TAKE PRODUCTION TO THE NEXT LEVEL - FLEXIBILITY - WILLIAM EASTMAN

PROFIT RADIO..."Let's Grow Together"

Introduction
Today I am wearing my O Hat - Operations or "Get It Done". That means I building the infrastructure to not only make or deliver what we sell but also all of the back office systems required to a properly functioning business. Operations doesn't directly impact revenue, it's impact is on PROFIT.

The second issue is the Stage of Growth. We are at Stage IV where the concern is taking our operational abilities to the next level - how flexible are in meeting any predictable and unpredictable demands? The more we can interchange people, equipment, and materials, the more efficient we are and the better the margin.

Last thought before we start, I want to invite you to my new group on our Community of Commerce - Living the Life . If you are a serial entrepreneur and looking to discuss how to build a business that runs itself so you can start running multiple businesses - this is the right spot.
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Objectives - The WHY
This starts and ends as a mindset. The application of tools is easy if you make everything small, quick to complete, and simple to do. That sounds simple but as the business grows and becomes more sophisticated, this mindset is lost. You will be challenge to maintain this view of the business during the fast growth of Stage IV.
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Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

1. Moving from Lean to Agile, using agilean principles in production of products and services.
2. Keep it small with short runs.
3. Flexibility is being able to change quickly.
4. Stay on top of obstacles and bottlenecks.

What You Need to Know - The WHAT

• All projects, jobs, steps, tasks are short & small;
• All projects, jobs, steps, tasks are timeboxed;
• All projects, jobs, steps, tasks are demand based;
• All production elements (people, equipment) have quick change out;
• Management focuses on eliminating obstacles & bottlenecks.

Background

• EPISODE B.015 LEAN IT UP NOW!
• EPISODE B4.002: INTEGRATING AGILE AND LEAN - AGILEAN TECHNIQUES FOR GROWTH

What You Need to Do​​ - The HOW

1. Create and maintain preventive maintenance schedules for equipment.
2. Invest (time and money) into skill mastery and cross training. into personnel - everybody in a work area interchangeable.
3. Apply the Principles of Agilean Project Management for scheduling and managing work processes.
4. Focus Schedule Management on the metrics of Volume, Mix, and Sequence.

The purpose of this show was to detail how to create a flexible operation - both for variable production (customer driven) and fixed (support of customer based production).
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Make sure you leave some thoughts in the comment section below. I am interested in continuing the conversation.

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