Blog
![](/images/Blog_images/Blog.jpg)
The articles below explain how to overcome common barriers to improvement and how industry leaders sustain the gains where others are not able to.
This is based on our work with well-known and award winning organisations. There is much to learn from them. If there are any topics you would like is to add, please get in touch.
For more detailed articles check out our DAK Academy website guide which contains links to videos, articles and downloads.
Daily Management In A Digital World
- Details
- Category: Blog
Organisations that successfully embrace the improved connectivity of digital technology at scale see a step change in performance. Where many organisations fail is by adopting a mindset that characterises the future gains in terms of one off cost savings. This is a journey not a destination. A CI journey of matching pain points with relevant digital solutions, testing and adapting to establish the new ecosystem then using that new ecosystem to deliver and lock in the gains.
Measuring Maintenance Effectiveness
- Details
- Category: Blog
Effectiveness is a measure of how well a process achieves its purpose, a measure of how often that process hits that "right first time" sweet spot. The gap between the Effectiveness achieved and 100% is a measure of the health of the process.
Although the most widely used measure of effectiveness is OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), Effectiveness can be applied to improve any process including Maintenance Management.
So what?
Maintenance is most effective when engineers time is directed towards getting the most out of the asset. The table below contains the results from a food processing and packaging plant on their journey from over 80% of time spent on reactive maintenance to less than 10%.
The Power of an Improvement Glide Path
- Details
- Category: Blog
Organisations that achieve year on year improvement in OEE use it as a "Leading rather than Lagging" Indicator.
That is they use OEE analysis to clarify future improvement potential and apply relevant Focussed Improvement tactics to systematically deliver that potential.
Workplace Learning a Shortcut to Better Performance
- Details
- Category: Blog
Some organizations don't pay enough attention to people development. To them, it looks like a detour, when it is actually a shortcut to better performance. Particularly when it is considered as part of the routine.
Then it becomes workplace learning which can be used to surface and resolve the causes of waste and unplanned downtime as part of the day to day routine.
That typically deliver gains of 6 to 8 times the investment in time and resource. Something that far exceeds the Return in Investment of most capital projects.
Harvesting Gains From Digitisation
- Details
- Category: Blog
The wider use of online meetings during the lockdown shone a spotlight on the opportunities that embracing the digital world can deliver. Just as Zoom calls close the gap between the physical and digital to make collaboration easier, there are gains to be made by manufacturers who recognise the potential of digitised work routines.
Meeting The Reliability Challenge
- Details
- Category: Blog
Understanding The Nature of Unplanned Downtime
Equipment Reliability discussions often focus on component failure yet this is only part of the picture. The delivery of high levels of reliability depends on more than technical expertise. As important is the way in which the leadership conversations drive front line Operator and Maintainer mindsets and behaviours.
Compare the behaviours of two engineers responding to a failure caused by a broken chain that has stopped production.
Delivering Year On Year Performance Gains
- Details
- Category: Blog
Plain English guide setting out how TPM delivers year on year gains through improved leadership and engagement.
Lessons From The Pioneers Of Successful Digitisation
- Details
- Category: Blog
The most common cause of failure of digitisation projects is to over focus on the technology. So what should you focus on?
What Successful Organisations Do Well
- Details
- Category: Blog
If the journey to industry leading performance was clear, everyone would use it but less than 1% of organisations that embark on that journey stay the course.
How Good Is Your Project Cue Action
- Details
- Category: Blog
Top Snooker or Pool players continually practice the basics so that when the pressure is on, they can rely on their instincts to pull them through.
Below is a list of the equivalent basic skills for successful project delivery many of which are missing from traditional project management training such as Prince 2.
With these capabilities, stakeholders from junior team members to Project Governance roles are able to surface issues early and make decisions that secure the glide path to flawless day one operation.