I read an interesting statistic the other day that painted a woeful picture that most businesses programs and projects fail to deliver against their initial schedule. A quick look around the web would confirm this ( for example here,and here for starters). Discussing this with a colleague over coffee, my friend’s response was – “you […]
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6 steps to better root cause analysis & process repair
Even with the best systems, all processes experience problems at some stage. The key is establishing procedures that get to the bottom of the problem, understand the cause and eradicate it. Failing to do this effectively is most likely to result in repeating issues. The Root Cause Analysis (RCA) process can be used to drill […]
10 common mistakes in KPI creation
Key Performance Indicators are prevalent in most businesses. They are a great mechanism for measuring performance against those actions that relate back to individual business goals and objectives. However, poorly chosen or badly implemented KPI’s can reduce the link back to business objectives and make it harder to communicate the business direction and performance to […]
What questions to ask on a Gemba Walk
Many personnel within management will go and review what happens in situ in the workplace – they will walk around and take a look to get a feel for the activity and by talking to the workforce attempting to get a rudimentary understanding of what works and what doesn’t. This style of management by “walking […]
5 top tips for better KPI’s
KPI’s you gotta love ’em. If you’re in business then the chances are you’ll come across some variant of them during your working day. KPI’s are measurable variables that indicate how well (or not) a process is performing. If we look at a quick example a common supply chain KPI is on-time delivery performance (OTD). […]
Purchase requisitions systems, what’s the true cost of ordering goods?
A purchase requisition is typically a standardized business process that supports the procurement of goods and services. Requisitions usually come in two main flavors, one that supports routine purchases for noncomplex items and one more formal process that support material Purchase Orders for complex inventory items or capital expenditure. This latter process would offer a […]
So you think by completing you’re risk register you’ve completed your risk management – Think Again!!
So we all know the importance of a great risk register but so many people think that risk management starts and stops with it. Of course, we all know that isn’t true. Risk, if not properly managed, can have a catastrophic impact on your business (indeed they can end it if you’re not careful) so […]
Capacity planning how to tackle surges and demand fluctuations
Most organizations have a certain level of resilience in their capacity planning models. Supply chain departments usual plan for slight demand variation, buffering spikes by using tools like safety stock etc. However, how do companies cope when they see a sudden spike in demand (or suffer a disaster in terms of supply?). For example – […]
Introduction to Lean 5s
If like me, you sometimes look around your business environment and think that it’s disorganized and inefficient it’s maybe time to do something about it! There are a number of proven improvement techniques used to optimize your working environment and one of the most common is 5s. 5s has its origins in lean manufacturing and […]
Guide on FMEA – what it does and how to use it
In our last post on Risk Analysis & Strategies we mentioned FMEA as a tool that can be used to help identify risk. In manufacturing the challenge is always to produce high quality products however in many cases this is a challenge and identifying risk can be a key enabler in doing so. Failure Modes […]