Asahi Beverages Australia have distilled their collective knowledge of continuous improvement and operational excellence into a methodology called the Asahi Operational Excellence System
Functioning across multiple sites in Australia this is providing a framework and motivation to implement process improvement initiatives generated in the business. In addition healthy competition between sites is focusing activity and stimulating employees’ desire to succeed.
Our disappointment of not attending the daily morning taste testing meeting was more than offset by a thorough tour of the facility and the privilege of attending the daily shift handover meeting.. The meeting was concise and the shift supervisor Shane followed an agenda to keep the oncoming crew engaged. Targets were communicated and highlights of the previous shift were discussed. This meeting is held in front of the daily and weekly KPI scorecards so issues can be actioned or elevated according to business priorities.
OES works for Asahi Beverages because the 10 tracks of the programme are each owned by delegates at all levels of the organisation. Their contributions are measured and rewarded. Each track has a line manager who sets the direction and content in conjunction with a designated subject matter expert. It is then the responsibility of the track lead, usually a motivated individual on or close to the operation, to provide the drive and engage team members to raise problems and implement process improvement opportunities.
Thank you to Luca, Anna and Simon for sharing their progress and learning from their journey to operational excellence.
Nick Young, Operations Excellence Manager, Nufarm Australia Limited