The collected Body Of Knowledge of the Operational Excellence Society.
Approaching a historic turn in U.S. monetary policy, Janet Yellen has staked her tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve on a simple principle: she’d rather fight inflation than another economic downturn. Interviews with current and former Fed officials indicate that Yellen and core decision-makers at the U.S. central bank are determined not to raise interest…
The Economist attempts to rethink “low-cost” and “high-cost” manufacturing locations with the publication of this article. In terms of manufacturing and when managers are choosing where to locate a new factory, their decision depends on many things – with cost being one important factor. And with currencies constantly moving too, yesterday’s low-cost location may turn…
The Economist reveals how new technologies are being used to extract bitumen from oil sands. In the face of one of the bleakest scenes of man-made destruction, being the strip mining of oil sands in the forests of Alberta, Canada – it is hardly surprising that environmental campaigners want to restrict or shut down the…
A few months ago, I was asked to conduct a Workshop, deliver a Keynote, and Chair a three-day Conference on Manufacturing Process Excellence in Europe, produced by the Process Excellence Network (PEX), a division of IQPC, and held in Munich, Germany. Although that was a lot to ask of me, the line-up of speakers and…
Finnish Railways ran with steam power until the late 1960s. The cockpit of the locomotive offered a workplace for two: the engine driver and the shovel man. The shovel man’s duty was to continuously shovel coal to the red-hot mouth of the furnace to keep the engine steaming. The century-long idyll of the two man…
Small to Midsize companies must consider a process improvement initiative sooner rather than later to uncover hidden opportunities for improved productivity and customer satisfaction. Why You Need Process Improvement and Enhanced Customer Experience Time and again, I have seen many processes across a variety of industries with an error rate in the range of 20-30%….
