process imp peer group

1. Process Improvement Peer Group
SCLA 2018
Monday, June 4th
The first meeting of the peer group involved discussion and consensus on a topic/issue to
provide the context for developing a problem statement(s, to brainstorm potential solutions
and sharing best practices. Members of the peer group decided that the adoption and use of
technology was a common topic/issue for each of their companies.
Members of the peer group were asked to develop a problem statement based on the
topic/issue for the next day’s meeting.
Harvard Business Review articles:
https://hbr.org/2017/01/are-you-solving-the-right-problems
https://hbr.org/2017/06/how-you-define-the-problem-determines-whether-you-solve-it
Tuesday, June 5th
The peer group was divided into two sub-groups to develop and discuss their problem
statements. Each sub-group’s problem statement and factors related to the statement are
presented below.
Group A:
We cannot establish baseline standards in our processes before the technology changes again.
Factors related to this problem:
 Discipline
 Time in position
 Definition of ‘work’
 Critical thinking skills
Additional factors (from Wednesday, June 6th meeting):
 Pace of change – technology and processes
 Training and documentation
 Rapid change in market expectations (offset v digital; Large v small, shrinking lot)
 Downtime
 Scheduling
 People challenges (separations, transitions, knowledgebase)
Solution Space (from Wednesday, June 6th meeting):
 First mover advantage
 Contracts
 Collaboration with suppliers and customers
Maturity

2.  Product Optimization/SKU Management (customer last time buys; reduce SKUs)
 Awareness or consideration of what may be coming in terms of influencing tech
Observation: Companies appear to have different views and different affinity toward
technology. One member claimed his company views technology solutions as a last resort.
Another member said his company looks to technology first.
Group B:
Our employees/associates are resistant to change.
Discussion around factors related to the problem statement:
 How do we lower the threat state of change?
 How do we encourage speed of change / go faster?
 How do we ‘paint the picture’ of the future?
 How do we provide job security?
Additional factors (from Wednesday, June 6th meeting):
 Talent availability
 Talent (knowledge) loss
Solution Space (from Wednesday, June 6th meeting):
 Full transparency
 Socialization of change
 Marketing
 Early adopters / peer coaches
 Show early wins
 Standardizing work such that includes employees in solution and implementation
 Co-Create and communicate
Misc. technologies that have been used by some peer group members for training, as a
technology to interface with internal and external constituents, and for data analysis:
 SharePoint
 Adobe Experience Manager (machine learning behind it)
 Microsoft OneNote
 Tableau
Wednesday, June 6th
Please see items discussed as noted in the report out for Tuesday, June 5th.
Trust

3. Process Improvement Peer Group
SCLA 2018
Key Issues to Explore in Future Discussions and Case Demonstrations:
Process Improvement in the Technology Age (i.e., Industry 4.0)
 Technology selection here and on horizon: wait or integrate
o assessing cost, risk, speed of change
o handling competitive and executive pressure
 Technology deployment: challenges, best practices; sim./diff. between industries
 Technology adoption: overcoming people and process issues; internal/external
(supplier/customer) competency
 Technology visualization and analytics: collecting, visualizing, analyzing, reporting, etc.