Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc.: Recent Episodes
Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc.
Most of us hire people to fill a slot — a given role. That happens all too often because we hire in a reactionary mode, …
The post Cross Training for Capacity Management first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When I worked for TRW in the 1980’s, the company required everyone with purchasing responsibilities to take the Chester Karrass negotiating course. At that time …
The post Maximizing Profits is a Strategic Mistake first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Phil Spector was a very successful music producer and songwriter, who was also convicted of murder and serving a long sentence when he died in …
The post What's Love Got To Do With It? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Why would a senior employee keep tricks of the trade secret from others? For one reason only: a lack of confidence. Someone who acknowledges his …
The post Why Seasoned Employees Don't Share first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A few years ago I volunteered to support the Continental Cup activities in Cleveland. This is an international sporting event that included 2500 youngsters from ages 8 to 18 from 12 countries competing in a variety of sports.
My first day, I was an electronic scorekeeper / clock operator for basketball games, seated next to a young man who was to keep track of individual statistics, team fouls, and team time-outs on paper. I received 2 minutes of training on the equipment; not sure he received any on his role. We did have experienced refs.
Unfortunately, the court we were assigned was in the middle, with fans at one end and the scoring table (us) and the players at the other. With whistles blowing on courts on both sides and required to look at the far end of the court for half the activity, ours was not an easy assignment.
I had to rely on the scorekeeper to know when to light the bonus and double-bonus indicators for the refs. He needed nothing from me. We were individuals, not a team, in tracking the score. As is not surprising, during one game our scores were different. Additionally, he was confused on individual fouls and team fouls, which understandably frustrated coaches. He wanted silence, except when he asked me a question, so he could concentrate. I wanted to verbally verify which team scored so we could stay aligned.
That volunteer and I never became a team. We went through the forming and storming stages, but never reached norming or performing. The refs had the same challenge. They were to perform as a team, but were thrown into the game together just as my fellow volunteer and I were.
All 4 of us should have been a single team, but instead we behaved as 4 individuals each trying to do a good job. No one with bad intentions.
My second day I had the paper detailed scorekeeper job. My “table-mate” for that day and I had about 5 minutes before our games started. We talked about how to work together, she trained me on my new job, explaining “little tricks” that make it easier. Our team of refs had worked together before. We talked with the refs about how they could help make our jobs easier, and vice-versa.
While far from perfect, the four of us were a fairly effective team. When creating a small team to accomplish a task, plan time for them to get to know one another, discuss roles and responsibilities, and agree on operating guidelines.
No matter how smart, how experienced, or how caring they are as individuals, they will not suddenly become a team just because the game has started.
The post SUCCEEDING WITH SMALL SHORT-TERM TEAMS first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A majority of adult Americans do not vote in our elections. Why is that? Simply because they don’t believe their vote matters. They believe nothing will change anyway.
Voting within your company happens. Any idea what the participation rates are? They are 100%, regardless. Some votes are simply more visible than others.
Why do some not vote in other countries? One recent Russian immigrant told me he never voted in Russia because he didn’t want to vote to support the existing government and he didn’t want to be caught voting for anyone else.
Voting in your company can be accomplished by leaving, or by staying.
The vote of staying may well be that of the Russian man or our unregistered and nonparticipative voters. If staying is a real vote it includes speaking up and the belief that input and ideas will be considered.
In elections we want to believe that our side may not win, but our vote counts. In companies, it’s the same thing.
How long is the line to vote within your organization? If turnout appears low, you know why.
The post Listen for the Silence Too first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
An effective operation may have bad days, but they are a rarity.
When you walk through operations, is the angst palpable? Clearly that swamp monster environment should be prevented, but it may happen anyway. How many times and for how long do you find that operational stress acceptable? How many times and for how long do your employees tolerate it?
Is meaningful progress being made and are employees involved in that? Manhandling a mess may shape-change the mess, but it won’t replace it with effective operations. Throwing resources at a problem may feel good but won’t get to root cause.
With an intention to “do something” executives can be tempted to dig in with their pre-leadership topic expertise. But seriously, does that make anything better for tomorrow? Leaders must successfully transition their thinking from tactical to strategic. Brainstorming is one thing; relying on leaders to provide tactical solutions in another entirely.
You can’t be sucked into the swamp monster without your permission. If you are expediting, something is dreadfully wrong. If you’re doing nothing long term of substance to kill the monster and prevent his return, something is dreadfully wrong.
Your job is not to expedite, not to do the jobs of others, nor to hope things will get better. Your job is to anticipate, invest, and ensure others have what they need for success.
It is routine for every employee to be aware of both problematic patterns and desirable patterns in effective operations. It is routine for those same employees to develop and implement fixes, prevent re-occurrence, or reinforce positive patterns through root cause problem solving.
When, for whatever reason, that is not happening, leadership has failed.
Or has not yet succeeded.
With that description as the objective, leadership must prioritize observing patterns and the processes to succeed within them: processes that exist, those that are not functioning well, those that should exist but don’t, and those that exist but shouldn’t.
If you can’t bring greater value to your organization by thinking, guiding, providing course correction, and giving the team what it needs than you can by taping boxes or carrying paperwork, your business needs a new leader.
Thinking may not look or feel like work, but it is usually the most important work a leader can do.
Arm wrestling the swamp monster is not work, but it is exhausting.
The post Swamp Monster Got Your Tongue? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Even the best of us can benefit from cold water to the face occasionally.
In mid-2022 I finally quit making excuses and enjoyed a 3-week trip to Greece, Türkiye, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia. What shook me out of my “I don’t want to contract Covid” inaction was a friend’s story that he had recently returned from the Polish-Ukranian border assisting refugees.
Fully vaccinated and masked, why was I sitting on my hands? If I drive a car, walk across the street, and eat indoors at restaurants, what was my excuse for not “risking” travel? My colleague’s matter-of-fact response to my “done anything interesting lately?” query was cold water in my face.
I have since taken several trips and enjoyed each. Thank goodness for that cold water in my face.
It is easy to become complacent, over-estimate our current mastery, or let the potential downside of an action corner us into inaction. Those are rarely the mark of leadership we want to follow.
Your supply chain was never a fully visualized well-oiled machine.
Pre-Covid, you struggled to attract the workforce you want and need.
Customer expectations were never stagnant.
Investing in building muscle is an ages old demand. Details may be different now but taking decisive action to make giant leaps forward is an ongoing requirement of any business.
Consider these questions:
Supply Chain – What specific steps have you taken:
- to simplify?
- to increase responsiveness and resilience?
- to rationalize products, parts, and suppliers?
- to enhance multi-level visibility?
People – What specific steps have you taken
- to remove toxic employees, regardless of their skillsets?
- to capture and teach knowledge of departing workers?
- to respect employees as individuals with individual needs and goals?
- to emphasize characteristics rather than years of experience in new hires?
- to speed the effective onboarding to the company and to new roles?
- to develop training skills in knowledgeable employees?
- to gather and leverage diverse backgrounds?
Strategy – How have you redefined yours to reflect current realities in
- supply chain
- people
- global socioeconomics
- technical advances
- constituent expectations regarding ESG?
I could ask each of you hundreds of questions specific to your industry, size, and market position. I could help you develop and implement decisions.
But it is most important that you know it’s time. Time to quit making excuses, quit reacting like a pinball, and quit waiting for “normal.”
It’s here.
Your future is yours to create. It’s time.
Now dry that cold water off your face and start moving.
The post No More Excuses first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Excerpted From: © 2021 Manufacturing Mastery: The Path to Building Successful and Enduring Manufacturing Businesses; Taylor & Francis, Author: Rebecca Morgan
“I have long advised clients that together we will identify and implement new strategic capabilities as quickly as they can handle. One of those strategic capabilities is always the ability to effectively create and integrate value-adding change more and more rapidly. Why would any business choose to improve its competitive position more slowly than it could? Changing faster than it can risks breaking the company. As leaders we must master walking that fine line as we advance it.
“What does breaking look like?
“In the 1990s, Toyota decided to significantly expand its geographic footprint and number of operations. Unfortunately, it did so faster than it could effectively embed its business operating system, extraordinary design thinking, and expectations of working towards perfection in the new operations. That growth-oriented decision diluted those critical aspects of the company’s success worldwide. Its internal process performance standards effectively fell. Quality problems arose and other challenges, though less obvious to the customer, continue. Breaking doesn’t have to mean close up shop, but it certainly means a turn for the worse…
“Reacting with an on/off mindset–changing everything or changing nothing–fails without exception. Go fast, but not too fast. It is the leader’s responsibility to ensure that the organization responds smoothly to the requirements of change. At any point, an organization has a maximum rate of healthy velocity and then acceleration. To prevent breaking, leaders must establish a governor to ensure it is not exceeded. As the organization gains agility, the cap increases, and the business changes to reach the new capability. Finding that sweet spot is a requisite skill for leaders to constantly build and adapt.”
Manufacturing Mastery
The post Determining Your Speed of Change first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Your people are no doubt working hard to do a good job. The question is: Have you given enough structure for them to know what a good job really means?
Usually the weakness in that is a lack of sequenced priorities from leadership. How do they even know if they’re working on something that matters?
Employees cannot make good decisions if management cannot sequence the list of multiple priorities. Giving employees a list of more than one priority, without sequencing, abdicates responsibility.
If you can’t decide what’s important, how can they?
It is typically the unreasonable fear of leaders that nothing other than Priority #1 will be worked on if we let them know it’s most important.
Let me ask you: Would that be so bad? If every single employee can make #1 move closer to the finish line right now, why would you want them to work on something else right now?
I’ve yet to see an organization in which every single employee could positively impact the top single priority at all times. Have you?
By providing all employees with a sequenced list of a handful of priorities, each is positioned to make better decisions every single day.
If I can’t move #1 along, I should work on #2; if I can’t move #2 forward, I should work on #3; etc.
The fear that employees will do absolutely nothing if they can’t work on Priority #1 is silly. Think how powerful it is for your leadership team to help each employee see how their work supports priorities.
The goal is not for all of your employees to stay busy. The goal is for each employee to contribute to organizational and personal success by working on what matters most.
Isn’t that the purpose of strategy?
The post Staying Busy is NOT the Objective first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
While the worst of the supply chain fiasco of 2020-2022 is behind us, elements certainly continue to challenge us daily. What we should have done then and what we can do now is communicate the truth among our supply matrix.
We call it a supply chain, but the reality is all players in it service other customers and many of them serve other markets. The increasing number of variables due to that fact makes coordination even more critical to effective capacity management.
Supply chain personnel have been expediting since before it was called Materials Management. In early 2020 most of us fell into one of two camps: the first faced a precipitous decline in demand which mean de-expedite everything; the second saw skyrocketing demand, which we chose to address by expediting everything.
Strong supply chain competency is like beautiful choreography. It leverages what each participant does best, blending together variables to create something beautiful. Every choreographer knows it only detracts to have dancers enter the stage before they are needed.
Yet in most supply chain efforts, we continue to fall back on expediting — getting parts and materials before we need them — when the going gets tough. It is a perfect example of confusing motion with results.
Dancers must trust one another and the choreographer; the same is true of the best supply matrices. Honesty enables better decision-making by all of us.
Coordinated conversations with suppliers that are struggling to provide materials when you want them can determine what the group can actually do.
Which part/supplier is the key to getting this all moving? Knowing that is crucial to wisely leveraging capacity. Understanding what other parts can then be delayed — even though we wish we had everything right now — until that key part can be received from that supplier helps prioritization throughout. Demanding more or earlier hurts supplier prioritization with no offsetting benefit.
The hesitation in doing this is a lack of trust. We’re not sure we actually know what we need when and that our own production planning is that precise. We don’t trust all our suppliers to actually ship “our” material to someone else right now and replace it to us at the agreed-upon date.
When everyone is lying we’re all hurt. When everyone is telling the truth but we don’t trust them, we’re all hurt.
Supplier selection and development is an integral part of operations management. Done well, coordination and communication the last few years has been strong, even if not what any of us wanted to hear. We could jointly plan, and execute.
Not done well, expediting is your strategy. Your dance floor is cluttered with excess dancers who have no current role.
The post Is Expediting Your SCM Strategy? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Wouldn’t you love to see an organization that was fully aligned across all functional arenas?
We talk about specific excellence, like Nordstrom and service or Amazon and speed, but do you know of any organizations in which every single person in every corner of the company is aligned on organizational priorities and strategies? Do you think Nordstrom and Amazon are fully aligned internally?
The “town hall” meeting in which you communicate the current strategy via PowerPoint slides is ineffective in describing the strategy, as well as ineffective in generating alignment. After you leave that room employees will still be operating at cross purposes. Not because they are bad people, but because the work and decisions that their jobs require are not integrated.
Ask each member of your leadership team to separately use one side of one piece of 8-1/2″ X 11″ paper to specify the following headings:
- Summary of your business
- Mission/Vision
- Core Values
- Key Elements of Current Strategy
- Top Current Functional Challenges/Decisions
- How This Year Will Be Different From Last
Until they can do that and agree on the responses, alignment is impossible for the rest of your organization.
Next, verify that the responses to #4 are consistent with #1, #2, and #3. If they are not, silos are the least of your problems.
Now, agree on how #5 integrates with #4.
Lastly, to make this actionable and aligned, agree on the bullet points under #6 that are the expected result of executing #4 and #5. If you and your team cannot do that, it’s time to change the strategy.
You and each individual on your leadership team should be able to complete the above assignment before your first coffee break.
With each leader referring to this “charter for the year” daily as discussing priorities, actions, and decisions with their staff, alignment is possible. Using it without exception will create alignment.
Silos are not the problem.
Unaligned leaders are.
The post Can Silos Be Aligned on Strategy? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In the late 1970s, Ken Olson, co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, had very different predictions for the future of computers. Mr. Gates gave his new company the mission of “every desk, every home” while Mr. Olson said there was no reason for a home to ever have a computer.
How could two leaders of the early computer hardware and software industries see the future so differently?
The art of the possible is indeed an art, not a science. While science may well be the enabling factor, it is a different thinking process to envision possibility.
Drones are not brand new. The underlying technologies of drones have rapidly advanced as enclosed and tight spaces coupled with long distance and larger payloads have made the possibilities economically significant.
We hear about drones being a lower cost option for the last mile as we see them mapping power company right-of-ways and blowing up buildings in real war. IKEA uses 100s of drones in its European operations, many to record inventory during off-hours.
Your manufacturing or distribution company can no doubt leverage drone technologies; the question is “should it?” Is your view of the potential of drones more Bill Gates or more Ken Olson?
Unless you are in the drone business, it’s not your job to envision all the possibilities drones offer. It is your job to assess internal and supply chain work and understand where automation could improve safety, speed, quality or cost. Drones are simply one technology.
To prod your imagination, it is time well spent to read business articles on how various organizations are using technology. Drones are no longer toys, nor is virtual or augmented reality. They can reduce or eliminate key challenges for you.
The possibilities are endless. Current drone technologies may offer amazing improvement to your business operations. Or not.
Always lead with the business question, not with the technology answer.
The post Are Drones The Answer? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In my lifetime the US economy has experienced bank and savings and loan failures, inflation and full employment, a 20% prime rate and a Fed Funds rate of 0.0%, multiple recessions, and wild political swings in tariffs, tax rates, and regulations.
In my lifetime, my country has participated in many wars, eradicated some diseases, had a pandemic, and experienced thousands of large protests for various causes.
In my lifetime, travel became common, gadgetry a life requirement, and our lives have assumed those of the Jetsons. Most industry business models have changed significantly.
Those examples include evolution, the exceptional, and revolution.
And I’m not all that old!
Creating the culture and context for successfully navigating all types of external jolts is a requirement of building an enduring business.
Clear mission, vision, and core values are integral to the process. So too is alignment. Clear roles and responsibilities for anticipating and addressing or creating these various types of change is required.
What types of risk assessment are the responsibility of your top management? Your mid-level management? Your individual contributors?
Each of your employees has a different perspective, a different view, and a different ability to foresee, address, or create change.
We don’t expect the CNC operator to advise leadership of potential supplier failures or interest rate hikes; we don’t expect the CEO to anticipate power or water outages.
Does your risk management process reflect those realities?
Reactionary is better than uniformed. Prepared with thinking and context for reactions is significantly better still.
Regardless of what you do, the hits will just keep on coming. You might as well learn how to duck.
The post The Hits Just Keep On Coming first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As fast as the world turns these days, it is not easy to stay abreast of the latest concepts and management trends. While it is important that you not let the world pass you by, it is also valuable to leverage some tried-and-true tools.
TWI (Training Within Industry) and the Coaching and Improvement Katas are behavioral tools that can increase the effectiveness of your entire team quickly and safely.
If you’ve ever taken a martial arts class, you’ve been introduced to the concept of kata. The term itself refers to a process repeated reliably to enhance mastery. The same is true for the coaching and improvement katas.
While deceptively simple, as with any of the martial arts, detailed regular practice under the watchful eye of an expert is integral to proficiency. Both of these katas share the same thinking, but the detailed steps are different. That’s the same as the katas for two varieties of the martial arts.
TWI is a tool developed by the US federal government at the early stages of WW2 to get the new female workforce productive quickly and safely. The men experienced in manufacturing had gone to war, and women had to step into those roles. Rosie the Riveter was born.
There are multiple aspects of TWI, each consistent with the other and each designed for specific purpose. Again, conceptually, this is similar to kata. It is worth investing some time watching a few YouTube videos and reading summaries of the distinct purpose of each form of TWI.
While TWI is fully in the public domain, reading the original government documentation is not fun nor particularly helpful. That’s why I recommend searching for more modern overviews.
Other than training, neither TWI nor Kata requires a financial investment. Both can rapidly enhance the safety and quality of your workforce as they work to master and improve your business operations.
Yes, innovation is crucial to success. But, no, that does not mean jettisoning the already-existing and proven tools.
The post Instead of Innovation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
You’ve all heard that great strategy with poor execution is no better than poor strategy with great execution. Operational effectiveness requires excellence at both levels.
My writings and podcasts have long focused on the strategic aspects of operations, specifically how to build a manufacturing business that endures. This episode reminds the listener of the laws of math and physics that impact near term execution.
The book Factory Physics was written about 30 years ago, and updated several times since. Its primary intent continues to be for undergraduate and graduate students in Operations Management.
To overlook its value for production leaders, plant managers, and financial leaders in manufacturing operations is a mistake.
Most of you are likely familiar with multiple order quantity formulas, from EOQ to Kanban, even if you’ve only seen them as options in your ERP system. Any order quantity formula impacts operational effectiveness, as it is designed to determine inventory levels and scheduling.
It can be overwhelming, and seem to require great judgement, to determine what to do next on what machine or with which supplier. The more inventory you see the uglier it gets.
There are laws of math and physics that are true whether or not recognized. Those fundamentals can help you make better decisions, lowering costs and increasing throughput and on-time delivery.
Batch size, equipment utilization, and work-in-progress inventory are all integrated. When the boss insists on high utilization because he wants to absorb overhead, he may not understand the secondary impacts on inventory, throughput and lead-time.
You should. And a good boss does as well.
As someone who worked her way up through shop floor operations to plant and divisional operations, I’ve found understanding the details required by operational execution to be of great value in setting strategy. No, I can’t write out most of the equations without help anymore, but I know the concepts and what drives them.
If you want to enhance the quality of your operations strategy thinking, don’t turn your back on Factory Physics.
The post Two Levels of Operational Effectiveness first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Partner. Relationship business. It all sounds so good. But then reality slaps you up the side of the head.
In a true partnership, can one company unilaterally change the terms of the contract?
Well, no. But then few espoused partnerships are true partnerships.
The larger company always has more money for lawyers, if it comes to that. The money they use to pay those lawyers may well be yours, which only makes it worse. The smaller company can also have a finger on the trigger. While meeting at high noon in front of the saloon is never the intention, it can happen. That’s why fact-finding and intention-testing up front is a fundamental first step to enabling a trusting relationship to develop.
Automotive has a bad reputation for harming small suppliers because the OEMs feel free to make unilateral demands and contract changes with abandon. Toyota and Honda are well-known exceptions to that and Hyundai has a history of being pretty honorable also. But the “big 3?” Keep your hand on your wallet.
Those are hardly the only companies and automotive is hardly the only industry where the voiced commitment to a partnership that reflects a commitment to relationship is Vanilla Ice.
But small suppliers or customers do not need to be as vulnerable as they often choose to believe and act.
Don’t get sucked in by the allure of business-altering volumes, because they may well alter your business in ways you don’t intend.
Before signing a contract, discuss with the potential supply chain partner scenarios that range from somewhat likely to probable. Ask how they have behaved in the past when those situations have arisen, and then talk with their other partners to see how well the two descriptions match.
You, too, must open the kimono, and share what scenarios have challenged you to comply with your commitments and how you’ve handled those scenarios.
If your large company potential partner has a track record of using its “relationships” to finance its cash flow, or to reduce its cost of goods sold by whatever number its CFO demands by pushing that responsibility down to you, there’s trouble in River City. And that’s trouble with a capital T. Teamwork starts with a very different T.
Every business runs into challenges, sometimes severe. Pretending it won’t happen is silly. Developing a common understanding of how you will treat one another, what kind of actions you’ll each be willing to take if needed to help the other, being transparent about how you each define integrity and ethics — those conversations are fundamental to any opportunity to build a true partnership.
The fear of laying cards on the table indicates a problem from the beginning. Maybe you’ll both be served well by a few short term purchase orders — and yes that can impact costs for both of you — before making the long term agreement.
As Ronald Reagan said about Russia, “trust, but verify.”
The post Partnerships and Unilateral Changes first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I’ve invested the vast majority of my long career in operations. I find it fascinating.
Regardless of industry, operations includes the technologies, processes, materials, and procedures that delivering value on each order involves. Many would look at those words and see no similarities between making mac and cheese for millions of consumers and making aerospace parts for a limited number of engines.
Yet my transition from operations of the first to the second was fast and easier than you might imagine.
I am NOT a technologist. Making frozen prepared foods I worked with food scientists. Making aerospace parts I worked with metallurgists and ceramicists.
I AM a business and operations expert. Both food and aerospace industries, and I could give many more examples, must obtain and keep customers, must know what materials are needed when, what critical steps are involved in converting those materials to the end product sold to the customer, and must comply with regulations while delivering cost effective quality reliably.
The choreography of information, materials, equipment and decisions is one giant puzzle to be solved. The production system is what solves that puzzle.
Many manufacturing businesses see the complications and distinctions that can make their operations difficult. The better ones focus on the similarities, simplifications, and apply lessons from everyone in their improvement processes.
Both leaders and shop floor employees of the majority of, for example, tool and die companies believe that they are job shops, that every order is unique, and that because of those two facts there is no production system that makes delivery times reliable. Internal scheduling for them is one reaction to the last customer call after another.
That thinking is simply wrong, and contributed heavily to outsourcing tool and die production to cheap labor markets.
While the intricate details of the metal removed from the block of steel to create the specific shape required by the customer do differ, that is a very small part of the program that controls cutting.
The production systems of tool and die shops are basically buy metal, write program(s) for the specific equipment that will cut the metal to shape, set up the machine, run the program, perhaps do a few secondary operations, and get it to the customer.
I have helped many job shops, including tool and die, incorporate visual factory concepts and simple scheduling easy to follow, resulting in 50% reductions in lead-times and doubling of on-time delivery to customers. And of course profits skyrocketed.
How? By seeing the similarities and not being controlled by the distinctions.
Restaurants, hair salons, and tool and die shops are all job shops. All of them do the same things over and over, with the intricate details changing but not the overall production systems.
As someone in operations, it is crucial that you understand the questions the system must answer, the challenges it must overcome, and the repetitive nature of the vast majority of both. The 80/20 rule is powerful, especially when we learn widely from the 80% that you share with the rest of the world.
If you like putting together a puzzle, designing beautiful choreography that is easy for all the dancers to follow, or generally making it easy for others to do their jobs well, operations is for you. Don’t let the varieties of production systems in existence become confusing. Take the best from each and create operations in your business that are the best you can make them, as of now.
Tomorrow is a new and better today if we respect important differences, while we focus on similarities and learning.
The post Your Career in Operations first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
We manufacturers know that we are responsible for the outputs of cost, quality, product performance and delivery; we also know that many others in our organization impact those as much as we do.
Being outstanding in those four outputs is necessary but not sufficient for our futures.
In recent years we’ve come to realize that the definition of outstanding for each of those outputs is more demanding than previously. And yet, they are still not enough.
The three additional outputs of your operations to consider today are flexibility, innovativeness, and resilience.
Flexibility does not mean jump through hoops to respond to the latest customer call. It no longer is limited to volume and mix changes in order patterns. It means your production and operational systems are designed to be flexible in meeting market needs and expectations.
Consider the flexibility those who shifted from making airplane parts to ventilator parts in a matter of days.
Innovativeness does not mean bringing more products to market each year than your competitor does. It means a culture that exudes problem solving mastery in every aspect of the business. After all, innovation is, at its core, problem solving for the future.
Resilience does not mean reactionary. It means identifying and preparing for the risks that matter most and being positioned throughout the organization to rebound from whatever happens.
Each of these three outputs requires systemic thinking, processes designed to deliver them, and a culture that does not question their importance or the changes they require.
We’ve all heard “raise the bar.” That isn’t limited to raising required scores on what you’ve always measured.
Sometimes it means changing the bar entirely.
The post Manufacturing Outputs For Your Future first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Why are some manufacturing businesses a hot mess, while others are a great place to work as you provide exciting value to the market?
A business is a living organism, and as such, understanding what makes them healthy and what makes them sick is instrumental to success.
Here are seven levers that apply within all manufacturers; each is addressed as part of the operations strategy, which is in place to execute the business strategy. The business is impacted by each, both individually and collectively.
The first is Human Resources. What is the strategy for how many, what backgrounds, what key characteristics? An effective HR strategy is not reactive, but rather reflects the quality of the organization you are building.
A second lever is organizational structure and role clarity. While we’re all familiar with the one box at the top, with a few under it and a handful under each of those, going on down, that is hardly the only potential structure. Even if that is the best one for you right now, that structure unsupported by clarity for each role will fail you. Titles mean different things to different people; providing common understanding of expectations of specific roles and among roles cannot be overlooked.
A third lever is production planning and control; this is the near-term management of inventories and resource utilization, and drives costs, time, and performance.
Sourcing is another impactful lever in your manufacturing business. The decisions to outsource or insource, off-shore or near-shore, leverage supplier expertise or not require strategic guidance.
Both process technology and facilities are structural levers that are often difficult to change, impact cash availability, and can add costs and time that are difficult to assess.
Product design is the 7th lever addressed today. Product design was once a matter of meeting customer specs. The long term impact of that design has been recognized, resulting in design for manufacturing, design for service, design for re-use, and additional DFX.
Those manufacturers that are a hot mess don’t manage or strategize these levers well; they may not even recognized their existence beyond daily headaches.
Outstanding high quality manufacturers think strategically about each of these levers, never considers the position of any of them optimal forever, understands that each has an individual impact, and recognizes that the collective impact of mastering each of these creates the foundation of a high quality business.
No manufacturing business can afford to overlook the consequences of the position of these seven decisive levers.
The post Seven Levers to Shape Your Manufacturing Business first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Manufacturing has played a major role over time in advancing automation, computerization, digitization, and more. Our industries are amazingly different now than they were 15 years ago, much less 30.
In December of 2022 the company OpenAI released an online product called ChatGPT. Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve at least heard of it. You may not understand what it does, and very few understand how it works. It is, however taking the world by storm.
The question for you is, does ChatGPT offer value to manufacturers?
The short answer is: No, at least not yet.
But the longer answer is: The literally awesome advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) reflected in the technical underpinnings of the product lay the groundwork for a very different future for all of us.
Importantly it should reassure us that parallel efforts building AI capabilities to solve other larger problems are advancing quickly also.
So why do I believe ChatGPT does not help us manufacturers now? Because it suffers from a problem that all AI will need to overcome: What is the truth used as the basis of its advancing logic and reasoning?
A recent LinkedIn post bragged about the great answer received from ChatGPT when asked to distinguish lean from six-sigma. The problem is, the answer was significantly inaccurate.
How can that happen? Alleged experts have to guide the AI tool’s initial learning in understanding what is true and what is not true. As it trains itself on logic/reasoning from that information, it receives continued guidance, though less and less as its training is judged to be high quality.
This product is not just a fancy Google search engine. In fact it relies heavily on the quality of the information it considers, while Google merely spits back links to what it sees as relevant web content.
How does a manufacturing leader, who obviously has a plate full already, consider the ever evolving technologies arising daily?
In larger organizations with better trained technical experts, she can build in regular updates from those people regarding what is happening and why she should care. Reading, asking trusted peers, following respected sources on YouTube or other social media, and attending technical conferences for leaders are a few methods to consider. Smaller company leaders may choose not to invest resources in this research, strategically behaving as “late adopters.”
Any advance others are leveraging to increase competencies should not be a surprise to you, as the leader of your organization. Know terms and a one paragraph summary of definition, and what makes it special, including strengths and limitations.
You can insource or outsource development of that information, but having it is not optional. Well, it is optional, but not for those building companies to endure.
Invest 5 minutes setting up your ChatGPT account, realize that it handles statements or directives better than it does questions, and try it out for a few topics of importance to you.
If you see capabilities that can help you now, invest more resources; if not, move off of this advance for now.
You can’t implement every technology advance, nor should you. Some of the non-tech advances may be of greater value. You may already have all the change you can swallow.
Please don’t be an ostrich, though the temptation may be great.
The post ChatGPT and Manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
There are business buzzwords, and then there are important business concepts you cannot afford to ignore. Resilience is one of the latter.
Resilience emanates from effective risk management. If you don’t have a viable and ongoing risk management process, start there.
In risk management, the first steps are always to identify the majority of risks, assign each probability and severity, and through that scoring list them in order from highest to lowest. That guides the priorities of risk management.
Resilience is not about being reactive, but rather about executing plans already in place to mitigate damage and get back on your feet quickly and effectively.
For example, succession planning will make an organization more resilient; replacement planning does not. The distinction? Succession planning is a process to reduce or eliminate significant downside of a key person leaving. Replacement planning means once an employee leaves you tell HR to find someone to take their place.
The former involves effective planning to minimize negative impact in advance of a risk occurring; the latter is a reaction to something that has occurred. The former is evidence of a more resilient organization, the latter of a reactive organization.
Resilience is not a magic elixir. It is easy to observe before it is needed. It is part of running a healthy and enduring business.
For you former Boy or Girl Scouts, it is simply: Be Prepared.
The post Becoming Resilient first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It was not that long ago that most manufacturers and distributors carried entirely too much inventory. The drag on cash flow was never offset by lower costs or higher performance. When we figured that out, we began to lower inventories.
By adding some technology, whether RFID or barcodes or enhanced ERP software, we made it easier to reduce inventories and increase performance. By beginning to pay attention to some of the concepts of the Toyota Production System we put in visual pull systems that enabled us to continue to reduce costs and increase performance.
But by never truly understanding what we were doing, when significant supply chain disruptions hit world-wide, we blamed our tool (allegedly JIT). We overreacted by issuing mass orders at whatever price the market would charge. There we were. Back more than a decade ago with the same miserable results.
Please stop building inventory!
All of the problems and downsides of large inventories remain. Missing a single part still prevents outstanding performance with your customers. Canceling all the blanket orders you placed for “as many as you can get us” in no way represents operational excellence.
A significant number of industries have replicated the wild pendulum swings of electronics, and now the electronics industry has joined that insanity again. Coupled with tax incentives and a tilt toward nationalism, chip plants are under construction everywhere. It’s not hard to foresee trouble approaching.
Those who truly understand “lean thinking” didn’t react to the supply chain disruptions by jacking up orders for everything and issuing customer delivery promises of “god only knows.”
True supply chain partnerships would have had multi-party conversations about who needed what first to actually ship products, not to just have more inventory of something sitting waiting for something else.
Coopetition based on reasonably accurate inventory data and shared supplier production capacities can get everyone up and running much more quickly than threats will. It is a very rare sub-industry that was willing to execute that.
Trust and transparency facilitate playing nice; without those, it’s every man for himself, which means we all fail.
Please stop building inventory. Invest those resources in actually learning what true operational excellence requires, and making the necessary changes.
It is easy to recognize those who had firmly embedded Delusional Excellence®️ instead of the real thing.
The post Please Stop Building Inventory! first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Strategy is one of those important business concepts that many cannot recognize, develop or implement, yet businesses that endure have mastered.
“Growth” is not a strategy, nor is “increase profits.” Those are goals or objectives. Strategy describes the boundaries, priorities and activities within which those will be achieved.
For example, a growth goal may have a supporting strategy of selling more to current customers, expanding geographically or into adjacent markets, or reliable introduction of new products that deliver more value to the the current market. Or, obviously, many other intentions.
It is common to share goals and objectives throughout the organization, if only in general terms. It is much less common to share strategies. That, my friend, is a trait of failure.
Any viable strategy includes insights from up, down, and across the organization, as well as from all five of the company’s constituencies. Execution of any strategy requires comprehension of its intent and constraints up, down, and across the organization — plus the resources required.
Any employee or business constituent who does not understand the strategy at some level and recognize his role in implementing it successfully cannot be expected to act consistently with it.
If you’re asking “what was he thinking?” chances are he was thinking about how best to do his job with the information at hand. Strategy awareness and comprehension of how his actions and decisions impact its execution is as fundamental to success as is how to enter an order or label a package.
How do you build that strategic mindset throughout your organization?
First, build your own strategic thinking muscles. Titles don’t convey skills. A CEO cannot, by mere acceptance of the title, think strategically. A shipping clerk, by mere acceptance of the title, is not limited in thinking strategically. A strategic mindset takes awareness, practice, development, discipline, and challenge.
Next, as you talk with employees, regularly ask “how does this support the strategy?” Or “how does the strategy impact how you think about that?”
Every act and decision by every employee is implementing the strategy, or not. Strategy is not an enacted by a group of leaders in a conference room. They will certainly discuss it, and challenges and opportunities to it that have arisen, but they cannot implement it alone.
Connecting actions and decisions with the strategy is an ongoing responsibility of leadership. As the strategic mindset muscle is built throughout the organization, that responsibility permeates the entire business.
Do not assume everyone knows or understands the strategy, or how it impacts their work. Do not present a PowerPoint of the strategy at a town hall meeting, and believe everyone knows and understands it and how it impacts their work.
Constant communication up, down, and across is integral to developing your strategic mindset. Communication means both listen and talk, augmented by thinking.
A company that can endure over time will build this muscle and keep it healthy.
The post Building Your Strategic Mindset first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The business model in manufacturing and distribution has long been own it, sell it, get paid for it. For most of those companies, it still is.
But our world is changing. The concept of ownership has a very different place in our thinking, as does the concept of value. The potential enabled by rapidly advancing technology is integral in changing thinking about optimal business models.
When I worked for Perdue Farms in the late 1970s, my first major assignment was to build and implement a feed formulation system that would meet nutrient requirements for the chickens at the lowest cost given potential ingredient inventories and market prices.
Computers then weren’t what they are now, but those calculations were easy to perform once the program was written and the inventory, nutrient, and market data for all potential ingredients were available to the model. Updating that information took time, time that is virtually zero now. Advanced technology didn’t eliminate the need for the analysis, but made it much faster.
That use of data was focused internally toward cost reduction. But the thinking can easily be turned externally to identify information incredibly valuable to the market.
You’ve likely heard that airlines are not committed to owning jet engines; what they really want is reliable, fuel-efficient thrust on each of their planes. That means predictive maintenance, well-designed engines and valuable real-time analytics of data converted to information used in flight. And in the design of better engines in the future.
Data from a single engine on a specific plane, from a type of engine on a number of planes, from a type of engine on a variety of types of planes, and more, is changing both current and future operations of the air travel industry. Do you care who owns the engines on the plane you’re flying on today?
We see personal and shared ownership of cars, no ownership of cars (Uber, taxis,), mass transportation, bicycles, walking, and more. The “best” business model depends on value as perceived by the target market, and on the providers ability to actually deliver that value.
If instead of selling your products to customers, you will focus on the amazing value those products can provide, comprehension of real value is the crucial first step. Most of us are not close enough to our markets and do not listen well enough to truly understand that. And most of us struggle to eliminate the assumptions inherent in our thinking — like “it’s all about the product.”
To consider shifting to a subscription business model, your organization must have the awareness and thinking to understand value at every level. That model will not work for you or your customers unless it improves the value proposition for both. That value proposition must not be just a cute quote but a better business result for both for the long term.
What promise could you make to your market that would entice it to shift to you? And equally important, what promise could you think and evolve quickly enough to keep all the time and forever?
It’s much easier to just make something and sell it, but only today. Tomorrow requires much more.
The post Could You Make A Forever Promise? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are you a pneumatic tube operator?
A COO is not a COO is not a COO. While the title Chief Operating Officer should indicate range of responsibilities, it does little to describe them.
Same for a Buyer, a Plant Manager, or an New Product Development Manager.
These titles have very different meanings in a $5M, a $100MM, and a $1B company. They also have very different responsibilities in a contract machine shop, a pharmaceutical business, and an international defense Tier 2 contractor.
And they have different responsibilities and expectations as a single manufacturer or distributor changes volumes, markets, or ownership.
The plant manager of a $50MM contract metal working company was in over his head as it grew to $75MM. He left to become the COO of a less than $10MM machine shop.
So who is responsible for ensuring that an employee or team grows its competencies as the needs of the business change?
Those needs change frequently and never decline. Even plummeting sales do not lessen compliance, performance, and competency expectations of the market. Lifelong learning is a great phrase, and a requirement of the culture embedded in any manufacturer who intends to endure.
Daily constant learning is an even more important phrase and element of culture, as it implies lifelong.
Each employee of every business owns responsibility for willingly learning and expanding skillsets and knowledge base. Each leader at any level owns that responsibility not only for herself, but for every member of her team.
Keeping pace with today’s needs is basic need. Anticipating and meeting tomorrow’s requirements is an equally basic need.
How do you know if the requirements of your job are changing faster than you are? Of your team? Of your entire business? Of your entire supply chain? Of all of your constituencies?
Jobs do not stay the same. Careers do not either.
If you go to work today to do the same things you did yesterday, come home, and go in again tomorrow to do the same things again, your company is in trouble, as is your job.
Sadly, the Social Security Administration continues to use a list of active unskilled jobs that includes “pneumatic tube operator” in considering disability claims. Dowel inspector and shelling nuts are two other jobs it deems in significant numbers to decline benefits to people it believes could do those. Good luck finding one of those openings at a facility near you.
How long until the job you currently perform is just another embarrassing kernel of the SSA list of active unskilled opportunities?
The post How Outdated is Your Job? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When a recorded message for customers is considered a snide comment you’ve failed. Yet the way to fix that is not to prevent customers from calling you.
Each day another company quietly moves from a call center to a contact center. That is the official method of precluding customers from actually talking with someone who could help them.
While AI and bots are better than they were a year or two ago, they are still a long way from actually answering the majority of questions your customers have when they call.
Data abounds to tell us the cost of customer churn, yet based on some accounting analysis we make decisions to reduce costs and increase churn. Yes, the last half of that sentence is an oxymoron.
Looking at a P&L statement, it is much easier to see the costs of personnel who actually help customers than the cost of AI bots that chase them away.
To retain customers, operations must deliver on promises made and additional expectations of the market. Attempted incoming communication by the market is a world of valuable information, if only we actually care. We can collect data on the reasons for calls, using analytics see trends and interrelations that aren’t obvious, and get to root cause.
If contact is repeatedly about status of an order, you can eliminate the majority of those calls through simple technology — which many companies currently use. But problem orders — for example those with a bad tracking number – must be identified and addressed. With no fast reliable means of getting the status from your company, the customer is likely to go elsewhere next time.
The concepts of contact centers instead of call centers, and bots instead of humans, are some of the most expensive ideas we’ve implemented of late. Not only irritating to customers, they fail to capture valuable information that points to root cause. By ignoring root cause, you fail to actually fix the problems that initiate the calls.
If any attempt by a customer to get information from you is important to you, use humans trained to answer questions. Make them quickly available through a multitude of means, including actual human-to-human conversation.
And get to root cause and fix it.
The post My Call is Not Important to You first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The Cleveland Clinic is widely recognized as one of the best medical systems in the world. And its delivery of medical services deserves that recognition.
But its costs are unnecessarily high, its critical medical resources wasted, and its doctors and patients needlessly irritated by its short-sighted approach to scheduling.
Scheduling, an organizational weakness since the mid-1970s based on my own experience, appears to be viewed as a cost center rather than the path to effectiveness.
The Clinic has long used schedulers with no knowledge whatsoever of medical professions. Rather than train and educate, the powers that be prefer schedulers who waste the time of doctors and patients and physical resources by scheduling with the wrong professionals.
There is a significant difference between a cardiologist and a electro-physiologist cardiologist. There is a significant difference between a retina specialist and an ophthalmologist. But the schedulers don’t understand those terms and schedule patients accordingly. And on it goes.
Now the Clinic is reducing costs by not printing after-visit summaries when the patient leaves.
Those should have never been printed in the first place for any patients comfortable with MyChart, the online capability and app that includes all that information. HIPPA laws focus on confidentiality, but needlessly printing confidential paperwork for patients who then accidentally leave it in the bathroom or at Starbucks is below mediocre.
Your manufacturing business must make high quality products and deliver them to your customers in the quantity and elapsed time that the market demands. That’s a given. That’s the equivalent of the Clinic delivering excellent care.
But, like the Clinic, your business has supporting processes that are required. Those are often the source of high costs, time-burning organizational friction, and the waste of critical resources.
Mediocrity in those support processes can cost your business its future.
I’ve served leaders of manufacturing companies with my strategic insights and experience for over 30 years. I am not an engineer and have never been able to explain how to make a machine run faster.
But that is never the primary problem preventing excellence in a manufacturing business. If you believe it is your major obstacle, hire an engineer to work on that.
Be warned, your business will not thrive because you took that action. Nor will the Clinic thrive by ordering physicians to see more patients in an hour.
Mediocrity in support processes will betray any excellence products and services offer.
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A number of manufacturers have announced plans to leave China, primarily due to the upheaval in Hong Kong and impacts of the government’s “zero covid” policy.
But what’s the destination?
If a leader does not completely understand why his operations strategy involves leaving one location for another, how will success be measured?
Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other popular southeast Asian manufacturing locations may be little better than China. Government uncertainly? Port challenges? Distance from major markets?
Before moving operations from or to anywhere, begin with a clear understanding of “why?” What problems are you trying to overcome, or what benefits do you intend to gain? What risks become higher, and which become lower?
Manufacturers left the United States in search of cheap labor because they didn’t know how else to be cost competitive with new foreign competition. Standard accounting reports made direct labor an obvious target, and gave operations leadership an easy out. Why not hold them accountable for reducing costs without moving operations?
Most leadership thinks in terms of 5% improvements, not 50% improvement. That’s a leadership problem facilitated by accounting and by business schools.
As you consider leaving China, or Russia, or any other location, define the objectives of success.
When first moving to China, did you consider the obvious risk of the extended supply chain? Apparently not, or it was one you accepted.
Some decisions result in negative impacts that were acceptable risk. Decisions that result in negative impacts because obvious risks were ignored reflect poor leadership. Decisions that are defined by actions (e.g., “leave China”) without examining alternatives thoroughly are, except in case of true emergency, poor leadership.
If you plan to move your operations out of China, where will you move them to?
Why?
The post Moving Manufacturing Operations From China Because..... first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As we advanced from craftsmen through the industrial revolution, Henry Ford decided the best way to make automobiles was a 100% vertically integrated business model. In 1917 his River Rouge plant brought in iron ore at one end, and shipped out finished cars at the other.
That’s one type of supply chain, one he found very difficult to execute.
Most of us used the term “purchasing” to describe locating, buying, and bringing in the materials and components required to make our products. Buyer, Senior Buyers, Buyer-Planners, and Purchasing Director jobs became plentiful. And, for the most part, clerical.
In the late 1900s we decide to “upskill” — at least the term — and refer to those people as Supply Chain. The work remained largely unchanged, but the term sounded good.
We described the suppliers involved down one level to infinity as our supply chain. We knew from professional education that “supply chain” spanned from our suppliers’ suppliers to our customer’s customers, but our thinking and behavior changed little.
But with that definition the visual of an actual supply chain, with each company represented by a link, evolved. Surely there was a “weakest link” that we could focus on. But it was never that linear in either direction, unless you were Henry Ford in 1917.
As economies developed and manufacturers grew, business became more complex. Buyers, regardless of current department titles, found suppliers with more regard for price and delivery than for simplicity or mutual advantage. We multi-sourced most items, and our suppliers did as well.
That pretty visual of a supply chain in no way represented the supply mush that evolved.
And now we want our supply chain, make that mush, to accept and design in responsibility for the environment, begetting the conceptual circular supply chain.
The prior reality of each company handing of responsibility for the environment to its customer was simple. Unfortunately, it has left us with a big mess.
So our supply mush has created an environmental mess, and we’ve discovered that we don’t even have a clue about this “supply chain” concept we thought we were managing.
Design for reuse is one concept that a company can use to individually reduce the impact of its product on our world. Accepting responsibility through the entire product life cylce — and I don’t mean cash cow cycle, but rather birth to death — is an important concept, but one publicly held manufacturers are lax to pursue.
Your job is not to create world peace.
As a leader in a manufacturing organization, it is your responsibility to understand your current sourcing and value-delivery structures. Not only in theory, but in practice. Concepts like Total Cost of Ownership have been around for decades, but few actually use them in execution. If that TCO includes environmental impact, reluctance will only grow.
The planet will be just fine. It is the human race that suffers from the short-sighted behaviors of humans and decisions they make as company leaders.
It is time to become responsible adults.
Understand your current material supply infrastructure. Define its success in terms of meeting the mission of your organization compatibly with core values. Determine the strategic supply infrastructure that best accomplishes that, and begin the transition.
If your company is to endure, it cannot leave the world in worse shape than it found it.
Standing as the last man on earth reporting quarterly earnings is not winning.
The post Is Yours a Supply Chain, Or Supply Mush? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
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Is the time you sell to your employer time well spent? If it puts food on the table, shelter over your head, and clothes on …
The post Does Your Job Matter? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
If ambiguity is a major problem within your manufacturing organization your leadership likely demonstrates cognitive dissonance with regularity. Hypocrisy at its most obvious, cognitive dissonance …
The post Cognitive Dissonance Cripples Manufacturers first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The latest entry on our buzzword bingo cards is “future proof.” In reaction to the worldwide pandemic and ongoing supply chain disruption we’ve begun using …
The post The Insanity of Future Proofing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
You face numerous external obstacles to success, and those you identify and address. But your internally generated obstacles are often overlooked entirely. Surprising to many …
The post Low Expectations in Manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
No manufacturing organization can become successful, much less enduring, without a leadership team and culture that is disciplined. We all know that variability negatively impacts …
The post Disciplined Leadership first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Entirely too many leaders refuse to lead. The evidence? They refuse to sequence priorities and share the reasoning of that sequence with all employees to …
The post Leveraging Priorities first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Most everyone is declaring the importance of innovation and an innovative culture to future success. And many claim to offer both now. Not true in …
The post Iterative or Innovative? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Energy around the world is now expensive and in many places unavailable. The transition from carbon-based to renewables is coming, and brings with it complexities …
The post Your Energy Crisis first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Full transparency is coming to your manufacturing business. People are demanding it. Technology is enabling it. The 2021 supply chain disruptions demonstrated the need for …
The post Implications of Transparency first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
To endure a manufacturing business must continually metamorphose into an organization delivering increasing value to all of its constituents. Why? Because the competition is not …
The post Manufacturing Metamorphosis Imperative first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Snow storms and federal government shutdowns introduced the concept of “essential workers” decades ago. COVID-19 not only brought it front and center; the pandemic completely …
The post Becoming Essential first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
“May you live in interesting times.” We certainly do. Supply chain shortages like we’ve never seen, an international pandemic that continues to mutate, and strong …
The post Overcoming Your Labor Shortage first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Organizational structure is a strategic choice and should not simply default to “what we’ve always done.” Companies are often organized by skill set or primary …
The post Organizational Structure is A Choice first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It wasn’t difficult to see this coming. This podcast from 2013 explained how chasing cheap labor was very short sighted and doomed to fail. The …
The post Cheap Labor is NOT the Goal! first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I want to discuss with you disruptive technologies and specifically additive manufacturing. I have been a volunteer with the association for manufacturing excellence for about …
The post Is Additive Disruptive? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Fear can paralyze; risk can be managed. The Delta variant of Covid-19 is spreading primarily among the unvaccinated. We are currently facing supply and demand …
The post Managing the Delta Effects first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
My book Manufacturing Mastery: The Path to Building Successful and Enduring Manufacturing Businesses will be available September 1, 2021. For pre-orders, I am offering benefits …
The post PreOrder Benefits: Manufacturing Mastery first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
With labor, plastics, chips, cans and many other global shortages, demand is far greater than supply for many manufacturers. The question is: How best do …
The post Allocation of Insufficient Supply first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It’s one thing to focus on eliminating problems between shipment and delivery, the typical point of supply chain visibility. It’s quite another to discover there …
The post Strategic Supply Chain Visibility first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It’s not shipping on time that matters; it is receiving on time. That is true for you, and for your customers. That means manufacturers can …
The post Supply Chain Visibility first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Industrial Internet of Things is the digitization of important variables, with that data converted into information that creates faster and better decision making. Business leaders …
The post IIoT Programming is Easy first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is by definition about the digitization of factors important to your business operations that is not currently captured as …
The post Industrial Internet of Things -- Data Considerations first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Saying your mission is to be the best at whatever it is that you do, using whatever technology you use, is meaningless to the outside …
The post How to Define a Mission that Matters first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Mission, vision, and core value statements were once considered serious. And then fluff, because companies had them, but didn’t live them. Thank goodness we’re never …
The post Why Mission Matters to Your Business first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
CEOs, COOs, and consultants like myself do NOT know everything. We shouldn’t pretend to, nor expect ourselves to. We do need to constantly focus on …
The post Learning from Observation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Inconvenience and risk are present in our manufacturing businesses every day. Some should not prevent us from moving forward now; others represent to much potential …
The post Move Forward Now, or Delay? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Last week’s podcast exposed my frustration with executives and journalists who claim to understand lean but obviously, to me and my opinionated thinking, do not. Today …
The post Lean is NOT Toyota's system first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times are fact-based high-quality newspapers. Each has acquired ‘political leanings’ in some of their writing, but for …
The post JIT is NOT the Problem! first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When I was growing up in manufacturing a primary point of friction between leadership and production workers was “quality or quantity.” Leaders did not understand …
The post Don't Accept False Choices first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I wish we would all quit acting like everything was “normal,” implying steady and predictable, before Covid. It’s like we’ve all decided to recall “the …
The post Your Age of Discontinuity first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As manufacturers are searching high and low for employees, it is crucial that we not make bad hiring decisions out of a sense of desperation. …
The post Attracting the Best Candidates first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I hope you have a mission for why your manufacturing company exists, and that you have some kind of vision for what it should look …
The post Getting From Here to There first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today’s topic is “how fast should your company improve?” While the bottom-line answer is the same for most all manufacturers, it is worth first looking …
The post How Fast Should You Improve? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
People want what they want when they want it. That’s hardly a crazy concept; just one most manufacturers don’t believe applies to them. But it …
The post How User Controlled Pull Impacts Manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
While the integral role of supply chain, which includes inventory decisions, has become more obvious to everyone, and college degrees in supply chain are increasing, …
The post What is Strategic Inventory? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Well, you’ve certainly had a chance to see just how strong your supply chain is, as well as how well your organization can plan and …
The post How to Learn From Experience first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In a recent webinar, attendees responded to a poll by answering that uncertainty around Covid is one of the biggest concerns about 2021. It shouldn’t …
The post Covid Uncertainty in 2021 first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Since IBM’s Watson, many have hoped that Artificial Intelligence, or AI, would be able to rummage through a pile of data, pick out what is …
The post AI for Manufacturing Leaders first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I believe Operations should be responsible for customer retention and customer service. Marketing creates awareness, Sales brings in new customers, and it is operational performance …
The post Killing Customer Service first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
If your manufacturing business is not designed to ensure robust processes within speed, cost, quality, and agility parameters; if your business is not designed to …
The post Design Your Manufacturing Business first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Manufacturers typically fall into three categories: those with proprietary products sold under their brand names, those who contract manufacture for others, and those who do both. …
The post How Contract Manufacturers Can Thrive first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
An exception to our 6 minute limit, this 30 minute podcast addresses “what are current supply chain conditions internationally?” “What is the challenge with vaccine …
The post How are Global Supply Chain, Covid Vaccine Distribution, and China Changing Now? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Now that approved vaccines for Covid-19 exist, why is it so difficult to get them from the manufacturers into the hands of those who inject, …
The post Vaccine Distribution Is Not That Difficult first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Some insist that “electronic Kanban,” an alleged “pull” system, and increased ERP responsiveness replace the pull of a visual gemba-based kanban. Not true. Whether push …
The post Push or Pull, Revisited first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
There are those who say problem solving looks backwards and innovation looks forward. I would argue that sometimes effective problem solving requires innovation and sometimes …
The post Problem Solve, or Innovate? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When Sirius and XM satellite radio were first developed, the skeptics asked why anyone would ever pay for radio when they could already get it …
The post Trends You Cannot Ignore first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The words “thank you,” said with honest energy mean a lot to the person receiving them. This has been one heck of a year for …
The post Thank You first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Everyone believes “things will be different around here when I’m in charge!” But different isn’t necessarily better, now is it? Consider these characteristics of very …
The post Secrets of Successful Leaders first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
One of the many challenges of being a smaller manufacturer is that customers expect just as much value from you as from anyone else. No …
The post Digitization of Manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Your business has metrics that you invest in recording and considering. In normal times you know generally how to interpret them. You can quickly perceive …
The post Are Your Leading Indicators Leading You? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Loyalty must be very important to companies today. Hotels, airlines, rental cars all offer loyalty programs. So to do clothing and grocery stores. Even my …
The post Earning Loyalty The Easy Way first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
For many years the phrase fit for purpose referred to whether or not a consumer product could adequately perform the function or functions for which …
The post Is Your Leadership Adequate? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
What a few months ago we called crisis and swirling ambiguity we now call life. Spreading equipment apart, requiring facemasks inside, sanitizing every surface that …
The post What the 3rd Wave Means for You first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A few days ago, I received an email from the owner/CEO of a former client company, saying “I think I need to hire you.” The …
The post We All Need a Lifeline first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Manufacturers have numerous policies in place. Attendance, customer returns, payment terms, and more. The vast majority are because of a lack of trust in employees …
The post Policy Policies in Manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A recent LinkedIn post of mine attracted responses from a wide variety of degree’d professionals — biologists, film, ethics, psychology. I asked what from their …
The post Manufacturing--Does the Degree Matter? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Would you describe your business culture as accountable? Many CEOs I talk with want more accountability in their organizations and are not quite sure how …
The post The Discipline of Accountability in Manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I saw today that two privately held manufacturers in the Greater Cleveland Ohio area are investing heavily in expanding their production footprint. I am excited …
The post Should Manufacturers Invest Now? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
There are two primary reasons why any business would change: Fear, or Opportunity. Today, how can any manufacturing business in North America not see a …
The post Quit Searching for a Case For Change first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The paucity of adequate contingency planning for our supply chains became apparent early in the COVID-19 emergency. Sensitivity analysis with contingencies is an active responsibility …
The post Is Your Supply Chain Safe Now? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It’s easy to lose focus on the important things as we bounce from one shiny object to another. These four questions will ensure your team …
The post Four Questions To Ask Your Team first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Despite the fact that none of us can predict the future, all of us know some of what is coming. And most of us can …
The post What Do We Really Know? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Leaders are supposed to make the tough decisions. And the important ones. But everyone else should be capable of making good decisions as well, the …
The post Making Good Decisions first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It is very likely that your business model will have to change within a few short years. Here I share 3 quick examples to help …
The post Evolving Business Models first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I am writing a book under contract with Taylor & Francis. In doing so I am leveraging several of Alan Willett’s Lead With Speed insights …
The post Lead With Speed first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Managers who delay necessary actions often do so out of a distaste for conflict. I’ll bet you can think of 2 or 3 decisions you …
The post Decide. It Will Hurt Much Less. first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Your business will be most successful when you consider it a culmination of a series of races, some run simultaneously, and each one that you …
The post Why Finish Strong®? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Business strategy, supply chain and operations strategy, mission, vision and core values are inextricably linked. If you didn’t realize that before you should now. This …
The post Opportunities for Manufacturers From This Crisis first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Most of us are sick and tired of Zoom meetings. The quick move from office to work-from-home changed the way we communicate and develop relationships. …
The post Stop Wasting Time! first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Globalization is one of those Pandora’s Boxes that once opened, cannot be closed. And like Pandora’s Box, hope remains despite the current experiences of pain …
The post Is Globalization Dead? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As we find ourselves fighting COVID, an economic crisis, limited travel, and protests on the street, The Boston Globe has announced a new hiring plan …
The post Changing the System first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
My 89-year-old mother lives a 2-day drive away, and asked that I visit her. During COVID, the standard risk assessment had picked up another key …
The post I Decided to Fly first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The aftermath of COVID-19 and the associated socioeconomic impacts have thrown ice water on the dreams of most manufacturers. Markets are gone; competitors are arising …
The post Your Dreams Were Just An Illusion first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
To ingrain a new culture, and for many companies that is a culture of innovation, we know we must quit doing what we’ve always done …
The post Should You Defund Innovation? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The front pages are shouting about broken supply chains as the world fights COVID-19. But are they broken? I suggest they are not; they are …
The post Is Your Supply Chain Broken? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
During COVID-19 (now in the Spring of 2020) executives of mid-size manufacturers said they are focusing on 3 important things: (1) maintaining staff productivity (46%), …
The post Don't Forget Your Customers! first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The brief trailer below explains what value you can expect to receive, at what frequency and length, when subscribing to this podcast. It is specifically …
The post Podcast Trailer:Finish Strong® first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Success manifests itself when your tagline and brand promise exist in reality. When they are in fact what the customer experiences. Here I describe four …
The post Does Your Tagline Exist in Reality? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
We’ve all met thousands of people over the years. Some stay in our lives, others leave. Does your “inner onion” reflect net value to you, …
The post Are Your Relationships Worth It? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Organizations that want to be agile must have, among other things, agile employees. Cross training is well known, but few consider it strategically, as it …
The post The Power of Cross Training Matrices first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
We all agree that speed is important to business success. Yet, when it comes to making decisions we seem to take forever. Why is that? …
The post Decisions can be made quickly first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The Pareto Principle is well known but our changing world now requires us to truly understand what is behind it. In many cases what was …
The post It's time to understand Pareto first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In August of 1981 a massive assault on the music business model began when MTV went on air for the first time. It’s inaugural video: …
The post Will Technology Kill the Small Manufacturer? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Being constantly good is not good enough. Expectations rise. The common question is ‘what have you done for me lately?’ What have you done for …
The post What Have You Done For Me Lately? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The variety of challenges you face today can easily be overwhelming. Tariffs. Low labor rate countries. China. Shortage of skilled people. But none of those …
The post Complacency first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
By changing what we call something, we don’t make it any more valuable. Yet in many companies today we use popular words like transformation and …
The post A Rose Is a Rose; A Skunk Cabbage Is Not a Rose first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I’ve yet to visit an operation where I couldn’t learn something. It’s all about preparation, focus, and expectations. Consider these ideas on how to maximize …
The post How To Learn From a Plant Visit first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Phillip Crosby stunned many when in 1980 he published the book Quality is Free. In manufacturing we believed there was a choice between quality and …
The post Quality and Education Are Free first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Life isn’t fair. Neither is business. It’s important to be ready when bad things happen. The Boy Scouts said “be prepared.” It’s hard to argue …
The post When Bad Things Happen To Good Companies first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Without understanding the game and our role in it; without a scoreboard that reflects our impact on success – how do we know if we’re …
The post What Is Winning? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When a company has made significant gains in operational efficiency and believes it has an ingrained improvement mentality, it can be tempting to let the …
The post Complacent Competency first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
We can all learn from anyone if we want to. But it is especially important to have avatars – people who embody the traits or …
The post Avatars Much More Important Than A Movie first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
"Interlinks with Patrick Daly". On today's show Patrick is joined by Rebecca Morgan from Fulcrum ConsultingWorks, Inc.
The post Patrick Daly of Interlinks Interviews Rebecca Morgan first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A great product or service can be provided before its time, or after, or exactly right. Sociology is as important to that timing as technology …
The post Are breakthrough products driven by sociology or technology first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
An unpleasant culture will not attract the best. Not the best customers, suppliers, employers or investors. Whether you want a culture of collaboration, of innovation, …
The post Building the culture that you want to work in first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Why don’t we treat the important physical assets of our manufacturing companies with the love and attention we would give a Lamborghini? Infrastructure may not …
The post Is your Infrastructure a Lamborghini first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The fire chief in town is not consumed by fighting fires. Why would a good leader be? Time to think and learn is the most …
The post Why Effective Leaders Prioritize Time to Think first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
If you want to improve efficiencies, eliminate unwanted turnover, or better serve your customers, eliminate problems. If your organization struggles to wipe problems out forever, …
The post Three Problem Elimination Essentials first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Demographics change who is buying and creates new demands by the customer. Demographics predictably change your workforce and leadership of every constituency your business has. …
The post What do demographics mean for your manufacturing business first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Customers, suppliers, employees, investors, the community – none of them are satisfied with the status quo. How do successful manufacturers stay on top of all …
The post Keeping up with changing expectations first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
If people want to be part of the gig economy, and more and more do every day, we manufacturers must integrate that option into our …
The post Manufacturing and the gig economy first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
New business models are sprouting for manufacturers. One of them is product-as-a-service. All major changes are uncomfortable, and exciting – including this one. Is it …
The post Should your product be a service first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A process for implementing IoT in your manufacturing business is important. Don’t just start putting in sensors, but rather follow the steps outlined in the …
The post Success with IoT in your manufacturing business first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Transformation is a buzzword in common usage, but the word itself has real meaning. It is so much more than change. If you truly see …
The post The number one impediment to transformation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Yes, technology is a common thread to the disruption of many industries. But technology is the great enabler, not the focus. Socioeconomic factors, as in …
The post It is not about the technology first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When someone enters your space using new technology, you can fight to protect your space the way you always have. But no one can stop …
The post You can learn from Napster today first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Business strategy relies on wise technology choices. There is a need for at least summary understanding of rapidly advancing technology options. Here’s why you can’t …
The post Why manufacturing leaders must be technologically literate now first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
No. You cannot ignore smart manufacturing. But you don’t have to do it all right now either. Consider these suggestions for how to evaluate smart …
The post Can I ignore smart manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
If all five of your constituencies are not feeling the benefit from your improvement efforts, your improvements are likely delusional. You need steak, not sizzle.
The post Are you practicing delusional improvement first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Political and religious arguments are front page news. Some businesses have chosen to take a stand; some very visibly, others under the radar. Here is …
The post When should your company take a stand first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
ERP, Lean, Industry 4.0; does a manufacturer need to do all of these? How do you know where to utilize the power of any of …
The post Does industry 4.0 replace lean first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
How should the new operations leader set her initial priorities? There are both known and unknown challenges that will arise. Here are the steps you …
The post The First Priority of the New Operations Executive first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Why price shopping expert consultants is not in your best interest: There is always someone cheaper, and always someone more expensive. But that refers to …
The post The problem with price shopping first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Customer satisfaction depends as much on your ability to simply do the little things well as on very specialized requirements they may have. These fundamentals …
The post It’s the little things first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Marketing commonly segments customers and markets, but operations rarely does beyond shipping requirements. You can deliver so much more value to your customers by operations …
The post Why operations should segment customers too first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Do you want to compete in commodity markets? Even when a market starts out specialized, they can devolve into regular rebid situations. The big volumes …
The post Anywhere but automotive first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Your legacy is not yet defined. Consider these suggestions to ensure it’s one that truly matters. It’s never too late to reassess your priorities and …
The post The important aspect of legacy first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
How should lean expertise be integrated into your organization? Consider these pros and cons of options and ask yourself the most important question of all.
The post Is lean just another silo? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Many of us in manufacturing are familiar with the concept of punch lists. It’s a common ending of a kaizen event. This construction industry concept …
The post The problem with punch lists first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Not every manufacturer has an operations strategy, but none are better off without it. Consider these six questions to assess and improve the value of …
The post Testing the value of your operations strategy first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
What if customers cannot be trusted to define value? Are some entire industries waste? Who should define true value? What brings net positive value to …
The post Waste isn’t defined by customers first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
To change the world, we need to envision a changed world; that’s much easier said than done. The pace of life altering change is accelerating. …
The post Envisioning a drastically different future first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It’s easier than it seems, and more difficult. Easy because it’s all about you; difficult because it’s all about you. Consider these specific examples of …
The post Cultures of motivation and accountability first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
None of us is right all the time. Where is the line between the strong belief that requires “all-in” and confidence supported by risk management? …
The post The danger of “all-in” first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Do you wish your employees would make better decisions more often? “Nudge” is a concept that encourages paternalism and choice architecture to improve decision-making. Take …
The post Nudging Your Employees first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
You work hard in your business, and are intimately familiar with all the distinctions that make your company special. But you’re really not all that …
The post But Will it Work in My Business? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
We’re all surrounded by “best practices” in our own businesses, in our industry, and across manufacturing. The reality is that best practices are the low …
The post Beyond Best Practices first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It might seem that competitive advantage is a good thing, a key to success. But not all are created equal. In fact, a competitive advantage …
The post Strategic Relevance first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Consider these 6 building blocks to successful innovation. It’s not starting from a blank sheet of paper, nor waiting for lightening to strike. It’s a …
The post Creating Profitable Innovation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Executives make dangerous assumptions. Too often, in a hurry to move along to the next thing, they assume a decision made is a decision implemented, …
The post Dangerous Assumptions first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Short-term, biased, egotistical decisions can be very expensive for any organization. Political leadership has led to the US Military, the best in the world, losing …
The post It sounded good at the time first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Have you ever wondered why some cultures morph into their surroundings, while others do not? Failure to sufficiently consider differing cultures during a merger and …
The post Culture: A Critical Success Factor in Mergers and Acquisitions first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
How do merging operations balance the need for speed, throughput and quality of their multiple innovation processes during the difficult first 18 months? Innovation was …
The post Profitable innovation while executing a merger first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
M&A deals rarely accomplish the great financial success outlined in the agreements. Failures in integrating operations dominate those unsatisfactory transactions. About 2 years ago I …
The post Rationalization: Successful Integration of Operations Requires It first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Sharing of knowledge and technology while merging operations will not happen automatically or well without a defined plan. This is true within an organization, and …
The post Knowledge and technology optimization in Mergers & Acquisitions first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Success of any merger or acquisition depends on the effective integration of operations. My earlier series on that operations integration addressed 8 key factors, one …
The post Supply Chain Management in Mergers & Acquisitions first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Why do so many Mergers and Acquisitions fail to find promised success? These next several podcast expand on an earlier series in which I addressed …
The post Follow This Process for Successful Integration of Manufacturing Operations first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
While your experience working for a PE firm-owned manufacturer may have been miserable and driven by short term views, that world is changing significantly. More …
The post The Private Equity Game has Changed for Manufacturers first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
If you’re not designing for re-use, your operations are making a serious mistake. You may not believe in Global Warming, but maximizing market share and …
The post Design for Reuse Continues to Evolve first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Do you know what your true competitive advantage is? Learn from the folks at Piaggio, who design and produce some of the best transportation available …
The post Strategy Lessons from Italian Manufacturer Piaggio first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
You don’t need CNC operators or machinists nearly as much as you need the one skill that truly matters long term to successful manufacturing companies. …
The post The Only Manufacturing Skills Shortage That Matters first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
On average, manufacturing companies must succeed with average people. Here is advice on how to do just that in your manufacturing operations.
The post Succeeding With Average People first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
There are certainties within the ambiguity of radical change in manufacturing companies. And achieving your vision likely requires change far beyond continuous improvement. Consider these …
The post Clarity And Ambiguity To Attain Your Vision first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Why is CI insufficient for long term success, and what can you do about it? Here is advice for all manufacturing leaders to create operations …
The post Continuous Learning Outperforms Continuous Improvement first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Every manufacturing business is being disrupted, soon if not right now. These examples of how to recognize disruption and think about your required “big turn” …
The post Are You Ready To Make A Big Turn? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Waiting for genius to strike doesn’t work in New Product Development (NPD) in manufacturing. You have a business to run, and serendipity is not a …
The post Creativity Is Not A Random Event first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains why lack of trust infiltrating your organization is a significant source of friction that slows transactions and relationships, and what you can do …
The post Trust is the Ultimate Lubricant first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It’s not about the app; it never will be. Like most technology, it’s about what it can do for your business. Fast effective onboarding is …
The post Why You Should Care About Apps first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Your product becomes indispensable when others build it into their business model. Cell phones are only one example of that. What are the options to …
The post Make Your Product Indispensable first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
What are the fundamental questions you must answer to help each of your 5 constituencies become more successful because of their relationship with you? Not …
The post Life Preservers in A Sea of Data first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi is best known for the art of his construction. It is unlike any others you will see. As is true for …
The post Sagrada Familia: A Journey of Excellence first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As I write this, I sit in a rental flat in the beautiful city of Barcelona. I have walked about 5 miles each day so …
The post Design In Safety and Effectiveness: Lessons From Barcelona first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares several ideas for making your new hire productive from day one.
The post Fast, Effective Onboarding first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Many people believe that technical expertise is required for manufacturing success. Here Becky explains 6 elements of mindset that you will need.
The post The Success Mindset first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
How can a manufacturing operations leader stay abreast of evolving trends, decide which to prioritize and move forward without making the big mistake? Rebecca shares …
The post Converting General Trends To Specific Actions first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares some inexpensive and simple methods to be manage your business risks, from customers, suppliers, employees, product, and evil intent. Executive Summary: We can’t …
The post So Much Risk, So Little Money first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Not everything is learned in Kindergarten – Rebecca explains key lessons she learned from her mentor Ed along her journey of lifelong learning. These simple lessons will help you too.
The post Business Lessons From Ed first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains how to plan a supplier conference so that everyone benefits.
The post Creating A Valuable Supplier Conference first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Here’s how to keep your best employees, even when you don’t have a lot of promotion opportunities.
The post How To Keep Your Best Employees first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses how to make your organization so enticing that potential customers can’t say no to you.
The post You Can’t Not Buy From Us first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Making your organizational metrics worth the cost, and your KPI’s truly KEY.
The post Three Measures Of Effective Metrics first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
There is no such thing as no risk. This podcast describes how to ensure risk management balances overall and portfolio risks compatible with organizational goals while not slowing down the process.
The post Making Risk Management Worthwhile first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
An environment of fear prevents successful growth. Sometimes the fear is rational, but more often it is not. Responsible leadership communicates proactively, and speaks honestly and boldly at all times.
The post To Fear Or Not To Fear first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Most of us know that “one piece flow” is generally preferable to large batches in production. Yet we continue to volunteer for large costly batches in our office processes. Stop it!
The post Batching Is Bad Business first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares insights on how key metrics can lead to short-sighted decisions, even widely accepted metrics like productivity.
The post The Upside Of Declining Productivity first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses the Internet of Things and how we can gain experience at a reasonable cost. Then you’ll know the questions integral to development of …
The post Dipping Your Toe Into IoT first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares how to idenitfy people who can create a future that we can’t even predict, and succeed there.
The post Recognizing Those Who Create The Future first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca creates awareness of our manufacturing bubbles, and why success requires escaping them.
The post Escaping Our Manufacturing Bubbles first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares her insights from J. Forrester and her own personal experiences.
The post Lessons From J. Forrester first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca shares why safe, professional disagreement is necessary for your company to thrive long-term.
The post Is Your Culture Too Nice first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains how nurturing your relationship with customers is just as important as any other personal relationship.
The post Providing Distinctive Service Is Easier Than You Think first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca describes how clear prioritization will accomplish important projects when needed better than will deadlines.
The post The Dysfunction Of Deadlines first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Passion means people care, but it can also be divisive. Rebecca discusses four keys to ensuring all your stakeholders are passionate about organizational decisions, and …
The post The Passion Ingredient In Your Operation’s Success first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca shares a three-step process for operations-based analysis of social media as a contributor to your profitability.
The post Here’s How Social Media Can Improve Your Manufacturing Operation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Does your data tell the truth? The data can be true, but wrong. The analysis can be valid, but misleading. With the expanding importance of …
The post Statistics Don’t Lie: Statisticians Do first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca describes how to assess and stretch company and employee comfort zones to ensure that the company thrives.
The post Stretching Your Comfort Zone first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains how hiring company practices contribute to failure to attract and hire good employees, with 3 specific actions you can take to change that.
The post Solving The Skills Shortage In Your Operation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are you looking for action oriented, or results oriented leaders? Rebecca explains why either alone is a bad idea and how to blend the two …
The post Why Seeking Action Oriented Employees Is A Bad Idea first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses how the components of the previous podcasts fit together and prevent the obstacles your transformational efforts will face if they are not firmly embedded within your team.
The post Transforming Operations.Transforming Business™.Components - Are You Ready? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca demonstrates the three aspects of leadership vision that a successful business metamorphosis requires.
The post Transforming Operations.Transforming Business™.Vision. first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca describes the three leadership behaviors imperative to successful transformation of your operations and your business.
The post Transforming Operations. Transforming Business™. Behaviors. first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Do you want to lead, follow, or slip into oblivion? Rebecca shares why transforming operations is a prerequisite to transforming your business.
The post Should Business Transformation Be In Your Future? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca explains how to ensure the Internet of Things brings value to your organization rather than wasted spending.
The post The First Five Steps In Creating Your IoT Strategy first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses parts rationalization as one step in reducing the complexity of your operations.
The post Five Reasons Manufacturers Need Parts Rationalization first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains postponement strategy and discusses whether or not it’s right for you.
The post Is A Postponement Strategy Right For Your Operations? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses examples of strategic, process and tactical inventory management blunders that many make, but you can avoid.
The post Five Preventable Inventory Management Blunders first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains why the direct vs. indirect ratio isn’t as important as accounting would have us believe.
The post Is The Direct vs. Indirect Labor Distinction Important? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares an easy way to honestly assess if your products, service and relationships are competitive, distinct or breakthrough, and why each must continually evolve to achieve prosperity.
The post I’d Hope So first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Is it time to problem solve the future? Rebecca explains why no business can enjoy continued success by focusing on the past, and how to use well known tools to create the future.
The post Problem Solve The Future first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca explains why it matters that we realize none of us are really self-made.
The post Are Any Of Us Really Self-Made? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In the final segment of the three part series, Rebecca discusses how to use the sharing economy model effectively.
The post The Manufacturing Sharing Economy – How – Part 3 of 3 first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In the second part of this three part series Rebecca shares multiple examples of what manufacturing needs can be met by the sharing economy model.
The post The Manufacturing Sharing Economy – What – Part 2 of 3 first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this first of a three part series, Rebecca shares five reasons that manufacturing will soon incorporate the sharing economy model.
The post The Manufacturing Sharing Economy – Why – Part 1 of 3 first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Leverage this diagnostic tool to plan and improve the future of your company.
The post Six Major Challenges Every Manufacturer Faces first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are traditional buyers becoming obsolete? Rebecca explains what supply chain expertise is needed, and what is not.
The post Manufacturing Strategies – Eliminate Traditional Buyers first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Resist the urge to simply accept what you’re told. These three tips will help you challenge with respect and quickly get the quality information you need.
The post Manufacturing Strategy Execution: The Challenge Of Challenging first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares a specific example of how coaching is different from managing, along with three routine avenues to take in speeding your transition.
The post The Practical Difference Between Coaching And Managing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains how to properly maintain equipment for years to come, making Accounting’s depreciation schedule even more irrelevant to operations.
The post Depreciation Is Only An Accounting Concept first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today Rebecca shows how popular tools taught in most MBA schools, including SWOT and MBOs, easily become destructive.
The post Are You Using These Three Popular But Dangerous MBA Tools? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Is decision-making in your organization degraded by the Fog of Familiarity? Listen to these three tactics to clear the fog in your organization.
The post The Fog Of Familiarity first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Many “you have to do this” technology-driven capabilities cripple companies for years before becoming an asset. Here’s how to ensure IOT is a positive for your company right away.
The post How To Leverage The Internet Of Things first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
What is preventing your organization from achieving desired speed? Consider these three common speed bumps faced by manufacturers.
The post Are These Speed Bumps Slowing You Down? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Distracted leadership can have horrifying impacts. Consider these three ways to know if your business has become distracted and three ways to refocus to important issues.
The post Is Your Organization Distracted? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains differences between push and pull systems, two alternatives in manufacturing scheduling and inventory control.
The post Push Or Pull first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The best of the best work with coaches - Rebecca shares why she does, and why you should consider it too.
The post Put Me In Coach! first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Who’s defining the expectations of your market? Rebecca explains why today’s buyers expect great performance in every facet of their lives, and what to do about it.
The post Meeting Your Customer’s Expectations first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When something fails over 90% of the time, it’s usually tossed to the curb. Lean implementations fail at least that often. Why do they fail …
The post Why Lean Fails So Often first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses how underserved markets can be highly profitable with the right strategy.
The post Race To The Middle first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca describes paying attention to customer data and leveraging it to improve manufacturing operations.
The post Don’t Just Collect Data – Leverage It first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today Rebecca reminds us that profits can hide poor decision-making – decsions manufacturings would never make in tighter times.
The post The Problem With Profits first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
What business opportunities are we missing just because we haven’t given it enough new thought? Rebecca explains thinking differently to bring more value to the market.
The post What Is Your Camel? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca asks if you have blinder mentality and shares three trends that could impact your future.
The post Don’t Miss These Three Trends Impacting Your Industry first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares ways to avoid ERP nightmares in your company.
The post The Most Expensive ERP Mistakes Manufacturers Make first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses three factors to effectively manage the risk of big customers, whether a big name or current customers that are growing rapidly.
The post What Everyone Should Know About Big Customers first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Inventory can turn from asset into wasted space and money very quickly. Rebecca shares three ways to keep this from happening to you.
The post Three Quick Ways To Turn Inventory Into Cash first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today Rebecca discusses role models and describes learning vision and communication from the best.
The post Becoming Michelangelo Reagan – History’s Best Leader first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca explains why 3-D printing and the sharing economy are meant for each other.
The post Manufacturing Mashup: 3-D Printing And The Sharing Economy first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today Rebecca discusses 3D printing and the resultant increase in counterfeit parts.
The post Why Does It Seem Everything Is A Double-Edge Sword first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca asks – is it easy and fun to do business with your company?
The post What Customer Experience Does Your Operations Provide? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares common management mistakes you can avoid.
The post Management Mistakes To Avoid first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains the differences between those that like to build versus maintain process and growth.
The post Builders and Maintainers first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca warns of falling in love with a resume and ignoring red flags during the evaluation process.
The post Manufacturing Lessons From Johnny Football first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In the final podcast of the series Rebecca explains how to integrate cultures when combining manufacturing operations.
The post Successful Integration Of Manufacturing Operations - Culture first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In part seven of the Successful Integration of Manufacturing Operations series, Rebecca explains how to increase innovative capabilities during the difficult first 18 months of a business merger.
The post Successful Integration of Manufacturing Operations - Innovation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
What’s that smell? Rebecca provides examples of stinking strategic thinking that she has seen all too often.
The post Stinking Strategic Thinking first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today Rebecca continues her Successful Integration of Manufacturing Operations series by discussing rationalization processes.
The post Successful Integration of Manufacturing Operations - Rationalization first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In part five of her eight-part series Successful Integration of Manufacturing Operations, Rebecca explains how to optimize sharing of knowledge and technology.
The post Successful Integration of Manufacturing Operations - Knowledge And Technology first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca shares why transforming operations is the only way to transform your business, and the 3 competencies required.
The post Transforming Operations.Transforming Business.™Competencies first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains how strategic adjustment of Supply Chain Management can contribute to successful integration of operations in Merger & Acquisitions.
The post Making The Deal Successful first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are your employees engaged? Do you know? Understand what that is, and what it is not, and how to achieve it in your organization.
The post Why Aren’t Employees Engaged first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this last podcast of a three-part series, Rebecca shares five commonly held beliefs that prevent an organization from being in the 1% that continuously improve every single day.
The post The Hardest Part of Lean first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this second podcast of a three-part series, Rebecca examines why a tools-only approach to lean fails, and which management behaviors have to change to support continuous improvement.
The post Management Of The Lean Transformation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In the first of a three-part series, Rebecca describes how to get over the hump of lean failure due to poor tool understanding and application.
The post Overcoming Technical Limitations To Lean Success first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Partnerships are important to long term success, but not every partnership can survive tough times. Consider the most telling characteristics of resilient partnerships.
The post Lessons From The European Union first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Employee turnover is expensive. Rebecca explains how leveraging what we’ve long known can prevent unwanted turnover.
The post Use Maslow’s Hierarchy to Reduce Turnover first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains why adding defensive thinking to your product design and testing processes is becoming a requirement.
The post New Requirements Of Product Development first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are you adequately protecting the data most likely to be stolen? Industrial espionage is one thing; employee and supply chain financial information is in much greater demand.
The post Target, Chase, Ashley Madison and You first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are those breezes, or the beginning of a major storm? Great leadership can tell the difference. Can your company adapt to the ever changing business environment?
The post The Answer Is Blowing In The Wind first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It can happen to you. Once you accept that, preventing fraud and emergencies becomes much easier. These ideas will help you catch any leaks.
The post The Glass Is Leaking first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Information that can change the future of your business is available. Scan reliable sources – like this podcast series – to improve your operations, support your company goals or change your market. Plastics? No. Fungus.
The post The Graduate - Revisited first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Not every General Manager understands why excellence matters or what it takes. In this podcast, Rebecca explains how much settling for mediocrity can cost.
The post Does Excellence Matter first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares very simple rules to create free time for you and your coworkers.
The post You Can Create Free Time first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
You know your operations have to improve. Rebecca provides three questions to consider when contemplating what to change first.
The post Where Do We Begin? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Do you know what “make it easy to do the job right” really means? Today Rebecca explains what that looks like in execution, and how Management creates that organizational culture.
The post Casablanca first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The next great opportunity could either be to succeed, or to fail. In today’s podcast, Rebecca describes how she and one client prepared for the next upturn, and the next downturn.
The post Seeing Past The Horizon first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca says that if you’re not in the communication business today, you soon will be. Hear why in today’s podcast.
The post Manufacturing And The Internet Of Things first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast, Rebecca shares why no intellectual property is leading edge for very long.
The post Intellectual Property: It’s Not Really Yours first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains how to integrate industry internal and external intelligence gathering and operational capability analysis into decision-making that puts you ahead in defining market trends.
The post Create Havoc For Your Competition first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares how to observe outside forces that are likely to impact your industry, and what to do with the information.
The post Evolving Trends And Breakthrough Performances first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today Rebecca discusses the how to assess current capabilities versus market needs.
The post Determining When Your Current Capabilities Are Not Enough first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast, Rebecca examines in depth the first of three executive actions critical to preparation for major market shifts.
The post Strategic Conversations first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Have you expressed the sentiment “It’s all about you” to a supplier recently? If not, perhaps you should have. I recently said those words, with …
The post It's All About You first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Much of the midwest and western United States has suffered severe drought conditions over the past few years. Yet in 2015, the rains have fallen. …
The post Inventory: Everything in Moderation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains three steps to take to create an organization in which work-life balance exists.
The post If You’re That Important There’s A Serious Problem first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca encourages leaders to learn from the mistake of others with two client examples.
The post A Tale Of Two Companies first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Business is not a zero sum game. Rebecca offers four suggestions to help your business flourish in today’s world.
The post Ethical Behavior Is Highly Overrated first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Re-shoring is in all the headlines. Is it the answer? Rebecca says no and today discusses what is.
The post Re-Shoring Is Not The Answer first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares three questions one should ask every time when being told a problem is fixed.
The post Creating A Learning Environment first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast, Rebecca shares three executive actions critical to preparation for major market shifts.
The post Your Largest Market May Be Moving first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares how to successfully learn from data, whether it’s Big or Small.
The post Learning With Data first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast, Rebecca discusses how to keep your best employees from leaving.
The post Boredom Is A Very Bad Sign first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca examines the system behind the tools, which is what Lean Manufacturing really means.
The post Just Because They Call It Lean Does Not Mean That It Is first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains why supplier use of your data can hurt supply chain performance, and what to do about it.
The post What Are Suppliers Doing With Your Data first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares the role of Operation Strategy in risk management, minimizing the negative impact of disasters and business interruptions, supported with 5 steps you should take to get started.
The post Murphy’s Law Is Law After All first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Is your business better today than it was yesterday? Rebecca explains moving from “when we have time” to “when we get time” to “all the time.”
The post Continuous Improvement Is Rarely Continuous first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares ten aspects of leadership development she sees in companies with effective succession plans.
The post Is Your Replacement Ready? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca shares three observations that distinguish manufacturing excellence award recipients from applicants that are not, and provides value to any manufacturer.
The post Do You Want To Win A Blue Ribbon first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca delivers three questions leaders can use to create effective and safe data-based problem solving.
The post An Ostrich Makes A Lousy Leader first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses why apparent alignment may not lead to success, and how the business owner can ensure true organizational alignment to a path.
The post Alignment Is Not Enough first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
What’s the difference between regular profits and strategic profits? Today Rebecca explains that, and why the distinction is very important to business owners.
The post Are Profits Limiting Your Success first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares three concepts to subdue your toughest issue.
The post You Sit Alone In Your Office first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are you constantly dealing with emergencies? Rebecca shares ideas on how to transform your organization and professional life and avoid the fires.
The post Imagine A Day first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Are you still creating a five year strategic plan? Three year? Today Rebecca explains how a 25 year vision provides the foundation for meaningful short term plans.
The post The Silliness Of Long Range Planning first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses why customer/supplier partnerships must advance to increased sharing of the additional risks now faced by small suppliers.
The post The Next Step In Supplier Partnerships first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca explains why big data is unlikely to help a company that isn’t already effectively using the small data that they have.
The post Before Moving To Big Data first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca describes seven key reasons why environments of needless complexity exist and what you can do to eliminate them.
The post The #1 Cure For Complexity first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Today Rebecca shares two challenges that each of her best clients have prioritized and what they are doing to resolve them.
The post Winners Never Play The Victim Card first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains that the time has come to commit to design for re-use methodologies.
The post It’s Time For Design For Re-Use first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains that capacity management and demand shaping decisions must be made in concert; otherwise you may experience the pitfalls of failing to deliver your brand promise.
The post The Infrastructure Decision – Considering Both Demand & Supply first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares two exercises to determine the level of teamwork in your company.
The post Look Laterally For The Real Story first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Will your company be thriving in the year 2100? Rebecca shares three corporate behaviors that are necessary to long-term success.
The post The Three Essentials To Long-Term Business Success first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains why the old business model of win-lose doesn’t work today and how to replace a supplier that doesn’t see that.
The post When A Supplier Takes You For Granted first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses why executive education may not be the answer to an underperforming S&OP process.
The post Is S & OP Working For You first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As the measles outbreak that began in Disneyland spreads to multiple states, Public Health experts (including John Swartzburg from UC-Berkeley) voice frustration and concern. Entirely …
The post Vaccinations and Excellence first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares how to become one of the few who succeed at realizing the potential of lean.
The post Why 75% Of Companies Fail At Lean Transformation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It depends. Does your current operational strategy have triggers for major changes in key cost drivers? Rebecca explains in today’s podcast.
The post Should Low Oil Prices Impact Your Operational Strategy? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares three steps to reduce the risk of losing your company to hackers.
The post Hacked first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains the effective integration of operations into board conversations.
The post Do Board Members Need To Hear From Operations? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains why the value of S & OP is as significant as ever, despite declining lead times.
The post Is S & OP Still Relevant first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses six common sources of competition that can feel like they came out of left field.
The post Left Field Competition first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares how world-class supply chain teams balance focus on cost and risk management with enabling growth.
The post Maximizing Supply Chain’s Impact On Profitable Growth first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains the root cause of the need to carry inventory, and what to do about it.
The post Why Carry Any Inventory? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca discusses the catch 22 of knowing what long term success requires but not having the people, money, or time to do it.
The post A Catch 22 first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Jim Harbaugh coached the San Francisco NFL 49’ers to at least the NFC Championship game in each of his first 3 years with the team. …
The post Is Your Message Shtick? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca stresses the importance of asking some very specific questions regarding suppliers.
The post What Makes Them The Best first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In one of his Christmas speeches, the Pope lectured Vatican leadership on the wasteful bureaucracy it fosters. Feeling indispensable, the pathology of power and excessive …
The post Will You Chastise Bureaucracy in Your Company? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares how to create a strategic approach to finding employees with the needed skill sets.
The post Resolving The Skills Shortage first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca describes 5 changes that operations led by Baby Boomers must start making now to attract and keep Gen-Y and Gen-i employees. These are not your father’s employees.
The post Five Actions To Incorporate Gen-Y and Gen-i Into Your Operations Now first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca discusses 3 of the 8 keys to integrating manufacturing operations successfully.
The post Integrating Manufacturing Operations Successfully first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
You don’t have to throw out your ERP system to leverage Lean and TOC thinking. Rebecca explains what you changes you do need to make to how you use it.
The post Don’t Throw Away Your ERP System Yet first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses how innovation doesn’t have to be life altering, but can be creating small improvements for big impact.
The post Innovation: The Big Bang Theory first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares three examples of how easy it can be to observe others and apply what you see to your own, seemingly unrelated, business.
The post Learning From The Mistakes Of Others first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Outsourcing can be a valid business strategy, but retaining accountability is critical. Rebecca explains four behaviors that, when displayed to your customers, will strengthen confidence in you.
The post Outsource Tasks, Not Responsibilities first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
National Football League (NFL) player Ray Rice was recently suspended from his career as a professional, released by his Ravens team, and publicly shamed for …
The post Would Your Company Fire Ray Rice? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Management concerns of high importance and year-after-year existence cannot be treated like they are brand new, nor the same way you treated them last year. Rebecca suggests a V8 approach.
The post You Should Have Had A V8 first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca clarifies some buzzwords that are really important strategic decisions for manufacturers everywhere.
The post Outsource, Offshore, Insource, Reshore first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares why employees sharing their “tricks of the trade” and converting that private knowledge into public knowledge is best for the team and the individual.
The post Private vs. Public Knowledge first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I just invested 5 days at the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) international conference in Jacksonville, FL. Over the years, the content of the conference …
The post AME Lean Conference: All About Leadership first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca reveals five aspects of ‘Finish Strong®’ and how they will favorably impact your profits.
The post Five Ways To Increase Profits first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares an example to explain what an inventory strategy really is, and how to develop it.
The post Developing An Inventory Strategy first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares why you should consider your business a track star running against your best competitors – and how it will make you better and faster.
The post Embrace Your Competition first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast we hear Becky’s five transformational tips to leverage a positive culture.
The post Culture: Necessary But Not Sufficient first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A manufacturer has a rare opportunity to reduce costs significantly when it moves operations to a new building. Determining the optimal layout that minimizes …
The post Layout of a Greenfield Operation first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca explains why using problem-solving tools can create the future you seek, and why creative innovation processes contribute to problem solving.
The post Innovation And Problem Solving Tools first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Becky explains why defining a clear, unbiased and data-supported problem statement is the most important step in problem solving.
The post Problem Solving Practices first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains three ways to simplify how you look at your business and the problems within.
The post Making The Complex Simple first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The urgent recall of over 5 million passenger cars manufactured in multiple countries is the result of Japanese air bag manufacturer Takata’s catastrophic product failures. …
The post Are You The Next Takata? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca explains the process for and the importance of involving all employees throughout the organization in achieving operational excellence.
The post Employee Involvement first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca explains her branded concept of Finish Strong® and how it contributes to client success.
The post What Is The Concept of Finish Strong?® first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca shares two of her favorite client case studies to showcase what she can bring to your organization.
The post Client Case Study first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Executives have limited time, but they are expected to support every effort. Rebecca explains five elements of effective executive support.
The post What Does Executive Support Look Like first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca shares the three components of an effective Lean Management System.
The post Lean Management System first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Becky suggests specific tests to verify that your goals contribute something very important to the success of your business.
The post Do Your Goals Mean Anything first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As I look through my hotel window at the New York traffic, I am reminded that this is indeed the city that never sleeps. The …
The post Competition is a Lot Like New York City first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca stresses the importance of developing a safety culture in your organization and describes the steps to do it.
The post It’s All About Safety first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca warns that market patterns do change - you must learn to recognize them and be ready to adjust your supply chain accordingly.
The post Market Ebbs And Flows first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca reveals three things you can do to increase the success of your strategy.
The post Why Strategies Fail first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca explains the seven aspects of effective metrics.
The post Metrics Matter first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca shares three approaches to overcome this common challenge in manufacturing companies.
The post Struggling to Get Product Out the Door? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
5S is not just for the shop floor. In this podcast Rebecca shares how 5S thinking can improve your business.
The post 5S: A Process For Your Business first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses how the intensity of current events can provide important lessons for your businesses.
The post Manufacturing Lessons From Current Events first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains why Lean Accounting is the better way to understand your business and improve decision-making.
The post Standard Cost Accounting: The Root Of All Evil first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses why all of us can benefit from an external perspective in reaching our potential.
The post Why Rely On Outside Consultants Like Rebecca? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Business scandals that contradict espoused core values are all too common. Becky highlights a few reasons why that happens, and asks each of us to look in the mirror.
The post Business Ethics – An Oxymoron? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Manufacturing suffers from a horrible Public Relations (PR) problem. Over the past 20 years rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated, its checkered history …
The post Manufacturing IS a Desirable Career Path first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Becky explains that you can’t cut your way to the top - cost reduction is best achieved as a result of improving other factors. Lean manufacturing can help you do that.
The post Lean Is Not About Cost Reduction first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It is legal to openly carry a loaded weapon without a license in much of the United States. Unfortunately, that makes discerning the good guys …
The post Lessons for Manufacturers From Open Carry Laws first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In today’s podcast Rebecca shares five key questions to ask while you walk operations, and explains why it is so important to take that walk.
The post Get Out Of Your Office first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca discusses three things to consider before signing the capital expenditure request.
The post The Role Of Automation And Technology In Manufacturing first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rebecca explains that processes don’t always work the way they should. Blaming the people might be the last thing you should do.
The post Is It A People Problem? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
We’ve all heard the phrase “tell me how you will measure me and I will tell you how I will behave.” That’s partially true, but …
The post Do Your Metrics Drive Behavior? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In this podcast Rebecca shares three keys to her success in improving the profitability, cash flow, and competitive position of her manufacturing clients.
The post How Do You Help Clients Achieve Great Results? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Each of us is either bored or truly irritated by the IRS failure to find emails in electronic storage at the request of Congress. This …
The post How NOT to manage first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A commodity offering, by definition, means undifferentiated. A consumer has no reason to choose other than the cheapest. But by small changes to materials, processing, …
The post Making Your Commodity Stand Out first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The recent frozen traffic jam that shut down Atlanta and stranded hundreds of people for hours was frustrating to those caught in it. The complaints …
The post The Price and Costs of Capacity Decisions first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The rush to the south, away from labor unions, was followed by the rush to China for its cheap labor. And now that China labor …
The post In Search of the Holy Grail first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The ubiquitous cell phone has created an interesting collection of employer policies. In many businesses, the cell phone is a valid tool for doing one’s …
The post Unintended Consequences first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As twisters hit the Midwest and a typhoon hit the Philippines, innocent people and companies were hurt, losing material possessions and in some cases, lives. …
The post I Didn't Think It Would Happen To Us first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I’ve become accustomed to doing the order entry activities that suppliers used to do. I’ve even become fairly good at it, other than the occasional …
The post Outsourcing Your Customers' Safety? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
In Ohio and Pennsylvania there is great excitement and economic investment in shale oil. The discoveries there have fed debate of ‘a solution to energy …
The post Oil, Oil Everywhere But Not A Drop To Share first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The stereotypical Irish are drunkards. In the past 6 days driving Dublin – Galway – Dingle – Belfast I’ve experienced nothing but exceptionally kind and …
The post The Irish Lie first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Seems almost like a movie title, doesn’t it? But really the phrase “grow and deliver” is a statement of what most companies want to do, …
The post Grow and Deliver first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Have you noticed how people boarding a plane now stow their carry-ons in the front most open overhead? This of course forces subsequent boarders with …
The post Common Sense Since Charge Commencement first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The Cuyahoga County (OH) sheriff recently began requiring successful candidates for promotion pass a physical fitness test. The theory is simple: the job requires the …
The post Fit For Duty? That's Just Crazy. first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When I turned in my resignation to my last employer in 1990, they immediately offered an increase in salary and vacation if I would consider …
The post Counteroffers Are Counterproductive first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Like lemmings, in the past 20 years many manufacturers outsourced their high-labor-content production to Asia, outsourced tooling to Asia, and focused on sourcing in “Low …
The post Lemings Die, But You Don't Have To first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As Chinese labor rates rise, Chinese pollution thickens, market demands for speed increase, and US energy independence becomes more likely, many companies are bringing work …
The post The Coming Labor Shortage first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
I was quoted in a recent Society for the Advancement of Consulting Press Release on the topic of consumer confidence: “Watch what consumers do and …
The post Consumer Confidence -- Should You Care? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
For a recent trip to NYC I stayed at The Pierre Hotel at the SE corner of Central Park. I rarely choose to stay at …
The post Breaking Brand Promise first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
We are on our first cruise since the Costa cruise ship sunk off the coast of Italy, killing several passengers. At the mandatory 1st day …
The post What a Difference Death Makes first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Recently Toyota announced that it is partnering with Mazda to produce subcompact cars in Mexico to serve the North American market. There’s been much speculation …
The post Not So Strange BedFellows first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The economics of the music industry have changed drastically in the past 15 years. Of the several reasons two stand out: digitization, and a large …
The post A Change Gonna' Come first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
At the Philadelphia airport waiting to catch my United flight back home. My United iPhone app says the flight leaves from gate D5. So does …
The post The One Truth first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
During the last week thousands boycotted Chic-fil-A, others have stood in line for hours to get food from Chic-fil-A, oh, and Curiosity landed on Mars …
The post Curious About Chicken? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Rip slept for 20 years, including through the American Revolutionary War. General Motors slept for about the same duration, but much more recently. Rip woke, …
The post Rip Van Winkle and General Motors first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As a 30 year resident of Ohio, I have become aware of the vast limitations of that school up north. But strangely, observations of the …
The post That School Up North first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Last week I fell on a lava coral rock while enjoying the beauty of Haleiwa HI; my right shin was shredded so off to the …
The post Haleiwa HI medical center: Lean Manufacturing and The 200 Days first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
As the recovery slowly begins, I’ve read entirely too many articles that refer to companies “squeezing more productivity” out of their workers as the reason …
The post Squeezing Productivity? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
MacNeil Automotive Products Limited has a two page ad in AutoWeek magazine touting their “made in America” commitment. Most of their supplies are from US …
The post Stay Domestic Over Profits? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Following 14 years in a wide variety of roles in a wide variety of industries, I entered the worlds of entrepreneurship and consulting 20 years …
The post My, How Time Flies first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Sports just lost one of its greatest leaders when John Wooden passed away on June 4, 2010. Widely considered the best college basketball coach ever, …
The post John Wooden, Lead By Teaching first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When you get something other than what you specifically requested at a restaurant, who’s to blame? The waitron? The chef? Right! You don’t care whose fault …
The post It's Not My Fault! first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long been considered the agency with the big hammer if a company creates environmental contamination, whether by intent or …
The post EPA: Energizing Green Where it Can; Enforcing Where it Must first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
A few short years ago, I bought a new 2007 Vespa from a very nice looking, but new, dealership in the Greater Cleveland area. I …
The post Why Did My Vespa Dealer Disappear? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
It can’t. People want things and until things are created via spontaneous combustion, nuclear reaction, or other scientific “cloning” methods, someone will continue to manufacture …
The post Manufacturing Will Not Die first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Fear of additional regulations. Backtrack on government consideration of additional deep water drilling. Uncertainty about other wells. Massive loss of oil. Uncertainty of Iraqi elections …
The post Will Energy Prices Rise Because of the Leak? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
An environmental and economic tragedy is spreading in the Gulf Coast as BP’s underwater well continues to pour oil into Gulf waters. Accidents happen, but …
The post BP's Blowout first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Many of you golf. Some do it for fun and simply keep score because that’s part of the game. Others are more serious, competing with …
The post Hobby, Serious Hobby, or Profession? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Awoken by the tsunami alarms on Oahu early last Saturday morning, we turned on the TV to find out what was going on. We learned …
The post Well Prepared for a NonEvent first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Quality on-time delivery indicates something working well in operations, but does it mean an organization can accurately claim operational excellence? What characteristics would you expect …
The post What Is Operational Excellence? first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Cash has always been King, but the recent and current cash crunch has served as an abrupt reminder to many business owners. So how do …
The post 5 Ways to Improve Cash Flow first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
When someone describes a problem to you, is your first reaction to offer your thoughts and a possible solution, or to ask questions to better …
The post Ask, Don't Tell first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Buy low, sell high. Supply and demand. Economics 101 explained those simple, but somehow still poorly understood concepts. The recent (and in many ways still …
The post Keeping It Real first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Decades ago, the concept of protecting people’s incomes from the ravages of inflation by indexing to a measure of inflation was born. Social security, many union …
The post When Purpose is Forgotten.. first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..
Anyone with more than 6 months in manufacturing has heard of “economies of scale.” That concept is the basis of large lot sizes, as …
The post Economies of Flow first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc..