Taylors of Lusk Case Study, Pembroke Alliance Consultancy, Ireland

Taylors of Lusk www.taylorsoflusk.ie

Mark Taylor’s and Sons are a family farming business based in North County Dublin going back 5 generations, growing Cereals and Vegetables, traditionally growing Broccoli and Swedes the farm has diversified in growing Irish Garlic and Chillies.

Situation

Over the past few years the farming industry has been extremely difficult, faced with the challenges of environmental concerns, world industrialised production methods, never-ending demand for cheap food and the below-cost selling strategy by major supermarkets.

The impact of extreme weather conditions lead to under performing yields on crops and below par margins.

Through the Bord Bia Lean Programme, Pembroke Alliance were appointed to facilitate the Mini Lean Plus Programme.

Objective

The main objectives of the programme would be to;

Increase Yields and Margins,

Introduce KPIs to the business

Improve Productivity levels, and

Maintain a Sustainable future

Key Challenges

Non-Controllable challenges with Weather

Managing change, getting staff used to the accountability that comes with having production metrics in place.

The industry is faced with continued difficulty in recruiting Staff

Key Changes

The farm has diversified into growing new crops, Garlic & Chillies

Crop Yields and productivity measures introduced to manage performance and drive business improvements, along with efficiencies and best practise introduced to all aspects of the business.

Detailed costings with accurate margins for each crop was prepared so that the business knew exactly what price they could set when going out to the market.

Owners and Staff highly engaged in the process, assessing ideas using the principles of Lean

Regular Management Meetings with Key areas of focus

Key Results

Identified the main factors contributing to the underperforming yields and margin.

Prepared both optimistic and pessimistic 3 Year Forecasts for the business

Established detailed costings with accurate margins for each crop

Prepared and produced detail Cash Flows for Chilli and Garlic Business

Installed a new lean Cash Management System

Carried out a detailed energy audit