Readiness For Change                                       

Assessing The Organisation's Readiness For Change

To Start Or Not To Start. That Is The Question!

"TPM-Going Into It With Your Eyes Wide Open!" Article published in Heineken's internal newsletter (GRIP)

I decided to launch a continuous improvement initiative, called World Class Manufacturing, in Ibadan Brewery, one of our five breweries in Nigeria. My main aim for doing this was two fold. Firstly to enable us to meet the ever increasing market demand and secondly to put in place a solid foundation for future high performance. The need for change was very clear with poor OPIs and unmet demand in the market. I was however fully aware of the hard work in front of us and the poor success rate of many other organisations, which had embarked on programmes of this nature. I made sure that I was very clear in my own mind at least, why so many had tried and failed with a view of hopefully not repeating their mistakes! I believe that there are four main success factors:-

1 – Real Commitment To The Concept

Be very clear, in your own mind, why you want to do this. A directive from HQ is not a good enough reason! Go and see for yourself what this concept can do for your operations. Visits to Unilever and P&G plants really opened my eyes. - Do you really understand what you are letting yourself in for? Are you aware of some of the fundamental changes that you will need to make? Are you willing to make them? - Are you fully committed? Remember commitment and support are not the same thing

2 – Embarking On The Right Initiatives

WCM, TPM, TQM, JIT, SOPI, BPR, etc… There are probably another 50 or more 3 or 4-letter acronyms that come to mind. That’s why we have bullshit bingo now. Which ones should you go with? Which combination is the most effective? I decided that we would call ours World Class Manufacturing, simply because the term was well known and was used to describe the vision in Nigerian Breweries. We took great pains to spell out the initiatives that would come under the WCM umbrella and mapped out the links between them. Now that there is a Heineken-wide TPM programme kicking off, we will fully subscribe to this. Our new brewery AMA/Enugu is in wave 1 of the Heineken TPM roll-out.

3 – A Long Term View

Remember, the impossible can be done. Miracles can take a bit longer! Be realistic in your expectations. This should be reflected in the scope and scale of what you may be about to launch. Be very clear about the quantity and quality of the internal resources at your disposal. Gauge the level of resistance that you may run into. Be very clear on the starting point and set challenging but realistic goals (targets with timescales). No matter which concept you decide to go with, you need to come to the realisation that it will take anything between 18 to 36 months before you can ensure sustainable benefits. This is, after all, why they are called continuous improvement initiatives. Even now that unmet demand is no longer an issue, the initiative will be rolled out over all of our breweries, because it will lead to higher performance under any market condition.

4 – The Cultural Factor

We are unique. We are different. Have you heard this one before? Whilst one should be very aware of the potential impact that this may have on programmes of this nature, it is also true to say that people often use it as a convenient excuse to maintain the status quo. The Europeans did it when comparing themselves to the Japanese and I know that over here, in Nigeria, some people can also sometimes use it. The cultural angle is an important one to take into account, as it will be one of the main factors determining the approach taken. I took my time and ensured that I had analysed all of the above factors, before taking the decision to go ahead. I also decided, right from the outset, that I needed strong external support to get things off the ground. Our chosen partner was BIC – Business Improvement Consultants. Apart from being subject matter experts, the biggest thing that they brought to the table was their change and project management skills, which I believe they have earned through the successful implementation of many programmes of this nature.

We successfully managed to implement two WCM program in two locations. The first implementation took 18 months and the second one 14 months.

My message to you is to go for it, but with your eyes wide open!



Wiggert Deelen

Technical Director

Nigerian Breweries PLC (Heineken)