Customer service excellence through people motivation and Kaizen

Nichols Foods have three factories in Haydock, manufacturing products for vending, food service, and retail markets. Founded in 1981, the company turned over £40 m in 1999 and achieved a profit of £4.4 m through approximately 200 people. Growth over the next few years is an exciting prospect, with a £90 million target laid out for the end of 2004. Success so far has been achieved through a desire to deliver excellent customer service. However, to deliver this service needs highly motivated people-which is where the company values kick in. Life at Nichols Foods is not just about the result. It´s about the values that under pin it. The paper describes how the company´s values have improved the work environment for the employees and motivated them. Once the motivation is right, work can begin on focussing on customer service excellence, and in particular through the Kaizen continuous improvement programme. The paper describes how the Kaizen programme is implemented at the company including the staff training