I’ll admit it, I am part of the “older” generation and I know this because the music is too loud and just the idea of staying up all night makes me want a nap. That being said, when I brag about my kids I am always surprised when someone challenges me with “You have teenagers and you LIKE your kids?” Youth, as seen from the other side of the generation gap, can look incomprehensible and the young recruits joining our organizations come complete with fully integrated personal electronic devices that connect them to the world in ways that seem like science fiction. ...
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The Gemba is where the true value-adding activities to satisfy or serve the customer are performed. Gemba is a Japanese term meaning “actual place”, the place where truth is found. The ‘Gemba Walk’ is an activity that takes leadership to the front lines to look for waste and opportunities.
There are typically three types of Gemba walks...
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Hard benefits – usually measurable in financial terms – are not directly achieved. They result and consequence of the soft benefits, which include such things as:
• Enhanced Teamwork, at both executive and doer levels
• Better Communications, horizontally and vertically
• Better Decision-making Processes
• More Focused Accountability
• Greater Control
• A Window Into the Future
While these soft benefits cannot be measured with numbers, they’re very real in companies using Executive S&OP successfully.
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Lean is the number one improvement program in the world. The only real competition for popularity comes from inaction or weak attempts that rely upon naive trial and error. In terms of comprehensive programs, the runner up methodology is Six Sigma, a great program, but far less popular than lean.
Let’s look closer at lean in terms of foundation, approach, vision, and applicability across various organizations...
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This article is short story about four manufacturing companies named Company A, Company B, Company C and Company D. Each of these companies makes products with the same name and characteristics.
These products have the same description, function, performance, features, quality and capabilities. There are, however, difference in company operations and management. Which company would you choose to work for or invest in?
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Time has shown that there is one key ingredient common to all successful Business Process Improvement efforts: they are led from the top down. Yet, many operations managers, supervisors and workers are struggling to launch and maintain a bottom-up improvement campaign. Although they have identified and believe in the benefits that such a program will bring to their organization and to their daily work environment, they obtain only marginal involvement from top management. Unfortunately, this means that their efforts will only be marginally effective.
So how do you get top management involved?
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Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to discuss Supply Chain Management with a number of companies. I was surprised that many of them were taking a beat the supplier up for a “BETTER PRICE” approach. The good news is that in many cases they are seeing a reduction in prices up 5%. Now the bad news: incoming quality has dropped over 10% and delivery performance has dropped to below 80% on time.
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How has work been going for you lately? Busy? Frustrated because things are not moving along as quickly as you had hoped? Distracted by so many little things that the big things never get the time or attention needed? It is far too easy to get so focused on the task at hand we lose sight of the overall picture. The solution? Look up. Let me explain…
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Over the past few months we have been working with a number of companies helping them with their strategic planning process. From company to company the process to develop/update their strategic plan is quite similar, however the results differ.
Based on discussions with clients, the common problem that prevents forward progress is a lack of focus. Almost all of these companies had too many improvement projects on their plate and, to borrow a phrase from an old movie, “a point in every direction is the same as no point at all.”
Here is how to narrow down the number of improvement projects.
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You may laugh but there is some truth to that statement. However, while organizational change is inevitable, it doesn’t go over well to say this to your employees or to hear it from your boss. Change happens and the default response is pushback. It is as if we are hardwired for stability and when the circuitry is swapped out we struggle to learn the new operating system. Upgrade be dammed, if the work-around fixed the problem then leave it alone.
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