Member News - Lessons learned from Manufacturing
drive efficiencies and savings into the Service sector 

An innovative North West consultancy has successfully applied process techniques normally used in manufacturing to drive 60% efficiency savings into the recruitment industry. 

Six Sigma specialists Altremis Ltd were challenged to deliver an improvement programme for First Recruitment Group - a globally successful technical recruitment company.  Despite a £60 million turnover, First Recruitment Group Managing Director John Urpi, believed there were still opportunities for improvement and wanted his organisation to adopt new approaches which would make the company stand out in a competitive market. 

Altremis Ltd devised five interactive workshops using Lean Six Sigma techniques which encouraged the First Recruitment Group team to discover what their clients truly valued and to develop a series of measures to chart the efficiency and effectiveness of the recruitment processes.  Within weeks, they were able to cut the recruitment process time by 60%.  In an industry where speed is paramount, this has given First Recruitment Group a significant advantage over competitors.  

The metrics developed now allow First Recruitment Group to measure the performance of the recruitment process and generate powerful benchmarks.  They have a better understanding of vacancy and industry trends and the effectiveness of their candidate database.  Lean Six Sigma visual management techniques have also improved CV formats.

George Forrest, Managing Director of Altremis Ltd, said, ‘Both public and private sectors are under pressure to make efficiency savings.  The approach taken with First Recruitment Group and our other clients has proven that tools and techniques usually only found in engineering and manufacturing can be successfully applied to the service sector and achieve great results’. 

‘By using coaching techniques and asking the right questions we find people are able to come up with the answers for themselves.  This approach is very empowering for our clients and it allows their staff to really buy into the improvement process,’ he added.