Operations Excellence
A working course in making operations measurably better: how to see a process as it actually runs, find where effort and time leak out of it, and put measures in place that tell you whether a change held.
What it covers
Seeing the process
Process mapping, swimlane diagrams, and SIPOC — capturing how work moves rather than how the procedure says it should.
Value and waste
Value-added versus non-value-added activity, and the eight classic wastes applied to service and back-office work as well as production.
Measuring the right things
Cycle time, lead time, throughput, first-pass yield, and how to choose measures that resist gaming.
KPI and dashboard design
Building a small set of indicators that connect frontline activity to management reporting.
Standard work
Documenting a method so it survives staff turnover, and knowing when standardisation helps and when it hardens a bad process.
Root cause analysis
Five Whys, fishbone, and Pareto analysis — separating causes from symptoms before spending money.
Visual management
Boards, andon, and status-at-a-glance so problems surface within a shift rather than a month.
Sustaining improvement
Handover to the process owner, audit routines, and what makes gains decay after the project team leaves.
Who it's for
Operations managers, team leaders, and continuous improvement staff who own a process and are accountable for its cost, quality, or cycle time.
What's included
- Facilitator slide deck with speaker notes
- Participant workbook and exercise pack
- Templates and worked examples in editable format
- Case studies for group work
- Knowledge checks and end-of-module questions
- Trainer guide with timings and suggested agendas
On completion, participants can
- Map an end-to-end process and quantify where time and cost are lost
- Design a KPI set that reflects performance rather than activity
- Run a structured root cause investigation to a documented conclusion
- Write standard work that a new starter can follow