Today’s rapid advances in mobile technology mean customers are better informed, more demanding and have greater expectations for a faster and more accurate service.

To a business this means new challenges in the form of greater visibility and reduced order lead times.

Operational Excellence is the key to meeting these challenges.

It can

• deliver great customer service
• enable business growth
• improve financial performance
• enhance employee satisfaction and retention

Successful implementation relies on

• strong leadership
• high performing teams
• well-designed processes
• robust review mechanisms

Operational Excellence does not have to be complicated and it can be applied to any size business, division or department.

Strong leadership

To succeed the leader of the business must communicate a clear vision, be committed to making change happen, be engaged with the work force and determined to continually improve the business.

High performing teams 

High performing teams are well informed, fully understand the direction and needs of the business, are aware of customer requirements and challenges, and understand, value and take pride in their part of the business process.

The leadership of the business needs to be fully engaged with employees and all stakeholders in order to deliver the required results.

Well-designed processes

The key business and support processes must be well defined, simplified, documented and trained to all staff involved in the process.  Appropriate process measures should be in place to monitor performance and identify efficiencies.

Robust review mechanisms

Continuous improvement is achieved by reviewing appropriate KPI measures, undertaking internal and external benchmarking and regularly reviewing key processes.

Process performance needs to be measured in terms of time, quantity and quality. In turn these measurements should be used to monitor progress, identify improvements and used to feedback to teams.

Feedback from employees, customers and other key stakeholders is also vitally important in order to adapt, change, improve and perform better. This feedback must be used in a regular review process resulting in appropriate action plans.

To be successful your business needs to adapt to change or it will be changed.

Standing still is not an option.