My father, who was a manager at International Business Machines (IBM), once told me; “If it were not for the ‘people problems’, management would be easy.” In the world of management, and management consulting, truer words were never spoken. And so is the challenge with most consulting engagements, especially when the words “transformational change” are uttered….
Background: From 1987 until 2009 I was CEO of Interbake Foods, a food processing company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. We competed in four business segments: Girl Scout cookies, contract manufacturing for branded companies, private label cookies sold to retailers, and baked ingredients for ice cream processors (primarily ice cream sandwich cookies and cones). Interbake had…
Okay, we know that ‘Operations types’ focus on production, yield, shipping/receiving of raw material, scheduling, and more production. They figure their job is to make product, and more product, and continue making product according to the Master Schedule (at the required yield level) in order to make their numbers for the day/week/month. And they are…
Operational Excellence: See the flow of Value, by Joseph Paris as featured in the June/July edition of Uptime Magazine®. Download PDF
Those of us who are familiar with Continuous Improvement programs have undoubtedly heard references made to a “burning platform”. We have come to understand that this is a metaphor for a crisis situation and, along with it, the sense of urgency that is necessary to effectively react and overcome the crisis. If you “Google” the phrase “burning…
