How We Work
How do we achieve dramatic improvements in product development performance? Here is our approach:
- Place value - customer value and business value - at the center of the work we do with our clients, and our own consulting process.
- Synthesize proven best practices in new product development with the value-centered practices from Lean Product Development and the Toyota Product Development System into a customized strategy for improving organizational performance.
- Support the transition with on-going coaching, just-in-time knowledge transfer and guidance for managing organizational change.
The results speak for themselves: Our clients weathered the 2008 financial crisis much better than their peers. The work that they had done with us delivered lower costs, more flexible operations and rapid product development. They could rapidly turn their ships into the best position to ride out the storm and then sail ahead of their peers.
Operational Excellence
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Adaptability = Strategic Latitude
Operational Excellence is the ability to deliver high quality and low cost, especially in manufacturing, supply chain management, IT and HR. Most companies these days have embraced lean and/or Six Sigma, or they have developed their own approach to operational excellence. Ten years ago, operational excellence was a key competitive advantage. These days, even the exemplars of operational excellence, Toyota (for lean) and GE (for Six Sigma) have struggled to adapt to changing business conditions. It's clear that operational excellence is no longer enough to achieve sustained competitive advantage.
Adaptability is the ability to make rapid course corrections to manage uncertainty. It is the ability to change a product line up with only three months' notice, the ability to make a sharp right turn to take advantage of an opportunity without disupting the entire organization. Adaptible organizations absorb mergers and acquisitions more successfully to create greater value from the synergies, and seem to effortlessly move into new markets.
We work with our clients to help them find the right balance between Operational Excellence and Adaptability to achieve the greatest Strategic Latitude in their industries.
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