Knowledge Garden
Root cause analysis
A simple but very powerful technique of finding a root cause is to ask “Why” until you get there. This is excellently illustrated by the little girl questioning her father
There are other techniques which will work when the problem is too complex for this approach, and there is more than one root cause
Utilizing intelligence and creativity of your people
With your people, you pay for a pair of hands, and you get a free brain. Utilizing this intelligence and creativity can dramatically improve your business. An excellent way of doing this is using a technique called “2 second Lean”, as popularised by Paul Akers.
It gets your people to removing waste and wasted effort, to make work flow better, making their own work easier and improving quality and productivity.
Probability based analysis of risks eg impact on profit, using Monte Carlo analysis
Monte Carlo is famous for its gambling, which is all based on probability of winning and losing. In the same way, a Monte Carlo analysis uses probability to determine an outcome.
The profit a business makes is based upon the following for its product: costs to produce one; quantities produced per day; availability of raw materials and utilities such as electricity; selling price; sales demand for product; sometimes exchange rates etc. There can be many other factors at play. Each of these can vary depending upon numerous factors.
The Monte Carlo analysis uses the probability of each of these occurring, to calculate what are the likelihoods of an outcome such as making profit of a certain amount. This then shows the likelihood of making a profit or a loss, and how much profit would probably be made.
Ensuring project execution
The normal day-to-day running of an operation demands a lot from your Managers. On top of this, there are strategic projects which are important.
How to get both done successfully is often a challenge, and here is a way to help achieve this. It focuses on the four disciplines of execution
