Consider the following ...

 

1. Would an 'outside eye' help to establish some objectivity and clarity around how your operations are really running
    

2. Do you recognise that your Operations area could benefit from extra horsepower but you're not sure what that additional resource looks like?
    

3. Do you need specialised skills but can't afford to add a new full-time employee to the payroll?
    

4. Do you have a challenging problem or controversial project that requires an experienced and skilled problem-solver?
    

5. Do you relate to the expression, 'most of the NOISE in my business comes from the operations area'?
    

6. Do you recognise that you have 'problems' in your operations but are unsure what they are or how to clearly define them?
    

7. Do you know you need to change and a catalyst to drive that change doesn't exist internally?
    

8. Do you have some good people in the business but you don't have the resources to grow, teach and support them?
    

9. You can see that new ideas and a different approach are required to break the 'that is how we have always done it' attitude
    

10. Growth means that you need to add a new team, a new shift or a new process/work-centre to your operations
     

11. You or other senior managers speak a completely different language to the plant/factory manager ... it's hard to solve problems because you 'just don't get each other'!
     

12. Your operations area can fulfil 'regular' orders well most of the time but new or 'special' orders are always a drama
     

13. Your plant/factory manager is quite 'defensive' and doesn't like other members of the management team in their patch
     

14. Is performance measurement hard to get a handle on? Are excuses and finger pointing part of the culture?
     

15. Compliance is a challenge that operations don't really take seriously. Their attitude is ... 'all that matters is getting the orders fulfilled and the jobs out the door'
     

16. Are multiple deliveries, recovery service and warranty work just an accepted part of your operations culture?
     

17. We run out of materials and components whenever we get busy and it always seems to be the suppliers fault
     

18. The same problems just seem to recur again and again and again, despite the 'fixes' you implement
     

19. Do you find that the solution offered to most problems seems to be 'we need more people'?