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On-site visits and productivity planning have already helped hundreds of small and medium-sized Alberta businesses begin their journeys to increased productivity
As the senior director of Productivity Alberta, Lori Schmidt often hears skewed and outdated notions of what it means when a business looks for ways to get more productive.
Cutbacks. Pink slips. Longer hours. Less pay.
But nothing could be further from the truth. “Productivity doesn’t mean working people harder, or laying people off, and I think that’s really a critical piece,” Schmidt says. “There are lots of things that can be done within organizations in their processes that can really enhance a company and allow people to work smarter and be more engaged.”
It’s here, in the little day-to-day processes, that Alberta businesses have the greatest opportunity to fine-tune their operations and increase the bottom line. It’s also where Productivity Alberta comes in – to help businesses find these efficiencies and become their best.
The journey to productivity has already begun for many Alberta businesses. In the last few years, the Productivity Alberta team has conducted more than 350 productivity improvement site visits for small- and medium-sized private organizations, as well as additional work in the health sector in both hospitals and extended care facilities.
During a site visit, one or more members of a team of professional industrial engineers, with decades of combined international experience, does a walk-through of a business, and then provides a report with specific feedback about potential areas for productivity improvement within the organization.
Depending on the extent of the recommendations, the Productivity Alberta team sometimes helps the business implement a productivity plan, but it often connects businesses to a range of services, including private consultants and other business associations.
The initial site visits are available to small- and medium-sized businesses in the producing sector. Schmidt says the visits have already been useful for a diverse range of producers, and there are many more in the province that could benefit from upping their performance. “We work with the broadest range of manufacturing,” Schmidt says. “It could be anything from agri-food companies, to aerospace companies, to metal manufacturing, to equipment manufacturers, and it could even be pharmaceutical manufacturers.”
The process improvement site visits are targeted to aid businesses with fewer than 100 employees. It’s in these small- and medium-sized businesses that there is often the greatest opportunity for increased productivity.
“Where the real challenge comes is in the small- and medium-sized businesses as they try to grow and expand and look for new markets,” Schmidt says. “That’s generally where some of the resources are needed, to take them to that next level.”
These productivity tools aren’t restricted to businesses in, or near, the large city centres. Productivity Alberta partners with Regional Economic Development Alliances and regional government offices to meet the needs of rural regions. Resources are accessible in Calgary and Edmonton, but also in the northern Peace Country, the southern Prairies, and everywhere in between.
Part of the strength of Productivity Alberta is the leadership team guiding it. An advisory committee comprised of industry experts provides its best advice about the services and knowledge that Alberta businesses need. This means Productivity Alberta is guided by advice from company CEOs and presidents who have already benefitted from upping their own productivity. These experts know the journey to productivity is intimidating at first, but they also know that if Alberta businesses are to grow and succeed in a global market, they need to get more productive.
Ray Mills, CEO of Kudu Industries, a Calgary pump manufacturing company, began focusing on his productivity in 1999 after what he calls a “near-death experience” in his business. A slight downturn in the oil and gas industry left the growing business at a crossroads where better management principals and new markets were required to keep the business on-track. After implementing a lean manufacturing model, Mills is sold on productivity principals and he sits on the Productivity Alberta advisory committee to aid other businesses.
“I think the biggest challenge, really, comes with business owners and managers themselves,” Mills says. “Quite often, people think they are doing everything they can, and it’s oftentimes more difficult for them to go out and ask for help. Sometimes you’re so busy in the trenches, that it’s difficult to pick your head up and say, ‘maybe I should be looking for a better way to do things.’”
Fellow Productivity Alberta advisor Paul Verhesen, president of Clark Builders, says that productivity resources exist, but the challenge often comes when businesses want to access them. This, he says, is where Productivity Alberta can help.
“Rather than re-inventing the wheel each time, Productivity Alberta is meant to be an information source to go to, to see what others have done, or what they are doing, or research that they have identified,” Verhesen says. “It’s really there to help all Alberta businesses.”
PUTTING PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT IN PLACE
1) Schedule a site visit with a Productivity Alberta productivity improvement specialist. These professional industrial engineers have decades of experience working with Alberta organizations and international companies to help find productivity gains. Visit Productivity Improvement Services for more information.
2) Undergo a process improvement site visit. This includes meeting with plant management, walking through the facility with the plant/production manager and a closing meeting.
3) Review the report of recommendations prepared by the process improvement specialist.
4) Implement your chosen recommendations, using a process improvement specialist, or another external consultant as a guide.
For more information on process improvement implementation or to schedule a productivity improvement site visit please Contact Us.
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