Like most young fast growth companies Ultrafloor has had to work hard in staying efficient while stretching capacity beyond limits not thought possible by many.
The company manufactures, distributes and installs a patented pre stressed concrete flooring system for use in residential and commercial construction.
With a turnover in excess of $20 mil. per annum the company is justifiably proud of its success over its short ten year life span.
Convincing the market that this was a quicker and cheaper option when compared to conventional methods was our first hurdle says Ultrafloor General Manager Alan Morrison.
With our market share established we are now at a point in our growth where we need to become more focused in finding ways to improve efficiency, reduce costs an improve quality – all without constraining capacity says Alan.
It is perhaps counter intuitive to think all these things can occur simultaneously however through our focus on these goals and our work with Solutions BD we are beginning to show such outcomes can be achieved, he says
The Solutions BD manager for the Ultrafloor project, Ross Holding, maintains that the secret to improving a company like Ultrafloor, that is already a top performer, lies in developing tighter measures.
Step one in the process was identifying bottlenecks in the system says Ross.
To do this we convened a project team and within only a few hours we were able to identify a number of impediments within the supply chain. Some behind the scenes research into existing data helped gauge the severity of these impediments in the system.
Once that was done the project team, predominantly made up of plant workers and foreman, started identifying measures that would indicate the rate of improvement once changes were made.
Step three was about developing strategies that would begin to resolve, or at least significantly improve, outcomes for the division in terms of efficiency, costs and quality. Time was spent costing the strategies and developing timelines for implementation.
This Now – Where – How approach works well as it is not only simple but it also affords ‘buy in’ from those people who ultimately have to make the strategies identified actually happen says Ross.
The other important factors for me using this process, says Alan, is the exposure my staff get to the tools and processes for team management and problem solving and the eight week project team cycle.
The eight week cycle ensures the Now-Where-How process is completed in that time frame. This allows easier forecasting of human resources to be committed to a project while also knowing strategies will be on the table and impacting within a set period.
Ultrafloor continues to blaze a trail in business growth, efficiency and quality making it a true leading business in our region and beyond.
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