Five Minutes With… Lee Bricknell

Can you tell us more about your background?

I worked at Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK for ten years including working in the TPS department, which involved looking at implementing and improving standardised work, line balancing, preventing problems through problem solving techniques, and cost saving.

I was chosen to join the Toyota Production System group as I had the technical knowledge through my experience on the production line.

I heard about the consulting world and wanted to challenge myself so I decided to move over. I didn’t realise how much I had learnt until I started to be able to use those skills and adapt them in different environments which I have been doing ever since.

I have been fortunate enough to since work on projects across different business sectors, such as aerospace, yacht builders, gear manufacturers, a company based in Portugal which produce passport scanners, and also within the healthcare industry, so you could say I’ve worked across land, air and sea.

How did you find the transition?

Whatever industry we are positioned as consultants within, the skills are transferable. A consultant comes in to improve the process within a team and work with them to streamline how they work. We help standardise work and look at areas that need improvement and show where the waste, be it resources or time, can be reduced or eliminated.

It’s been great to be able to implement all these skills I have and be able to help with real change within all the sectors I have worked in.

How have the last 18 months been?

I was working within the healthcare sector through the first lockdown, which was challenging as we had to adapt to working remotely. I was part of the Covid-19 Support Group right at the start of the pandemic, which is when we put together a team to look at and improve the new processes that had to be put in place. Now the restrictions have been lifted, we are looking at these again and assessing which need to be kept and which need to again be looked at. Now I am back into the manufacturing sector delivering on site projects since restriction have been lifted.

What do you enjoy about the role?

I enjoy going into different places, it gives me a different variety of sectors to get experience in. It’s great meeting and working with different people, and knowing the value that you can bring to a company. You are creating change and good relationships and people start coming to you for advice which shows that there is trust and you are doing a good job.

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