The science of arbitration
Cereform has created the brand new position of Science Manager and appointed Paul Whitton to the post. Paul says his new role can be as much about communication as science.
“Sometimes I feel like ACAS, caught between NPD and Operations,” says Paul Whitton of his new post as Cereform Science Manager. “Really the job is about being a catalyst between Manufacturing and NPD, to make our products as good as they can be for our customers.”
Traditionally NPD develops a new product and Operations has to find a way to make it. If there’s an issue – which sometimes might not be discovered until after the product is made – a traditional Quality Assurance manager comes in as troubleshooter. However Paul was never happy with “the role of QA as policemen, standing over people telling them what they’re doing wrong.” Instead, he feels it is important that NPD, Operations and QA work together, to dig down deeper into a issues, find out why they arise, and decide how they can stop them happening again: which is how his new role as Science Manager came about.
“The result” explains Paul, “is that any issues that arise don’t reveal themselves as customer complaints, because we address them first as internal failures. This helps us to produce better products which keep customers happier.”
Paul’s qualifications for taking on the new role are a BSc (Hons) from Leicester University, followed by 13 years with Cereform – initially as a technical co-ordinator with NPD, and subsequently in QA. In addition to his part in improving quality, productivity, cost-effectiveness and customer satisfaction, Paul’s new position allows him more time for the project he has been involved in for the past four years.
This is a cutting edge development of Near Infra Red (NIR) testing techniques, to help reduce dramatically the time spent in testing products.
Paul is also looking at improving manufacturing efficiency to drive down costs, and at Cereform’s environmental management. His long term objective is to develop an environmental management system which will result in BSI 14001 accreditation by September 2008. He also enjoys spending time on plant with the operatives, to see how they work to manufacture Cereform products, to get their feedback, and to listen to their ideas for improvements. “I know the products technically” says Paul, “but when it comes to their physical manufacture, these people are the experts. That’s why it’s so effective when we all work together as one team – and it’s the customer who ultimately benefits.”