WHAT IS OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE?

Operational excellence is a strategic concept, an operational philosophy, and a road map to guide both strategy and implementation. But what is it? What are the best methods for achieving it, and where do you even start?

Operational excellence is a mindset and organisational strategy based on a relentless pursuit of improving the way the organisation performs its business. It is a constant search for the most profitable solutions to deliver maximum performance to meet or exceed internal and external customer expectations. A business needs to understand which operations are making tasks slower or causing delays, and from there continually try to find the best way to meet all customer needs without wasting time. Some examples of improvements are things like: changing the flow of tasks, introducing new team members, or eliminating certain activities altogether.

The Four Main Components of OPEX:

·       Strategy deployment

·       Performance management

·       High-performance work teams

·       Process excellence

For operational excellence to be implemented into a company, a clear roadmap is needed, along with professional operational consultants to provide overall support for implementing a business plan containing all four of these components. The key to success is a structured approach, which involves using various techniques such as Six Sigma, Lean Production, Kaizen, and other methods and tools that work together to form a coherent framework. There are six fundamental elements that, when applied methodically and rigorously within any business, will significantly set them apart from others:

 

1.     Customer Value

The most important element of any organisation is its customers. If your organisation is going to succeed, it needs to deliver what your customers want and need. You must fully understand who the customer is and assess the criteria they deem to be critical to providing a quality service.

2.     Vision

The very first thing to do is create a simple and clear vision of what you want to achieve. Determine what the core concepts and beliefs are that guide your organisation. A good vision statement will help you create shared goals, allow everyone to know where the company is heading, giving consistent direction to all employees and encouraging them work together.

3.     Business Processes

When it comes to improving a company’s efficiency and effectiveness, improvement in business processes is vital. A good business process can help ensure consistency and quality of service and reduce cost significantly by eliminating unnecessary steps while offering customers a more satisfying experience, which, in turn, helps gain greater market share and revenues.

4.     Team Culture

Ensuring your employees are always up to date and on the same page is important. They are the ones on the front line of your business, handling client requests and working in teams to complete time-sensitive tasks. You need to communicate your vision clearly while also allowing them space to develop new ideas that build upon your core vision.

5.     Tools and Resources

To turn your business into a smoother-running enterprise with reduced costs, operational excellence consultants need to review all elements of your operations, from the automated operation of machines to the management processes. The right operational tools help create a solid data flow for better decision-making, increasing efficiency, speed, and transparency. You will be able to efficiently coordinate your resources, relieving people of administrative work that doesn’t add value.

6.     Continuous Improvement

The entire operation excellence model is built around the philosophy of continuous improvement that is not restricted to just one thing or a single point in time; instead, it’s a long period of constant actions applied over and over in a structured manner in order to improve your business.

Operations management consulting allows you to focus on what is important for the ongoing success of your business and find the best way to achieve your vision. Every time you will have a better understanding of how tasks need to be allocated to your employees, weeding out steps and wasteful activities, which will bring you much closer to your goals.