Building Resilient Operations

When I was still relatively early in my career, and took the helm of a manufacturing operations organization, the predominant model for operations was that they should be stable, crank-turning efforts delivering consistently.  Operational processes within that model were relatively fixed, quickly institutionalized, and incrementally improved.  That is not the world we live in today.

Don’t get me wrong.  There is still a place for stable processes.  Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing, air traffic control systems, satellite manufacturing, auto manufacturing and any other life and/or mission critical activities require highly stable, repeatable, and monitorable processes.  That said, those types of processes are the exceptions rather than the rule these days.  

We live in a world of disruption.  We are simultaneously experiencing globalization and localization across all sectors.  New business models are emerging while others are sun-setting.  New technology, [hello ChatGPT], are setting flames to old ways of doing work.  Customer preferences are radically changing as younger generations become the dominant spenders and power users.  The regulation tapestry shifts daily with local and regional requirements reverberating globally.  Operational stability in an unstable world requires a different kind of thinking.  

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