Slimming Solutions is based on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Industrial Estate in North Shields. This award winning company supplies a comprehensive range of weight loss aids, turning over 300 orders every week.

Kerry Scott founded Slimming Solutions 11 years ago and employs four people. Despite the economic downturn, this is a growing business but as Kerry explains, expansion has created its own problems.

"We found ourselves struggling to manage more and more information in less and less time. We were under a lot of pressure and a bit stressed out."

By the summer of 2010 Kerry knew that she needed to improve how she managed her business. It was around this time that Giles Johnston of Smartpseed Consulting was recommended to her.

Giles's brief was wide ranging; to help Slimming Solutions improve its business processes.

"The first thing he did was to shadow us," Kerry Scott explains, "watch how we did things. He assessed every aspect of our business, from the reception of orders to dispatch of goods." Giles quickly identified two main areas of concern: Time and information management.

His solution was to introduce changes to the way Kerry and her team used IT. The aim of this was to both enable a more strategic management of information and its daily application.

Kerry explains, "Before Giles came to us, all our orders were processed manually. Each had to be typed onto a spreadsheet; a laborious and time consuming task!

"My knowledge of Excel was strictly limited, I knew very little about use of mathematical formula but Giles is an expert. He was able to use this expertise to produce templates for specific products and to automate other related tasks.

"Now, our management of incoming orders is all done with a push of a button."

Information overload is the bane of every manager's life and for Kerry Scott this manifested itself in a daily avalanche of e-mails.

"At one point I had around 4,000 unread e-mails," she recalls. "I would say to myself, 'Right, I'll put a day aside and plough through them.' It never worked out. There were always too many distractions and just too much to do.

"Giles introduced a system whereby I spend 10 minutes a few times every day checking my e-mails. I had to work hard at getting into the routine and at first couldn't see how it could work but, over time, it did.

"Another thing Giles did, and I think this was really clever, was to change the frequency with which I receive e-mails.

"I used to be pestered by e-mail alerts, I was always being distracted and checking my in-box. Now however, I only receive those alerts every two to three hours. Much better!"

This is a simple but effective system that enables the tracking of activities that need to be undertaken by an organisation every day. 

It is a technique that Giles Johnston has introduced for numerous clients operating in various industries. 

Each red card represents a task that needs doing. In the case of Slimming Solutions, the Task Cards were set up on a notice board by the main office door. 

As each task is completed, the card is turned over. The reverse is green, indicating job done.

Like all factories, the stock room at Slimming Solutions is a busy place and as Kerry explains, Giles Johnston was able to help here too.

“He re-arranged the way products are physically stored so now we can lift items off the shelves and pack orders ready for dispatch much more effectively. This means that the distribution of orders is much quicker than was previously the case.

“That means more satisfied customers!”

Kerry and her team now meet at 12noon every day for 10 minutes. These catch-ups serve a dual purpose.

These are to assess how the day has gone so far and in what ways the team has moved the business on.

The meetings include action plans for problems that have proven to be something of a sticking point and which still need resolving. This simple method has helped virtually eliminate errors around management of orders.

Typical of these might be the dispatching of two products to a customer when four were ordered or the sending of a wrong sized item.

Before the introduction of these weekly summits there may have been several such problems each day. These have been reduced to perhaps one a week.

The Slimming Solutions team also meet every Thursday at 3pm, typically for 30 minutes. These events are similar to the mid-day discussions but assess the progress of the business over a longer period, that of a week.

“I think the real benefit of what Giles Johnston has done for us is to join up our business processes,” Kerry says. “Previously, all the functions of the business, from taking an order to dispatching goods, were separate activities. 

“We had information on stock control and customer details stored all over the place, on PCs, on paper, in e-mails. Now we have a much more holistic product management and stock control system. 

“This has been achieved through implementing simple but effective techniques, such as the Task Cards and better use of technology.

“It was a shock when we began looking through the information and data we had stored all over place. We cleared out many old documents and redundant data sheets.

“Giles has brought real insight into my business. A good example of this is how he quickly identified our top 12 selling products. He then introduced a strategy to focus our efforts on the marketing and selling of these products.  

“I use my time much more effectively and my every decision is informed by the need to move the business forwards.