Creating Effective Data-Driven Decision Making Systems for Production, Quality and Cost Management

Drawing on his years of experience implementing multi-plant systems for Kroger, Briggs & Stratton and other leading manufacturers,  Palmer Consulting Principal Bill Palmer will discuss how the core practices of process management and analytics in operations mature to become key elements of enterprise management and illustrate the most effective strategies to develop operational excellence.

Executing the fundamentals is critical to success. For process management, those fundamentals include well designed and implemented plant floor data collection, management and analytics to support decision making. With these systems in place, the company can establish operational excellence. Without them, long term success is impossible.

The disciplines imposed by masters such as Deming and Juran serve as the model for effective corporate management practice. While improving process performance may not be the glamorous headliner management initiative of the moment, experience shows it is critical to enterprise management. As analysts state, “Lean and TQM initiatives usually begin in particular departments and grow across a plant or organization” (MESA whitepaper #40). For thousands of companies this is the natural progression of management disciplines that are at the heart of competitive manufacturing.

The presenter:

Bill Palmer is the principal of Palmer Consulting and Assistant Professor of Electromechanical Engineering Technology at Murray State University. For 22 years, he has designed and deployed quality information systems for manufacturing clients and taught manufacturers how to apply the principles of SPC and continuous improvement to plant floor operations and corporate management.