AUGUST 20238MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSIN MY OPINIONOperational excellence and continuous improvement are related concepts, but they are not the same. Continuous improvement is a methodology within operational excellence that focuses on incremental improvements to processes and systems over time. It involves the ongoing identification and elimination of waste and inefficiencies to create an organization's culture of continuous improvement. Continuous improvement is based on the principle that small incremental improvements can achieve significant gains over time.Operational excellence is a broader business strategy that focuses on achieving superior performance with greater consistency and efficiency than the competition by improving all aspects of an organization's operations. It involves optimizing processes and systems to create maximum value for customers, employees, and stakeholders. Let's look at the four pillars of a practical operational excellence framework.MANAGING THE BUSINESSManaging the business sounds basic; this encompasses ensuring the safety, quality, delivery, and cost objectives are achieved. But it is essential to have a system to do this efficiently and more consistently than the competition. Where most systems fall short is that they are focused only on achieving this in the near term, yet it is essential in an operational excellence framework that managing the business is focused on achieving this daily, monthly, and quarterly/yearly for long-term success. There are three elements to managing the business: daily management, monthly business reviews, and quarterly/annual business reviews.FRAMEWORK FOR OPERATIONS EXCELLENCEBy Joe Panebianco, Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Tekni-Plex, Inc.
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