alignment across different functions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nRegardless of whether these leaders were trying to improve cost, quality, production, or safety, they had to overcome these same three challenges. While these challenges are not unique to operational leaders, they are extraordinarily significant in the operational environment. In this article, we will share the stories and advice from top operational leaders who have utilized 4DX to address these challenges and produce results measured in millions and even billions of dollars. The specific names of the companies and their leaders that utilized 4DX are not disclosed to protect confidentiality.<\/p>\n
1. Produce a result that requires the effort of many people<\/h3>\n
Getting a small team to focus and work on a new strategy is difficult. Moving a large team, a division, or even an entire organization to work on a new strategy can seem impossible. Almost without exception, the leaders we interviewed discussed this issue and applied 4DX to those results that required the efforts of a large number of people.<\/p>\n
When Steve, vice president of manufacturing operations at a leading manufacturer of railroad equipment, improved cycle-count accuracy from 80% to 98%, it required the work of hundreds of people across multiple sites\u2014each making and keeping small commitments. These commitments included activities like cycle-counting different items every week, creating new storage areas, and making signage where none had existed. The accumulation of these small activities by hundreds of people had an impact measured in millions of dollars in inventory and cost savings.<\/p>\n
The idea of big results from small activities is a recurring theme. Casey, vice president of production at the North American oil producer that saved over a billion dollars by increasing plant availability from 72% to 100% while cutting costs by over 22%, says,
\n“In our results, you don\u2019t see these big elephant projects to save costs. It\u2019s these small things that the operators and maintenance teams come up with. That\u2019s what\u2019s driven our costs down. Everybody on the team found those one or two little things that they could do to reduce costs. It\u2019s just that one little thing every week.”<\/p>\n
Steve, plant manager at a large agricultural-equipment manufacturing facility, said, “One of the most powerful things was the $50,000 to $100,000 projects that just kept popping out of the woodwork, and the next thing you know\u2014all of these small projects add up to $2 million, $5 million, $10 million. It became more about a bunch of small projects\u2014generating people\u2019s ideas\u2014getting their engagement. It ended up saving us millions and millions of dollars.”<\/p>\n
2. Produce a result that requires improved process adoption<\/h3>\n
Although, we never suggested that our clients apply 4DX to their critical work processes\u2014that is what they continue to do. According to Steve, plant manager, “Entropy is in every process. Every process you have, if you aren\u2019t paying attention to it, is decaying. If you don\u2019t pay attention to it long enough, it decays to the point where it completely breaks down.”<\/p>\n
Mike, a global director of process improvement at a Fortune 500 supplier of paint products that improved first run compliance on complex paint formulas by 75%, pointed out that they had the processes in place, but as the pressure of daily, urgent activities intensified, process adherence slipped. Mike explained, “When people are stretched, they tend to take shortcuts, and they don\u2019t follow process. What 4DX gave us was a mechanism to say we\u2019re going to make sure we get these people to find the time to focus on the important stuff. It wasn\u2019t lack of know-how. It\u2019s that we weren\u2019t able to allocate a significant amount of resources and time to get it done.”<\/p>\n
In the case above, Mike and his organization were clear on a strategic path (they had the formal process right). The challenge was executing the process. 4DX gave them a method for maintaining focus on the most critical parts of their process and resulted in some of their largest gains.<\/p>\n\t\t
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