December 17th, 2025
2025 has been a year defined by rapid change, Operational Improvement, and the need for organisations to deliver more value, more efficiently, and with greater resilience. Across the sectors we support: Defence, Aerospace, Financial Services, Manufacturing, and Infrastructure Construction – leaders continue to face intensifying pressure to achieve measurable improvements while maintaining operational stability and […]
November 20th, 2025
Strengthening Our Capability in Lean, Six Sigma, and Design Excellence Bourton Group is delighted to welcome Glenn Gooding as an Associate Partner. A certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Glenn brings nearly 30 years of experience in operational improvement, design optimisation, process excellence, and organisational capability development across multiple sectors in the UK, Europe, […]
October 21st, 2025
The safe and reliable operation of the UK’s rail network depends on more than physical assets — it relies on the skills competency, engagement, and capability development of the people maintaining them. When Network Rail set out to improve the performance of its Drainage and Lineside function, it faced a complex challenge: varying regional practices, […]
September 15th, 2025
Bourton Group LLP is delighted to announce its membership of ADS, the UK trade organisation representing over 1,200 businesses in the Aerospace, Defence, Security, and Space industries. This milestone reflects Bourton’s long-standing commitment to supporting Supply Chain Resilience with clients in some of the UK’s most strategically important and technically complex sectors. By joining ADS, […]
August 29th, 2025
Rework in UK construction is costing the industry £21 billion every year — equivalent to 21% of total sector output. These avoidable errors don’t just waste money. They delay critical projects, undermine public trust, and expose organisations to growing legal and reputational risks. At a time when the UK urgently needs to deliver major infrastructure […]
July 14th, 2025
Here we explore what it means to be a true advisory partner, drawing on our work with National Highways to demonstrate the value of enabling lasting change. Creating Sector-Wide Impact with National Highways As an Advisory Partner, we thrive on collaboration and shared purpose. Our work with National Highways is a prime example of this. […]
June 19th, 2025
Ken Powell Achieves Chartered Management Consultant status At Bourton Group LLP, our focus is on helping organisations improve their performance and deliver measurable, lasting results. That mission begins with the calibre of our people. We are proud to announce that Ken Powell, one of our Partners, has achieved the prestigious Chartered Management Consultant (ChMC) designation […]
June 15th, 2025
How we are helping lead the change. In an industry often characterised by complexity, fragmentation, and cost overruns, the principles of Lean construction have never been more relevant. From driving efficiencies on site to embedding a culture of continuous improvement, Lean offers a proven way to do more with less – and to do it […]
May 29th, 2025
Bourton Group LLP would like to welcome Richard Wardle, who joins us as a Partner. Richard brings a wealth of experience gained in Global Manufacturing Businesses over the previous 20 years. Richard will focus on enhancing our existing initiatives for UK manufacturers, particularly on developing concepts that support the “Factory of the Future.” This aligns […]
April 20th, 2025
We’re proud to share that Bourton Group has been named a finalist for Advisory Services Provider of the Year at the 2025 New Civil Engineer Awards! 🏆 NCE Awards 2025 – Advisory Services Provider of the Year 2025 This nomination recognises our deep sector expertise and track record of delivering operational excellence in complex, regulated […]
March 12th, 2025
We’re thrilled to share that Bourton Group LLP has once again been recognised by the Financial Times as one of the UK’s Leading Management Consultants. We value this recognition as it reinforces our long-standing reputation for helping to make UK Infrastructure Construction businesses better with operational improvement approaches. For years, we’ve been at the heart […]
January 20th, 2025
How the Quad of Aims Can Help Your Team Nail Improvement Projects Let’s be honest—improvement projects can feel overwhelming sometimes. Everyone’s juggling their regular workload, and suddenly, this new initiative needs focus, time, and effort. It’s no wonder things can get a little chaotic if the team isn’t clear on what’s being asked of them. That’s […]
November 5th, 2024
Bourton Group Joins Crown Commercial Service’s Low Value Purchase System Bourton Group LLP has been officially accepted onto the Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Low Value Purchase System (LVPS), marking a significant milestone in the consultancy’s commitment to supporting public sector services transformation. The LVPS is a dynamic purchasing system designed to streamline procurement for low-value […]
October 3rd, 2024
When evaluating the success of a operational improvements consultancy firm, two major factors often come into play: client advocacy and recognition through industry awards. Having recently been recognised on two prestigious platforms: the Forbes 2024 World’s Best Management Consulting Firms list and the Financial Times UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2024 list – Bourton Group LLP […]
September 3rd, 2024
As we approach the one-year mark in our consultancy assignment with NATO’s Communication and Information Agency (NCIA), we can positively reflect on the transformative journey we have undertaken together to achieve Business Process Excellence at NCIA. Tasked with supporting an ambitious objective of becoming a ‘Centre for Business Process Excellence’, NCIA asked us to help […]
August 15th, 2024
Our Partner, Ghislain Taschini recently had the privilege of putting on hold his Bourton Group responsibilities to support, as Technical Officials Team Member, the athletes and judges of the Archery competition of Paris 2024. There were two aspects to his exceptional experience: first, he was part of a multinational team of 200+ trained staff and […]
July 18th, 2024
How SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies) revolutionises manufacturing setup times Imagine cutting your setup times from hours to minutes, boosting productivity, and significantly reducing costs. In the dynamic manufacturing world, efficiency and flexibility are key to maintaining a competitive edge. SMED is a game-changing methodology revolutionising production lines across the manufacturing space For heads of […]
May 29th, 2024
Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) benefits and how they deliver Operational Improvements? RIEs, sometimes known as Kaizen events focus on short-duration projects to drive operational improvement. A cornerstone of Lean Methodology they can make significant, measurable improvements to a specific process within a very short period – ranging from a few days to a few weeks. […]
May 15th, 2024
Bourton Group LLP is committed to the Management Consultancies Association Consulting Excellence principles. The Consulting Excellence is a groundbreaking scheme for some of the UK’s leading management consulting firms and marks a step-change for the industry. As a founding member of the MCA and an operation management consultancy, we are committed to upholding the highest standards […]
March 28th, 2024
Bourton Group LLP Welcomes Ghislain Taschini as a Partner, Enhancing Expertise and Driving Growth! Join us in extending the warmest of welcomes to Ghislain Taschini, whom we are delighted to announce has accepted our offer to join Bourton Group LLP as a Partner! We are thrilled to shine the spotlight on Ghislain’s appointment, which signifies not only a recognition […]
March 26th, 2024
We’re thrilled to announce some important developments at Bourton Group LLP that promise to elevate our services and enrich our expertise! We’re delighted to announce that Ken Powell is taking over the reins as our new Managing Partner. With a proven track record of excellence, innovative thinking, and a deep understanding of our industry, Ken Powell is poised […]
March 21st, 2024
The Challenges of Changing Addresses Moving house is hailed as one of life’s most stressful events, and for good reason. As if the physical process itself isn’t emotionally and physically taxing enough, changing address can also loom large and cause its own unique brand of stress! I experienced this first-hand recently when I attempted to […]
March 13th, 2024
The iTVX drama Breathtaking, sparked conversation at a recent Bourton Group LLP team meeting (held face-to-face by the way) around the fact that this month marks four years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We remembered how swiftly we established new ways of working outside our standard approach to keep people safe while mitigating […]
March 6th, 2024
For the last seven years, the Financial Times, in partnership with Statista, has listed the UK’s Leading Management Consultancy firms, as voted for by clients and peers. It’s with immense pride and gratitude we announce that Bourton Group has been listed for the sixth time for our work in Construction and Infrastructure. But even more […]
October 25th, 2023
In our professional and personal lives, we often encounter challenges and obstacles that require creative solutions. We’d like to introduce you to a powerful problem-solving framework known as the 3C method: Concern, Cause, Countermeasure. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or someone eager to enhance your problem-solving toolkit, this method has something valuable to offer. What […]
July 11th, 2023
When it comes to applying continuous improvement methodologies to operational improvement programs or business improvement projects generally there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’. However, over the many years that Bourton Group has been helping to improve businesses, we have found the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) approach to be highly effective. This is not […]
April 25th, 2023
Well-scoped business process improvement projects have a greater chance of delivering successful outcomes than poorly scoped ones. That’s why we always aim to find engaging ways to phrase the challenge and excite and align key stakeholders involved in scoping business process improvement projects. What is a business process improvement project? So, for the Understand phase […]
November 23rd, 2022
What is it? Integrated Project Delivery is a construction project delivery method that seeks improvements in: Efficiency Effectiveness Productivity Throughout all phases of design, fabrication, and construction and even sometimes into operation; it requires active collaboration from all participants, such as: People Systems Business structures Practices Integrated Project Delivery combines ideas from integrated practice and […]
October 29th, 2022
Traditionally, a Continuous Improvement project is about applying a robust and proven problem-solving methodology and a suite of data analysis tools to identify, understand and improve processes. These approaches range from the straightforward Plan Do Check Act to the more sophisticated DMAICT, and there is no doubt that structure and discipline lend objectivity and credibility […]
September 27th, 2022
Applying Lean principles to the office environment it’s not about ‘taking away all the interesting bits and turning your staff into robots. But more about removing waste so your teams can spend more time on creative or considerative steps that will deliver more value to the customer. A model of Lean implementation considered effective in […]
August 4th, 2022
What is Organisational Development? Organizational development “refers to the context, focus, and purpose of the change while developing an organisation.” Additionally, one recent definition of organizational development states: “Organizational development is a critical and science-based process that helps businesses build their capacity to change and achieve greater effectiveness by developing, improving, and reinforcing strategies, structures, […]
July 20th, 2022
Applying Lean to your Business Improvement Projects is a proven way in which your business can achieve operational improvement. Lean approaches are proven to streamline processes and eliminate wasteful activity, improve efficiency and cut operational costs. Also, Lean will equip your people with techniques for continuous improvement that will improve overall business performance. Business improvement […]
May 31st, 2022
It’s not unusual for businesses to have key members of staff retiring at the same time. It’s therefore crucial that businesses develop a strategy for succession planning to ensure that key knowledge and experience are not lost. Effective Knowledge Transfer for your Business Our article is intended to outline some of the actions an organisation can […]
February 28th, 2022
Bourton Group has been helping to make businesses better for over five decades, and during this time, we’ve seen many trends come and go. However, irrespective of the business sector and the general direction of change, the following three objectives have continuously remained high on most business performance improvement agendas: We want real, tangible business […]
February 2nd, 2022
For the fourth year running we’ve been acknowledged by our clients and peers for our consultancy work within the Construction & Infrastructure sector of the Financial Times UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2022 report. We are over the moon that our Operational Management Consultancy has been listed alongside some of the UK’s most well-known consultancy firms. […]
February 1st, 2022
I was recently asked my opinion on a trend that seems to be emerging from the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on businesses and organisations. The trend seems to suggest that people are ‘re-imagining’ not only their approach to work, for example, hybrid working, but also who they may be working for. It’s fair to […]
December 1st, 2021
Over the last few months as things have begun to return to ‘normal’ Bourton Group has embarked on some very rigorous 5S activity. Like a lot of you, while our operations were forced into ‘working from home’ – we realised that there were quite a few items that were no longer necessary to our more […]
October 19th, 2021
Whilst reading a great article in Forbes during a recent flight to Portugal, The Pandemic has changed Business Structures: There’s No Going Back. I was struck by the comment from Brian Chesky, founder, and CEO of Airbnb, who rightly says, “travel will never go back to what it was before the pandemic.” The article also […]
September 6th, 2021
Developing Management Capability in Others Much attention is paid to the difference between leading and managing, and the concept of ‘leadership’, quite rightly, gets considerable airtime in the learning and development arena. Never before has demonstrating the skills associated with capturing and engaging the commitment of people been more expected or more challenging. And, whilst […]
August 4th, 2021
Squeezing extra performance from teams Consistent and sustainable high performance from teams has never been achieved by simply instructing them to work better harder and faster, and issuing veiled threats if they don’t. As with any social group, the behaviour of work teams is the outcome of a complex mix of situation, opportunity and individual […]
June 13th, 2021
Aligning Personal Objectives to Organisational Strategy Too often, people working in operational roles see strategy as something that doesn’t affect them; they are just there to do their jobs. But how do leaders know that everyone is working towards the same overall goals? How do you, as a manager, make sure that everybody’s contribution counts? […]
April 26th, 2021
What is an empowered team? The individuals in an empowered team (also known as a ‘self-directed’ or ‘self-managed’) are not intrinsically different to that of an average team. An empowered team, however, is one where the knowledge, experience and motivation that already exist within the team is fully utilised, as they are given more freedom […]
February 24th, 2021
Bourton is listed in the Financial Times league table of the UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2021. For the third consecutive year, Bourton Group received a significant number of recommendations from peers and clients and can be classed as highly “recommended” within the consulting industry, and particularly within the Construction & Infrastructure sector. Read the full report […]
February 2nd, 2021
The reason 5S is different is that, unlike just about every other Lean technique, it is not based on processes, but instead on the work environment. If you’re not careful when training, this can make it seem overly simplistic when in reality a detailed appreciation of each of the 5 S’s is essential if they’re to be […]
November 16th, 2020
The individuals in an empowered team (also known as a ‘self-directed’ or ‘self-managed’) are not too different from that of the average traditional team. With an empowered team knowledge, experience and motivation are fully utilised, as they are given more freedom over the way they work. It is not the team members or team roles […]
July 7th, 2020
How businesses leverage their Networked Organisation to exploit the ‘hidden’ margin benefits in the value-chain and stimulate cashflows For many organisations the pandemic has exposed a lack of resilience in their business. Businesses are seeking ‘Competitive Survival’ in a rapidly changing environment, and the capability to manage disruption and uncertainty to mitigate risks and emerge […]
May 7th, 2020
Being a high-performance leader may come more naturally to some than others. However, the skills required can also be learned, developed, and continuously improved. Here are our observations on the leadership skills that most often crop up in our coaching work with leaders and managers. The three skill areas that leaders can lever to bring […]
April 27th, 2020
Bourton Group LLP is delighted to announce that Sharon Banks has joined its consulting team as an Associate Senior Consultant. Sharon is a Lean expert with extensive experience of working in Government agencies at a senior level for many years. During her career, Sharon has led large
April 15th, 2020
When you’re first introduced to Lean, one of the things that can be slightly confusing is the many ways in which ‘time’ is mentioned. We all understand that time elapses and that any given moment is a specific time, but suddenly in Lean we hear phrases like: Cycle Time Lead Time Work Content Time Elapsed […]
February 27th, 2020
I’ve recently been working with an organisation that has several key members of staff retiring from the business over the next few years. Realising the risk to the business from a shortfall of valuable knowledge and experience needed for successful running of day to day operations; they have identified a need to plan for dealing […]
February 11th, 2020
Measuring the Return on Investment of Continuous Improvement (CI) Much is written and published about when, where and how to implement Continuous Improvement (CI), less is said about why. To some extent, it could be that the reason why seems obvious – if you have a problem, the reason you use CI techniques is that […]
January 21st, 2020
The constant challenge for business leaders is to understand that there may be a better way to carry out business activity than the one that has been successful for the last 30 years and is now ingrained into the values and beliefs of their organisation. Lean Thinking was developed for the manufacturing sector during the […]
January 9th, 2020
It’s important to recognise the need for a proper understanding of the real situation before starting to improve things. In Six Sigma a lot of emphasis is put on DMAIC – Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control – as the correct method for structuring improvement projects. In fact, although the terminology stems from Six Sigma theory, […]
December 17th, 2019
Mike Notman, Managing Partner – Bourton Group LLP Before everyone heads off for the festive season, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the last year and share with you some of our many accomplishments and also plans for next year. Earlier in the year, we were delighted to scoop the Best Performance […]
November 21st, 2019
When introducing myself at the start of a training course and explaining my current role, I tend to say my time splits into around 30% training or coaching and 70% leading projects. Shamefully for someone who regularly delivers whole modules on the importance of data integrity, I’ve never actually checked if that’s true, but it […]
November 3rd, 2019
A few weeks ago, I met with the CEO of a European based Global business and as we opened the conversation, he asked me for my take on the current situation in the UK. Thinking about it, I realised that the current situation had been going on for quite some time and that we’ve been […]
October 22nd, 2019
In recent times so much Lean Six Sigma application has centred around the benefits that can be gained in transactional working environments. That’s why it’s always great to have the opportunity to use Lean techniques in the place they were originally developed – on the factory floor. Earlier this year Bourton Group led a project […]
October 9th, 2019
Evolution or Revolution. Shaking it up. This year’s LCI-UK summit is opened by Rob Walley, Senior Partner here at Bourton Group LLP, and Board Director with the Lean Construction Institute UK. The 2019 Lean Construction Summit “Lean Construction: Evolution or Revolution? Shaking it up” aims to address the fundamental questions facing the Construction Industry, from […]
October 2nd, 2019
Recently I assisted with a Robust Design for Analysts training course run by Bourton Group at one of the UK’s leading manufacturing companies. It was a useful reminder of Process Improvement’s vast scale of complexity. I spend most of my working life training, coaching and leading projects at companies which have massive amounts to gain […]
September 10th, 2019
The devil in the detail: why transformation efforts fail Having a great vision and plan is important, but the fact remains most transformation efforts will fail at the execution stage! The most common reason for this is that leaders often underestimate the magnitude of change. Change leaders can misjudge the importance of engaging the entire […]
August 27th, 2019
While, many companies start the process excellence journey with a bang many will start but fail to deliver the expected benefits or even worse never take off at all! Our article looks at some of the common causes of failure along with the characteristics of our approach to mitigating these and to developing an effective […]
August 14th, 2019
How Stakeholder Analysis can help you to understand the views of stakeholders with respect to change. So what is it? Stakeholder Analysis provides a way for the project team to predict the views of the stakeholders with respect to the change. A stakeholder is anyone who: Owns the process/es Controls critical resources within the processes […]
August 1st, 2019
All Lean practitioners know that success with improvement projects will only come if they have the buy-in of the people involved. When you make changes to processes, if the people involved do not understand why those changes are happening, disagree with the need for the change, or believe the wrong changes are being made, then […]
July 17th, 2019
I’m an excellent communicator Ask any group of people what needs to be improved in the workplace and the chances are that most will say communication. Although, it’s something we all do all day long, instinctively and subconsciously. Most people will cite ‘communication’ as one of their key skills on their CV and, like driving, […]
June 18th, 2019
Lean Six Sigma Application From a Belt’s point of view, one of the great things about Lean Six Sigma (LSS) techniques is that they can be applied to any situation. You do not have to be an expert in the processes or even the industry in which you lead an improvement project; indeed, it can […]
May 29th, 2019
2019 a great year for Bourton Group LLP 2019 started with The Financial Times naming us as one of the Leading UK Consultancy Firms for the 2nd year running. Then not long after, Bourton Group had further reason to celebrate having scooped the 2019 MCA Award for Performance Improvement in the Private Sector. Our 2019 […]
March 5th, 2019
What’s Lean got to do with me? Having worked with many companies from different industries it’s not unusual for me to be challenged by clients about how applicable Lean is to them. In fact, it’s a common misconception that Lean has no place in low-volume environments and that it’s only meant for longer, highly repetitive […]
February 21st, 2019
Is Six Sigma a Pre-requisite to Design for Six Sigma? No! It’s a common misconception though. Design for Six Sigma (DfSS) is perceived to be more complex than Six Sigma and often ‘too hard’. Before we address this, just what is DfSS? DfSS is a methodology that revolves around the ability to be able to […]
February 13th, 2019
Bourton Group LLP amongst UK consultancies rated most highly by clients and peers? For the second year running, The Financial Times has named Bourton Group LLP as one of the leading UK consultancy firms. We have been recognised for our sectorial experience in the Construction and Infrastructure space and for the benefits and outcomes that our work has […]
February 7th, 2019
Communicating KPIs in the Modern Workplace Pleased with myself following the positive reception I received for an article I wrote a few weeks ago on Senior Management’s role in Lean implementation, I took the unusual step of sharing it with my personal network, rather than just my professional one. I usually try to avoid boring my relatives to […]
January 22nd, 2019
Bourton Group LLP named as finalists in MCA Awards 2019 – January 2019 The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) has announced the finalists for the 2019 MCA Awards, and we are delighted to tell you that Bourton Group LLP has been shortlisted for the final. We have been named as a finalist in the category Performance […]
January 8th, 2019
There’s no blame just learning There are no truer words when it comes to understanding the concept of knowledge transfer in the construction environment. Once we start to associate blame to lessons learnt, all knowledge is lost, and individuals will seek to protect their own interests. Transferring knowledge from one project to another Knowledge transfer […]
December 11th, 2018
One of the most common mistakes made by companies implementing Lean is to assume that the theory is only relevant up to a certain level in the organisation structure. Lean is commonly perceived as heavily involving shop floor level improvements, and rightly so, but one of the biggest challenges for Lean Facilitators is helping senior […]
November 27th, 2018
As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt working for a Management Consultancy, I spend most of my time leading improvement projects in clients’ businesses. Naturally, as someone from outside the organisation who has been brought in to do a specific job, it is very important to define clearly what the aims and objectives of the […]
November 16th, 2018
If your payroll costs are more than £3 million a year, then you’re paying 0.5% levy on that bill minus a £15,000 allowance, to HMRC. A 10% ‘top-up’ is then added by HMRC to create a fund that can be used to deliver high quality, accredited training. What is the Apprenticeship Levy? The Apprenticeship Levy […]
November 15th, 2018
Operational Improvement Consultancy, Bourton Group LLP has been named on the Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Management Consultancy Framework. Public sector organisations can now access our Business Consultancy Services through LOT 1 of the framework also known as RM3741. CCS supports the Public Sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring services. The framework is available […]
October 30th, 2018
Feedback forms – critical for measuring the effectiveness of the training For both individuals and companies who provide training, one of the most important outputs from delivering a course is the feedback forms. There are lots of ways a business can measure its ability to win work, but in the case of training courses those forms […]
October 15th, 2018
Organisational Change… Creating and sustaining engagement from a Project Manager’s perspective. In this Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world, change is both inevitable and unpredictable. Be it either process-focussed or technology-focussed, a critical element of any change programme is to change the ways in which people do things. When change is needed in an […]
October 2nd, 2018
Coach or Mentor… Let’s not get confused! An article in the September edition of the Director Magazine about the difference between coaching and mentoring was always going to prompt a discussion in the office amongst our team of qualified Executive Performance Coaches. (Director – Why everyone’s talking about mentoring, 19th September, Hannah Gresty) As performance […]
September 25th, 2018
The LCI-UK Summit 2018 “Lean Productivity – From Design to Delivery” – Thursday 1st November 2018. Bourton Group LLP has for many years supported the LCI-UK with their annual summit, and this year we have expanded our involvement following the appointment of Bourton Group Senior Partner Rob Walley to the board of LCI-UK. In addition to leading […]
September 20th, 2018
Change is not what it used to be The only certainty we have about next week is that it will certainly be different from today. That’s one reason the ability to manage change effectively has become so critical for organisations to survive. While the good news is that there are many concepts available to help […]
September 5th, 2018
Robust Critical Path Analysis using Monte Carlo Simulation Dr P.G. Rowe, Senior Consultant In project management a PERT (Programme Evaluation and Review Technique) diagram shows which tasks are required to have been completed before others are started. A simple example of a PERT diagram for sourcing and installing a new kitchen is shown below: For […]
Bourton Group LLP welcomes new addition to Management Board. September 2018 Bourton Group LLP are delighted to announce that Julian Hynd has joined the management board as a non-executive Adviser. Managing Partner, Mike Notman said: “I am delighted that Julian has joined us to help with our strategy for growth and development. I welcome his counsel […]
August 22nd, 2018
Are Lean and Six Sigma Mutually Exclusive? Dr Phil Rowe Senior Consultant In the world of process improvement two giants have been fighting it out over the last two decades – Lean and Six Sigma. There are staunch advocates and critics of both. But, are they mutually exclusive? And, should a business do one or […]
August 9th, 2018
Chasing Productivity… it’s a marathon, not a sprint Arran McDonald, Senior Consultant We live in interesting times. The UK’s departure from the European Union has bought us political upheaval and a great deal of economic uncertainty. It’s also created many practical concerns to businesses at a time when we had begun to trumpet progress and […]
August 1st, 2018
The Lean Six Sigma Belt Structure Mike Horton, Senior Consultant Eleven years ago, while working for an American chemicals corporation which was beginning to introduce Lean globally, I got my first 100% improvement focussed job, and the role was officially called Tool Facilitator. Two years later, when it was announced the role names were all […]
July 19th, 2018
Creating a vision is one of the most challenging tasks undertaken by a team or organisation. “Vision” in this context refers not to a few simple phrases, but rather the complete articulation of the future state, i.e. company values, processes, structure, technology, job roles, and environment. The question is… What steps can I take […]
July 3rd, 2018
Process FMEA – A step by step guide to facilitating continuous improvement by driving down errors and rework Keith Bennett, Senior Consultant A Process Failure Mode Effects Analysis (PFMEA) is a structured analytical tool used by teams to identify and evaluate the potential failures of a process. PFMEA helps to establish the impact of the […]
June 21st, 2018
3 Elements of Motivation – what buttons to press, or not to press! Our quick overview outlines three forms of motivation in the workplace: Achievement Affiliation Influence It is an insight into why team members might respond differently to change and offers some useful do’s and don’ts when influencing individual team members. Imagine the scenario… […]
June 11th, 2018
Has Lean had its time? Mike Horton, Senior Consultant – June 2018 I was recently lucky enough to attend the excellent annual National Manufacturing Debate at Cranfield University. Mingling in the reception area upon arrival a fellow delegate who had read my ID badge asked what type of consulting I do. As soon as I […]
May 23rd, 2018
Eliminating waste ultimately ensures efficiency – increasing productivity A recent workshop of ours, attended by over 300 senior managers demonstrated that over 30% of the examples of waste came from simply over-processing of services or activity. In other words, doing too much to something when a simpler approach would be more effective. When asked why […]
May 21st, 2018
Bourton Group LLP are delighted to announce that Partner, Rob Walley has been appointed as Director to the board of the Lean Construction Institute. The Lean Construction Institute UK is a charitable membership organisation supporting research into and dissemination of Lean construction principles and best practice with a view to improving public sector construction. Rob […]
May 8th, 2018
Lean and Industry 4.0 It has been said that Industry 4.0, or “The Internet of Things” or “increased automation”, depending on which you prefer is set to revolutionise the workplace. Twenty years ago, we were told that children starting school at the time would be leaving university and going into jobs that weren’t yet invented. […]
April 26th, 2018
Creating a Positive and High Performing Culture Recently Bourton Group took the decision to move offices from The Stables at Bourton Hall to newer, more contemporary offices in Daventry. As part of the move we had to carry out a very rigorous 5S activity so that we only took with us what we would need […]
April 11th, 2018
Quick Guide to Leading a Change Initiative As a front-line manager or team leader, you have a critical role to play in the successful implementation of change in your organisation. Whether you are responsible for taking forward organisation-wide changes or you want to introduce changes at a more local level within your team, leading change requires […]
March 1st, 2018
Bourton Group Senior Consultant, Dr. Phil Rowe, has recently achieved recognition as a Chartered Statistician, the highest professional award of the Royal Statistical Society. This award provides formal recognition of his statistical qualifications, professional training and experience and follows on from his recent award of a 1st Class BA Hons in Mathematics and Statistics. Phil […]
February 12th, 2018
With the performance of the NHS one of the most contentious subjects in the news recently, it’s no surprise there is a lot of attention paid to its key performance indicators (KPIs). There must be a huge amount of pressure on NHS Trusts to report positive results, and it is in that climate that the […]
January 30th, 2018
When it comes to Business Improvement the customer is always right, or are they?Customer The phrase “The customer is always right” was originally coined in 1909 by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s department store in London, and is typically used by businesses to convince customers that they will get the best possible service […]
January 16th, 2018
The Productivity Puzzle Productivity Mike Horton (Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) – January 2018 There has been much talk in the media lately about productivity. It is increasingly being seen as the key to improving the UK’s economic outlook. The government recently announced £10m of funding to create The Productivity Leadership Group (PLG), a […]
November 21st, 2017
The Well from Hell – Learning from the infamous Deepwater Horizon disaster: Article 2 HROs and Balancing Production & Prevention High Reliability Organisations (HROs) possess traits that enable them to balance production and prevention pressures in an effective, mindful way. From studies by Wieck and Sutcliffe – Managing the unexpected, these traits include: Preoccupation with […]
November 14th, 2017
The Fishbone Analysis enables you to gain a better understanding of the root causes of problems. Fishbone Analysis – What is it? Fishbone Analysis is simply a way of identifying a wide variety of potential causes of a problem and grouping them together in categories. It is also sometimes called Cause and Effect Analysis or […]
October 17th, 2017
Bourton Group LLP are delighted to announce that Ken Powell has been appointed as a Partner. Ken has been with Bourton Group as a Senior Consultant for the last three years and his move to the position of Partner recognises the work that he has been carrying out leading major improvement projects with clients and […]
October 3rd, 2017
LCI-UK Summit 2017 Pre-Summit Dinner – Wednesday 25th October 2017 The Pre-Summit Dinner has always been an important part of the LCI-UK Summit. Once again we will be hosting a table and if you’re going to the Summit, we would like to invite you to join us for dinner, as our guest. As previous hosts, […]
Mike Notman, Managing Partner Some time ago I took it upon myself to trace family members who had served in the 1st World War and discovered that one relative was buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery near Poperinge, Flanders. More recently, accompanied by my daughter, I decided to visit and it was here we experienced at […]
September 19th, 2017
Creating a High Reliability Organisation (HRO): Article 1 Don’t forget to be afraid: how to balance production and prevention to avoid accidents In a world where commercial pressures demand faster, better, cheaper and cleaner, how do the best organisations maintain their composure and retain a focus on what could go wrong at any time when […]
July 12th, 2017
Critical Success Factors for Successful Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Implementation Dr Murugadoss Karthikesu Panneerselvam (Doss) – July 2017 What is TPM ? In these times of irrepressible competition and uncertain global economic stability, academics and practitioners continuously search for strategies and means to offer organisations performance improvements in terms of productivity, quality, cost and delivery. […]
June 28th, 2017
Being a leader can be a lonely existence… How to cope? Lesley Fleming (Senior Consultant at Bourton Group – June 2017) ‘It’s tough at the top’ as the old saying goes, and whilst to the world at large achieving the status of ‘leader’ is seen to be a positive attribute, it can sometimes feel like a […]
June 12th, 2017
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Arran McDonald (Senior Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) So, what is it? Key measurement or just a manufacturing concept? Is it relevant to construction? In these commercially challenged times we are under more and more pressure from our clients to deliver “more for less”. However, with challenging targets and tight programme […]
June 1st, 2017
Influencing Stakeholders Lesley Fleming (Senior Consultant at Bourton Group – June 2017) Research has consistently shown that 70% of change initiatives fail to deliver the anticipated results, and first among the reasons behind this is ‘people’: leaders failing to engage the workers; or workers being either unwilling or unable to adapt to change. Dr Kotter (professor […]
May 17th, 2017
Engaging Employees through Brainstorming Mike Horton (Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) – May 2017 When faced with a business problem but uncertain of the solution, Brainstorming can be the perfect approach. It is not a precise or scientific method of gaining information, but if you involve the right subject matter experts the opinions that come […]
April 11th, 2017
How to drive improvements while maintaining business as usual Mike Horton (Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) – April 2017 Anyone who has ever attended Lean training knows that alarm bells should ring when subject matter experts respond to questions by saying “well, we’ve always done it this way”. In a transactional environment, you can usually […]
March 21st, 2017
Brexit uncertainties – what do employees need from their leaders? Lesley Fleming (Senior Consultant at Bourton Group – March 2017) Uncertainties surrounding Brexit continue to occupy much space in the media, with the only conviction being that it is all going to take a long time to sort out. There is much coverage of opinion, […]
March 9th, 2017
The ‘more for less challenge’ The water industry is one of those heavily regulated sectors that undertakes large civil engineering improvement schemes. These schemes are no exception to the ‘more for less challenge’, where increasing efficiency and delivering value for money is key! The use of collaborative planning working techniques ensures that both supplier and […]
February 20th, 2017
The decision-maker, problem-solver, planner and manager.. Mike Notman (Managing Partner at Bourton Group LLP) – February 2017 Empowered teams have increased levels of responsibility and authority over the work they do, giving them the autonomy to plan and manage their work, make their own decisions and solve their own problems – responsibilities that are traditionally owned […]
February 7th, 2017
Kaizen and the benefit of immediate improvements Mike Horton (Senior Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) – February 2016 An accusation I often hear levelled at Continuous Improvement events is that while they end with a well-meaning action plan, all too often people who attended go back to their usual jobs and don’t find the time to […]
January 23rd, 2017
Taking FMEA Outside of the Factory Mike Horton (Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) – January 2017 What is FMEA? FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) is a risk analysis tool often associated with manufacturing processes, especially around the launch of new products. There’s no reason it can’t be used in a wide range of other […]
January 9th, 2017
Communication Ask any group of people what needs to be improved in the workplace and the chances are that most will say communication. People will always feel that they need to know more than they do about what is happening in the organisation. Sometimes its because they haven’t been told, and sometimes its because they […]
December 14th, 2016
Introducing Lean Construction – Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors CPD Initiative Arran McDonald (Senior Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) – December 2016 Bourton Group already support the UK Construction industry, helping to drive performance improvement against that Holy Trinity of measures; Cost, Quality and Delivery. However, we are always looking for opportunities to develop understanding […]
November 25th, 2016
High Performance and Reliability in Organisations. Can a Lean culture become as embedded as safety? Ken Powell, Partner Having been asked to present a short workshop session at this year’s LCI-UK Summit in Birmingham, I chose to challenge the audience on how we may be able to draw parallels with safety when trying to engage […]
November 15th, 2016
How to successfully engage people in a Lean environment, while considering the future challenges to the industry. Arran McDonald (Senior Consultant at Bourton Group LLP) – November 2016. For the 4th year running Bourton Group supported the LCI-UK Summit 2016. I was invited to deliver one of the small group sessions on the subject of […]
November 8th, 2016
More from the early days of Lean at St Andrews … ‘The Lean Way’ @BourtonGroup pic.twitter.com/jcDD3bb33k — St Andrews Lean (@LeanUni) November 7, 2016
October 19th, 2016
What size teams should we aim for? We have recently been involved in supporting a number of organisation design projects with our clients. Having done appraisals of customer needs, defined the culture they were aiming to embed, and optimised core business processes, the next key question was “what size teams should we aim for: what […]
October 11th, 2016
Safety & Cost Benefits achieved through Process Mapping On paper process mapping can sometimes seem cumbersome and even counter-intuitive as an improvement technique – if we need to improve the output in the future, how will spending a lot of time documenting what we’re doing now help? It is especially tempting to think this way […]
September 23rd, 2016
The LCI-UK Pre-Summit Dinner – 26th October 2016 The Pre-Summit Dinner has always been an important part of the LCI-UK Summit. Once again we will be hosting a table and if you’re going to the Summit, we would like to invite you to join us for dinner, as our guest. As previous hosts, the dinner […]
September 22nd, 2016
Production Control Conference Costain recently hosted its inaugural Production Control Conference, which gave delegates an insight into how Costain’ s Water and Highways Sectors are embracing ‘Production Control’ and ‘Lean’ methodologies to increase productivity and improve efficiencies in project delivery. Over 60 people from across the business and the supply chain attended the event at the Chartered Institute of Marketing near Maidenhead […]
September 2nd, 2016
Performance improvement specialists Bourton Group LLP strengthens its consulting team with the addition of three new team members. We are particularly delighted about the additional strength to our construction and infrastructure experience having also recently welcomed Ken Powell from Carillion on board last year. Bourton Group has supported the UK Construction and Infrastructure sector for over […]
August 16th, 2016
Consulting Excellence marks step change for the world-leading consulting industry The members of the MCA (Management Consultancies Association) have launched a new Consulting Excellence scheme that commits them to promoting high standards of ethical behaviour, value for clients and professional development. This new initiative comes at a time when public trust in the voice of business is low, […]
August 9th, 2016
London (UK) 8th August 2016 – The International Consulting Network (ICN) Board of Directors confirms the appointment of Keith Bissett as new Chairman following the retirement of David Pheasey. The Board took the opportunity to thank David for his achievements over the previous two years in creating a strong foundation from which the ICN can […]
August 2nd, 2016
Lean archaeology! From the first days of Lean at St Andrews. Thanks to @BourtonGroup all those years ago. pic.twitter.com/PD4N9ByUVJ — St Andrews Lean (@LeanUni) July 25, 2016 Lean Programme still going strong & delivering results, a great example ‘constancy of purpose’
Exciting times! Peppermint embarks on Lean 6 Sigma programme with @BourtonGroup to improve the experience we deliver to customers. — Peppermint (@pepperminttech) July 27, 2016 Great to be working with such a forward thinking organisation as Peppermint Technology and with a great bunch of people keen to make a difference.
July 26th, 2016
When a group brainstorming session comes to its natural end, as a facilitator you’re in a very interesting place. Somewhere in your team’s creative outpouring will be the ideas that enable you to meet your project’s objectives. However, the next step of working out where they are critical. There are lots of different prioritisation techniques for […]
July 20th, 2016
Many motivational theories focus on the employers’ role to provide something in exchange for something else. For example, Adam’s Equity Theory is based on the notion that people trade something that is valuable to their employer (e.g. their time, effort, ability, loyalty, commitment, flexibility, etc.) for something that is of value to them (e.g. pay, […]
July 19th, 2016
Help people to help themselves We often find ourselves faced with people asking for help: with technical questions; difficult interpersonal scenarios; customer relations; and operational processes. Our response is invariably a demonstrated desire to help and, in our time-strapped times, the natural reaction is to promptly provide the ‘right’ answer and carry on. However, this […]
June 23rd, 2016
In terms of driving change there are a couple of tools that can really help us in the improvement arena; Force-Field Analysis and the Change Equation. The change equation and its need for a vision of the future is a great example of why the referendum campaigners from both sides find it difficult to persuade […]
June 6th, 2016
As an integral part of our Lean education programmes we usually run awareness sessions for change champions setting out the philosophy, principles and benefits of taking a structured approach to performance improvement. Some of these people already have a wide experience and deep understanding of Lean and or Six Sigma, whilst others are new to […]
May 18th, 2016
One of the key tools we are currently deploying on projects with a number of our clients is actually very simple – in fact almost so obvious it can easily be missed. It is the focus on the small day to day issues that hamper or hinder the completion of work. Often overlooked, this regular […]
April 20th, 2016
Frontrunners, Followers or Firefighters? I was pleasantly surprised to read a report from NatWest,‘Future Fit: the road ahead for UK Manufacturing’ which chimes with many of our experiences of working with a range of UK SME’s over the past twenty years. As the Mark Twain quote goes ‘rumours of my death are grossly exaggerated’, could be […]
April 6th, 2016
Coming up with solutions is usually the most exciting and engaging part of any improvement activity. As soon as an area for improvement is identified, everyone starts throwing their ideas in the ring. Releasing that creativity and giving it full reign gives everyone a buzz and is critical to innovative change. However, like all steps […]
March 21st, 2016
When working on improvement projects it can be difficult to gain buy in and consensus from within the team on which ideas to go for. Whether you are trying to decide which problems to work on or which solutions to try out first, there are a number of methods and tools that can help the […]
March 7th, 2016
The devil in the detail: why transformation efforts fail.. Having a great vision and plan is important, but the fact remains that most transformation efforts fail at the execution stage. That’s because leaders often underestimate the magnitude of change; the need to fully engage the full organisation and the requirement for leadership focus and follow […]
March 1st, 2016
There are some strange terms used in association with Lean as well as in modern life. Here’s a few of the new words for 2015 that caught my attention: hangry, adj.: (informal) bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger manspreading, n.: the practice whereby a man, especially one travelling on public transport, adopts a sitting position with […]
December 16th, 2015
We would like to take advantage of the knowledge, experience and opinions of those working in the world of Construction and Infrastructure. We would be grateful if you could complete the short survey linked below. Bourton Group has been working with the Construction Sector for over 10 years, helping to drive performance improvement against that […]
November 10th, 2015
Being a high performance leader may come more naturally to some than others; however, the skills required can be learnt, developed and continuously improved. We’ve looked at the leadership skills that most often crop up in our coaching work with leaders and managers. Click here to read the three skill areas we have highlighted where […]
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