IQ-Magazine-Issue-14
IQ business profile Driving The Change Knowing there’s something wrong in a business and having the experience, skill and vision to design and implement a change strategy that’s going to stand the test of time are two very different things. It’s easy to point fingers and avoid difficult situations, but, with a leader who is committed to bringing about positive developments for the good of the business as a whole, then there’s hope. We caught up with Ashley Moscrop who has been driving the change at Dufaylite, an established paper honeycomb, board design and manufacturing company, and is now seeing the light at the end of what’s sometimes been a challenging tunnel. Ashley, 31, joined the 45-year-old business in 2002, having just completed his A-levels. Working as a product development technician within an established team, he soon realised that as a company, they weren’t where they should be. While manually cutting boards on the production line, Ashley would spend his days thinking of new ideas that would help the business grow. “They were a bit stuck in the past, with mature products in stale markets being developed by an uninspired workforce operating in silos. Things weren’t exactly flourishing,” Ashley recalls. After working his way through the business over time, Ashley started to build up a more detailed picture of where the biggest problems were developing. “There’s no use going into a business and starting to shoot your mouth off about what’s not working. You won’t be making any friends that way. It takes time to really get underneath a company’s skin to find issue 14 | page 30
IQ business profile out the root causes of problems, rather than just their symptoms,” Ashley said. Ashley wanted to encourage the business to take calculated risks to stimulate growth, rather than stagnate in crowded market places. Ashley worked with everyone from the manufacturing team to the board of directors, on the development and launch of a new product range that entered the business into a new market. Ultra Board first started trading in 2005 and provided a range of innovative board solutions for the print design and retailer markets. By working with the internal team, setting realistic goals and communicating with all stakeholders, the launch was a success but it wasn’t without its challenges. In addition to developing new products within the business, Ashley introduced new lean manufacturing processes that would change the shape of the company. the launch was a success but it wasn’t without its challenges “Changing mindsets was always going to be the biggest thing to overcome. We needed to show people how the changes we were looking to make would actually improve their day on a very real level. It wasn’t just something that was coming out of the boardroom, dictated down. It was important for us to bring everyone with us on the journey, so they could perform their jobs more accurately and efficiently.” In addition to launching new products and introducing lean manufacturing processes, Ashley took it upon himself to research, roll out and manage a full front to back management information system (MIS) within the company. “The MIS has taken a good 18 months to bed in, as it had to become a central part of how we work. Ranging from marketing, purchasing, sales, profitability and more, there is nothing our MIS doesn’t touch and report on. It’s been a big move for the business, as it’s given us a visibility across everything we’re doing on a whole new level.” His vision and years of hard work earned Ashley a place at the directors’ table. He’s now responsible for managing the whole team, new product development, marketing, internal processes and more. Not one to rest of his laurels, Ashley continues to look for ways to continue to grow the business. “I want us to become the clear market leader in honeycomb boards throughout the UK and have a strong presence in all parts of the developed world. We’re on our way, with resellers already operating in Australia, Portugal and Denmark. We’ve also partnered with a company, and set up Dufaylite Americas, primarily focusing on Mexico and will be used to expand into the USA.” Now two years down the line, changes have bedded in and there’s a real sense of focused momentum within the growing team. “The key to any development is working on your people and helping them to evolve. I’ve always wanted to do as much as I can, but this whole process has shown me the importance of focusing on one thing at a time.” When asked what the future holds, Ashley is already deep into researching the impact that 3D printing will have on their sector. “I think it’s going to shake things up more than we realise, and it’s not something that’s years away, it’s very much on our doorstep.” Ashley has retained full-service marketing agency, Cubiqdesign, as the company’s strategic partner, and is in the process of redeveloping the websites for each of Dufaylite’s brands, Clayboard, Envirolite and Ultra Board. “We’ve got some very exciting developments in the months ahead, as this is our 60th year in business,” Ashley says, “I’m looking to keep things simple. Now that we have our systems and processes in place, our products can shine, thanks to the hard work of our talented people.” More Information www.dufaylite.com issue 14 | page 31
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<strong>IQ</strong> business profile<br />
Driving<br />
The<br />
Change<br />
Knowing there’s something<br />
wrong in a business and<br />
having the experience, skill<br />
and vision to design and<br />
implement a change<br />
strategy that’s going to<br />
stand the test of time are<br />
two very different things.<br />
It’s easy to point fingers and avoid difficult situations, but,<br />
with a leader who is committed to bringing about positive<br />
developments for the good of the business as a whole, then<br />
there’s hope.<br />
We caught up with Ashley Moscrop who has been driving<br />
the change at Dufaylite, an established paper honeycomb,<br />
board design and manufacturing company, and is now seeing<br />
the light at the end of what’s sometimes been a challenging<br />
tunnel.<br />
Ashley, 31, joined the 45-year-old business in 2002, having just<br />
completed his A-levels. Working as a product development<br />
technician within an established team, he soon realised that as<br />
a company, they weren’t where they should be. While manually<br />
cutting boards on the production line, Ashley would spend his<br />
days thinking of new ideas that would help the business grow.<br />
“They were a bit stuck in the past, with mature products in<br />
stale markets being developed by an uninspired workforce<br />
operating in silos. Things weren’t exactly flourishing,” Ashley<br />
recalls.<br />
After working his way through the business over time, Ashley<br />
started to build up a more detailed picture of where the<br />
biggest problems were developing. “There’s no use going into<br />
a business and starting to shoot your mouth off about what’s<br />
not working. You won’t be making any friends that way. It<br />
takes time to really get underneath a company’s skin to find<br />
issue <strong>14</strong> | page 30
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