SIRF Roundtables Blog

Unleashing a Great Power !

As a leader you are limiting the capability of your organisation if you do not have a good ratio of problem finders and problem fixers.

What does that mean?

A lot of organisations talk the talk but few walk the walk when tapping into the employee capability within their businesses.

It starts with leadership. If leaders are solving all the problems and not proactively developing the problem-solving capabilities of their workforce then they are capping the organisations capability to improve by the amount of problems they themselves can solve.

If you are not measuring IDK’s implemented, then how do you know you are engaging the workforce? IDK stands for individual daily kaizen. Implemented means completed not just an idea. Implemented improves the business, ideas do not as they are just ideas.

"Kaizen Mindset" should be part of your business language.

If people in your business cannot construct a strong 5 Why with a good causal relationship then I challenge you to whether they have the skills to think through a problem effectively and not just use prior experiences or intuition.

As a leader if you cannot create an effective 5 Why or Cause Tree then how would you be able to coach and mentor your teams?

If you have these skills and are using them to develop your teams then you are doing fantastically well.

If you don’t, then develop a “Kaizen Mindset” and start. None of us are perfect so let’s keep moving forward with our knowledge and leadership capabilities.

How does your Supply Chain stack up?

The Maintenance Manager's role is a crucial one for most operations. The buck tends to stop with the Maintenance manager to not only maintain a company's assets, but as the key custodian for safety and quality aspects and ensuring the reliability of plant and equipment. This usually involves a juggling act between balancing a budget, satisfying multiple stakeholders and dealing with people and plant issues.

October saw some great events happening across the Roundtable in Queensland. Included in the "must do" list was our Supply Chain Working Group at the Woolworths' Brisbane Distribution Centre, Larapinta.

Earlier this week I was lucky enough to spend some time with a group of SIRF members visiting the Arnott's factory in Brisbane, an iconic brand that has gone through significant change over the years to maintain efficiencies and position in an ever changing market. Most of those changes have centred around automation and robotics, with the impact on the facility achieving great results.

The Role of the Maintenance Team Leader,

Now that we've almost closed out on this year's National Forum, I thought I'd take the time to highlight the amazing job done by our inspirational and keynote speakers.

Another National Forum has now been and gone and I must say, what an amazing success!  The feedback has been brilliant and the attendees have gone away very much inspired.

Safety Initiatives Roundtable