- (571) 332-4594
- schlegel@fsoinstitute.com
Performance can be categorized into three main buckets: the manufacturing operating system, asset reliability systems, and business planning. All companies, to one degree or another, have all three. FSO Institute assists its clients in achieving and sustaining reliable performance results in their most urgent areas.
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
– Peter F. Drucker
Production of high-quality products, in a safe environment, at lowest unit cost possible that meets the customer and business requirements is a shared objective of all manufacturing plants. The question to all manufacturers is where we can perform better on each shift? Most of our clients have a reasonable handle on where improvement is needed, but how to get there is another issue. FSO listens, observes, and assesses the current state compared to the desired levels of performance. Are the current work processes up to date and executed consistently?
We have often found that “standard work” for plant floor and leadership alike needs to be refreshed and modernized. Legacy systems and approaches are far too common. We often note that software solutions, while efficient, must be undertaken with caution so plants avoid automating out-of-date processes.
“A bad system will beat a good person every time.”
– W. Edwards Deming
The capital invested in production assets on the factory floor garners much attention. Again, many work processes are often inconsistent or reactionary.
A fundamental question we ask our clients is who owns Operational Reliability? Plants must build a business case if they haven’t already. How a long run vs. shorter run strategy is justified isn’t always clear, so it’s critical to determine how to “cost” things, including what’s in the calculation and what’s not, and to get agreement on it. To do this, use cross-functional teams to build the business case to get broader input, better direction, and role clarity, as well as greater alignment by all.
“Don’t water your weeds”
– Harvey Mackay
Or, well that’s the way we’ve always done “this/that” here! We are not addressing the level of sophistication of business planning (e.g. Integrated Business Planning).
As we have stated in a recent article in ProFood World and time and time again, we have seen functions in manufacturing that work in silos and, in really bad cases, islands. This can happen on the shop floor (e.g., maintenance vs. operations), at the corporate level (e.g., engineering vs. procurement), or between two departments (e.g., OT and IT). The results are lost productivity and continued cultural dysfunction. In addition, is your manufacturing strategy current and aligned with your business requirements? How a long run vs. shorter run strategy is justified isn’t always clear, so it’s critical to determine how to “cost” things, including what’s in the calculation and what’s not, and to get agreement on it. To do this, use cross-functional teams to build the business case to get broader input, better direction, and role clarity, as well as greater alignment by all
Consider the list of challenges, opportunities, aspirations, or initiatives facing you and your organization. FSO will guide you through your journey by its proven expertise.
PERFORMANCE
The FSO Institute is dedicated to operational execution for Consumer Packaged Goods companies (CPGs). FSO coaches skillfully combine assessment tools, designed and built specifically for CPGs, with industry focused benchmarking data and robust networking opportunities.
Collectively, these tools are designed to help identify your company’s opportunities for improvement, take advantage of evolving best practices, transform your culture, and optimize operations to meet market demand.
Fill out the form below, and one of our team members will reach out to discuss your companies needs.
