Operations Management

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Keycare's Principles to Effective Operations Management

Operations Matter: Operational and production processes can be a source of competitive advantage for their companies. To win in a world of intense low-cost competition, conventional thinking has to change – employees, suppliers, and customers now need to work together as a 'virtual company', and as an integrated team.

Executive Leadership: More than a catch-phrase, executive leadership takes the form of a clear vision and a set of goals that are consistently and continually communicated throughout the company. These executives make sure employees know how individual efforts will help or hamper the company's progress. They relentlessly repeat the message and track individual progress through a defined process, sometimes on a daily basis.

Employee Empowerment: Perhaps the most secret of all ingredients, and the most elusive, is that the winners have strategies that transform production employees from hourly clock punchers into process owners. This amazing transformation occurs when employees are listened to and made part of the continuous improvement process, rather than simply told what to do. Company leaders institute programs to encourage employee suggestions and, more importantly, act on them. Sum it up this way… Employee participation leads to employee involvement, which leads to employee ownership.

Supplier Synergy: The days of the beat-up-the-supplier-to-get-a-lower-price strategy have been over for long time. Winning plants get the right suppliers on the team and work closely with them to meet the needs and capture the business of the end customer. Supplier representatives work side by side with plant employees to reduce inventory, improve quality and speed delivery.

Customer Collaboration: The 'best of breed' plants become their customers' supplier of choice by understanding their customers' needs. Many offer not only just-in-time delivery, but offer in-sequence delivery, building and delivering the needed part in the same order as the customer needs it. Many winners even have production employees interact with the customer, so they can see firsthand how their actions on the line affect customer satisfaction.

Key Principles

  • Executive Leadership
  • Employee Empowerment
  • Supplier Synergy
  • Customer Collaboration
  • Operations Matter