Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?
“Yes – absolutely – we should have done it sooner.”
What would you say to others thinking of working with Transfirm?
“Go for it. Stop thinking about it and do it.”
CASE STUDY
Founded in the 1970s, Shoobridge Transport operate a modern fleet of over 40 trucks in B-Double, Semi-Trailer, and rigid configurations to service a wide variety of clients in the food and beverage industry.
What was happening when you engaged Transfirm?
We have always had a strong desire to improve and grow, and on reaching 80 staff (we now have 100+) we knew we needed to make the business easier to manage. We wanted to ensure we could maintain our high level of customer service and that our people would be accountable to the customer and to each other. To do this we realised we needed some outside help.
What was the first thing you did with Transfirm?
Transfirm took us through a ‘discovery’ and engaged with staff at all levels to get their view of issues, they were able to distill all that down to a few root causes that we could then work on. It wasn’t a case of Transfirm telling us; instead they listened and began helping us from the ground up. For example, they helped us get more out of our existing software with online bookings. This in itself contributed to our growth and made things easier for the client. We also put in place the new online, process-based Management System that could be used to support our improvements. We soon moved to improve our HR and IR by developing a new workplace agreement, automating employment documents and digitising training procedures. From there the journey was underway.
How did you feel at the time?
We knew we needed assistance because the operations had grown to the point where people were feeling frustrated. Some people felt it wouldn’t be possible for an outside organisation to come in have a sufficient understanding of the business to help us. Fortunately, they were proved wrong. No longer were we second-guessing ourselves, we had a way to evaluate which decisions were the right ones. This gave us confidence. Looking back we now feel relief that we have improved our processes and that they are transparent and easy to monitor.
What made the most impact?
Every process improvement you put in place benefits the business. It’s the sum of the improvements that has simplified the overall operations and given us confidence.
We have refined many processes, whether its cool-room checks being performed on tablets, digitised training management with real-time reports, easier and more compliant HR and WHS processes. Its been great, its hard to pick any particular one that has made the most impact – it’s the whole lot.
We were fortunate that Transfirm could help us improve a broad range of processes, whether it was warehousing, HR, IT, administration or operations. They were flexible enough to structure their team so we always had the best person for the particular improvement. This way the most impact could come from a whole range of improvements.
What would you say you achieved overall from working with Transfirm?
Overall it has given us the confidence to continue our growth journey and know that we can grow without our operations becoming too complex.
We have a fairly unique business in terms of the transport industry and after doing this for 30+ years we know it’s all about steady and continuous improvement. We’ve decided to continue working with Transfirm as part of our improvement journey, so we have even more to achieve together.
Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?
Yes – absolutely – we should have done it sooner.
What would you say to others thinking of working with Transfirm?
Go for it. Stop thinking about it and do it.
Peter & Kay Shoobridge
Managing Director & Finance Manager – Shoobridge Transport
