The most dangerous phrase in today’s manufacturing—“We Leaned it out.”
SOLUTION AREA:Operational Excellence
As many of us already know, Lean is a term that depicts broad concepts within world class operations developed by Toyota following WWII. Over the past two decades, I’ve often heard leaders from different industries describe their successes by stating something along the lines of: We’ve Leaned out our factories. It’s a phrase that seems benign, yet it’s one of the most dangerous phrases a leader can use. Why? What’s wrong with this phrase?
The Best Expertise to Drive Improvements for Private Equity Companies
Managing Manufacturing Operations Remotely
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every facet of our lives, particularly, our work lives. Keeping operations “up and running” is a concern for almost every business across the country. The pandemic has forced most businesses to determine which roles can be done remotely and which need to be done on-site. For manufacturing businesses, this […]
How to be Effective – Working Remotely
Has everyone seen the iconic holiday movie Home Alone? In the movie when Kevin realized he was “home alone,” he immediately became self-motivated, felt independent and established a routine. Like all humans, Kevin desired structure. As time passed, he expanded his routine, experienced “challenges” and then the reality of his “new norm” sank in. He […]
Due Diligence Process Identifies Incremental Costs
Competitive Business Solutions (CBS) was retained by one of its private equity partners to conduct operational due diligence of a commercial glass processor. This target was a part of a much larger conglomerate and was being split off or “carved out” to form a separate operating company. CBS focused its industry expertise on operational and IT diligence and ultimately helped develop the model for the stand-alone organization.
CBS Visual Management and Control System Enables Client to Manage Real Time
A CBS client manufactures extremely complex and high tolerance product while operating in a very competitive market with high delivery demands from its customers. In this case, the company was under severe cost pressures as profitability and cash flow were not meeting corporate expectations. Additionally, their customers’ volumes were increasing, and they were not able to keep up.
Finding the ‘Right’ Transformational Leader
SOLUTION AREA: Change Management and Leadership
Organizational success during significant change is dependent on several factors. Assigning the ‘right’ leader to drive that change is one of the most critical factors. Transformational leaders must have the ideal mix of competencies in leadership and business.
Read on to find out the key components that can help ensure successful change.
Transitioning Change Managers to Change Leaders
Lean as an Integrated System
Is the Quality Revolution Dead?
SOLUTION AREA: Transform & Operational Excellence
Strong quality culture leads not only to higher customer satisfaction, but it also drives employee engagement, lowers costs, and improves efficiency throughout an organization. While it’s not as easy as flipping a switch, there are some key steps that can drive sustainable change.