2013-Feb: Operational Excellence by Design eNewsletter

Training & Education – What is the correct value for you?

By Joseph Paris; Chairman, XONITEK Group of Companies

As Continuous Improvement practitioners, it is natural (even a passion) to always seek ways to improve ourselves and the value we drive to our colleagues and the companies for which we work. During our quest for this personal and professional development, sometimes we know precisely which areas we wish to improve our skillsets and where we need to concentrate our efforts, and sometimes we seek to satisfy a curiosity of some subject matter.

Once we decide on what we wish to learn, we need to decide on what level of knowledge and competency we wish to possess at the conclusion of our being taught and, most importantly, we need to ensure that the method we select for conveying of that knowledge and competency to us will yield those expected results. Therefore, during this evaluation process, we must always remember the following corollary; the level of effort required is directly proportional to the depth of the knowledge and competency acquired.

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OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Continuous Improvement: A Fighter Pilot’s Culture of High Performance

By Carey “Vixen” Lohrenz

Eighty percent of all change initiatives fail. As you might imagine, that is a shocking statistic for those responsible for investing in change initiatives. So what works? Companies of any size can reap the rewards of a fighter pilot’s Culture of Performance by driving a culture focused on performance, execution and excellence. A rapidly changing environment isn’t a phenomenon that only fighter pilots face.

With increasing health, energy, and education costs combined with increasing global competition, developing a strong Culture of Performance is essential for all organizations. Sticking to proven Continuous Improvement processes, combined with developing Leadership skills and High Performing Team behaviors, will allow you to concurrently satisfy customer requirements while maintaining sustainable growth, and profitable financial margins ensuring your current and future organizational long-term health.

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Customer Focused Continuous Improvement – Beyond Words: Part 2 “Customer Need”

By Frederick S. Buchman

We started our discussion on Customer Focus last month with a general discussion about what it means to be ‘customer focused’, and how this term is overused and misunderstood in business. Everyone claims to be ‘customer focused’, yet customer loyalty is at its lowest point in years, complaints are higher than ever before, and almost everything we buy today comes with extended warrantees, or extended service contracts for “only a little more”.

To get at real customer focus, we need to get at what and why a customer does what they do. In the end-to-end framework, that starts when he or she decides they need something and concludes when they get exactly what they need, when they needed it. The customer should feel that they paid the best price for the best quality. They should want to recommend that product to everyone they meet.

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TRUST ME – I’M AN ENGINEER

The Lighter-Side…

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Contact the Editor

You are getting this eNewsletter because; you subscribed, are a member of one of the internet communities managed by XONITEK, or met someone from XONITEK. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments related to this publication – or if you might be interested in submitting an article for consideration in the eNewsletter.

Sincerely,

Trinity DeMars – Editor & Director of Operations

DeMarsTK@xonitek.com

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Featured Events

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February 15th, 2013 2:00PM EDT

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