Why Interim Operations Management?

There are a number of situations when a hand-picked interim operations manager is the ideal strategic decision.

• Process Improvement
• Six Sigma
• Lean Manufacturing
• Major Contract Wins
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• New Products/New Markets
• Business Turnarounds
• Critical Skills Gap

Production Process Improvement
Cutting lead times, eliminating waste, reducing cash tied up in inventory, increasing throughput, addressing absenteeism, growing margins, adopting lean manufacturing – most manufacturers have at least one of these on their agendas. But delivering such improvements is easier said than done.

No matter how good existing production personnel are, they can often be too close to the problem. They may be hampered by company politics or past history and unable to see the changes an operation must make to deliver the improvements it needs.

The changes may involve the introduction of new technology, a radical rethinking of processes, adopting unfamiliar techniques, coaching. These can be specialist projects that an incumbent production team hasn't faced before and require skills they don't possess.

Process improvement can also be something of a Pandora's box. It's not until you get started that the true scope of the project becomes clear. The scope of the programme suddenly expands beyond everyone's expectations. This can leave even major companies, that have lots of in-house business improvement capability, struggling to resource the programme they have embarked on.

Process improvement can also create major upheaval – and the last thing companies want is their existing production teams distracted from the day-to-day – missing established production targets in their pursuit of new ones!

Against this backdrop it is easy to see how interim process improvement specialists are a real solution. They are a no-risk, results-guaranteed route to rapid improvement. They can be brought in as individuals or teams to deliver a total process improvement programme, to apply additional management muscle to a specific problem area, to coach an internal production team in a new technique such as Six Sigma, or to supplement a company's production team. And because they are a flexible resource they can be flexed up or down as the programme evolves.

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Six Sigma
Few in manufacturing have missed the Six Sigma revolution which is sweeping the industrial world. At its heart, Six Sigma works through eliminating the defects in every product, process, and transaction that a company engages in. Motorola, DuPont, GE, and Honeywell trail-blazed the technique and achieved such great results that today Six Sigma has become the central philosophy around which many of the world's companies are building their corporate-wide change programmes.

With this popularity have come problems. Big companies with Six Sigma programmes already in place find that there are not enough Six Sigma specialists available for them.

While for smaller companies there is an uncertainty about how to get started and who to start with. Many consultancies have sprung up on the back of the Six Sigma revolution – but their ability is mixed.

Interim Six Sigma specialists are the obvious answer. At Executives Online they are always fully vetted, with their proven track record an essential pre-requisite to their inclusion in our global talent bank.

Our 50+ interim Six Sigma specialists can support and supplement a company's existing Six Sigma programme – or will apply a just-do-it approach to those who have had all of the theory and want to see some of this translate into action.

For companies starting Six Sigma from scratch, hands-on interim Six Sigma experts who have an ability to consult and train, provide a practical way in which companies can quickly get a Six Sigma programme up and running.

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Lean Manufacturing
Like Six Sigma, many companies are adopting the principles of lean manufacturing in a bid to eliminate waste. This waste can be any part of an operation which does not bring value to the customer. Since customers will only pay for things which offer them value, companies understandably want to keep their non-revenue generating ‘waste’ to an absolute minimum.

But doing this is easier said than done. The areas that a lean manufacturing programme can impact on are many. The implications can be wide ranging. And the technique demands a set of skills which many companies just don't possess in-house from Kanban, Kaizen and supply chain management to Just-in-Time. Consultants are an option, but there is always the risk that they will be big on theory and bad on delivery.

Interim operations managers with lean manufacturing expertise are the obvious solution. They have the specialist knowledge, can bring it into an organisation, train up the internal management team, while at the same time delivering real, tangible results.

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Major Contract Wins
Big contract-based companies need to be able to flex their production capability up and down as and when required. Shipbuilding, defence, utilities, heavy engineering, and construction are just some of the sectors where this is a real resourcing issue

A massive contract win creates a sudden need for considerable additional management resource. Interim operations managers, hand-picked, recruited in days, and dispensed with as soon as the contract is over are the perfect solution.

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Mergers & Acquisitions
Buyouts, buyins and IPOs can be a new experience for a call centre management team – yet there can be no room for failure, they must go well. If the company concerned has had its call centre function provided by the old parent company, a critical first step for the new call centre management team is to set up a new contact centre and migrate customers to it as smoothly as possible. An interim call centre manager can be handpicked to deliver this specific project. The manager will also help the Board during this critical time, in other ways, acting as a sounding board, and relieving them of some of the inevitable workload during this time of massive change.

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New Products/New Markets
Today’s fast-moving environment leaves no time to waste and no room for failure. Product and service innovation is relentless. New markets must be explored today and successfully entered tomorrow. This puts a huge pressure on manufacturing companies to be lean and flexible.

Experienced interim operations managers can leverage their knowledge to help you rapidly introduce new technologies and build flexibility into your production line.

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Business Turnarounds
With mergers and acquisitions often comes plant rationalisation. Factories may be merged or relocated, and production facilities realigned. And all of this must be done quickly and cost effectively without day-to-day performance being degraded.

Interim operations managers – who have a proven track record in M&A situations – can be invaluable. They absorb the temporary additional workload, hasten successful integration, and have the experience to support managers who have not been through the process before.

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Critical Skills Gap
In business turnaround situations decisions must be taken, they need to be the right decisions, and they must be taken fast.

Interim operations turnaround specialists can quickly assess a company’s situation, see where the company is failing, and bring their massive experience and impartiality to bear. They can get to the heart of production problems – too much work in progress, long lead times, poor productivity, absenteeism, poor quality – and rapidly address them, either by getting truly hands-on, or by mentoring the management team. This can include grooming key managers to take over the reigns and to continue the good work once the interim operations manager has left.

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