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WLP is a UK business consultancy service that has enjoyed over 25 successful years of helping business grow.

Process improvement

Improving processes using lean, six sigma, problem soling and chnage management techniques and tools.

How Improving Productivity Can Mitigate the Impact of the Forthcoming Increase in Employer National Insurance Contributions for UK Manufacturing SMEs

on The announcement of a rise in employer National Insurance (NI) contributions is a concern for UK manufacturing SMEs. Managing Directors and Operations Directors are faced with the pressure of balancing profitability with rising overhead costs, especially when it comes to meeting payroll commitments. Here we explore how improving productivity can mitigate the negative financial impact Read More...

Gemba Walks: A Non-Confrontational Internal Audit Method for Process Standardisation

on In any business, having clear and consistent processes is crucial to ensuring smooth operations, maintaining quality, and boosting productivity. Process standardisation—where everyone follows the same steps to achieve the same outcome—helps reduce mistakes, save time, and create predictable results. Using traditional internal audit methods to identify deviations from standard operating procedures (SOPs) can sometimes be Read More...

metal manufacturing exhaust vents against a blue sky

Managing capacity in a make-to-order environment

on In a ‘make to order’ environment products are tailored to the specific requirements of customers. As is often the case, managers are focused on keeping the production staff busy, sometimes pulling orders forward when demand is slack. This risks customer’s changing requirements resulting in rework or scrap. When demand is high, lead times stretch, resulting Read More...

Data, data everywhere and not a drop to use

on How often have you wondered why, when you tried to change a part of your business it didn’t have the full impact you expected? Maybe it was a new revised process or new organisation structure or an improved manufacture operation. If business improvement is about anything it’s about using data to change or progress. Every Read More...

A silver bullet to solve all business problems?

on Is digital transformation the a silver bullet to solve all business problems?  It certainly seems to be presented as such in some quarters. “Digital transformation is 30 per cent technology and 70 per cent people” I came across this quote Chris Dobbrow, vice president of Augury, and a champion of digital transformation in manufacturing.  He Read More...

When the way we’ve always done it isn’t

on When “the way we have always done it” isn’t causing any problems and the system is coping, there’s very little incentive to make changes. But when things start to go wrong and no one is sure why, it’s time to review the processes and look for improvements. This is a common situation that WLP are Read More...

McDonalds: Trail blazing a digital service revolution.

on McDonalds are trail blazers for the digital technology revolution.  They have lead the way in the adoption of self-service technology and have transformed the general perception of kiosks and touch screens. There are three lessons that other customer facing organisations can learn from the McDonalds revolution and it began by McDonalds recognising the problems they Read More...