Successful TIC team Chuting Blanks will be flying the flag for Halewood in Brazil later this year when the travel to South America for the global convention alongside the rest of this year’s selected teams.
We wanted to get to know a bit more about them though before they go and pick up their boarding passes and how they found this year’s Team Improvement Circle event.
How did you find the Regional Convention?
We had a great day, even with the coach breaking down! We watched lots of excellent presentations even though us being first was a bit nerve-racking. It meant though we were out the way and we could sit and watch all the other teams.
What was your biggest challenge on the day?
Actually getting there on time and standing in front of the “Britain’s Got Talent” table and trying to answer some very difficult questions.
What inspired your TIC idea?
Spending so much time on Line 50 removing the scrap and repairing the scrap chutes. Matt and Johnny would nearly always get a call to a breakdown just as they sat down to eat their dinner so we discussed our options and a TIC project was born.
What advice would you give to someone who was thinking of taking part in TIC next year?
No matter how small or difficult the problem TIC does give you the tools to solve a problem. It’s an enjoyable process - you can get help from your team to solve a problem and maybe even win a great trip to Brazil along the way!
If you could do it all again what would you do differently?
We’d try to time manage a bit better. We got stuck for a while on a step with the reordering of our new size blank so maybe we could have placed the order for the new size blank earlier or escalated the problem sooner.
What has been your biggest highlight taking part in TIC?
Apart from solving a problem and generating a massive cost saving for the company it was actually getting to watch a lot of the great presentations. It was an interesting insight into what goes on within the company and the problems that people have solved using the TIC process
How do you feel that you’ll be the winning team going to Brazil?
We were all so surprised because the standard was so high. We feel so proud being the team going to Brazil and seeing all the other winning presentations from the 2018 TIC event.
