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Showing posts from April, 2017

Get real about your processes… if you really want to improve

Many times when I speak to a business for the first time I have to get past their mask. The mask I am referring to is the perfect business process maps that they cling to. To get into meaningful business improvement activities it is vital that you can get past the process maps that adorn your walls and quality management systems and get into the ‘warts and all’ reality of your business’ activities. This article looks at three areas that can help you jump start your improvement activities when you are mapping out what takes place in your business.

Productivity Secret: The Planner Plans

Often when I am faced with a new project, and there is a productivity / on time delivery issue the topic of 'role drift' comes up. As I hinted in the title of this blog post when the various roles within a business are focused appropriately on producing specific 'deliverables' productivity usually follows. Or, put in different ways:

The rough comes with the smooth - especially when it comes to improving on time delivery

I often get asked the question " am I on the right tracks with my improvement journey? " Whether this question is posed by new clients, old clients, email subscribers or via my websites it doesn't matter. At times we can all feel lost with our improvement projects.

What happens when you give up with continuous improvement?

How many people have you spoken to about continuous improvement and striving to run your business the way that it should be run? Do you ever get the response that they have run out of steam and that they no longer feel that their voices have been heard? I hear this from many people when I work with different businesses, but there is usually a way out of this position.

Execution - the key to making business process improvement realise its benefits

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of checklists and how they can help you to improve your on time delivery performance . There is also a time to realise that you don't need to spend more time developing business processes. There is a time when you need to step back and realise that your staff aren't following the existing processes and are, in fact, doing something else altogether...

Can a checklist improve your on time delivery performance?

If the checklist is designed to help you minimise mistakes, costly rework and delays then the answer is a definite yes! A Sunrise Meeting is a great example of an effective checklist Isn't it odd then that so many businesses don't make the most of checklists?

'Making MRP Work' - now available in paperback

Available now in paperback Another week and another update about my books! Making MRP Work , my guide to improving how your MRP / ERP system can work for your business is now available in paperback format.