Situation
DTS Food Laboratories (now BVAQ) is Australia’s leading food testing and assurance provider, offering a full suite of microbiology, chemistry, allergen, and GMO testing services, as well as audits and certification. With major laboratories in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane and a workforce of more than 400 highly skilled staff, DTS serves many of the nation’s largest food manufacturers.
Despite its market leadership, DTS recognised that to remain competitive and deliver sustained growth, it needed to sharpen its operations. The company’s senior leadership, led by CEO David Havard, envisioned becoming a truly world-class, lean organisation — one where operational excellence was embedded in the culture and employees proactively eliminated waste, streamlined processes, and continuously improved how work was done.
The objective was clear: drive measurable cost reductions, increase productivity, and create a sustained legacy of continuous improvement that would fuel profitable growth for years to come.
Challenge
The first hurdle was capability. Lean thinking was not yet widely understood within DTS, and few staff were proactively improving their processes. A culture of “waiting for the boss to tell me” meant employees were not fully engaged in identifying and solving problems on their own.
Operationally, DTS faced several specific challenges:
- Workplace organisation: Many laboratory areas lacked consistent application of 5S principles, leading to inefficiencies and wasted motion.
- Process flow and facility layout: The Melbourne facility was not fully fit-for-purpose, creating bottlenecks and unnecessary movement. Opportunities existed to improve flow and streamline operations through value stream mapping and spaghetti diagram analysis.
- Engagement and empowerment: Success depended on engaging frontline teams and empowering them to take independent action, rather than relying solely on top-down direction.
- Visual management: There was a need to define and visualise both leading and lagging indicators of process performance, enabling daily management and problem solving.
- Quick wins and credibility: To build trust in continuous improvement — and overcome scepticism from previous initiatives that were not sustained — it was critical to deliver early project successes that saved money and demonstrated the power of Lean.
- The business also needed to build a systematic and sustainable CI process, developing the mindset, skills, and governance mechanisms to make improvement a daily practice without long-term external support.
Workplace organisation of micro labs improved significantly
Action
OE Partners partnered with DTS to design and execute a comprehensive Lean transformation program. The engagement was structured into five key phases:
1. Current State Analysis
OE Partners facilitated an end-to-end value stream mapping exercise to document the current state, uncover process bottlenecks, and define a future state design. Time-and-motion studies and inventory reviews provided hard data on waste and improvement opportunities
Extensive Value Stream Mapping was used to uncover bottlenecks and macro interruptions to flow
2. Lean Leadership Workshop
A dedicated offsite session was held with the senior leadership team to align on the “why” behind Lean: to enable profitable growth and support DTS’s five-year strategic plan. Together, the group developed a SWOT analysis, introduced Lean thinking and 5S principles, and laid out a 12-month Lean roadmap.
3. Capability Building: Green Belt Training
OE Partners trained 10 key leaders through Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. Participants learned to apply practical tools such as root cause analysis, value stream mapping, and statistical problem solving. Importantly, they were required to implement real projects as part of their certification, ensuring that learning translated into action.
In house, face to face, lean six sigma green belt training was conducted for 10 DTS Food Labs team members
4. Project Implementation & Coaching
OE Partners provided coaching and hands-on implementation support to ensure project teams delivered results. Some notable projects included:
- Reduction in chemistry retesting: Improvements in testing processes reduced rework levels, delivering savings of $54,000 per year across four major test categories.
- Media production optimisation: Addressing overproduction and shortages in media preparation saved $30,000 annually.
- Consumables spend reduction: Implementing Kanban systems and better stock control generated $70,000 in recurring annual savings.
In total, 11 process improvement projects were completed in the first wave.
5. Continuous Improvement Governance
To sustain momentum, OE Partners worked with leadership to establish a CI Steering Committee and regular reporting cadence. This ensured accountability, prioritisation, and a structured forum for reviewing progress and removing roadblocks.
Notably, OE Partners worked closely with frontline leaders such as Junie Poh, Laboratory Services Manager, who championed 5S implementation; Luca Mucedola, National Validation Scientist, who led the media production project; and Julie Stewart, Technical Specialist, who improved test subcontracting processes.
Although some participants initially struggled to carve out time for project work or were surprised they would be responsible for implementing changes, careful coaching and leadership support over several months helped build capability and confidence.
Results
The impact of the Lean transformation was substantial.
- Financial Results: The first wave of 11 projects generated over $200,000 in annual bottom-line savings, with further opportunities identified for subsequent waves.
- Capability Development: Ten leaders achieved Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, building an internal engine for future improvement.
- Culture Shift: DTS staff became more engaged and proactive in problem-solving. A new governance structure and visual management boards made performance transparent and enabled daily decision-making.
- Sustainability: The establishment of monthly CI governance and a structured pipeline of improvement projects ensured that the gains were not just one-off events but part of an ongoing cycle of continuous improvement.
Perhaps most importantly, DTS laid the foundation for becoming the world-class lean organisation its leadership envisioned — a company where operational excellence is a sustained legacy.
A project to apply lean layout principles to laboratories reduced transport and motion by 72%
Client Perspective
Luca Mucedola, National Validation Scientist:
“The program gave me real work experience on the ‘how-to’ in areas such as stakeholder and project management, problem resolution and correct application of statistical methods. The coaching sessions were also helpful regarding project direction and decisions. I most definitely recommend OE Partners as they mentor you towards your Lean goals, share real experience in implementation and drive you towards the self-sustainability of a Lean culture.”
Julie Stewart, Technical Specialist:
“A new leadership team was created within DTS to drive change in the business. I saw the Lean Six Sigma training as an opportunity to build on my skill set and learn new ways to identify opportunities for process improvement. This program has taught me the importance of putting in the time to collect, analyse and measure all data in order to make an informed decision. This then sets the project up for success. The training was very good, and I’d recommend OE Partners and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training to others.”
Junie Poh, Laboratory Services Manager:
“I learnt key Lean tools such as Value Stream Mapping and root cause analysis, and how I could apply them to the company. The program exceeded my expectations, because Lean covers such a lot of areas. The tools they teach are practical and applicable to the workplace, and so I would recommend this to others.”
Conclusion
Through a combination of rigorous analysis, leadership alignment, capability building, hands-on project delivery, and the establishment of robust CI governance, OE Partners helped DTS Food Laboratories achieve measurable cost savings, build a culture of proactive improvement, and set a clear course toward becoming a world-class lean organisation.
This engagement demonstrates the power of aligning leadership vision with practical Lean tools and coaching — not only delivering quick wins but creating a sustainable improvement engine that will continue to generate value for years to come..
