Why "Social" is a Process Improvement Strategy

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Is social media something that your PR and marketing teams “do” or is it an overall strategy for your business? Here's why process practitioners should also "do" social media. “If the customer can go out and choose [their supplier] they a

Four Essential Ingredients for Successful Process Improvement

Tue, 22 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Coach me if you can! Have you ever dreamt of a checklist that would give you a 95% confidence that your process improvement project is going to be successful? A kind of “Poke Yoke” (mistake proof) execution proces

Best Practice Report: Centralized Governance of Process Frameworks Works Better

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Ensure one version of the truth Many organizations adopt process frameworks and reference models to re-engineer processes or the organization, in hopes that the standard structure will enable better, more consistent, well-documen

Nike Strikes Gold with Lean Manufacturing

Wed, 16 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

The manufacturing operations at sportswear company Nike have been under frequent scrutiny for decades after allegations that it utilised sweatshops to manufacture its products in the 1970's. This negative publicity prompted

Does Your Company Suffer from “Arsonist-Fireman Syndrome”?

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Why You Might Be Celebrating the Wrong Heroes Does your company lurch from crisis to crisis? Do you celebrate the trouble shooters? If so, you might be suffering from what contributor Robert Reid calls the “Arsonist Fi

Applying BPM for Improved Patient Care

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Many hospitals and other healthcare organisations have been using Lean Six Sigma methodologies for process improvement, but very few have adopted Business Process Management. But could that be about to change? In this PEX Network interview, based on a recent

Five Reasons the Telecommunications Industry Needs Process Excellence

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 05:00:00 GMT

From consumers expecting more and being willing to take their money where they can get better service, to trends within the industry itself, the telecommunications sector needs process excellence more than ever. Here are five reasons why.

The Seven Tenets of Process Management

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Think you're a process-oriented organization? In this article, Michelle Cowan and Jeff Varney from APQC, describe the seven characteristics of a process oriented company and explain how to get started yourself. Before jumping into any kind

Sustaining Results: Why You Should Apply “5S” to the Way You Think

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Simply implementing the Lean principles of 5S is like running a race, says contributor Subikash Roy. After the race, you win a medal and celebrate, and then, everything is forgotten. So how do you sustain the results after initial implementation? One of the first places

Five Barriers to Continuous Improvement - Vote for the Worst Offender

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what’s the greatest barrier of all? Continuous process improvement is increasingly being touted as a competitive differentiator, but all too often companies are their own worst enemies, write

Map, Measure & Improve: 3 Types of Flowcharts for Process Mapping

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Trying to map the flow of your process before improving it? Here's a primer on the 3 different kinds of flowcharts you can use. Includes step by step instructions on creating Top-Down, Deployment and Detailed flowcharts. A flowchart is an outline or schematic drawi

The Dangers of Short Term Cost Cutting: An Interview with Brad Power

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

With the economy in the doldrums and many companies cautiously approaching the year ahead – cutbacks, layoffs and cost cutting appear to be back on the agenda. But is there a right and a wrong way to make cost savings?

The Non-Strategy: How Some ‘Strategies’ Are Not Strategies At All

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Lack of a proper strategy is a serious problem that can result in ad hoc improvements that don't contribute to overall organizational needs, says John S. Hamalian. The trouble is many organisations think they've got a strategy when they don't. Do you recognize any of thes

A Brief History of Quality: How the Concept of Quality has Evolved

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Recent research from YouGov for the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI), which polled hundreds of the most influential people in the public and private sectors, found that 83 percent of them characterised quality as being either critical or important to their organisation. But just what

3 Reasons Process Excellence Matters to Pharmaceutical Companies

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Did you know that 90% of time is wasted waiting for equipment to free up in pharmaceutical companies and in the last 5 years R&D costs doubled? Here are three reasons process excellence matters to pharmaceutical companies.
Leadership and Lean Six Sigma at Chevron Europe

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT
Eric Sirgo, General Manager of Operations at Chevron Europe, joins Process Excellence Network to talk about their Six Sigma Programme, and how they engage with their leadership teams. Editor's Note: This is a transcript of a

3 Ways to Make Lean Work for You - No Matter What Your Business

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
Lessons from the Lean Transformation of a Small Manufacturing Company Lean is often considered as a strategy for large corporations, writes contributor Vivek Naik, but in reality Lean is better suited for small businesses and

America Reacts to the Six Sigma President

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
Should the President of the United States be a black belt? That was the question we posed on social media forums following a recent podcast interview with Mike George, a Texas-based campaigner trying to get presidential candidates to sign up to a pledge to reduce the government deficit

Green Innovation: How Bad Plus Bad Can Equal Good

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
One of the largest wastewater treatment facilities in Florida came up with an interesting way of reducing its environmental impact - add hazardous waste to the water! Their project, which looked at reducing nitrogen discharge into the St. John's River, won JEA an hon

A Reformed Skeptic's View on Using Social Media in Process Improvement

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
Social media holds huge potential for continuous improvement activities. Really? Eric Michrowski, Director of Process Improvement Centre of Excellence at TELUS, is a convert. Much has been written and observed on how dramatically social media has been reshaping our social

Does This Make My Process Look Fat?

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
How the people side of change impacts business transformation results People are the hardest part of business change, writes Deborah Miller from Global 360. If you want to increase the chance

Indian Firms Must Create "Sustainable Competitive Advantage"

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
The Process Excellence Network is launching its first Lean Six Sigma summit in India later this year. Megan James, Deputy Director Portfolio at the PEX Network, has been organizing the summit and explains why the network felt the time was right was a Lean Six Sigma event in India, sha

Tributes Paid After Death of "Theory of Constraints" Inventor Eliyahu Goldratt

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
Operational Excellence practioners today paid tribute to the author of The Goal, Eliyahu Goldratt, after his death on Saturday (June 11). “Goldratt Consulting deeply mourns the loss of our beloved visionary father, chairman, and above of all – mentor,&

Lean Six Sigma Growing In India and China

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
For years the low wages in India and China have attracted the manufacturing – and increasingly research and development functions – of global companies. However, this will not last forever. Manufacturers and developers working in two of the world's fastest-growing ec

Using an Integrated SIPOC for Better Results

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
The large majority of SIPOC have no real meaning and will make no difference in a continuous improvement Lean Six Sigma project, writes Christan Loyer, plant manager at Ecolab. Solution? Use an Integrated SIPOC for better results. The SIPOC and its Origin

How One BPO Provider Achieved Faster Loan Processing Times & Improved Customer Satisfaction

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
Jaspreet Raina, general manager at FirstSource Solutions, joins PEX Network to discuss a project that the business process outsourcing provider carried out in order to reduce the time needed to process loan applications for a major UK bank, improving the end-to-end customer experience and

Continuous Improvement from Concept to Culture

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT
Economic turbulence has brought the concept of value back into focus, with businesses worldwide frantically searching for ways to keep costs down and avoid potentially damaging price increases. Enter continous improvement and its most important element culture. As global comm

Seven Lessons from Farming for Process Improvement

Tue, 31 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT
Weeds are troublesome plants that divert precious soil resources away from more valuable crops. Sound familiar to waste in processes? Patrik Shah says that process improvement practitioners could learn a lot from farming. Farmers have to adapt to changing conditions year on

BPM, Lean Six Sigma & Continuous Process Improvement | Process Excellence Network

Why "Social" is a Process Improvement Strategy

Four Essential Ingredients for Successful Process Improvement

Best Practice Report: Centralized Governance of Process Frameworks Works Better

Nike Strikes Gold with Lean Manufacturing

Does Your Company Suffer from “Arsonist-Fireman Syndrome”?

Applying BPM for Improved Patient Care

Five Reasons the Telecommunications Industry Needs Process Excellence

The Seven Tenets of Process Management

Sustaining Results: Why You Should Apply “5S” to the Way You Think

Five Barriers to Continuous Improvement - Vote for the Worst Offender

Map, Measure & Improve: 3 Types of Flowcharts for Process Mapping

The Dangers of Short Term Cost Cutting: An Interview with Brad Power

The Non-Strategy: How Some ‘Strategies’ Are Not Strategies At All

A Brief History of Quality: How the Concept of Quality has Evolved

3 Reasons Process Excellence Matters to Pharmaceutical Companies

Leadership and Lean Six Sigma at Chevron Europe

3 Ways to Make Lean Work for You - No Matter What Your Business

America Reacts to the Six Sigma President

Green Innovation: How Bad Plus Bad Can Equal Good

A Reformed Skeptic's View on Using Social Media in Process Improvement

Does This Make My Process Look Fat?

Indian Firms Must Create "Sustainable Competitive Advantage"

Tributes Paid After Death of "Theory of Constraints" Inventor Eliyahu Goldratt

Lean Six Sigma Growing In India and China

Using an Integrated SIPOC for Better Results

How One BPO Provider Achieved Faster Loan Processing Times & Improved Customer Satisfaction

Continuous Improvement from Concept to Culture

Seven Lessons from Farming for Process Improvement