What are the key drivers pushing change in the Operational Excellence ecosystem?
"Customers are demanding it. We have partners that will fine us if we don't meet certain metrics."
Dir. of Business Transformation
Wholesalers: Electronics and Office Equipment
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"Global growth of organizations. Increase in competition globally forcing a need for cost reductions or containment employees gaining more voice in workplace."
Senior Lean Operations Manager
Medical Devices
"Need to reduce cost as organisations are facing corporate-driven targets in cost and working capital reduction in an attempt to offset declining revenues. New technologies companies are scrambling to keep up with the latest technology, but these solutions are worthless without the right organisational culture to make the most of them. Cross-industry disruption as start-ups and technological innovation are making the market more competitive every day, across all industries."
Chief Engineer
Engineering, Construction
"Customer demands are more sophisticated. competitors are adopting and using op eX to meet customer demands. It's not efficient to conduct op ex activities in a disjointed, inconsistent manner."
sr Director, Change Leadership
Insurance: Property and Casualty (Stock)
"Leadership buy in and focus on long term gains through a change in the organization culture rather and strategic tie up with It for innovative solutions."
Sr Project Manager
Electronics, Electrical Equipment
Summed-up in 3 words it is the customer, competition and technology.
The traditional business pressures are just getting more intense, maintaining competitive advantage, keeping up with technology shifts, and a war on talent, particularly digital talent. this changing environment requires business to be agile and flexible.
On top of this, higher expectations for increased business performance from operational excellence teams is being demanded. Methodologies are expected to evolve and improve to deliver even more, to deliver greater results and have a greater impact, in a shorter period of time.
The traditional drivers remain the same such as reducing cost, reducing cycle times, eliminating waste, reducing errors and variances in processes, and increasing the customer experience; and leadership buy-in will always be the major factor.
As a respondent citied “Leadership must transform from owning the process to allowing operators to own the process with their support and coaching. They cannot operate with the philosophy "Do what I say." Instead, they must have the philosophy of "how can I help you do a better job?”
Below is a selection of the responses from the above open ended question. Responses have been selected to ensure they each add new impactful context to the question.
"Digital expectations of customers, new competition in the market."
Black Belt
Insurance: Property and Casualty (Mutual)
"Demand from customers for Quality and cost competitiveness."
business improvement manager
Airlines
"Customers are demanding it. We have partners that will fine us if we don't meet certain metrics."
Dir. of Business Transformation
Wholesalers: Electronics and Office Equipment
"The next generation, larger than baby boomers. They desire open spaces, flexibility, a social business conscience, no borders..."
Owner
Education
"New banking regulations. Growing competition from non-financial companies like Apple, Amazon and Google."
Advisor
Financial Data Services
"Global growth of organizations Increase in competition globally forcing a need for cost reductions or containment employees gaining more voice in workplace."
Senior Lean Operations Manager
Medical Devices
"Pace of change and trends, talent, data."
VP Procurement / Real Estate
Electronics, Electrical Equipment
"Further competitive pressures, disruptions, new product/service development... increased focus on innovation and agile development - e.g. Lean startup."
Director, Sales Transformation & Operations
Telecommunications
"Pace of change; war for talent, employees desire to do something meaningful."
Group Business Transformation Director
Publishing, Printing
"Changing environment that require our business to stay competitive, agile and flexible."
VP Opex
Food & Beverage Consumer Products
"Company's understanding that they must look at processes from end to end."
Managing Partner
Diversified Financials
"Creating meaningful connection between processes and technology."
Founder & CEO
Miscellaneous
"IoT, AI."
CEO
Chemicals
"DevOps, digital transformation."
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Information Technology Services
"Industry 4.0."
Senior Manager,Operational Excellence
Miscellaneous
"Advances in technology IoT."
Vynova Excellence Deployment Leader
Chemicals
"Digitisation and the need for robotics."
Head of Process & Change Management
Financial Data Services
"The leadership must transform from owning the process to allowing operators to own the process with their support and coaching. They cannot operate with the philosophy "Do what I say." Instead, they must have the philosophy of "how can I help you do a better job.""
Owner/Senior Transformation Expert
Miscellaneous
"The more processes become automated, the more there is a need for OE! If not, organisations will be automating waste and wrong processes. Still need to get that message across to SMEs."
Founder/Consultant
Transportation and Logistics
"Constant cost-downs and quality Improvement initiatives."
Quality Manager
Motor Vehicles and Parts
"It should be the recognition of the proliferation of ever-increasing complexity across all dimensions of business."
Senior Manager, Professional Services Enablement
Computer Software
"Higher expectations of business performance. Moving past 2-3% business improvements to the expectation 20-30% improvement in results."
Principal Consultant
Miscellaneous
"Business pressures - cost, competitive advantage, war on talent."
Director of Operations - Workplace Services
Food & Beverage Consumer Products
"Developing executable strategies that show measurable transformation."
Director Quality & Compliance
Education
"Data analytics evaluation and deployment every month across the globe with key top Mgt. For status and actions. support comes from the top."
Regional Q&C - Americas
Miscellaneous
"Today's "short-term engagement" employees who prefer to change companies rather than climbing the corporate ladder, causing companies to need to invest more time & effort in ensuring their clients/customers are happy interacting with them in their purchasing decisions."
Founder/Owner-Operator
Education
"Convincing employees to support it (communication, education). Encouraging them to understand and own the importance of their ecosystem."
APU manager
Automotive Retailing, Services
"Agility and flexibility; diversity and inclusion."
Head of Business Assurance & Improvement
Aerospace and Defense
"Understanding and use throughout the organization as part of the culture and not just being pushed as a project du jour by a centralized department."
CEO
Real Estate
"Leadership buy in and focus on long term gains through a change in the organization culture rather and strategic tie up with It for innovative solutions."
Sr Project Manager
Electronics, Electrical Equipment
"Need for faster results & more sustainably."
Director, Global Strategic Pricing
Metals
"Need for value, increasing market pressures."
VP, Enterprise Transformation, Strategy Implementation
Health Care: Medical Facilities
"Challenging healthcare market requiring different leadership mindset and adaptable and efficient management systems."
Medical Office Chief
Health Care: Pharmacy and Other Services
"Change in cultural barrier Leadership support and full implementation of the program enabling tools to operate Introducing new technology. "
Head OpEx
Publishing, Printing
"Competition, Revenue and margin pressures."
Business Transformation Head
Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care
"Competitive landscape; customer relationship; Value chain integration; Focus on margins over revenue."
VP of Operations/Site Lead, Analytical Instruments BU
Electronics, Electrical Equipment
"Customer demands are more sophisticated. competitors are adopting and using opeX to meet customer demands. It's not efficient to conduct OPEX activities in a disjointed, inconsistent manner."
sr Director, Change Leadership
Insurance: Property and Casualty (Stock)
"Customer retention, employee retention and margins."
CEO
Diversified Outsourcing Services
"Faster delivery of returns. the drive for robotics."
LCI Director
Toys, Sporting Goods
"In healthcare - Innovation, cost out, population health (keep people well)."
Director, Performance Improvement
Health Care: Medical Facilities
"More awareness. the success stories sell themselves."
Director of Operational Excellence
Health Care: Medical Facilities
"Need more agility, need more data intelligence, customer focus, pressure on results."
SVP BIGS
Food Services
"Need to reduce cost as organisations are facing corporate-driven targets in cost and working capital reduction in an attempt to offset declining revenues. New technologies companies are scrambling to keep up with the latest technology, but these solutions are worthless without the right organisational culture to make the most of them. Cross- industry disruption as start-ups and technological innovation are making the market more competitive every day, across all industries."
Chief Engineer
Engineering, Construction
"Rapid improvements that sometimes basic tools like six sigma may be too slow to capture."
Business Integration - Associate Services
Food & Beverage Consumer Products
"Recognition by ceos of the tremendous net benefits of full implementation."
Founder
Computer Software
"RPA, BPM, real focus on the business drivers for success, client journey as primary focus."
Director Process reengineering and optimization
Financial Data Services
"For healthcare services, the drivers are quality, safety, accommodating an "older" population profile, the opioid, mental health & addiction crisis, & dealing with keeping cost increases to within 3% year over year."
CEO & Founder
Health Care: Medical Facilities
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About the Author
In 2012 he retired to spend time with family and focus on meditation.
In 2015 he was looking for the next challenge and founded and is currently CEO of the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Summit & Industry Awards (BTOES), which has become the largest senior-level cross-industry event within the sector, BTOES.com, and BTOESInsights.com a professional online content platform for senior-level executives involved in continuous improvement, which has grown to over 188,000 subscribers.
He is also an angel investor, mentor, and board advisor.
Vijay lives in Stanmore, Middlesex, UK, with his wife Reshma, son Armaan, and labrador Archie.