and the
elimination of waste.
“There are no shortcuts,” explains Think Perform
co-director Andrew Christofides. “To deliver real results
takes time. Continuous improvement is a culture and to
achieve it you have to get as many people as possible
on board.
“You can’t impose change on people; it has to happen
through people. Our point of difference is genuine
immersion within an organisation so that its people drive
the results. We describe ourselves as change agents
rather than being an RTO.”
Demonstrably, Think Perform immersed one of its
facilitators – they engage 28 of them in WA – into Aqua
Leisure Technologies for two years full-time to achieve
“transformational change” for the manufacturer.
The level of immersion depends on the size and type
of business, but Christofides says Lean and Continuous
Improvement can transform any type of workplace across
any industry – “from five employees to 500 employees”.
“Each solution considers industry influences, short-
and long-term challenges, management insights and
input from frontline staff,” he says.
Christofides says neither ‘top-down’ or ‘bottom-up’
training alone is the answer for a business that wants to
achieve sustainable change. “You’ve got to work from
both ends and success occurs in the middle,” he says.
“It’s the collaboration across all levels of the
organisation that leads to deeper insights and more
actionable results.”
Think Perform is a CCI Member.Satisfied customers
Think Perform has worked with many WA businesses to deliver
lean training. Here’s some of the feedback:
“In partnership with Think Perform, Stramit has yielded great
results from the Manufacturing Excellence Program, with a
50 per cent increase in productivity and 35 per cent waste
reduction on its core machines. Coupled with increased
engagement within the team, this process has enabled a strong
positive continuous improvement culture, which is critical to
ensure manufacturing is sustainable for years to come.” – Reni
Ramos, Operations Manager, Stramit
“Through CSP training, our staff have been able to identify
wastes in our process and improve our gross profit by over
five per cent. ” – Salim Hazife, Managing Director, Perth
Inflight Catering
“The program has engaged our staff into thinking about what
they are doing and the way they do it. From simple charts to
complex analytics, it has enabled us to modify our behaviour and
focus our attention on what made us great in the very beginning.”
– Nathan Phillips, Managing Director, Landscape Elements
IN THE SWIM
Australia today, you’ve got to have
your house in order.”
ALT turned to Think Perform, a
registered training organisation
and provider of ‘Lean’
management training. Lean
is a continuous improvement
methodology that implements
systematic changes as part of a
long-term process. Its overarching
goal is to maximise customer
value while minimising waste.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it
grew out of applications in the
Japanese manufacturing industry.
“We decided to put all of our
staff through Lean training,”
Papineau says. “Initially
there were some sceptics but
they quickly came around to
understanding why we were
doing this as a company and
that we were serious about
seeing it through.
“It’s a considerable time
investment – two years in total,
and initially that worried me
because I like change to be swift,
but once you understand the
process, it’s easy to see why it
has to occur at a manageable
pace; you have to be patient.
I can honestly say the results
have been worth every ounce
of the investment.
“We now have a highly
productive and efficient
workplace with minimal waste.
Over 40 years you can build up a
lot of … stuff. It can be
difficult to know what to get
rid of. The Lean process helped
us to really streamline our
housekeeping and establish
sustainable processes.”
Indicatively when the company
moved last year from its old
Welshpool premises into a new
purpose-built facility at Jandakot
– a $20 million investment – staff
were able to shut the doors
in Welshpool at 3pm on the
day prior to the move and be
answering calls in Jandakot by
11am the next morning. “The
staff really pulled together – it
was just fantastic to witness,”
Papineau says.
About 30 per cent of ALT’s
production is now directed to
east-coast and overseas markets
and the company invests
rigorously in ongoing research
and development to stay at the
top of its game. “The last couple
of years have really transformed
our business and positioned us
where we need and want to be,”
Papineau says.
CCI WA continues to lobby the
State Government to support
Lean training provision as a
proven means of transforming
established businesses for global
competitiveness. Aquatic Leisure
Technologies is a CCI Member. ¢
CARRIE COX
Business Pulse Editor
SUDDENLY YOU’RE SPENDING
ALL YOUR TIME IN THE BUSINESS
AND NOT ON THE BUSINESS
BUSINESS NEWS BUSINESS NEWS
CCI Chief Executive
Officer Deidre
Willmott talks to
employees at ALT.
From left: Think
Perform’s Andrew
Christofides, CCI
Chief Executive
Deidre Willmott,
ALT Executive
Director Lynley
Papineau, Think
Perform’s Dan Batey
and ALT Executive
Director Ben Beale.