Manufacturer of point-of-purchase display units
Kesslers International
Kesslers International Ltd. is an East London based company employing 270 people in a multi-skilled, ethnically diverse workforce, including 14 Apprentices. The company specialises in the design and manufacture of point-of-purchase display units for major brands, retailers and information providers. Typical customers include Christian Dior, Swatch, Tesco, the Employment Service and high street banks. Turnover is c. £19 million, 25 per cent of which is export. Currently it is one of London’s largest manufacturing companies.
The Apprenticeships programme meets the company’s specific needs. The rationale behind the programme is that the competitiveness of engineering and manufacturing businesses depends on a deep understanding of the process and materials. These skills are generally referred to as craft skills but are no different from the same deep understanding a Barrister has got of his speciality area of law.
By working with external training providers, Kesslers are able, as a medium sized business working in a diverse number of areas, to make sure that their knowledge is up to date. Apprentices in their 3rd and 4th year not only learn from their peers and managers but also pass skills back to them, e.g. better programming and cutting methods. This happens particularly when they go on to HND and further courses.
The programme has also given Kesslers the longer term benefit, over the 5 years it has been running, of giving the company the next generation of shift managers and supplementing an ageing workforce by bringing in younger skilled people.
Positive return on investment
Final year apprentices have run projects that reduced setting times, that is the time taken to change a machine running on a particular programme to another set-up, in one area by 20 per cent and increased OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) – the time that a machine is running rather than waiting, loading, being set etc - in another area by 15 per cent.
It is hard to measure the return on investment for training but without question it has been a major plank in Kessler’s campaign for both continuous improvement and increasing productivity.
Increased competitiveness
The difference between effective and ineffective businesses is partially due to the speed of response. In engineering business this requires skills on the shop floor. Since introducing the Apprenticeships scheme we have seen a dramatic improvement in speed of response and customer service. Bringing in new blood helps stop the conservatism that hinders progress in these areas. Change programmes are essential to a manufacturing (and any other) business. Unfortunately, people are generally disinclined to change. However younger people still enjoy the challenge and that helps break the barrier of change and therefore is part of the general improvement.
Higher employee satisfaction
Many managers and older employees have taken particular pride in working with the apprentices, both in teaching them and helping them where they have difficulties e.g. with maths.
Strengthens diversity
Kesslers employ a multi ethnic work force, approximately 30 to 35 per cent of the staff have various ethnic backgrounds. Apprentices also tend to progress into the ranks of junior management faster than the majority of the work force. Since the apprentice mix is also multi ethnic, the effect of this has been that the company has a more diverse middle management than they had previously, approximately 10 per cent.
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