The CCTC facilitated a Best Practice Study Tour on 15 October 2019 at Halfway Toyota Ottery (HTO). HTO  is a car dealership and service centre that has achieved noteworthy success through a focus on Lean principles including standard work, continuous improvement and visual performance management. Resulting process improvements across the firm’s operations include a reduction in basic car servicing time by more than half, leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and retention. HTO exemplifies ‘best practice’ in terms of implementation and practising of Lean principals in its daily operational processes, making them an ideal host for peer learning.

Attendees cited the benefits of widespread use of standardised processes and visual management as key learnings from the tour while also noting the use of continuous improvement methodology and A3 problem solving, not just in the service bay but in sales, administration, and parts management as well. Another notable aspect of this study tour was the opportunity for cross-sector peer learning as delegates were exposed to the Lean management principles driving HTO’s success and able to see how these can be applied in their own firms.