COVER STORY APRIL 2019
the forefront of technological advancement for
many years. “We have probably been doing things
that would now be considered ‘Industry 4.0’ for
the past 20 years, insofar as we have integrated all
of our systems – ERP, MRP, fi nance and so on –
into one,” he said. “One of our main philosophies
is ‘capture once and use many times’. That way,
the data we collect becomes particularly powerful.
While the case is diff erent for each specifi c
industry, on the whole automation should be seen
as vital in ensuring the growth of a business.”
At the other end of the scale sits drinks
company, Distell International, which enjoys a
combination of an FMCG bottling business and
a more traditional distilling arm. The company’s
head of supply chain, Kevin Handley, explained
that this division was also apparent when it comes
to technology. “Automation in the front-end,
FMCG part of the company is being driven by the
fact that historically it was highly manned, which
came with an imperative to control costs, ensure
the health and safety requirements were met
and so on,” he said. “As soon as automation was
available in that area, and would provide the sort
of savings that meant the technology would pay
for itself, it became a no-brainer.
“By contrast, the more traditional
environments haven’t seen those sorts of
incentives. We have parts of the business that
haven’t started on the journey at all, and the
gap that is opening for them to catch up is very
large. This is an industry that is valued, so how
do you incorporate that sort of technology into a
workforce that sees itself as artisan?”
Sort the head, and the body will follow
Going even further was George Donaldson,
enterprise excellence manager at collagen
casings (sausage skins) manufacturer, Devro (see
box, below). He argued that the real reason for
Scotland’s industrial lag wasn’t technology, but
the people. First and foremost, he said, there will
be no chance of an industrial renaissance without
a renewed focus on leadership: “If you want to
improve your business, fi rst improve your people
– and start with the management. Most leaders
are dysfunctional and have no idea what it means
to be a leader, because they’re too busy managing
and not spending enough time leading. We always
say that to ensure improvement, you have to start
with the head and make sure it’s going in the right
direction. Otherwise, the rest of the company
won’t know where it’s going.
“Managers today are created from a mould
made of case studies,” Donaldson continued.
“If people come straight from a management
course and into a leadership role, what real-world
experience have they had on the way?”
This focus on leadership is reliant on
education, agreed Ian Collinson, regional lead
practitioner at SMAS. “Leadership skills aren’t
something we get introduced to as we make our
The Devro Way
Devro is one of Scottish manufacturing’s
success stories. With two manufacturing
sites near Glasgow, in the towns of Bellshill
and Moodiesburn, plus fi ve others across
the globe, the company makes over a
billion metres of sausage
SMAS director Nick Shields used the
organisation’s annual conference
(above) to urge Scottish industry
to boost its productivity
skin per year. In recent years,
the company has enjoyed a
transformation journey under
the banner of The Devro Way.
Following a spate of redundancies
in May 2014, and a management
restructure a year later, Donaldson was
brought in to steady the ship.
The Devro Way, devised by Donaldson,
Shiels and the senior management team, aims
to engage all employees with a culture of
business improvement and innovation. This
has led to an 8% increase in net plant yield,
equating to millions of pounds on the bottom
line, with no extra investment in assets.
way through our careers. A lot of the
time, it’s about being made of
‘the right stuff ’, without ever
Key to the Devro Way is what
the company call the Visual
Factory, which visualises the
factory’s chain of command in a
series of pyramids. “These provide
visibility on the company structure,”
says Donaldson. “They demonstrate how
each level feeds into the next one, and
the responsibilities of each. We can also
track progress on how the company is
progressing towards its wider goals. It’s
vital to create strategies and then be able
to execute them. An objective is nothing
without an aim, and that’s what the Visual
Factory aims to achieve.”
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