MHD WORKFORCE
BUILDING INNOVATIVE THINKING IN SUPPLY CHAIN LEADERSHIP
With the help of the team at Vative and its Continuous Improvement initiatives, WWG not only has become a better place to work – but is set on a forward path toward ongoing Continuous Improvement.
Australia’s largest workwear provider, Workwear Group, partnered with Vative to implement Continuous Improvement initiatives – transforming organisational culture for the better across multiple domains. Here’s how it happened.
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orkwear Group (WWG) is Australia’s largest workwear provider, believing strongly that pride in what people do starts with what they wear. WWG began its operation supplying the Australian contingent with garments during WWII. Since then, they’ve grown to serve more than one million customers worldwide, and shipping to more than 30 countries. WWG now falls under the banner of ASX-listed company Wesfarmers: one of Australia’s largest listed companies with a diverse, cross-industry portfolio. WWG’s stable of household name brands includes Hard Yakka, King Gee, NNT and Workwear Group Uniforms. In 2019, WWG identified a need to improve productivity through
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automation. The idea was great but had a common flaw that many similar organisations face; namely that if the process is flawed, automation only creates more flaws – and at a faster rate. WWG quickly realized this and realized it should consider applying Lean – a methodology and tool kit to eliminate waste by reducing process time and increasing flow – first. WWG sent its Continuous Improvement Manager, Scott Simpson, to attend one of Vative’s Lean Practitioner three-day workshops. These workshops are focused on Lean philosophy and implementation. They educate leaders on how to practically implement Lean tools and methodologies to achieve substantial and sustainable
productivity gains. Scott saw the value in his training and, upon completion, was certain that a Lean mindset was the key to driving a cultural transformation long yearned for. Scott knew that Vative could resolve a large share of WWG’s issues with measurable outcomes, and after collaborative discussions, they came up with a solution that combined Lean and leadership coaching, in an organisationwide initiative, tailored to meet the needs of each department. The leadership team at WWG were excited, but were cognisant of the fact that true change requires top-to-bottom organisational buy-in. As Adam Brown, Operations Manager at WWG says: “Lean is not a one-person journey, you need 100 per cent buy-in from the top-down.
