Category: OpEx 4 OpEx

Assess the long-term results of an improvement. Practitioners: integrative, and strategic One of the most frequent complaints associated with any improvement project is the lack of sustainable results.  As a tactical practitioner, focusing on improving the method or process is foremost in my purview.  Working through the end-to-end process improvement…

Use process maps for the extended value stream to assist in conducting projects. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic Value stream mapping is a great tool to uncover potential improvement opportunities.  I would like to expand the scope of our focus to process maps.  Process mapping, in general, opens the eyes…

Provide coaching and training on the tools and principles of operational excellence. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic There are three critical participants in any successful operational excellence implementation.  The Sponsor, the process owner, and the team member.  Each has a special and specific relationship to the tools, techniques, and tactics…

 Use tools to create alignment to company vision and corporate mission (strategy deployment). Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic Strategy deployment is an important function for any organization.  Whether large or small, formal or informal, creating alignment to vision and strategy is critical.  What tools do we have to support and…

Link rewards and recognition to desired outcomes. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic One of my favorite articles, to which I was exposed too long ago to recall the exact time, immediately comes to mind here.  The article is question is titled – On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping…

Identify opportunities for improvement throughout the extended value stream, from supplier to customer. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic The first word that strikes me when I read this topic statement is suboptimize.  When we limit our boundaries, we can miss key variables that might have a significant impact on our…

Identify current state and future state for the value stream. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic After I learned to map processes, the practice became one of the first tasks I undertook when I inherited a new department, function, of operation.  Value stream mapping has many flavors.  The depth of detail…

Create systems to align goals, objectives, mission, and vision. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic The purpose of any strategy deployment system is to align goals, objectives, mission, and vision.  The problem with most strategy deployment systems is the failure to reach the objective.  Our focus is usually on the idea…

Verify Progress is Checked Against Goals Frequently Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic There are a few key ingredients to this particular idea that might not be self-evident.  The key terms for me in ‘verify progress is checked against goals’ are progress, checked, and goals.  This suggests that we have established…

Use DFMA, QFD, and FMEA to Conduct Projects Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic The origins of APQP can be found in the automotive industry.  The processes are costly, but the cost of failure is greater.  The volumes experienced in the automotive industry allow for such costs to be reasonable when…