The Bay of Plenty's lean cluster group, which utilises techniques that arose out of Japanese management innovations to eliminate waste and encourage problem-solving within workforces, continues to grow in strength.
"We are now linking with clusters across the country and also seeing greater interest from offices as well as manufacturers," said Jenny Milson, from New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Bay of Plenty-Waikato. Ms Milson facilitates the cluster, which brings together companies from across the Bay for regular site visits to learn from each other.
The cluster was formed in 2008 to encourage more companies to start implementing lean-based productivity improvements.
The concept is simple - to maintain continuous productivity improvement by empowering workers to identify ways to eliminate waste and improve efficiencies.
The Japanese refer to the importance in manufacturing of being close to genba, meaning the scene of the crime or, in manufacturing terms, the factory floor where value is created.