Celebrating International Women’s Day 2020!

Today, we are celebrating International Women’s Day! In recognition of all the women across the globe, we’d like to shine a light on two of Industry Forum’s own. Read on to find out a little more about two of our Senior Consultants in Lean / TPM, Anna Vaughan and YeeHuan Lim.Tell us a bit about your career before working at Industry Forum.Anna: I started out as an apprentice toolmaker, and used this as a platform to get into manufacturing engineering. I developed a keen interest, specifically in continuous improvement and lean manufacturing and worked in a variety of industries where I led and implemented Lean and TPM programmes.  YeeHuan: Before joining Industry Forum, I was an Innovation Engineer working with the management team to improve company competitiveness using Lean and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) principles. I worked with companies of varying sizes, ranging from multinationals to small and medium manufacturers, across a range of diverse industrial sectors including automotive, oil and gas, petrochemical, medical devices and optics.  Tell us about your current role at Industry Forum.Anna: In my current role as Senior Consultant in Lean and TPM, I have been able to use my combined background in continuous improvement and maintenance to successfully coach, steer and develop TPM and Lean programmes for a variety of different clients. I work with customers in multiple sectors including automotive, aerospace, electronics, industrial products and food and packaging industries throughout the UK as well as internationally in USA, Europe, Asia and Russia.YeeHuan: My current role as a Senior Consultant in Lean and TPM involves the following:

• Assessing the capabilities of a business to improve its competitiveness in national and global markets.
• Consulting in Lean and TPM philosophy for the manufacturing sector and its supply chain, working with organisations of various sizes and business models.
• Training material development for bespoke programmes, including translation.
• Implementing improvement projects and conducting programmes with a holistic approach for businesses.

What do you enjoy about working at Industry Forum?Anna: I enjoy working with my customers and helping them to achieve their improvement goals.YeeHuan: I enjoy having the opportunity to work with different sized companies and all levels of people, both nationally and internationally to improve business capabilities.What would you say has been your biggest learning over the course of your career?Anna: One thing I have learnt is to never stop learning and to always listen.YeeHuan: I would say one of my biggest learnings is the skill of consultation on mindset changing, to enable people to look from different perspectives and empower people to have the confidence to step out of their comfort zones.What has been the most memorable project for you and why?Anna: I’m most proud of my working relationship with my main customer. I am now into my seventh year of providing support and guidance, working with multiple sites, at various levels in multiple locations. The longevity of the working relationship is the greatest result!YeeHuan: One of my most memorable projects was when I worked with a refractory solution business to improve its warehouse system for identifying the type of material or storage quantity. One of the tangible benefits was that the time taken to complete the stock counting activities reduced from 3 days to 3 hours. This not only improved the delivery time, but also resulted in cost reduction. Intangible benefits included reduction of stress and increased morale amongst the team.What would be the number one piece of advice you would give to someone who’s starting out on an improvement journey with their company?Anna: Have a plan, set goals and go for it, no excuses!YeeHuan: Doing something is better than doing nothing; improvement is a process of change, change to be better. Nothing could be worse than no change; it is a practical experience that can never be bought.If you’d like to find out more about working with our fantastic team, email us or give us a call on +44 (0)121 717 6600.