Operational Excellence

What is Operational Excellence?

Operational Excellence (OpEx) ultimately has the goal of improved business performance. This, of course, is the goal of many business management philosophies, so what is Operational Excellence?

Put simply, Operational excellence involves a holistic approach to creating a long-term culture of continuous improvement by aligning a number of well-known, proven business and operational processes or improvement methodologies. The approach is based on the overall vision of the company and how to execute this. It involves every facet of the business, encompassing every process and employee in the business to deliver the business strategy to a higher quality, more consistently.

It is usually thought of as a business philosophy or approach that can be adopted by any company, in any industry. However, it is often most effective when embraced by companies that have complex processes and operations, such as manufacturing or healthcare organisations.

The principles of Operational Excellence look beyond short-term cost reduction to focus instead on improvements that support enduring and sustainable business growth which is more important than ever in today’s increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving, business world.

What are the common pitfalls when implementing an Operational Excellence strategy?

Although Operational Excellence can be an extremely powerful approach to business improvement. Many businesses successfully increase efficiencies and reduce risk by implementing key OpEx methodologies and it can be a key driver of competitive advantage. However, there are also instances where initiatives fail for a number of reasons.

The main pitfalls we often identify are:

1. Not communicating the purpose to employees – What is your Burning Platform?
2. A lack of leadership buy-in and support – Leaders need to lead from the front and provide their support.
3. Lack of awareness in the team – Employees will need training and engagement in the tools and behaviors
4. Ensuring it is embraced across the whole business – Operational Excellence is not just for Operations!

If you are considering implementing an Operational Excellence strategy within your business, but are keen to understand more about the potential benefits or pitfalls then it may be worth speaking to a consultant, such as the team as Clarity Visual Management who can help.