Latest News

Getting more out of the Supply Chain – or the end-to-end Value Chain - 17/09/09

With some justification we have all been trying to manage and reduce business and operational costs in this testing period. We have observed and been involved with some organisations that have turned to the whole of Supply or Value Chain to maximise performance improvement.

One major importer distributor has reported an increase of 20% in business over the last eighteen months with no increase in operational staff numbers while delivering an increase in service performance.

The attached article The Value Chain.pdf – which is the first of a number we are planning around this subject of sustainable business performance – considers the value of looking at the end-to-end Value Chain. This view takes into account all the external relationships, factors and issues that influence a businesses performance and its ability to not just do things better but do better things. There is little doubt today that this is a key step towards business excellence.

We hope you find this article of interest and value. If you have further to add to the discussion or wish to discuss your particular situation please don’t hesitate in contacting me.

We wish you all the best in your performance improvement endeavours.

Getting Real Performance Improvement - 06/08/09

In seven weeks – identify annual $900,000 cost reductions for a total cost of $268,000*

Complete the implementation in three months

Guide up to 32 people to solve problems and deliver ongoing continuous improvement outcomes

* the costs include the estimates for the organisation’s people time in the  change and training process.

If this is the magnitude of business performance improvement you would like, as well as engaging and coaching your frontline people in making a real and sustainable difference, then check the details in the attachment: Getting Real Performance Improvement.pdf

The role of the warehouse and distribution in adding value to the customer offer - 02/04/09

We are often asked if the warehouse or distribution centre is a business cost centre or a value add activity.

Unfortunately in much of the current business and accounting thinking, the role of the warehouse or distribution centre does not take into account the value adding role it offers to the customer. Also many of the measures and targets do not reflect its true role and therefore relegate the warehouse or distribution centre to “the cost of doing business”.

This thinking ignores or lacks the understanding that as the last, and most memorable, link to the customer the warehouse is a part of a major business process – the Customer Order Fulfilment Process. The Order Fulfilment Process involves most people and all functions in a business as it starts with the companies offer and its acceptance by the customers and then through all the functions and process steps, finally ending up in the warehouse.

So, if a business wishes to improve its value proposition – value, cost and service – then just looking at the warehouse or distribution centre will miss the significant opportunity of eliminating the waste and total cost, and the value creation improvement of the Order Fulfilment Process.

It is now well known and accepted by organisations that have taken this view that 60% of every ones time and effort in Order Fulfilment adds no value to the customer or the business.

The attached article outlines this proposition in more detail: The Role of the Warehouse.pdf.

The Productivity Gap - 02/03/09

A recent report commissioned by Telstra - The Telstra Productivity Indicator surveyed 300 Australian directors, senior executives and managers in medium to large public and private sector organisations, and found that:

• Seventy-eight per cent of Australia’s largest organisations say improving productivity is a high priority but only half of them (49 per cent) actually measure productivity or have clear productivity improvement targets.

• Only 30 per cent of decision makers say they are able to measure, with a high degree of accuracy, productivity benefits when developing a business case for investment targeting productivity gains

Telstra Enterprise and Government Group Managing Director, Mr David Thodey, says productivity is more important now than ever before.

“The productivity gap is the gap between productivity expectations and action,” he says. “Our research shows that senior managers responsible for organisational performance expect productivity to keep growing, yet half of our decision makers don’t have targets or even understand how to measure it.”

Lacking measurements for productivity makes building a business case for investing in productivity improvements more difficult, according to the research.

At Intelog we understand that productivity improvement initiatives should be one of the key strategies for any organisation given the current and future economic conditions. The productivity initiatives should not be for the operational aspects of an organisation only, they should be across the whole enterprise.

There is as much, if not greater, productivity and performance improvement in the non-operational processes and activities of an enterprise – and our experience has proven that many of the causes of waste and cost in operations are from the non-operational activities.

The attached paper, Productivity is the key. What does it take to be more productive? discusses this in more detail and provides examples of the level of productivity and performance improvement possible.

Susan Sheehy is coming to Australia!

Updated 20/01/09

Suesan Sheehy, RN, PhD(c), FAAN, FAEN Director of Education Programs : Lean Healthcare West

Susan is Director of Education Programs for Lean Healthcare West. She is an internationally known expert in Emergency, Trauma, and Aeromedical Transport care. She played instrumental roles in the development of statewide trauma systems in Washington, Maine, and New Hampshire. A very popular speaker/educator both nationally and internationally, her Lean expertise includes clinical analysis and implementation, patient throughput, Lean team development, department and hospital Lean design/re-design integration, department/hospital relocation, policy and protocol development, creating a "Five Star" department/hospital, and reVIEW© program development, implementation, training and coaching. Susan is a past national president of the Emergency Nurses Association and the Emergency Nurses Association Foundation. She is the author/editor of four emergency nursing/trauma textbooks (12 editions) and over 80 journal articles. She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Boston College. She holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Outcomes Research and Health Policy from Dartmouth College and is a PhD candidate at Boston College. Susan served on active duty with the US Army Nurse Corps and as a flight nurse in the US Air Force Reserves. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the Academy of Emergency Nursing.

Susan will be available to meet with Executives and Redesign Leaders to share her knowledge and experience during February and March.  

Please feel free to contact Emma Erdmanis at emma@intelog.com.au or (03) 9550 0855 to arrange a meeting during her visit.

Making the best of what you have - it's your choice - 13/01/09

It’s getting tougher and margins will be tighter. Over the last few years Intelog has been assisting good companies cope with growth and achieve new levels of profitability. Interestingly many growing companies struggle to achieve profitable growth and the frenetic challenge of coping with growth deflects the focus of putting into place the organisational and process frameworks to a) support growth and b) to achieve a greater return. To view full article please click here.

The attached article outlines how you can make the best of what you have that will enable profitable performance and place the business in the best position to emerge from the difficult times stronger and in the position of taking advantage of those who couldn’t see a way of changing. Making the best of what you have - it's your choice.pdf

A Recession Action Plan - 24/11/08

World Lean leader highlights the need for lean thinking as a recession action plan.pdf Dan Jones – one of the leading business improvement thinkers and the co-author of the book “Lean Thinking” – has written "A Recession Action Plan" as a guide to business performance improvement.

We commend this article to you as a business builder that will position any organisation as a profitable survivor that will take the lead as the economy eventually returns to normality. A Recession Action Plan.pdf

(RAPID) - 13/10/08

There is a Real Action for Performance Improvement Delivery (RAPID) way of reducing costs and improving business performance. Like to know more? Please refer to: Real Action for Performance Improvement Delivery (RAPID).pdf

Warehouse Performance Improvement  - 01/05/08

Engaging People on the Journey -14/02/08

Welcome to our first article in 2008 that continues our objective of supporting Australian business leaders in the quest of improving their value proposition and customer fulfilment performance.

We recognise that the transformation to an engaging culture represents a major challenge to managers as it is not the way they are educated or trained, so awareness of the issues and opportunities is a first step, the objective in presenting these two papers: Click here to view.pdf.

Source - the home of Lean Thinking:

First Edition

S A Partners have produced Source with an aim to provide the latest insights and views on Lean Thinking from an academic and practical perspective. Click Here to download (22 pages).

Events

The First Australian University Lean Thinking Program

The University of South Australia in association with the Lean 
Enterprise Research Centre at Cardiff
		University is delivering 
the internationally acclaimed Principles of Lean Thinking Program.

Read full press release: UniSA.pdf

Read course brochure: UniSA Lean Thinking.pdf