Apr 13, 2010 | Leadership, Management, Operations
Getting collaboration when you really need it, when the interaction can add value is usually at the beginning of a project. The closer you get to the completion of the project, the more the parameters tend to be set, it is the detail that changes, a much more mechanical process of executing what has been agreed through the early collaboration stages when things were more flexible and creative.
However, it is often towards the end of the project, particularly when the outlook is positive, that it becomes easier to attract those who may have been useful at the beginning, but whose contribution later will only cause hesitation and changes that result in a slippage of delivery dates for the project.
Of course, the worst “collaboration” is when someone exercises institutional power after the point where it is useful.
Towards the end of a project, it is co-ordination and project management that is needed, not collaboration, which should have happened at the beginning. How often it gets all arse-about!
Apr 11, 2010 | Demand chains, Management, Operations
Developing a forecast of what you need to make to sell is a different proposition to doing a demand forecast, it is much more than a semantic difference.
A forecast is usually an extrapolation, sometimes very sophisticated, but an extrapolation nonetheless, of the past, and the only thing we know for sure, is that the future will be different.
A demand forecast looks at the drivers of demand, essentially looking backwards through the supply chain from the customer, and anticipating the level of demand by factoring in all the things that drive the customer to order a volume of product in any given period.
ERP systems are driven by forecasts, they are the core of any system, and the more accurately the forecast, the better the system works within the limitation of the rules written in. However, when the forecasts are informed by the drivers of demand, not just the inventory levels and automatic restocking rules in place, the value that can be delivered in vastly enhanced.
Apr 7, 2010 | Branding, Marketing, Operations
Toyota has been lined up for a maximum fine of $16.4 million by US regulators for failing to report a fault within the statutory time. In the scheme of things the fine is a flea bite for Toyota, but the impact on the hard earned brand reputation of the current quality issues will be substantial.
It is paradoxical that Toyota is being fined for a quality failure, as the impact of Toyota in the quality of the auto industry over the last 30 years has been immense, Toyota has led the “Lean” revolution in manufacturing, and has been remarkably open and prepared to assist all comers, especially competitors.
Years ago, the US quality guru, W. Edwards Deming who was the primary architect of the quality revolution in Japan after the war, noted that as companies focus on increasing market share and profitability in the short term, customer service and quality will suffer in the long term. It would appear that this is what has happened to Toyota. As they consolidated as the largest auto manufacturer in the world, demand for their cars and light commercials outstripped supply, simply because of their superior quality and the way they met customer expectations in a range of areas. Under commercial pressure to meet demand, Toyotas increase in production capacity outran their increase in management capacity. I’m pretty sure that the fine will be an internal wake-up call, and the quality culture of Toyota will re-assert itself.
Apr 3, 2010 | Alliance management, Change, Operations
Whilst we observe the rather sudden tarnishing of Toyota’s quality aura, it is easy to lose sight of the enormous value Toyota has given to our understanding of efficient and flexible manufacturing. The lessons are everywhere, there would not be a manufacturing operation anywhere in the dev eloped world that has not benefited from the expertise developed and shared by Toyota.
Our understanding of the TPS began when Toyota began manufacturing outside Japan, its first foray was a JV with General Motors in their Fremont California plant, in a JV called New United Motors Manufacturing Inc, or “NUMMI” as it is commonly called.
This JV is a milestone in our understanding of manufacturing, the link is to a Sloan Management Review article written by one of the modern gurus of lean manufacturing, john Shook, who was a key employee in the development of NUMMI, and its subsequent success.
Anybody unfamiliar with the story should take 10 minutes and come up to speed, and this article is the quickest way.
Mar 10, 2010 | Change, Leadership, Operations
In the audience at a seminar last week, I witnessed an interaction that probably takes place often, in a wide range of circumstances.
An audience member, when invited to ask a question, instead made a statement that was at odds with the point of view of the presenter, who proceeded to get annoyed, and respond to the statement with aggression. Predictably, the exchange did not go far, and if the presenter takes the time to look at the tapes, he should be embarrassed at the opportunity lost.
How much better to ask of the questioner: “why do you say that” and follow up with another question, and perhaps another.
The outcome of questions may have been they both, and the rest of the audience learnt something, rather than seeing the session degrade into an embarrassing mess.
Humans are hard wired to react to aggression, “fight or flight” is the usual expression, but I think we should, under some circumstances add the option of “question and learn” to our repertoire.
Feb 17, 2010 | Management, Operations, Sales
The gate keeper role is progressively becoming redundant as web tools evolve to offer many other avenues to get “inside” a prospective customer.
The most aggressive commercial gatekeepers have traditionally been in the acquisition roles, and finding ways to butter them up, or get around them consumes huge resources in many organsations selling B2B, and using the model successful last century, getting to know the purchasing manager, taking him to lunch, sending his kids a birthday card to show you care, and so on.
Nowadays, these people are almost redundant, the most they usually do is fill in the purchase order, and ensure delivery, they rarely now make the decision to buy yours, or the others.
The task now is to identify the decision maker, and market your product benefits to him/her, building the value of the benefits, by identifying what your product delivers in terms of three parameters:
- The sales benefit delivered.
- The cost benefit delivered
- The productivity benefit delivered.
If you are not delivering at least one of these three, preferably two, why would they waste their money buying from you.
