Coventry-based Arrowsmith Engineering (www.arrowsmitheng.co.uk) has once again been recognised for its high levels of quality and delivery performance, by retaining its Silver SC21 accreditation at the end of 2017.

On the back of this, one employee — production manager Kevin Rist — has completed a personal journey inspired by the Continuous Improvement Lean Manufacturing that is at the core of SC21.

Though happy to accept the 2016 SC21 award on behalf of Arrowsmith, he was horrified by how overweight he appeared in pictures of the presentation.

For Kevin, a former amateur footballer with Hinckley Town, this was the wake-up call he needed to implement his own ‘lean’ strategy.

He set about the usual lifestyle changes such as calorie control, nutritional advice, regular gym visits and a personal trainer, but he knew that it would help his motivation — and make things more fun — if he could somehow incorporate his work role, which is very target-driven, into the process.

Arrowsmith was only too pleased to support Kevin in this, especially as it fitted in perfectly with the company’s focus on employee welfare, which had recently brought it a Health and Wellbeing Award.

The company gave Kevin his own KPI (Key Performance Indicator), which featured on the board in the main company office, and he was required to give weekly updates on his progress.

To date, he has lost over 40kg — along with more than 6in from his waistline.