Operational excellence and MBA Lean Implementation Journey

At ODI’s recent one-day conference where we celebrated 30 years of operational excellence, several companies from various industries presented their case studies of business excellence and shared their achievements.

1. Len Hansen – Consultant at Astral Operations, presented: “My Journey with Organisational Development International (ODI) since 1991.”
2. Esbe du Toit: Organisational Improvement Manager at Wispeco Aluminium, presented: “Celebrating Innovation … A snapshot of our journey towards world-class.”
3. Theo van Strijp: Managing Director at GFC, presented: “Grain Field Chickens: Road to Excellence Award.”
4. Forona Stephens: Human Resources Business Partner at GWK and her topic of discussion was: “Think Big, Start Small, Unlock Excellence.”
5. Wouter Olivier Managing Director of Sondor Performance Foams, presented: “People are the Foundation to Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement.”

Our next speaker for the day was Moemedi Merafhe: Strategy & Business Improvement Manager, Debswana Diamond Company and he spoke about :

“MBA Lean Implementation Journey”

Moemedi’s introduction about the importance of Debswana to the nation of Botswana was most inspiring.

For Debswana, it is very important to include people in the company’s journey of Operations Excellence. For this reason, mini-business areas are very important in order to ensure that ALL people are included. Everyone needs to know why they exist in their corner of the company. This applies to all levels of the organisation; all the way to the General Manager.

Through Keys 1, 2 and 3, Debswana ensures that people remain central to the development of the organisation.

Key 1: Cleaning and organising to make work easy

In terms of Key 1, a lot has been done through the implementation of the 5S principle. Teams take responsibility for implementation of actions, and this ensures that everyone takes accountability. Some benefits achieved include:

• Ownership.
• Accountability.
• Communication.
• Engagement has improved.
• Good understanding of own processes.

Some real improvements in the workplace was shared by Moemedi, as well as the costs saved due to the 5S implementation.

Key 2: Goal alignment

The importance of integrating all KPIs of people to the targets of the company was highlighted by Moemedi, as well as the huge contribution of mini-business areas.

What is a MB (Mini-business)?

1. A MB is a team/function/department which operates like a small business
2. The MB is defined by the organisation structure
3. A MB focuses on CONTINUOUS OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENT
4. The MBA leader is called the Mini-business Manager
5. He/she leads a team of about 5 to 15 people; they meet regularly. The place where they meet is called the Mini-business Area (MBA)
6. The MB team has specific performance measures and targets
7. The performance measures are known as QCDSM measures
   •  Quality/Cost/Delivery/Safety/Morale measures
8. The MBA approach is as follows:
   • Use the QCDSM measures for performance management
   • Set targets for each QCDSM measure
   • Develop action plans
   • Implement the action plans
9. The MB uses a MBA board for visual performance management and communication
10. The MBA board typically contains: the team photo; mission; vision; suppliers; customers; QCDSM measures; action plans; suggestions; time management chart, and general communication information

Key 3: Small group activities

Moemedi shared many improvements made though small group activities

MBA’s were founded on a process that was aimed at fostering continuous improvement.  Debswana uses the CAPDo cycle in the form of See, Assess, Act.

In closing, Moemedi highlighted how the Debswana value of Shape the Future is the driving force behind their continuous improvement journey.

Author: Huibie Jones

To read more about ODI’s Continuous Operations Improvement System, click here.