Oxford University Press Case Study

The Managing Director's Challenge

The organisation was required to focus quickly on the critical success factors of their business.

They had to involve all the people in the business to bring about the necessary improvements and gain ownership and commitment to sustained change.

A culture change was needed and continuous improvement through cross functional teamwork was chosen as the catalyst.

Three key factors were core for each improvement project.

• Increased motivation of the workforce was the first
• Improved bottom line performance through cost savings
• Improved service for increased customer satisfaction

The Method

The total workforce from Senior Management to the Shop Floor completed the intensive Bancroft Development for Individuals and Cross Functional Teams.   Improvement teams were coached by Bancroft in Tools and Techniques for analysing the processes and solving issues.

An important part of Bancroft involvement was to make sure the skills learned were applied in everyday jobs throughout the business.   Bancroft support continued for the improvement teams in the workplace.

Benefits and Achievements - Reported by Managing Director

"We had 20 improvement teams operating quickly with some very powerful success stories.   One example was an engineer who solved a problem on conveyors that had taxed the most powerful brains that we could employ from the outside world.   He formed a team, went ahead and fixed it in the simplest way possible.   That is only one example of what Bancroft has brought to this organisation."

Benefits and Achievements - Reported by Senior Management

• A 2:1 ratio in savings to the cost of the programme was achieved early in the project
• We are moving very close to next day delivery
• Higher motivation and increased confidence throughout the workforce
• Individuals are taking ownership of what they are doing
• They all have an involvement in making improvements to their own working processes
• The Bancroft development programme gave individuals something for themselves
• Areas of improvement for the business were also beneficial to the employee