Management systems such as Lean Manufacturing should be working for you, minimising wasted time, effort, movement and material. They can reduce cost, labour time, paperwork and management time, and minimise the variation that the customer experiences in the product.

AM Management Assistance can help you gather accurate data on current performance and implement visualisation techniques for ongoing process improvement. Exploited fully, visualisation can give you financial control, process control, local morale boosting, team empowerment and resource management - without creating extra work.

AM Management Assistance also offer contract project management. We can help you plan and organise a new venture, secure and manage resources, demonstrate progress-to-plan and meet customer or stakeholder expectations. Effective planning, leadership and management are essential for successful delivery of a project on time and within budget.

Quality improvements decrease operating costs directly and lead to increased sales in the longer term. While AM Management Assistance can help define overarching strategy and operating procedures, our key skill is implementing systems to empower shop floor staff to deal with the details of operational issues. A procedure that covers every operational eventuality becomes so unwieldy it is ignored; our systems provide a valued procedural framework then provide further information just when and where it is needed.

Regulatory compliance, whether to standards such as ISO9001, CE/UL, ATEX/Hazloc/IECEx, or to industry specific guidelines, is a direct route to new markets and increased sales. Every regulation is different but all demand standardisation of work and gathering of data. AM Management Assistance specialise in systems that perform these tasks unobtrusively, typically streamlining rather than adding to the workload.

Health and Safety has become a negative cliche, but it can make a positive contribution to performance, staff morale and well-being. AM Management Assistance can help you ensure that you have a safe working environment, and all the necessary documentation to prove it.

• Comply with legislation
• Establish a safety strategy and risk register
• Identify hazards and persons at risk
• Perform risk assessments
• Safeguard staff, contractors and visitors

AM Management Assistance offer practical effective guidance with health and safety policy, laser safety, COSHH, PUWER, working at height and lone working regulations, fire hazards and controls, safe systems of work - including measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus - RIDDOR, occupational hygiene, and the electricity at work regulations.

A small rail maintenance company had staff working at multiple locations, all based in the field or in engineering workshops. Mistakes were made due to procedures being kept in the office, too far away for a quick check. Time was wasted on simple tasks such as purchasing repeat orders as no records were kept. Work was sourced from personal contacts and repeat orders but no records were kept of the costs of each job, so it was impossible to pursue more profitable work. A key customer had raised concerns about compliance with Network Rail reguations.

AM Management delivered a website advertising the company's facilities with an intranet section accessible on site via phone, computer or tablet. Procedures and other key documents were kept in a database that could be viewed at the click of a button. Purchases were kept in a second database for quick repeat orders. Moving the existing timesheet system online and adding a simple project index meant that the time and costs spent on each job could easily be compiled. Future quotes were made on an informed basis so contract variations could be requested where necessary and more profitable work pursued. The company passed the customer audit and won future work.