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NEWSLETTER Arête
Vol 22 August 2019
1
Arête Vol 22.0
Dear reader, we are delighted to
bring you yet another edition of
Arête. We have endeavoured to
make each edition of Arête as fresh
and content rich as possible. This
time around we have added new
case studies and knowledge
nuggets, which we’re sure you will
find intriguing and enlightening.
Please feel free to share your
thoughts and views by writing to us at
Happy reading!
Case 1: Optimizing Commissioning Project process in Oman
Knowledge Nugget: SWOT Analysis
News 1: SSA launches international operations in Thailand
Chairman's desk
Lean Tip: Heijunka Box
Case Study 2: Optimization of Employee Training
Pragmatic Leader of the Month: Mr. Said Safrar - by Mr. NC
News 2: SSA at LEAN Management event organized by ICAI – Muscat Chapter
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6
1
4
5
3
8
7
Chairman's desk
Dear reader, welcome to a new edition of Arête. In this edition we feature two insightful case studies: One talks
about optimization of Commissioning process in an Electricity transmission and distribution company in Oman.
The other case study highlights a LEAN Yellow belt project – Optimization of Employee training – at a logistics
company in Oman . The knowledge nugget section features SWOT Analysis, a rather important project
management tool, especially used by business analysts while in the Lean tips section we talk about Heijunka
Box. I am immensely happy to share the news that SSA Group has expanded its horizons & launched
international operations in Thailand and I wish to congratulate all those who were involved in making this
successful!
Finally, for the Pragmatic Leader of the Month, I introduce yet another important leader, Mr. Said Safrar, CEO of
'Oman Investment & Finance Co. SAOG' (OIFC). Wish you a happy reading and, as always, I welcome your
feedback!
Situation: ABC is an Oman-based electricity transmission and distribution company. Delays in testing and commissioning of new transformers and transmission lines were impacting the company revenue, customer satisfaction and network reliabilities. Financial losses were estimated to be in excess of OMR 0.5 million per year.
Problem Statement: Of the 7 132kV-transmission projects that ABC undertook in 2018, 6 had been delayed. It was observed and analyzed that one of the significant reasons for the delay is the delay in testing and commissioning process.
Goal: To reduce the time delay in Testing & Commissioning by 100%
Case Study 1: Optimizing Commissioning Project process in Oman
Situation – deep dive
Of the 7 132kV-transmission projects that ABC undertook in 2018, 6 had been delayed. Preliminary data collection and analysis pointed out that a significant chunk of the
project delay time was attributed to the testing and commissioning process.
The process alone contributed to 56% of the total delay time.
Root Cause Analysis exercise revealed the following problems o Poor quality of internal test o Gap in communication and involvement between stakeholder o Non-availability of protection engineers
Solutions were identified in multiple brainstorming sessions by the project team.
Actions Taken – deep dive
RCA & Solution Identification
1 - Improve the process of choosing the project consultant 2 - Deploy outsource professional protection engineers 3 - distribute them as per region / project wise 4 - Establish commissioning depts
Availability protection engineers
1 - Approved checklist to be prepared by project department verifying that PE is following the SOP 2 - Improve SOP of concerned depts to enable End-user Engineer to be part of the process stages (Design &installation) 3 - Workshops prior to internal and witness test to be conducted
Involvement & Gap communications
between stakeholders 1 - Detailed plan & prequalification docs to be reviewed and agreed with concerned depts in a workshop 2 - Result of internal test to be reviewed by consultant with concerned depts 3 - Conduct final approval session
Poor Quality of internal test
Actions Taken – deep dive
All solutions accepted
SOPs were updated
Creation of awareness for stakeholders
Implement process
mapping
The solutions to the root causes as illustrated in the previous slide were accepted by the stakeholders.
Existing SOPs were updated, and new ones were put in place where necessary. All stakeholders were made aware of the process changes and new procedures. New process as per discussions were mapped and documented.
Revised SOP ensured more transparent process. Revenue upside of 0.5 million OMR post reduction in delay for 2019 projects with
new process, first project finishing up in Q4, 2019. Ensured adherence to annual capex delivery plan. Reduce over lapping of commissioning plans. Network reliabilities Avoidance of penalties.
Results Achieved and Benefits
Installation of Equipment Workshop Internal test Workshop
Client Witness Commissioning Energization
Re-engineered process
Knowledge Nugget: SWOT Analysis
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is an effective strategic planning tool applicable to a business or project objective.
Strengths and weaknesses are identified with respect to the internal capabilities of an organization. They provide an introspective view.
On the other hand, opportunities and threats look outside the organization. Quite simply, the analyst tries to identify opportunities for the organization and threats to the organization.
When analysing a SWOT, the question to ask is, "How can the organization leverage its strengths or improve its weaknesses to take advantage of the opportunities while mitigating or eliminating the threats?“
An example of SWOT analysis is presented in the following slide.
S • Strength
W • Weakness
O • Opportunities
T • Threats
Source: The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook
Knowledge Nugget: SWOT Analysis - Example A private higher education institution experienced declining enrolment for four consecutive years, particularly from two major cities in the state where it is located. This declining enrolment impacted the profitability. The president is feeling pressure from the board of directors, which wants answers as to why the enrolment levels are declining. The industrial engineering department has proposed a Six Sigma project aimed at improving the enrolment rate for students from the two major cities. As the department prepares to make probability estimates, it produces the SWOT analysis as shown below:
Strength • High academic entrance requirements • Strong general education program • High % of full-time faculty • New endowments for faculty chairs • Fundraising goals are being met each year • Well-designed internship and study abroad opportunities
Weakness • Print communications for prospective students are
bland and generic • Recruitment staff too passive in contacting prospective
students • Uneven implementation of assessments and program
review methods • Student-centered customer focus is not recognized
Opportunities • Metropolitan area location has population advantage • Area corporations offer tuition reimbursements • Reputable business program with a global studies focus
is not marketed well as it could be
Threats • The number of traditional-age prospective students is
expected to decline • With the cost of education escalating, community
colleges have recently become viable competitors • Public universities have undertaken significant marketing
efforts to position themselves as comparable in experience to private colleges.
INTE
RNAL
EX
TERN
AL
Business Case: Most of ABC’s training needs are technical and Operational and cannot be developed in house, requiring the organisation to spend money on external training sessions that are very costly. By raising or training in-house coaches and trainers, ABC will be able to reduce the cost of investment on people in majority of core training needs.
Actions Taken: After thorough analysis of current & future training requirements and the current process of conducting training, the Business Excellence team ideated ‘Train the trainer’ program to harness employees’ skills to the most and optimize training expenses at ABC.
Goals: • Enabling ABC employees to become “experts” within their field to which they
can train other employees • Reduction in expenses on external training programmes
Case Study 2: Optimization of Employee Training
Situation – deep dive
On having discussions with the Business Excellence team and HR department at ABC, the following points were realised: ABC spends lot of money to hire outside trainers Training budget has increased substantially and at times, the cost has also exceeded the
budget. Internal capabilities of resources in the organization to train other resources and skill
building are under-utilized. Some of the trainings planned are unnecessary
Actions Taken
Classifying internal and external faculties
analysed
Possibilities of internal trainings without
compromising quality of training explored
Identified competent employees for ‘train
the trainers’ programme
Train the trainer courses facilitated by
highly skilled, professional and
experienced outsourced faculties.
Assessed the cost-benefit comparison
between internal and external training
programs
Savings arising out of skill building using internal trainers.
Trai
ning
exp
ense
s in
OM
R
Summary of benefits
Potential cost savings at OMR 129,000 (Rs. 2,38,94,400) per year & thus reduction in overall training budget
Skill building of internal resources
Development of best practices through in house training
In house training Centres / Venues to be developed
Conversion of courses into online coaching / E-learning
13900
12050 6250
13900
4440
500
Potential Savings OMR Customer Services
Leaderships Program
Competencies Development Sales & Marketing
HSE Program
MS Excel
Lean Tip: Heijunka Box
We have already understood Heijunka (or load levelling) in an earlier edition of Arête. Heijunka Box is one such method used to achieve Heijunka, i.e. levelling the mix and volume of production, by distributing kanban within a facility at fixed intervals.
The illustration alongside shows a typical Heijunka box. Each horizontal row is for one type of product. Each vertical column represents identical time intervals for paced withdrawal of kanban. The shift starts at 7:00 a.m. and the kanban withdrawal interval is every 20 minutes. This is the frequency with which the material handler will withdraw kanban from the box and distributes them to production processes in the facility.
Whereas the slots represent the material and information flow timing, the kanban in the slots each represent the time required to produce one pack-out quantity for a particular product type. Source: Lean Lexicon, LEI
News 1: SSA launches international operations in Thailand
SSA expanded its horizons kicking off international operations in Thailand in July 2019. SSA has associated with Leadership Partner Asia (LPA) Ltd. in this endeavor.
SSA organized a 2-day bootcamp to emphasize on the importance of ‘Profit Leadership’ for success in organizations. Top management of SSA and LPA were positive about providing services in Thailand and its neighboring countries.
News 2: SSA at LEAN Management event organized by ICAI – Muscat Chapter Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Muscat Chapter organised an event on Lean Management at College of Banking and Financial Studies, Bawsher on 31st July, 2019. The main speaker for the event was Mr. Nandha Kumar, Country Manager – GCC , SSA International LLC.
Mr. Said Safrar, CEO of 'Oman Investment & Finance Co. SAOG' (OIFC) is our 'Pragmatic Leader' of the month. His vision for OIFC is commendable as he has foreseen the transformation in the utility outsourcing business well in advance and chosen several strategic interventions to re-engineer the business model. It includes Lean management systems for improving customer service, people mind-set change to align with Oman consumer expectations. He is a calculated risk-taker with deep customer services and tech industry knowledge. Safrar has championed ePayment services to his customers, applying the right type of technology in information management and customer interface which fuelling the industry-wide transition in online services. The tangible results achieved are significant through these interventions. SSA International & SSA Techknowlogies enjoyed teaming up with him in pursuing his vision. We appreciate his trust & confidence in SSA team and wish all the best for OIFC under his leadership.
Pragmatic Leader of the Month: Mr. Said Safrar - by Mr. NC
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM