Final post from CSC

This is my final post from an amazing three weeks, thank you to everyone I have meet in both the Netherlands and UK. My next adventure starts in late May with a quick trip across the ditch to New Zealand. Travel safe learn fast.

Reflections of three weeks

25 Australians arrive in the Netherlands, where are we really?







Wind and water what more could a nation want.





The Herring taste really nice !!





Amazing maritime history



and ingenuity to move produce about.



This is Nuffield, farmers with farmers talking shop.



Diversity is king in the Netherlands



Bio digester producing methane, wind turbines, robotic milking shed 80 cows


Cress with a variety of flavours & textures

History and current technology side by side



Djuke's stable house, built in the late 1800,s



Mechelen















Wonderful friendly people and expirences


















Grab the moment, consider the risk, know the outcome.
"just do it"

13 March 2012, Good Bye the Ntherlands

My journey across the Northern Hemisphere is closing and I am currently preparing for the 28 hours of flying home.



Djuke,s farm shop, stable home, hospitality and fresh fruit trading operation is really amazing, thank you and best of luck with your plans.



Henke,s renovations and work with national farming groups is very impressive. His touring and introductions were really insightful, especially Lout the Dutch fruit wine grower. Thank you.



Alexander from the Lean Management Instituut has shown me many great examples of CI working and even some of the more colourful areas of Amsterdam. Thank you and best of luck with your career.

The Dutch nation are innovative, resilient, open minded, hospitable and above all keen for a great time. I have enjoyed so many memorable moments and been introduced to so many motivated business people, I only hope their thoughts and ideas can acted on. Thank you all.

12 March 2012, The Greenery

The Netherlands largest organic vegetable co operative, 65 staff, delivered a €1million turn around in trading profit from the adoption of CI principals in 2 years.




Ginger sorting line, reduced FTE requirement from 8 to 5 and saved 2.5 man hours per tonne to grade and pack, just from approaching the process with a view to CI.



Mobil QA work stations with wifi connection to central control point, units charged each night along with electric forklifts.



Kanban ordering system has saved allot of heart ache and ensured labels are available at all times.

Another great day, thank you Donny van Dam and the team, they have achieved allot of improvement in a very short time, that looks sustainable. Well done.

12 March 2012, AkzoNobel

After a short drive from Utrech with Alexander Pols from the Lean Management Institute (LMI) we arrive at AkzoNobel, the worlds largest paint manufacturer, with a presence in over 10 countries. The LMI team have been coaching lean/CI principals for 4 years and have developed some very impressive and sustainable practices. We 5S walked the paint R&D department, which are very proud of producing the paint for the McLaren F1 racing team. Their sustainable 5S has been developed over 4 years and represents the model for the site, all new employees spend 6 weeks just in this area being trained in 5S. The site operations director completes a 2 hour daily gemba (go see, ask why, with respect) walk, before entering his office. All sections conduct a 15 minute DSM ( daily standup meeting) known as a tier 1 DSM. Tier 2 DSM occurs at 9am daily, with the last team rep to arrive chairing the conversation. Tier 3 DSM occurs at 10 am daily, with a Obea (problem solving) focus occuing each week. Key observations: Very visual senior mgmt involvement in CI principals All staff trained in 5S and the importance of its role in the business Very disciplined time management in DSM, 15 minutes max Obea meeting needed shining, with more preparation in issue knowledge and controls, great idea tho! Recruited CI lead from shop floor, tenure lasts 6 months, required to identify, control & report on 4 PR/mth Great use of flip charts to show history and journey of changed work practices Just introduced CI home & away team Gemba walks, involving team travelling to OS sites and walking the process. This was a fantastic day to see how CI was being introduced to a global company and discussing the trials and tribulations of the journey. Thank you Alexander, Stefan and AkzoNobel.

9th March Arla Dairy, Nijerk

Arla Co operative dairy is owned by Swedish, German and Danish farmers with a €7 billion turnover, 300 staff and over 40 SKU's. CI has been in bedded in the business since 2007 with primary focus on cultural change, 5S and problem resolution.

CI observations: standard work practices very evident, strong reliance on technology, sustainable 5S, administration and finance behind in CI adoption, it is ok to have slight variation, visual management key to transparency.

Aiming for Arla, Nijerk to be completely carbon neutral by 2020, they have reduced footprint by 25% since 2010, will use carbon offset scheme as a last resort.

Great day thank you Bart.

8th March European Union Plant Protection Meeting

I was fortunate to be invited to attend the joint sitting of COPA and COGECA secretariats that preside over the technical aspects of plant protection with in the EU. Key observations for me were the length of time spent negotiating the particulars of crop protection methods ( upwards of 5 years), be they chemical or IPM, during the 1990's farmers in the EU had over 3000 actives to use in plant protection they now have less than 300, this is a result of resistance levels of pests increasing and finally Glyphosate will be on the EU watch list ( which may result in a ban on its use), within 5 years.

Great informative day, such a short time in Brussels not really able to appreciate the culture, history or people.

6th March mechelse veilingen, Mechelen, Belgium

How to describe MV, EU's largest vegetable cooperative auction house, housed in 50ha of buildings, moving 270,000 tonnes per year of fresh fruit & vegetables, 10-15 million kg of produce per 12 hours, 65 forklifts, 230 employees and a turn over of 178 million euro, is very difficult!

Dutch auction clock used with 6 running during the busy period.




Commodities sold include, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, strawberries, lettuce, leeks,egg plants, cauliflower, white asparagus and other old style vegetables.



Full traceability from paddock to retailer via bar coded boxes and 6 grower sustainability assessment schemes. Produce sold under the Flandria and belorta brands which are exported primarily to Germany, France, the Netherlands, Russia and other EU companies. They are based in Mechelen as this city is within a 1000km radius of approx 40% of the EU population. Russia seen as a emerging market with over 10 million millionaires alone in Moscow & Petersburg.

Logistic management key to business sustainability and growth, 65 electric forklifts, 500 despatch/intake ports, air traffic controllers managing forks, 13-15 million kgs of produce handled, facility washed and prepared for next trade day from 6am to 5pm.









MV contributes to R&D station, with funding from growers, government and income generation/sponsorship (33% each). Quite prescriptive farming methods used, IPM compulsory, flower fertilisation by set bee species, variety available to grow and fertiliser recipes.






Great day of observing a 60 year old co operative that works solely for the member, the farmer. Thank you Luc Peeters.

5th March Double H Nurseries UK

Whilst in the UK I was fortunate to have access to the UK's largest pot plant grower and a leader in CI management. Thanks to Gary Shorland and John Miller I was able to see how they have used CI tools in the workplace.

Double H is a family business, £70 million turnover, 1.8 million Begonia plants, 2.1 million Chrysanthemums, 60,000 Poinsettia and 1.3 million Orchids. Key customers Tesco, M&S and J&S with a market share of 40% or more within these business. Double H grows the product, works on developing new packaging ideas, packs the product and trades in plants when required.








CI has been in place at Double H since 2003, they visited Toyota in 2005 and walked the TPS. In 2010 Double H employed their first CI manager from the automative sector and created Mini Businesses across the production lines.

They completed their self assessment in 2011 25.2/40 with a target of 30/40 in 2061.

What is working;
Daily Stand Meeting across 4 levels, level 2 DSM below.



5S very visible & sustainable.





Visual Management Boards
Positioned in every mini business and updated daily by teams.

3rd March 2012 CSC Closes

The 2012 Contemporary Scholars Conference has closed, many past scholars have mentioned the scholarship will change your life, how right they are.







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3rd March 2012, UK country side

Ian Pigott, N.Sch studied methods to bridge the gap between "farmers" and the city. He developed Open Farm Sunday, resulting in over a million people not necessarily engaged with farming now being great ambassadors for our way of life.




Andrew Wolfe, Willows Farm has just been awarded the UK's most popular outdoor attraction, he shows off farm animals.




A 70 million pound turnover, 135 staff, tenant faming operation and a pernash for understanding what the customer wants and how to value add. Andrew is been able to educate over 400,000 UK citizens each year on how lambs are born, what pigs eat, where eggs come from. Very simply ideas for us but an amazing number of people who leave Willow Farm with a life time membership to the site and more knowledge. Very clever.

2nd March 2012, Inspiration & Leadership

The Institute of Directors, Pall Mall, hosted the travelling scholars to a day of presentations that will remain with very scholar for life.




Steeped in history and a group of speakers who showed wisdom, reflection, courage and knowledge, all canvassing what are the attributes of great leaders.

The USA remains the global economic leader with multiple states within the US achieving GDP results greater than many nations. The leading global business are all active in products that are addictive, like tobacco, drugs, sugar & alcohol.




George Lyon MP, Angus Davidson MBE & Lance Eydensby all spoke with unbridled passion on what they consider to be great attributes of leaders.

Key message: have passion, take risks but have an exit plan, life is very busy remember to have me time, business success is hollow with out personal success.