Sustainable Improvement Consulting

REMOVE Barriers. REVEAL Opportunities. REVIVE Performance. SUSTAIN Change.

Sustainable Improvement:

Does not have to cost millions of dollars in consulting fees.
Has nothing to do with consulting fees or the size of the consulting firm that you work with.
Does not require new equipment or expansions.
Does require a balanced focus between improvement tools/methods, barriers to change and people's beliefs and behaviors.
Does require a new vision for opportunity that results in lasting changes in behavior and decision-making processes.

. . . . . THE TWO DIMENSIONS OF IMPROVEMENT . . . . .

Most consultants specialize in the what I call the 1st Dimension of improvement - the tools and methods that come with most improvement initiatives (flowcharts, trend charts, control charts, root cause analysis, project management steps (DMAIC), etc.) These tools and methods are essential to understanding problems and analyzing improvements. However, the power for delivering results to the bottom line and sustaining change is in the 2nd Dimension - the "People Side of Improvement". Because this dimension contains the barriers to success and the keys to culture change, I have developed processes that help clients remove the barriers, achieve sustainable improvement and experience real culture change. My implementation approach intentionally balances the two dimensions.

I offer several options to help clients maximize the result from their improvement efforts:

Customized Improvement Systems to meet your specific needs and areas of emphasis.
Review of Existing Improvement Systems - "Improvement Make-Overs" to revitalize existing tools and processes.
Management Team Coaching/Training - Managers learn to be great improvement leaders. (see below)

CUSTOMIZED IMPROVEMENT SYSTEMS
I can help your employees to develop and implement design and implement a customized operations improvement system that will work for your production, maintenance, administrative groups and management teams using the systems that you already have. I use a balanced approach between conventional tools and methods and the "people side of improvement". All tools are implemented to help people change the way they work and promote sustainable change. Elements that your system and scope of work are shown in the box below:

IMPROVEMENT MAKEOVERS for Existing Improvement Programs
If you already have an improvement system and are struggling in some areas - key measures, valuing projects, process control, leading/sponsoring improvement teams, etc., I can help you identify the barriers that are preventing your success, recommend strategies for barrier removal, and facilitate changes that help you achieve your improvement goals. As your partner in improvement, I will help you improve what you have put in place, not start with something new.

MORE ON DIMENSION #1 - Improvement Tools and Methods
"Victory in improvement" is sometimes measured by the number of tools or methods created (flowcharts, performance measures, etc.); however, real success with improvement depends on the strength of the linkage between the tools, people and performance. Our strategies for applying tools and methods are based on a core goal of intentionally sustaining change:

Mobile/Fixed Plant Equipment (delay management, throughput, hidden capacity, expansion capital)
Key Measures (selecting/charting/communicating KPIs, setting optimums, changing culture)
Process Control (setting optimums, control & response plans for mobile/fixed plant equipment)
Process Mapping / Process Documentation (capturing intellectual property, connecting people to the "big picture")
"Surgical" Cost Reduction (connect excess costs to problems that cause them, cost of quality)
Customer / Supplier Requirements (internal between departments, external with customers)
Implementation Strategies (new and existing initiatives, improvement "make-overs")

MORE ON DIMENSION #2 - "The People Side of Improvement"

The critical importance of this dimension is often overlooked, undervalued or misunderstood. As a result, millions of dollars may be invested in tools and methods while the organizational barriers that prevent change go unaddressed, forfeiting expected benefits. Elements of this work include:

Working Relationships Between Departments (processes, KPIs, communications, removing barriers between departments). Organizational Barriers prevent your assets from performing at their optimum level and stop culture change in its tracks. These barriers (caused by people) must be removed in order to tap into lost production and millions of dollars in lost margin. We specialize in this area and incorporate it into all of our improvement work.

Management Team Coaching - Managers are often relegated to spectator roles in the improvement process (see Management Training (ICI) for details). I help them sustain change and become great improvement leaders:
- Manage improvement like they manage operations - redefines their role in change.
- Remove barriers between departments (they are the only people that can do this).
- Evaluate budget goals and expansion capital requests based on process potential ("Can we do it?" and "Is it really needed?") to maintain credibility.
- Execution / follow-through - the final step in capturing improvement benefits.
- Convert staff meetings from information updates to interactive work sessions with the team. Performance trends and improvement projects are reviewed, action plans are assigned and concerns about executing action plans are addressed. Honest and open communication becomes part of the process.

Process Improvement Team Facilitation/Training – Teams play an important role in defining projects, developing action plans and sustaining improvement. I train teams on the basics of the improvement process and facilitate team meetings so that team members can focus on productive work while they are together.

Creating New Processes for New or Existing Operations – When Creating New Processes, our emphasis is on the quality of interdepartmental hand-offs (hand-offs are the most frequent cause of delays, rework, and losses). We use a concept called Process Orientation for effective process design and action plans that can be sustained.

TM
OPPORTUNITY: An odorless invisible element defined as a favorable set of circumstances in business. The only element with an infinite atomic number and weight. When discovered and captured, it reacts with improvement programs and corporate cultures to produce a desirable green substance found in financial institutions.