This article will describe the Lean Manufacturing methodology of Single-Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED), explain its value to your business, and outline the SMED process as a series of simple steps that you can replicate in your organization. It will detail examples from actual SMED events where SMED has given time back to the business turning wasted time into productivity and revenue.  

Are you looking for ways to improve maintenance work execution? Are your planning and scheduling processes not generating the desired results? Does it seem like a struggle to find the information you need to define the what, how, how long, who, and when of a maintenance job? Take a three-part technical database survey on the technical database to uncover what a poor system is costing you. As a token of our appreciation for completing all three surveys, you’ll receive a customized report and a free 20-minute consultation with an expert from IDCON. 

Although ubiquity may not be the most exciting concept, it is the goal. It means that your product is reliable, high quality, and valuable – which keeps your clients coming back. You want your brand to be the go-to of the product you make. Being commonplace doesn’t sound great, but it’s right where you want to be. So how do we achieve ubiquity?

In the course of my five-year doctoral research project to develop a leadership model for Operational Excellence, a pivotal insight emerged – ‘Every Interaction is an Opportunity.’ While the significance in the research of common leadership behaviors and traits such as communication, respect, humility, and authenticity were expected and well represented, exploiting ‘interaction as opportunity’ was new. In this context, I delve into the advantages of embracing this opportunity and how its application has empowered me to drive business success.

For far too long, particularly in industry, soft skills have been seen as the responsibility of HR while the operations department, maintenance, logistics, finance, etc. concentrate on the hard skills that generate value. As somewhat of a disruptor I take a contrary view. Firstly, why spend any time at all on soft skills if they do not contribute to the bottom line? Secondly, if they do contribute to the bottom line then all leadership should become expert in these soft skills and not abdicate the responsibility to HR.  

Today I present the last two steps in the 8-step process to enable you on your journey to Operational Excellence. Commitment to your people and your tools is essential for success.

This is the 3rd installment of an 8-step process to enable you on your journey to Operational Excellence. Monitoring progress is essential to the continuous improvement process to ensure the implemented changes deliver.