Unipart Group, the Oxford-based manufacturing, logistics and consultancy group, has won a major contract with National Grid to train and coach thousands of employees in the United States in continuous improvement.
Unipart began its work with National Grid in the UK where Unipart is helping the company to implement a programme called Performance Excellence, a way to engage people at every level of the organisation in making improvements using ‘lean’ tools and techniques. The aim is to ensure that National Grid’s customers, communities and other stakeholders continue to receive a safe, reliable and secure supply of their energy.
Unipart is now working across National Grid’s operations in the U.S. providing practical training and coaching at all levels. It extends from front line operational teams, who are aiming to respond to customer needs as quickly and effectively as possible, to support areas of the business such as procurement, finance and HR.
Steve Holiday, Chief Executive of National Grid said:
“We’re pleased to expand our work with Unipart to include our U.S. operations, as we continue to deliver on our commitment to provide our customers excellent value, by engaging our people to deliver operational excellence while stimulating innovation into everything we do.”
According to Unipart Chairman and Group Chief Executive John Neill, National Grid chose Unipart because of Unipart’s extensive experience and deep knowledge of implementing continuous improvement programmes.
Unipart Chairman and Group Chief Executive John Neill said:
“Those goals mirror the goals of The Unipart Way, which we have developed over the past 20 years, and which has already been implemented successfully in a wide range of industry sectors. We’re very pleased to extend our footprint to play a part in National Grid’s successful implementation in the U.S., and to work with such a significant organisation in a sector that is critically important to all our futures.”
Unipart Group also has large scale consultancy contracts with organisations in the financial services, engineering, pharmaceutical and health sectors.