Streamlining Operations

Operational Efficiency is the Hallmark of a Healthy Organization

Being strategic about Operational Excellence enables organizations to delight customers by ensuring that requirements are fully understood and met, engage employees by making the job less frustrating and more collaborative, satisfy stakeholders/shareholders by decreasing costs and enabling the organization to accomplish more with the same amount of resources (or less!)

OUR APPROACH TO STREAMLINING OPERATIONS

Lean Six Sigma

Continuous Process Improvement. Operational Excellence.

Different organizations use different terminology. Whatever you call it, the core objectives remain the same:

Reduce waste (typically associated with Lean)

Eliminates defects, errors and unwanted variation (typically associated with Six Sigma)

FROM PROJECTS TO CULTURE

The Four Pillar Framework

There’s no question that the tools associated with Lean Six Sigma, CPI and Operational Excellence can help any team or organization streamline operations by reducing waste and eliminating defects. Targeted process improvement efforts are undeniably valuable to customers, employees and stakeholders alike.

But the real impact comes when an organization moves beyond “tools and projects” and incorporates the principles associated with Lean Six Sigma into the culture.

Have respect for all people

Align around common purpose

It’s always possible to do better

Customers matter

At Integris, we use the Four Pillars framework to help guide organizations on how to embrace these principles to create the healthiest culture possible.  Read more about it here.

The Four Pillars of Operational Excellence

The Four Pillars® offers a highly effective framework for structuring holistic organizational change efforts. The Four Pillars model helps to establish an organizational culture in which the values and behaviors are aligned with the guiding principles of Lean Management, in which employees are engaged, customers are delighted and stakeholders are satisfied.

four_pillars

1. Building an Intentional Culture

Building an Intentional Culture is about defining, cultivating and reinforcing the behaviors the organization wants to see from all team members, the senior leaders to front line workers. Creating a common language about what's desired - as well as what is not acceptable - is the quickest way to get on the path to organizational health and operational excellence.

2. Creating Enterprise Alignment

For process improvement efforts to be successful, there must be clarity around the vision, mission and values of the organization. Goals and metrics must be transparent, aligned and interconnected, from the strategic plan down to departmental, team and individual levels. Doing so ensures that every employee - top to bottom- understands what the organization is looking to accomplish, and how their individual role contributes to the achievement of that vision.

3. Pursuing Continuous Improvement

There is always room for improvement. Focused improvement efforts result in long-term, sustained changes when they are coordinated and standardized. Lean Six Sigma provides a proven suite of tools and concepts for increasing efficiency and enhancing effectiveness that enables people at all levels to come together - across departmental and functional lines - to work as a team toward the achievement of organizational goals.

4. Being Diligent About Customer Focus

Organizations must be clear about who the customers are and what they expect. Accurately defining customer requirements sets the stage for delivering the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Staying in touch with those requirements through Voice of the Customer feedback mechanisms enables organizations to keep a finger on the pulse of the business and quickly recognize when customer desires have changed or evolved.