LEAN Transformation
Styleline Blinds
by Ian Dempsey
3 min read
When Styleline Blinds, a UK & Ireland home-furnishing manufacturer, acquired a new business, production expanded from two to eight product lines across factories in Dublin and Leeds. Sales doubled, but operational complexity and cost grew even faster. I led a LEAN transformation programme to streamline operations, reduce waste, and build a culture of continuous improvement.
Challenges Solved
Before the transformation:
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Each worker built products end-to-end — slow, costly, and dependent on highly skilled labour.
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Training was informal and inconsistent.
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Large product variety created excess inventory and frequent quality errors.
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There were no standardised processes or performance metrics.
Approach
I mapped the Order-to-Cash and Procure-to-Pay value streams across all sites to identify waste and inefficiency. Working closely with management and factory teams, we introduced a comprehensive LEAN programme.
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Trained all staff in LEAN principles including 5S, root-cause analysis, and waste control.
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Developed standard work documentation for every core process.
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Created visual management systems to track throughput, quality, and downtime.
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Empowered factory teams to identify and implement their own improvement ideas, supported by leadership coaching.
Business Value Delivered
The results were transformative:
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Production efficiency improved by 57%, reducing man-hours per product from 40 to 17 minutes.
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Product defects fell from 38% to under 15%, including damages in transit.
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New-joiner training time dropped dramatically.
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Employee engagement surged, with staff taking ownership of improvements.
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Cross-functional teams such as customer service and accounts experienced fewer errors and smoother workflows.
The Highlight
Beyond the metrics, the human change was the real success story. Factory staff gained confidence and pride in their work. The factory became cleaner, safer, and more organised, and productivity gains became self-sustaining because they came from the people doing the work.
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