Market Sector:
MANUFACTURING / ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL
Technology Theme:
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
Establish a vision for the future of Warren
How Warren worked with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) to develop and communicate an environmentally focused growth strategy.
During 2021, the MTC used its process model to help Warren develop a new strategy for growth. This focuses on exploiting new, environmentally driven market opportunities. They also advised Warren on how to communicate this strategy to the team.
I had a vision for Warren, but I wasn’t communicating it well. I knew that if we were going to grow and achieve our aims, I had to explain this vision to all our stakeholders. Working with the MTC was a real partnership that helped us formulate the strategy. Through open-minded discussions, in a series of virtual and in-person meetings, we now have a fully developed strategy. We’re now embedding it in our operations and communicating it to all our employees.
William Bridgman, Chair of Warren
I had a vision for Warren, but I wasn’t communicating it well. I knew that if we were going to grow and achieve our aims, I had to explain this vision to all our stakeholders. Working with the MTC was a real partnership that helped us formulate the strategy. Through open-minded discussions, in a series of virtual and in-person meetings, we now have a fully developed strategy. We’re now embedding it in our operations and communicating it to all our employees.
William Bridgman, Chair of Warren
THE STRATEGIC CHALLENGE
Warren specialises in manufacturing high-quality mechanical and electro-mechanical components, sub-assemblies, and machines. It offers its clients full turnkey solutions in precision engineering and design, a pioneering approach to sustainable manufacturing. It is also committed to training the workforce of tomorrow.
It asked the MTC to help it to develop and deploy a new business strategy that matched the ambitions of the leadership team. As the firm’s location in Thetford makes recruiting skilled employees a challenge, this strategy needed to retain the commitment of the current workforce.
It also needed to make Warren the manufacturing employer of choice, so as to help attract talent from local schools, colleges and universities.
The new plan had to address Warren’s strategic business requirements. That meant futureproofing its current operations and providing scope for future growth. It had to also cover exploiting new sectors, new technologies and new markets, including obtaining relevant accreditations, such as ‘Fit for Offshore Renewables’.
MTC’S SOLUTION
The MTC split the project into two phases of work. First, its Business Transformation Team used their Strategy, Culture and Coaching service to create a process model that helped them understand Warren’s existing operations and identify its current strengths and weaknesses. The MTC did this by engaging Warren’s leadership team in a series of workshops and 1-2-1 conversations (either in-person or virtually, as the project ran throughout the COVID-19 pandemic).
This process helped clarify the business’s vision, mission, purpose, and its KPIs for the years ahead. At the same time, it highlighted the potential future skills that the business would need. It also set out to identify the best route forward.
To ensure this process was as effective and thorough as possible, the MTC engaged the Warren leadership and management teams using a series of innovative techniques.
These included Lego® Serious Play. Completing these tasks enabled the team to reflect on the current state of the business and allowed for a more effective dialogue between colleagues.
The second phase of the project saw the MTC work with Warren to build the new vision for the business and finalise its strategy for the next 12 months and the following three years. The MTC then went on to support the initial deployment and dissemination of the strategy to employees. They started with the team and departmental managers to ensure they understood Warren’s direction.
After the initial dissemination, the MTC’s Business Transformation Team ran quarterly reviews with Warren’s leadership team to help embed the strategy and vision in the organisation.
THE OUTCOME
Working with Warren’s leadership team, the MTC helped:
BENEFITS TO INDUSTRY
CONCLUSION
This project required buy-in from key personnel at Warren, namely the Chair, Will Bridgman, and his new leadership team, to ensure we could help them create a strategy that everybody in the business could buy into. Through their commitment to the process and methods that we used, we have been able to cement a short and long-term strategy that formalises the goals of the business and sets them on a path to a brighter future.
Steve Smith, Associate Director – Transformation Team, MTC
CONCLUSION
This project required buy-in from key personnel at Warren, namely the Chair, Will Bridgman, and his new leadership team, to ensure we could help them create a strategy that everybody in the business could buy into. Through their commitment to the process and methods that we used, we have been able to cement a short and long-term strategy that formalises the goals of the business and sets them on a path to a brighter future.
Steve Smith, Associate Director – Transformation Team, MTC
