Advanced Operations Management Training Course

Participants can structure an evidence-based diagnosis of operational performance and improvement opportunities.

• SIPOC diagrams defining suppliers, inputs, process boundaries, outputs and customers
• Voice of Customer requirements converted into critical-to-quality measures
• Baseline metrics distinguishing symptoms, root causes and performance gaps
• Pareto analysis identifying high-impact defects, delays, costs and failure demand
• Gemba observation plans capturing actual work, workarounds and hand-offs
• Diagnostic hypotheses tested against process data and stakeholder evidence

Participants can design service processes that balance customer outcomes, demand patterns and resource constraints.

• Customer journey maps locating waiting, failure demand and avoidable contacts
• Service blueprinting connects frontstage interactions, backstage work and enabling systems
• Demand segmentation separates predictable volume from complex exception work
• Queueing principles explain waiting-time effects of utilisation and variability
• Service-level agreements specify response, resolution, accuracy and escalation standards
• First-contact resolution measures linked to process capability and customer effort

Participants can map end-to-end processes and identify priority flow improvements.

• Process architecture distinguishes value streams, processes, procedures and work instructions
• Value-stream maps quantify lead time, touch time, queues and information flows
• Swimlane maps expose ownership gaps across functions, systems and suppliers
• Takt time compares customer demand with available production or service time
• Standard work defines sequence, timing, quality checks and expected outcomes
• Future-state maps remove non-value-adding steps and redesign critical hand-offs

Participants can apply Lean methods to improve flow, workplace control and process reliability.

• Eight wastes identified through defects, waiting, motion, inventory and overprocessing
• 5S workplace controls establish visual standards, ownership and audit discipline
• Kanban signals regulate replenishment between downstream demand and upstream supply
• Pull systems replace forecast-driven release with consumption-based replenishment rules
• Poka-yoke controls prevent predictable errors before defects reach customers
• Kaizen events scoped around measurable flow, quality or productivity targets

Participants can lead structured root-cause analysis and improvement using DMAIC.

• DMAIC project charters define problem statements, scope, benefits and sponsors
• Operational definitions ensure consistent collection of defect and cycle-time data
• Fishbone diagrams organise potential causes across people, methods, machines and materials
• Five Whys separates immediate causes from underlying process-control failures
• Process capability indices compare specification limits with observed variation
• Control plans assign measures, limits, actions, owners and review frequencies

Participants can create capacity plans that account for demand, variability, skills and utilisation.

• Capacity calculations convert demand forecasts into hours, shifts and resource requirements
• Effective capacity accounts for breaks, training, maintenance and planned downtime
• Utilisation analysis distinguishes productive loading from unstable overloading conditions
• Bottleneck resources identified through queue accumulation, starvation and blocking patterns
• Workforce rostering balances skill coverage, demand peaks and labour constraints
• Scenario plans test capacity responses to demand, absence and supplier disruption

Participants can select planning and scheduling rules suited to operational demand and constraints.

• Aggregate planning balances workforce, inventory, overtime and subcontracting decisions
• Master production schedules convert demand plans into time-phased production commitments
• Finite scheduling tests work-centre capacity against routing and setup constraints
• Dispatching rules compare earliest due date, shortest processing time and critical ratio
• Setup reduction using SMED separates internal tasks from external preparation
• Schedule adherence measures execution reliability against released production plans

Participants can set inventory policies that protect service while controlling cash and obsolescence.

• ABC analysis prioritises inventory control by annual usage value and criticality
• Economic order quantity balances ordering costs, holding costs and demand volume
• Safety-stock calculations reflect demand variability, lead-time variability and service targets
• Reorder points combine expected lead-time demand with planned safety stock
• Cycle counting improves inventory-record accuracy without full physical stocktakes
• Inventory turns and days-on-hand linked to working-capital improvement targets

Participants can manage supply-chain performance, supplier dependencies and sourcing risks.

• SCOR processes structure plan, source, make, deliver, return and enable activities
• Supplier segmentation distinguishes strategic, bottleneck, routine and leverage categories
• Total landed cost includes purchase price, freight, duties, quality and inventory
• Supplier scorecards track delivery, quality, responsiveness, cost and corrective actions
• Dual sourcing decisions balance resilience, cost, qualification and volume commitments
• Inbound variability assessed through lead-time distributions, shortages and expediting patterns

Participants can build quality controls that prevent defects and support consistent conformance.

• ISO 9001 process approach connects customer requirements, controls and continual improvement
• Cost of quality separates prevention, appraisal, internal failure and external failure
• Statistical process control distinguishes common-cause variation from special-cause variation
• Control charts selected for variable data, attribute data and subgroup structures
• Failure mode and effects analysis ranks severity, occurrence and detection risks
• Corrective and preventive action records verify containment, root cause and effectiveness

Participants can improve asset availability through risk-based maintenance and reliability analysis.

• ISO 55001 principles connect asset value, risk, cost and performance
• Overall equipment effectiveness measures availability, performance rate and quality rate
• Preventive maintenance plans schedule inspections, servicing and replacement intervals
• Reliability-centred maintenance selects tasks based on functional failure consequences
• Mean time between failures and mean time to repair analysed together
• Spare-parts criticality determines stocking policies, lead times and supplier arrangements

Participants can govern operational change initiatives alongside day-to-day delivery commitments.

• Project charters define scope, governance, benefits, milestones and decision rights
• Work breakdown structures decompose operational changes into accountable deliverables
• Critical path analysis identifies schedule dependencies, float and completion risk
• Stage-gate reviews control investment decisions, readiness criteria and escalation
• Benefits-realisation registers track expected outcomes, owners, timing and evidence
• Portfolio prioritisation compares strategic fit, value, risk, capacity and urgency

Participants can evaluate data and technology choices against operational process requirements.

• Operational data models connect transactions, events, assets, customers and performance measures
• Process mining reveals actual process variants, delays, rework and compliance gaps
• Automation candidates assessed through volume, rules stability, exceptions and control needs
• Dashboard design separates strategic outcomes, process drivers and diagnostic measures
• Data-quality checks test completeness, accuracy, timeliness, consistency and lineage
• Technology business cases include process redesign, adoption costs and control requirements

Participants can organise roles, routines and change actions required for sustained operational performance.

• RACI matrices clarify decision rights, task ownership, consultation and information flows
• Skills matrices identify capability gaps, cross-training priorities and single-point dependencies
• Daily management systems connect frontline issues with supervisor escalation routines
• Tiered accountability meetings review safety, quality, delivery, cost and people measures
• ADKAR change planning addresses awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement
• Resistance analysis identifies stakeholder concerns, influence patterns and response actions

Participants can quantify the financial effects of operational decisions and improvement proposals.

• Cost-to-serve models allocate activity costs across customers, products and channels
• Throughput accounting prioritises decisions using contribution, constraints and operating expense
• Activity-based costing traces resource consumption through operational process drivers
• Working-capital analysis links receivables, inventory, payables and cash conversion
• Net present value tests improvement investments against timing, risk and discount rates
• Sensitivity analysis examines benefit exposure to volume, costs, timing and adoption

Participants can assess operational risks and design proportionate continuity controls.

• Risk registers document causes, events, impacts, controls, owners and treatments
• Bow-tie analysis links preventive barriers, recovery controls and consequence pathways
• Business impact analysis sets recovery priorities, dependencies and maximum downtime
• Scenario planning tests responses to cyber incidents, supplier failures and demand shocks
• Operational resilience metrics track recovery time, service tolerance and control effectiveness
• Incident reviews capture lessons, corrective actions, accountability and closure evidence

Participants can incorporate environmental, social and governance considerations into operating decisions.

• Process carbon mapping identifies emissions from energy, transport, materials and waste
• Life-cycle assessment compares environmental impacts across sourcing, use and disposal stages
• Circular economy options assess reuse, repair, remanufacture and material recovery
• Responsible sourcing controls address labour, human rights and supplier conduct risks
• Energy-intensity measures connect production volume with consumption and efficiency actions
• Sustainability targets integrated into supplier scorecards and operational review routines

Participants can establish governance routines that convert performance data into accountable action.

• Balanced scorecards link financial, customer, process and capability performance measures
• Leading indicators distinguish controllable drivers from lagging business outcomes
• Metric trees connect executive goals with team-level process measures and actions
• Targets set using baselines, benchmarks, capability limits and strategic ambition
• Escalation protocols define thresholds, decisions, response times and accountable owners
• Management review packs combine trends, root causes, actions, risks and decisions

Participants can build, review and present a complete operations improvement plan for a defined operating challenge.

• Current-state diagnosis summarises customer needs, process evidence and performance gaps
• Target operating model specifies future processes, roles, controls and enabling technology
• Improvement roadmap sequences initiatives, dependencies, milestones, owners and resource requirements
• Financial case quantifies benefits, investment, cash effects, assumptions and sensitivities
• Risk and change plan defines controls, stakeholder actions and adoption measures
• Executive presentation defends recommendations through evidence, trade-offs and implementation priorities