At ODI’s recent one-day conference where we celebrated 30 years of operations excellence, several companies from various industries presented their case studies of business excellence and shared their achievements.
Len Hansen – Consultant at Astral Operations, presented: “My Journey with Organisational Development International (ODI) since 1991.” Click here to read more.
Esbe du Toit: Organisational Improvement Manager at Wispeco Aluminium, presented: “Celebrating Innovation … A snapshot of our journey towards world-class.” Click here to read more.
Our third speaker for the day was Theo van Strijp: Managing Director at GFC. Theo’s topic of discussion was: “Grain Field Chickens: Road to Excellence Award.”
Theo shared his journey with the 20 Keys, and the close relationship that he has had with Johan Benadie from ODI (his walking encyclopaedia) over the years. He honours the value of a close relationship with business partners.
Theo highlighted the importance of getting buy-in from employees when you embark on a journey of continuous improvement. He also emphasised how important it is for employees to see that leadership has a good knowledge of all operations. Without these last two points, improvement initiatives will not be sustained.
Theo spoke about the strength of the CAPDo cycle, and various other important factors such as:
- Short interval controls – the key to success, and more importantly, what to do if one deviates from the target.
- When a problem occurs – who to deal with it, how to deal with it, and how quickly and effectively it can be done in order to return to normal.
- Decision making – who can decide what, and who can give instructions to who are vital.
- It is, therefore, important to focus your approach around solid processes. People come and go, but processes always remain.
Below are some of the Key highlights of his discussion around the 20 Keys:
- Key 1 – FSSC 22000 is supported by, and links with Key 1.
- Key 2 – TALK TO EACH OTHER.
- Key 3 – People are clever – use that – let them work out how to achieve their targets, and give guidance and ideas.
Theo then used a basic process to explain how the power of all of the 20 Keys working together can make a process so much better, and ended with a summary, encouraging all delegates:
- Imagine, if all the 20 Keys principles can be coupled to one process, what opportunities there are in the company to look at all the steps.
- Not only operational, but also Administration processes.
- The 20 Keys system has been a tool for me to implement continuous improvement effectively in day-to-day activities.
Every person should strive to improve his/her workplace, and the 20 Keys system provides the framework to do it in a structured and sustainable manner; so, to come back to my earlier question … is the 20 Keys system extra work? My answer is NO, it is necessary work – it remains our responsibility to do things BETTER – FASTER – CHEAPER, for the company that we work for!
Author: Huibie Jones: MD at ODI
To read more about ODI’s Continuous Operations Improvement System, click here.