When we think about linking people with the processes, products, and performance, using a model helps us see at a high level. This also helps to create a system framework that connects tools and thinking to standard practices we will use. Operational Excellence is a concept of operations that focuses a team's outputs on consistently meeting customer's needs and improving supply chain relationships. I will address Operational Excellence implementation,
the integration of tools with Integrated Teams, and ways to monitor
success that will help you retain your customer base and open doors to new
customers.
Implementation is aligned to a team's continuous performance improvement level. Teams that are actively using Lean, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, or other improvement methodologies will implement faster than those that only know they have problems and are not sure how to permanently fix them. It's the recognition that problems exist, or the journey is stalled, and that is where we begin by talking to the customer, asking what would be perfect about the delivery of the product, and measuring performance results to those attributes. This may not be an easy conversation, but it provides insight to the level of satisfaction your customers are experiencing. Using this information, Leadership needs to be armed with the questions that keep a project or team on track to reach that level of perfection.
Integration of tools with the Integrated Teams, focused on specific problems, will affect the measures being taken from the Voice of the Customer. Whatever improvement tools or methodologies are being used, the desired impact is to improve flow. This is made by using Lean to remove waste, Six Sigma to remove variation and improve quality, TOC to synchronize the supply chain with the bottle neck and then remove the constraint, or any combination of those with the plethora of other tools that exist. Remember this, "Flow is King!". If the product if not flowing, whether in the material value stream or information value stream, then it is sleeping (on the job!).
Monitoring the organization's or team's progress on the journey is enhanced with visual controls linked with the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the Business. We collected VOC earlier so it's just a matter of calculating the center and spread of the data, compare that to "what would be perfect", and decide the first step to take. Voice of the Business is based on corporate or business unit goals, or goals used by the team. These are usually related to cost, safety, inventory-turnover, and other measurements relating to cash flow. Again, collect you current data, compare it to the goal, and decide the first step to take. This resulting information needs to be shared with the team, stakeholders, customers, and possibly suppliers.
As you collect the data and begin asking questions as to why the team is experiencing defects, long cycle time, customer dis-satisfaction, or other problems, you will identify opportunities to make positive impacts to flow. These opportunities will need to be vetted against the root causes to make sure they will affect the bottom line, not just "good stuff" types of ideas. One way to know if an idea will impact the bottom line is if it resides on the critical path. Newly trained improvement facilitators can execute these opportunities to become "certified". Becoming certified is another measurement, the next important metric is average cycle time for the facilitators reach their fifth project.
So Operational Excellence is a concept of operations that focuses a team's outputs on consistently meeting customer's needs and improving supply chain relationships. This type of thinking about your operations and your organization will help jump start the transformation and turn opportunities into the dollars that can be used to grow your business.
Implementation is aligned to a team's continuous performance improvement level. Teams that are actively using Lean, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, or other improvement methodologies will implement faster than those that only know they have problems and are not sure how to permanently fix them. It's the recognition that problems exist, or the journey is stalled, and that is where we begin by talking to the customer, asking what would be perfect about the delivery of the product, and measuring performance results to those attributes. This may not be an easy conversation, but it provides insight to the level of satisfaction your customers are experiencing. Using this information, Leadership needs to be armed with the questions that keep a project or team on track to reach that level of perfection.
Integration of tools with the Integrated Teams, focused on specific problems, will affect the measures being taken from the Voice of the Customer. Whatever improvement tools or methodologies are being used, the desired impact is to improve flow. This is made by using Lean to remove waste, Six Sigma to remove variation and improve quality, TOC to synchronize the supply chain with the bottle neck and then remove the constraint, or any combination of those with the plethora of other tools that exist. Remember this, "Flow is King!". If the product if not flowing, whether in the material value stream or information value stream, then it is sleeping (on the job!).
Monitoring the organization's or team's progress on the journey is enhanced with visual controls linked with the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the Business. We collected VOC earlier so it's just a matter of calculating the center and spread of the data, compare that to "what would be perfect", and decide the first step to take. Voice of the Business is based on corporate or business unit goals, or goals used by the team. These are usually related to cost, safety, inventory-turnover, and other measurements relating to cash flow. Again, collect you current data, compare it to the goal, and decide the first step to take. This resulting information needs to be shared with the team, stakeholders, customers, and possibly suppliers.
As you collect the data and begin asking questions as to why the team is experiencing defects, long cycle time, customer dis-satisfaction, or other problems, you will identify opportunities to make positive impacts to flow. These opportunities will need to be vetted against the root causes to make sure they will affect the bottom line, not just "good stuff" types of ideas. One way to know if an idea will impact the bottom line is if it resides on the critical path. Newly trained improvement facilitators can execute these opportunities to become "certified". Becoming certified is another measurement, the next important metric is average cycle time for the facilitators reach their fifth project.
So Operational Excellence is a concept of operations that focuses a team's outputs on consistently meeting customer's needs and improving supply chain relationships. This type of thinking about your operations and your organization will help jump start the transformation and turn opportunities into the dollars that can be used to grow your business.
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