Operational development area trainer, consultant
WHY DO I DO IT?
I enjoy being able to solve problems that have been dragging on for years and cause firefighting and continuous redesign in day-to-day operations and that result in constant struggles at every organization level in reaching target numbers and meeting customer needs. The development of the company’s core processes makes them much more reliable, predictable, flexible and fast, so of course, their impact is reflected in the main business indexes as well. Ultimately, in every case, my goal is to achieve change that is measurable and can be expressed in numbers, while making daily work easier and simpler, reducing constant overload, achieving not having to go to work with stomach pain. My motto is: do not work more, but smarter!
I mostly like to plan, to start the changes, to create the development strategy, then to support the implementation as a consultant, when it is visible that the improved operation is guaranteed to become self-propelled and sustainable, it is good to let go of the hands of those affected then, so they also feel that I am no longer necessary, they can continue to move towards the ideal state of operation alone. This job as a consultant means much more challenge and interesting, diverse tasks than previously as a senior executive; however, my experience as a senior executive is very useful in finding the common voice with the clients.
The results always speak for themselves – efficiency and capacity increase by up to 20-40%, transit time and operating space requirements reduction by up to 50%, tens of thousands of euros saved by quality improvement or waste reduction…
HOW DO I DO IT?
I was socialized on the LEAN approach, in 1998 I was employed as a LEAN engineer in the Alcoa-Köfém Compression Plant in Székesfehérvár, where we got almost free hands to "test" the LEAN principles (continuous flow, manufacturing for trucks, work standardization, 5S, andon system…), as Alcoa was one of the first lean (Toyota method) adapters in the world and ours was designated as an experimental lean plant. I was almost instantly sucked in by this fantastic new knowledge, with the help of which we achieved a 70% reduction in inventory and transit time improvement within one year, while efficiency, delivery time, quality, etc. were significantly improved. At the same time, the workload on the leaders was also noticeably reduced, urgent phone calls, lack of space and extra organizational needs before audits ceased. Later, as a Lean Director at the same plant, I had the chance to experience the fact thet although we were the model factory of Alcoa, we could never say that we were perfect; the ever-changing market demands, and growth meant newer and newer challenges. And there was a need for someone who helped optimize the whole process, since the optimum of the partial processes can never be the optimum of the whole system, every process has a weaker link, if we want effective development, those are what we need to find.
Through the years, one and a half decades, even, I have been assured many times that this approach can be employed with great results in every company, however, I have also seen that the textbook-like, fanatic, methodologically non-consistent application of the approach can only lead to sweaty, low-progress development.
During my work, I strive to start exploring the weaknesses of processes and determining the real cause of problems as soon as possible, with the involvement of an internal team, together. In most cases, the development plans are delivered to the leadership already by the internal team. The “side effect” of joint work is a real change of approach, the participants often marvel at with how much loss they worked before. In the end, the goal is usually the development of a smaller area / production line, but only after examining the whole production process (from gate to gate) and identifying the main (TOP 3-4) developmental needs.
WHERE AND WHAT DO I DO?
I hold approach-shaping operative development trainings, during which, following a quick preliminary survey, I usually make the theoretical material more adoptable through examples relating to the company’s own internal operations and analyses conducted jointly in their own field.
In most of my work, I conduct surveys related to the improvement of producing companies’ operating results, propose projects, and support project teams during the implementation.
A few examples:
- Training for middle managers and engineers, developing a personal development strategy during the training, preparing an action plan, launching implementation
- International lean manager training
- Reducing total factory transit time by 50%
- Increasing efficiency by 40%
- Improving delivery deadlines from 64% to 98%
- Reducing inventory stock by 70%
- Preparing a 40% variable cost reduction action plan
- Reducing waste and scrap in the value of tens of thousands of euros a year
- Increasing headcount efficiency by 50%
