Forums for factory colleagues to hear from and quiz their commercial counterparts have been re-introduced as part of our drive to improve internal communications.
A series of the “Town Hall” meetings were held at Armitage and Hull last week with about 100 factory staff attending in total.
They were organised in line with the internal communications strategy to enable UK-based colleagues to feel better informed about and more connected to each other, whether they report to the UK business or a central team.
So far, this has also included the reinstatement of the regular communications calls and the introduction of The Bubble and Circle meetings, and the TV information screens which are to go live imminently.
The Town Hall meetings featured a presentation by Managing Director Stephen Ewer, Director of HR Mike Kelly and the plant managers, followed by a question and answer session. Future Town Halls are planned to take place every six months.
Stephen said: “The aim of these forums was to help factory colleagues to learn more about the commercial side of the business and to understand more about the market segments and customers that receive our products once they leave the plant.
“We also want to hear about ideas and suggestions for the business as well as any concerns.”
He added: “We found that our factory colleagues were very interested in the UK business and the wider group, and as always, are passionate and showed a lot of pride in working for the company."
Mike added “A number of concerns were raised and we committed in the meetings to looking into them and responding directly to the factory managers as soon as we can.”
Topics covered in the forums included an update on health and safety and plant performance (example above), as well as ongoing investments in the Armitage plant.
Insights were given into how the UK business is positioned in different market sectors, sales performance, expected market developments and plans for the future.
There was also an overview of which ceramics and acrylics pieces produced in Armitage and Hull are sold in the UK – 75% of ceramics and 100% of acrylic baths – with many going into social and affordable housing, and future orders underpinned through long-term relationships and framework contracts with larger customers.
Improvements being made included reductions in “out of stocks” and overdue orders and the increase in OTIF (on time in full) deliveries from 80% to 92%, with these being a result of forecast accuracy from the sales teams, production planning and compliance, and dynamic inventory management.
The question and answer sessions resulted in some useful comments and suggestions, including sharing more widely information about product innovation, sales performance and plant performance.
There were also requests to learn more about what is made at each plant in the group and to hear more about the culture and people in other factories across Ideal standard International.