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Component Manufacturing dverti$er
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Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
September 2018 #10230 Page #36
Constructing a Roadmap to Operational Excellence
Ben Hershey, President & Coach 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC
Part 1: Beginning a Journey of 7 Steps
W
e all aspire to have a state of operational excellence in our organizations, but it is often much easier said than done. Although it’s often conceptualized as merely tweaking the current way of doing things, operational excellence is about much more than that. For component manufacturers, LBMs, and millwork companies, operational excellence is about setting up a systematic operational structure to identify and capitalize on improvement opportunities, and it is equally reliant on harnessing non-technical elements, such as organizational culture, advanced processes, or automation. My previous articles have talked how about waste reduction and close monitoring of key metrics are the traditional purview of operational excellence. However, I’ve worked with several companies in our industry that want to push the boundaries of continuous improvement while seeking to become more collaborative and encouraging engagement from all areas of the business. These additional steps take a company even closer to the ideal of operational excellence. At its heart, operational excellence is a discipline which aims to balance the triad between people, process, and technology, thereby generating benefits to both the top and bottom lines for your business, and enhancing the overall experience our customers receive from the improved processes. For its practitioners, the good news is that the process of operational excellence is repeatable, and the tools and techniques to automate and optimize it are mature. But the challenge is to ensure the people, process, and technology pieces of the puzzle are assembled in the best way to achieve optimal performance.
For our industry to realize the benefits of operational excellence, a more holistic and transparent approach to the creation of the system is required. Keep in mind, we can never, nor should we, really achieve a final position called excellence, because a vibrant company should always be focused on continuous improvements towards excellence—but it can and should still be an ultimate goal. The following are some structural paths to provide clear, actionable steps and tips for leaders to follow. Continued next page
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