If you are looking for exceptional and sustainable Business performance continuous improvement together with significant cost reduction and increase in market share, we have achieved it for both large and small companies alike.    We can assist you with classic programmes such as those illustrated below and throughout this site or we can tailor make solutions based on your specific needs Updated 1/07/08

Six Sigma Six Sigma is claimed as being an order of magnitude more effective than any other continuous improvement programme. Yet many UK and other European companies are disappointed with the results they are getting. We have always been successful because we have been close to Six Sigma from the time that it was publised by Motorola and because we have a heritage connected with the late Dr Juran whose teachings form its base. More >   Training Courses All David Hutchins International  Courses are aimed at business performance improvement and are based on the observation that learning comes from doing rather than just listening. From Hoshin Kanri through to Quality Circles, when conducted 'in house' our courses are tailor made to suit operating requirements and many are self funding through the work of participants during the course. More > Hoshin Kanri - The Strategic Approach to Continuous Improvement - an important new book by David Hutchins to be published in August 2008. More information>

Risk Management Good Risk Management is concerned with Severity, Probability, Detection and Control. Compliance based Management Systems can help if properly implemented. In high risk environments our further course Visual Inspection is a must and humans do not make  perfect inspectors. Our network of front line professional experts can help you create a system to be proud of. More >   Lean Manufacturing (UK) DHI provide Lean Manufacturing solutions to production and administrative processes that deliver World Class performance in cost, working capital and customer lead time. Lean Manufacture requires a  broad range of tools, training, and implementation services to deliver World Class business performance. The David Hutchins approach is based on a solid core of decades of accumulated experience in industrial engineering across a spectrum of industries including Health, the Finance Sector and Manufacture. More >

Core fundamentals

                                  

Our core beliefs

David Hutchins International Limited was the first Quality related consultancy in the UK and possibly in Europe. Our roots are still based in the beliefs of David Hutchins our founder. In the 1960s David was Chief Production Engineer and also Works Superintendant in the Automotive Industry and later Industrial Engineer in the printing industry . He watched the decline of Automobile manufacture at the hands of the Japanese and refused to accept that this was inevitable. He researched Japanese management methods in great depth and was probably one of the first westerners to do so. Early in the 1970s David formulated an approach for industry based on this research which he had adapted to suit western culture. By the end of that decade he had attracted such interest that he launched a major 3 day conference at the Institute of Directors in London. Professor Ishikawa was a keynote speaker and in fact it was the only time that he came to Europe in his lifetime. The conference was an enormous success with more than 300 serious participants - more on this in the history pages of this site. For several years The ideas proposed by David Hutchins which included TQM (Total Quality Management), Benchmarking, Just in Time, Statistical Process Control and in particular Quality Circles (also known as Kaizen and QC Circles), spread through Industry with incredible success. Unfortunately the British Government who had been heavily influenced by both the Ministry of Defence and the British Standards Institute were persuaded to provide financial support to a diametrically opposed approach based on what we regard to be the left brained thinking of ISO 9000. Whilst this support was withdrawn in 1994, it is our opinion that the damage had been done. The word 'Quality' instead of being regarded as a term that would invoke strong positive passions is as a consequence of that Goverment led campaign,  seen to be a negative compliance driven police force style approach. It creates a blame culture 'whose fault is it?'. Well we do not believe that anyone except for a very small number of those who are anti social by nature ever go to work to do an unquality job. If everyone goes to work to do a quality job then we should be asking 'what were the events that conspired to make that happen?'. In other words, attack problems not people. Trying to inspect quality in is futile. It does not matter how much you inspect a bad product it will not make it any better, and we possibly did not find a fraction of the defectives anyway (see our course on Visual Inspection). All inspection does to a good product is to add cost. The message is, use the concept of continuous Improvement in order to get it right the first time. Under the umbrella of Hoshin Kanri, TQM, Quality Circles and other related initiatives we not only believe but can demonstrate convincingly that whilst ISO 9001:2000 has a place, it cannot possibly compete with these concepts. The reason being and this is our core belief - To be successful, an organisation must create a management sytem based on the principle that each employee in the organisation and through the supply chain is the expert in his or her own job. The objective of Hoshin Kanri is to harness the collective thinking power of all of its people to work towards making their organisation the best in its business. Man/Woman has infinite capabilities and the more we develop and support our people the more successful we can become. People want to be listened to and made to feel important. People are members of families and communities. Often they are listened to and respected at home but not at work. In many cases they have to hang their brains on the gate of their office or factory when they go to work and pick them up again on the way home. No-one asks them anything, no-one involves them in anything and sadly for all too many people, that is work. They get a sick feeling on a Sunday night (or Friday in Muslim countries), Hell, its work again tomorrow and I have to grind through a week of this to pick up a pay cheque. It just does not have to be like that believe us. Wouldn't it be nice if instead, people said 'Oh good its Monday'! The organisation that can change all of this will be the winner. No amount of ISO 9000 can make that happen, it requires a different approach and that is what is meant by QUALITY

Training & Consultancy

DHI has developed a huge range of courses related to business performance Improvement. The content of these courses are based on our experience during our consultancy work. All of them are unique in detail including those related to Six Sigma, lean manufacture and other what might be seen as 'off the shelf' products.  We have worked with organisations both large and small all over the world. We have witnessed what works and what does not.  Our advice to you would be based on all of that experience and we will not ever sell you anything that we have not seen working or failing. In the latter case we will have found out why. So, please check through our site. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your needs and how we may be able to assist you to become the best of the best!

Headed up by Michael Hutchins CEO of DHI  and trained as a qualified Chartered Accountant in Price WaterHouse and with subsequent experience in IBM Consulting and Atos Origin, we can assist you with a broad spectrum of business needs beyond the scope of Business Performance Improvement Content copyright David Hutchins International Limited. David Hutchins International are leading consultants in Business Performance Improvement, Six Strategy and Policy Deployment, Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, Risk Management including ISO related training and Implementation and relevant leadership and People development. Our work is founded on the teachings of Dr J.M. Juran, Dr. Edwards Deming, Professor Kaoru Ishikawa and Dr Feigenbaum together with concepts of our own creation.

Society Matters. Support David Hutchins London to Paris cycle ride 11-14 June 2008. David Hutchins rode the London to Paris ride again this year in support of the St Margaret's Hospice in Somerset UK If any reader of this feels disposed to contribute they may deposit their donation by clicking on this link. It will be very gratefully received. www.justgiving.co.uk/davidhutchins1 Every donation will be personally acknowledged and much appreciated. In support of the EFQM and Baldrige Quality Model assessment measures, David Hutchins International has made its 'Charity of Choice' to be the Hospice movement. In the UK at least, this vitally important service is only partially supported by the National Health service and relies for a substantial part of its funds on charitable contributions. In the past David Hutchins has personally not only supported many of the activities of some of these Hospices but has actively engaged in serious fund raising efforts always  involving his cycle. For example: In 1994 he rode from Lands End which is the furthest South West point in the England to John 'O'Groats which is the furthest North Point in Scotland a distance of 870 miles in just 6 days and raised more than £2000  Two years later he made the same trip into a loop by starting and finishing at his home in Ascot making the round trip in just two weeks and a distance of 1800 miles at some 150 miles per day and raised over £3000 In 2002 he rode for 24 hours on a stationary bike outside a large 24 hour supermarket achieving 320 miles and raised more than £1000. In 2007 he rode the London to Paris ride in 3 days and raised a further £1200.