Five Things You Need to Do to Drive Continuous Improvement – Part I – Alignment to Strategy

In the introduction, I identified 5 things you need to do to drive continuous improvement.  They are:

1. Align continuous improvement with strategic objectives
2. Don’t overdo process excellence at outset; this is an evolutionary process
3. Integrate continuous improvement into a culture of strategic execution
4. Blend the best practices from the different methodologies
5. Focus on data, not emotions

In this article, we show how business strategy should drive continuous improvement programs and not the other way around. Continuous improvement …Read More

Most leadership teams believe they have a pretty good handle on how well the company is doing from a cost and productivity standpoint. They probably do know the people side fairly well being that it is relatively easy to measure:  $Revenue/$ of labor cost or $Revenue/person is a standard measure, while time standards for all sorts of activities are very common.

Attempting to understand how efficient their business processes are is …Read More

‘Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent.’ – Thomas Alva Edison

Not only did Edison distinguish himself through his technical acumen and limitless perseverance, but as this quote suggests he also possessed rare common sense and a willingness to step into his customer’s shoes.  Many of his contemporaries …Read More

“With the addition of its Digital Technology Practice, Group 50 is fast becoming the only Consulting Partner needed by middle market companies” …Read More

There have been many articles written about continuous improvement in manufacturing processes, but there isn’t a lot of information and understanding about the use of continuous improvement tools at the business level: including the ones that purportedly have continuous improvement or Six Sigma programs in place.  In many of the organizations that we work in, when you speak to business process leaders about continuous improvement they …Read More

Every organization views Customer Service as a critical function for their business.  It has a significant impact on your Voice of the Customer (VOC).  Customer service is on the front line of interfacing with the customer, but it isn’t the only function that interfaces with your customers.  Finance, Shipping, Sales and Marketing also play an important role in customer service.  The Customer Service group acts  …Read More

Ever since software-as-a-service (SaaS) entered the picture several years ago, huge leaps have been made in how businesses leverage technology. Not just from an IT perspective, but from an operational and strategic perspective as well. Along with this trend came the explosion of acronyms such as CRM, CMS, ERP, and others which are now common terms used among marketing, sales and IT departments worldwide.

…Read More

Situation Analysis: The cash desk of a Fortune 50 company processed 1,000 cash transfers per day and approximately $170B per year to its customers and vendors. Improperly executed wire transfers resulted in problems for the company and its customers. One such misstep was significant enough to get the attention of senior management. A team was assigned to correct these issues, and upon review, the team found:

• No clearly defined processes
• Low morale affected all team members who felt not recognized despite their constant efforts
• Outdated tools and absence of metrics

Project Approach and Findings: The team had limited time and resources available to do it right first time. The team decided to focus on several key elements: …Read More

Good times, bad times, you know we’ve had our share….  Anytime is a good time to reexamine the principle of “getting Lean” or improving processes by applying a set of tools that will deliver significant reductions in cost and lead time.  Sigma techniques as championed by “blackbelts” is often the rallying cry.

But what about Quality (with or without a big Q)? Is quality or Total Quality now passé, having been supplanted by Lean and/or Six Sigma? Are all of these synonyms? Are they just dressed-up, consultant-speak ways of describing historic “best manufacturing practices?” Do they work together, or do they …Read More