Pursuing the operational excellence: An endless journey

Marcello Andrade da Silva

Marcello Andrade da Silva

Director, Program Management at Otis Elevator Co.

Published Feb 1, 2015

Pursue the operational excellence means to pursue perfection for all business processes steps. Although definition seems to be generic, this shows in few words the essence. Perfection is somehow related to be the best in something. And to be the best in all steps of business processes looks like quite challenging. Therefore, this is an endless journey; we will always have the opportunity of making something better.

Nowadays, operational excellence initiatives are a "must have". Successful programs help companies to improve competitiveness due to several benefits such as cost reduction, enhanced quality of product and process, value stream integration, optimization and speed, and others. On this post there are some good hints of how to manage a robust OpEx program and key factors to avoid a failed initiative inside your company.

Company strategy alignment and top management involvement

OpEx program must be aligned with company strategic goals and rolled down by top management throughout the whole business, in all functional areas. This is mandatory. If not, it is likely that program will fail and a great initiative could be lost. Sometimes, poor management while implementing new ideas will damage the "image" of them and will be hard to recover it with employees. Moreover, OpEx program benefits and results must be accounted into financial figures. This will provide visibility and strengthen the OpEx program structure.

Defining your OpEx program profile and structure

Nowadays there are several good methodologies, techniques and tools which can be part of your OpEx program. Most of companies adopt for example Lean Manufacturing and TPS (Toyota Production System) principles, Six Sigma, TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), BPM (Business Process Management), etc. And each one of these methodologies has lot of good tools and techniques which can be applied to enhance your business. Sometimes, they can be combined and results are excellent (e.g. Lean Six Sigma). In addition, maturity level of your company while working on these methodologies should be taken into consideration. Unfortunately (or fortunately), there isn't an unique solution which can be applied to all cases. It is like when we get sick, for each disease there is a proper medicine to be prescribed. Therefore, your continuous improvement program should contemplate the usage of diversified range of techniques and tools to resolve the issues accordingly and generate the expected results.

Regarding structure, typically OpEx initiatives will be lead by change agents who work in all company departments but it is important to create a specific team to support these change agents and to support functional areas as well. It should be clear within organizational structure who is the champion, sponsor, OpEx specialists and trainers, steering committee, etc.

Defining the right projects, outstanding projects!

There are different manners to do this. Sometimes each business has its specific features and variables which must be considered on this topic. However, one simple way of choosing the right methodology or technique for a project is an evaluation of "potential benefit ($$$)" versus "complexity to implement (time & resources)". This evaluation works for most of the cases. As an example, this helps to determine what should be a six sigma black belt or green belt project. Typically, black belt projects should take a little bit longer and consume more resources than a green belt project. On the other hand, a black belt project should generate more financial benefits. Moreover, each methodology focuses in a certain aspect. Lean Manufacturing main focus is waste elimination. Six sigma main focus is variation reduction. TPM main focus is zero downtime. Best approach is to combine the methodologies (e.g. Lean Six Sigma) and tools whenever is possible and needed in order to maximize the benefits they can generate to your organization as already mentioned before. Moreover, take care do not boil the ocean. Create a list of projects (getting opportunities from a VSM – Value Stream Map or from "Opportunities Tree" of TPM Specific Improvement pillar for example) and start estimating potential savings related to them. In addition, check if the projects have high impact on safety and quality as well. If yes, they should have been raised to the top of the list. Determine waves of projects according to the change agents and resources available. Regarding project details, clearly state the expected output for the project, knowing the baseline and what would be the entitlement. Be SMART (specific-measurable-attainable-relevant/realistic-time based) on this. Some other good tips:

  • Come back to the basics before sophisticated discussions. Make it simple!
  • Application of different tools & techniques means sometimes different project timelines;
  • Benchmarks are welcome; Before start your project, try to get some lessons learned from past projects in your organization or from other companies experiences.

OpEx program sustainability

The challenge is not only implementing the program and start generating results but also keep it up over the years. To assure program sustainability, some important highlights:

  • Deliver results: Again, program must bring financial benefits and return to the company. Make sure there is a periodic review with top management to follow up results and directions of the program. Moreover, OpEx team should follow up progress of all improvement projects and take actions along with sponsors in case of off-track projects.
  • Structure: Assure that OpEx organization is in place and well structured. In addition, grant that leadership is involved properly and is able to fully support program needs.
  • Training and support: A robust training plan must be in place to disseminate the knowledge throughout the company. In addition, change agents must feel comfortable to come to the OpEx team to ask for help! OpEx team should take care about this and support the folks transferring knowledge and experiences.
  • Focus and prioritization: Projects definition and focus are key to maximize results. Launch waves of projects is always a good way of optimizing training and focus on projects on going.
  • Recognition: Practice recognition. OpEx projects are a good opportunity to foster teamwork and develop leadership skills. Recognize the outstanding projects and their team members is a must for any continuous improvement program. A simple lunch together among sponsor, winner projects team members, OpEx members, leadership will contribute to create a recognition environment.
  • Assessments and vision: One basic principle to improve is to know / measure your current state. Based on this, keep assessing your processes and clearly understand your actual situation. Do not under or overestimate it! Just be fair with your assessment criteria. Then, set the vision and create a plan to improve, step by step.
  • Visibility: Everything that is good should be communicated and fostered on the organizations. Assure this and make your OpEx program visible through company internal communications, visual boards, employee dialogue meetings, etc.

What about you? Have you ever been involved in a OpEx initiative in your company? Have you ever lead or participated of an improvement project? What are the challenges to implement and to sustain a robust OpEx program? I hope this post will help you somehow to understand a little bit more about this matter giving some good inputs to improve this on your organization. As I mentioned on beginning of this post, pursue operational excellence is an endless journey that worth.

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