Bedrock - always appropriate. I want to thank my mentor in this topic, Debra Daniels for her expertise – Debra, have I incorporated your wisdom appropriately? Build safety into the culture – most safety programs are pointless as they are considered an outside program (and many times, meetings are [...]
How can we not only "get through" today's new normal business environment but THRIVE? In my 20+ years of experience as both an Operations Executive and as an entrepreneur and business consultant who has worked with multiple companies ranging from start-ups to multi-billion dollar enterprises across varied industries and [...]
As 2011 winds down, it is an opportune time to evaluate this year's progress and to think about strategy for 2012. I find that in order to get ahead of the curve (NO longer a nice-to-have in today's new normal business environment); it is vital to incorporate the latest [...]
Customer communication is always a good idea; however, leveraging customer communications during the new normal business environment is vital to success. Pick up the phone - some of the largest successes I've seen result from simple yet critical conversations. It can be as simple as calling a customer to [...]
Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) can give your business an edge over the competition - minimal investment in resources to yield substantial results! Although S&OP which balances demand with supply has been around for a long time, I've seen interest in this concept increase as businesses are looking for [...]
I've yet to meet a manufacturer or distributor that didn't want to improve customer service and operational performance - and preferably yesterday. In today's new normal business environment, it is a tough competitive environment - you must be ahead of your competition in understanding your customers' desires and provide [...]
As I continually find, fundamentals are often overlooked yet critical to success; thus, it seems this is a great topic to take a look at.... What matters in your operation? - Forget about Lean, Six Sigma, TQM and the rest for now. In my experience, it is a distraction [...]
Succeeding in today's new normal business environment requires thinking about supply chain strategy differently than we did ten years ago. Supply chains have become more complex - and global. Managing risk is multifaceted. Yet supply chains are the bread and butter of business success as customer satisfaction is not [...]
As the cost advantages for outsourcing dry up more companies are bringing manufacturing back to North America. Re-shoring may increasingly be your best bet for improving customer service levels without going broke.GE has started to rev up Appliance Park again - and is starting to bring manufacturing back to [...]
Expand customer communication strategies to continually explore partnership opportunities for win-win situations.Improving customer communication is always a good idea; however, making these communications a key focus area is pivotal in today’s new normal business environment. I am consistently hearing about top priorities of business growth and improving business performance. [...]
