Leadership & strategy Corporate communications
Good communications are essential for effective management, both at micro departmental level and at macro corporate level. This article will explore how a selection of manufacturing companies are using good communications to improve company performance, from ensuring corporate-wide implementation of company strategy, through to improving staff morale and commitment.
Design & innovation University
collaboration
Universities are opening up to the manufacturing communities, and there are huge resources available to manufacturers of all sizes, to help with innovation, product and process development and problem solving. For many, it is the factor that keeps them ahead of the competition. How do you build relationships with the universities? Who do you approach and how? What sort of relationship is it possible to build, now that universities are becoming more accustomed to the business world? What is expected of you, and how do you keep the relationship productive for both parties?
World class manufacturing Value stream mapping
Value stream mapping is a well recognised tool for identifying waste in all its forms, and migrating to an improved, waste free environment. Originally created to solve problems in the manufacturing environment, the technique can be of equal value when applied to office based functions. But many people find it more difficult to identify the value stream and bring about significant changes in paper-based functions. This article will show how companies have been successfully adapting VSM to the office functions, the challenges they have faced, and how success has been achieved.
Skills & productivity Developing company leaders
Recognising and nurturing top management talent can make all the difference between long-term success and the often seen catastrophic failure when an inspirational leader or entrepreneurial figurehead leaves or retires. Many really successful companies have honed this process, and the benefits can be seen in young, dynamic and enthusiastic people moving through middle and upper management, and painless succession changes. We will look at how this process works, and what companies can learn from the example of those who are doing this well. What are the key processes that need to be put in place? What are the pitfalls that need to be avoided, and the culture that needs to be introduced at all levels of the company?
Brian Davis
IT in manufacturing PLM
Getting new products to market reliably and quickly is a must in today’s competitive marketplace. This article will reveal how some of the best manufacturing companies are using PLM to improve their product launch processes, and avoid expensive launch failures.
Oracle for case studies.
Malcolm Wheatley
Logistics & supply chain Supply chain optimisation
Getting the best performance from the supply chain has a direct impact on profits, and on the ability to satisfy the customer. This article will look at some of the latest strides being made in supply chain optimisation, the lessons that have been learned from past experience and the newly implemented process, and the benefits they are delivering.
Robert Pols
Operations &
maintenance Property
management
Recent figures show that around 15 per cent of business costs are
ploughed into the management of the property portfolio. Can this be done more
cheaply and effectively by outsourcing, as P&G does, or will you have more
control over quality and safety, and be able to dictate environmental
performance, if you do it yourself? What are the pros and cons for each
approach, and how do you find the option best suited to you?
Debbie Giggle
Energy & environment Environmental best practice
This article will look at the management structure of some of the most environmentally conscious manufacturing companies – both large and small – to distil environmental best practice. What structures have they put in place to ensure the company operates with sound environmental judgement at all levels of the organisation, and that its environmental performance is linked in with, and forms part of company strategy?