Koolmill gained clarity on processes and strategy, confidence they are on the right track, and a push to step back and delegate as the business scales.
Koolmill is a small family-owned business which is aiming to develop and commercialise a radical, 'disruptive' new technology for milling rice. The technology is a step change and delivers power saving of 80% and maximises the return by reducing wasted rice and energy. They operate their technology development business in the UK with joint ventures handling the manufacturing side in China (25 people in 4 mills, all established within the last two years, with an additional employee in India). The business is based in Shirley, Solihull and has 3 employees.
The owner was introduced to the programme when he received a request from Aston University to present at a business support event. Following which he decided to get more involved and take part in The TRANSFORMATION Project himself. The appeal was that the project offered a 'sounding board... it's about validation, you can sometimes avoid big questions when you're running a company... the project makes you ask the questions and come up with the answer yourself.'
The company had a good idea of what their aims were, but the Business Engagement Manager has encouraged them to drill down further, in order to better understand the processes and the route map involved in reaching that destination. This has come out of not only one-to-one discussions, but has also been aided by the networking aspects of the programme – which has actually been 'the most important thing.. meeting others with similar problems, listen to their ideas, interacting in workshops. You might think others are doing better than you but when you benchmark yourself against different businesses with similar problems, you start to feel 'normal', it gives you confidence to push a little harder or faster. You're more capable than you credit.'
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