Steps To Solving Operational Issues

If you are spending more time encountering the same issues over and over again in your business operations, you are going to notice over time that they are festering into bigger issues. The thing is, no matter what industry your business is in, if you have done the things that you have always done, you will get the results that you have always gotten.

Choosing to implement an approach that solves problems in your business can help you to realise the root cause of what is going wrong in your operations, so that you can approach it the right way and find solutions to the problem. Manufacturing plants are large places, and anything from boilers to heat exchangers can go wrong at any time. You need to take a problem solving approach and below, you will find this solution broken down into steps to make sure that mistakes do not happen.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Operational Issues Resolution | Corrective Action Program
 
Look at the problem. An issue can be seen as a temporary setback or an interruption in production. The problem is that these temporary setbacks can be costly, and the first thing that you need to be aware of is if a problem exists and you should view it as an opportunity to make improvements for next time.

Get to know the issue. Something in the plant has broken down and production has halted across the board. In order to understand the issue, you need to figure out what started all of it. Some of the questions that you can ask is:

  • Who needs to be informed?
  • What are the processes in question that have failed?
  • When and where did the issue occur?
  • What caused the issue?
  • Does the problem happen too often?

Implement temporary measures. You can’t always find a perfect solution right away, and that’s okay! You first need to put out the fire and put the right fix in place for now – even if that fix is only temporary.

Find the cause. You can’t always find the exact cause of the issue straight away, but when you do you need to find the root cause and not just the immediate problem. If the heat exchangers or boilers have failed, you need to figure out what caused the failure and then trace back from there to fix it. This will prevent it from happening again.

Find a solution. Once you know the root cause of the issue you are facing, you can figure out the solution. Work with your team and examine your options wholly. Once you find your solutions, plan for back up solutions in case the first solution doesn’t work.

Make a plan. Action plans are there to help you to implement the solutions that you’ve come up with. With the right resources and an established timeline, your progress can be closely watched.
Reap the rewards. When you start to see progress and results, collect the data to evaluate these results and use performance indicators against any standards you set. Adjust your plan and make it work.

Marathon Consulting Group

StrategyDriven Trusted Service PartnerMarathon Consulting Group

Led by richly experienced leaders and executives from the power industry, Marathon Consulting Group approaches regulatory recovery and other engineering, technology, and management challenges from a strategic and 100% solutions-focused perspective. Our services empower our clients for effectiveness, competitiveness, and compliance.

Organizational Performance Services

Frequently, an organization’s performance is driven by behaviors of leadership team members. Marathon has developed integrated tools and processes to help organizations reset standards and change the behaviors necessary to improving performance. We have been extremely successful in guiding our clients along their journeys to excellence.

Marathon organizational performance services include:

  • Nuclear and non-nuclear safety culture surveys, analysis, assessments, cause analysis, action plan development, implementation support, and effectiveness assessments
  • Regulatory Recoveries
  • Mentoring and monitoring as a part of improvement initiatives
  • Oversight and subject matter expert services
  • Cause Analysis and Corrective Action Program Assistance
  • Organizational and incident causal analysis and training

Marathon’s approach of precisely defining problems, determining causes, and determining effective actions in concert with the client has resulted in successful improvement strategies across our client base. From regulatory recoveries to improving internal client relationships and culture, Marathon’s sharp focus on problems and their solutions has been a successful strategy appreciated by our clients.

The power of our process becomes especially evident when senior management come to understand the actual and potential consequences of their behaviors and then engage more effectively with staff as a result. The organization becomes more aligned, engaged, and prepared to respond reliably and consistently to issues. Consequential events are reduced and regulatory margin is preserved.

Management Services

Marathon provides extensive management services to clients in the electrical generation industry (including nuclear, oil, and gas).

Marathon management services include:

  • Embedded and augmented line and project management experts
  • Mentoring and monitoring as a part of improvement initiatives
  • Oversight and subject matter expert services
  • Process analysis and improvement
  • Organizational and incident causal analysis and training

Marathon’s approach of precisely defining problems, determining causes, and determining effective actions in concert with the client has resulted in successful improvement strategies across our client base. From Work Management and Outage improvement to improving internal client relationships, Marathon’s sharp focus on problems and their solutions has been a successful strategy appreciated by our clients.

Engineering and Licensing Services

Marathon has successfully provided engineering and licensing services to the nuclear and non-nuclear electrical generation industry, national engineering labs, and the oil and gas refining and distribution industry.

Marathon Engineering and Licensing Services include:

  • Engineering project management and implementation
  • Managed task implementation
  • Maintenance Rule implementation
  • Engineering program development and reconstitution
  • Process improvement
  • Training
  • Oversight and review board participation and management
  • Design review
  • Equipment and process root cause analysis and resolution
  • Direct Licensing support
  • Regulatory Affairs analysis and resolution

Marathon’s approach in each of these areas centers on accurate and detailed definition of the problem or task and development of a plan of action in concert with the client and client’s requirements. Rigorous implementation of the plan while engaging the client results in accomplishment of the effort completely as expected and as scheduled. The depth of experience that Marathon’s personnel bring to the table, and the ways in which we collaborate with the client and across the Marathon projects clearly sets us apart.

Technical Services

Marathon provides technical services to the clients in the electrical generation industry, including oil and gas.

Marathon Technical Services include:

  • Managed task projects such as Bills of Materials solutions, Preventive Maintenance program development and optimization
  • Project Controls tools and techniques for managing large volumes of data, corrective actions, and commitments
  • Financial projection and tracking tools for projects
  • Financial projection and Client Relationship Manager (CRM) integration

Marathon’s tools and techniques are proven in the field to be accurate, intuitively useable by a variety of personnel, simple to maintain with minimal skills and are usually used by the client long after the Marathon engagement.

Contact Marathon Consulting Group

Phone: 678-879-8700

Email: [email protected]

Website: marathoninc.com

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Sevian

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Implemented by Fortune 500, large regional, and small companies, Sevian Business Programs enable rapid implementation and improvement of mission critical operational programs. Each program contains all of the components necessary to implement a fully mature program on day one – truly enabling turnkey performance excellence. Available programs include:

Sevian Business Programs are copyrighted and offered by StrategyDriven Enterprises, LLC. These programs support StrategyDriven’s commitment to providing executives and managers with the planning and execution advice, tools, and practices needed to create greater organizational alignment and accountability for the achievement of superior results.

Contact Sevian

Phone: (770) 765-3692

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.sevian.net

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StrategyDriven is dedicated to providing executives and managers with the planning and execution advice, tools, and practices needed to create greater organizational alignment and accountability for the achievement of superior results.

We help our clients create and execute a clear, forward-looking strategy – translatable to the day-to-day activities of all organization members – that’s critical to their realizing success in today’s fast paced market environment. Not only does a compelling, well executed strategy align individuals to a common purpose, it ensures that purpose best serves the company’s mission.

The StrategyDriven website provides access to a wide array of best practice business planning and execution tools, streamlined process flows, how-to articles, example-rich podcasts, and customizable ready-to-use program management templates. Premium Members receive access to over 200 members-only articles, whitepapers, models, and tools and templates; providing an in-depth look into critical business performance areas; placing specific focus on the alignment of organizational standards, programs, and behaviors to the optimal achievement of mission goals. Sevian Business Program purchasers receive fully implementable business performance improvement processes out-of-the-box, enabling the acceleration of business growth and heightening of operational efficiency needed to significantly improve bottom line results.

Collectively, our products offer business leaders the opportunity to access the knowledge of a highly educated and experienced staff without the associated overhead expense.

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Corrective Action Program Best Practice 18 – Due Date Extension Authorization

StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program ArticleImplementing performance improving actions can dramatically enhance the organizational results achieved. Unfortunately, many identified actions go unfulfilled, the victims of never ending delays. Establishing robust corrective action due date extension protocols, complimented by associated management metrics and reports, helps curtail unending activity deferment.

Management establishes the organization’s priorities and assigns activity due dates and resources accordingly. To meet this responsibility, managers must continuously monitor and control activity due dates and resource assignments after they are made; adjusting them accordingly as new information and/or opportunities become available.


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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.