| 1. | Are there policies needed to be added/ revised/ placed/ eliminated to improve business processes? |
| | Your organization has tried to make changes, but well- begun efforts seem to stop short of success. |
| 2. | Information about business is not correct or is too slow. Is there some way to improve it? |
| | There have been issues with accuracy, timing, or completeness of information that you need to make key decisions. |
| 3. | Keeping track of operations is an ongoing challenge. How can I tell the status of operations better? |
| | Too much data and not enough information and knowledge; it’s a frequent issue. You see too many reports, but nothing seems to tell you want you want to know, when you want to know it. |
| 4. | Lost product and/or materials are an issue. How do I keep better track of inventory and work-in-process? |
| | As workload increases, just keeping track of things can become a problem. Losing materials can have repercussions in cost, delivery, and even in quality. |
| 5. | Machine downtime is excessive. How can this be improved? |
| | Keeping your equipment producing is necessary. Replacing it with the latest may not solve your downtime issues, even if you have the capital to invest. |
| 6. | My warehouse is full or nearing capacity. What options do I have? |
| | You have a lack of space to store product or materials. There may be solutions short of expanding your warehouse, an expensive option. |
| 7. | Production costs are too high. What improvement techniques can I apply to lower costs? |
| | Cost pressures are common across all industries. Many costs are due to process problems, and there are many approaches to smooth out work processes. |
| 8. | Scrap rates are unsustainable. What can help reduce these losses? |
| | If you do not have a good measure of scrap rates and costs, you will be surprised at the impact. If you do have a good measure, let's see what changes can be made. |
| 9. | There are many improvement programs: Six Sigma, Lean, and so on. How do I decide which one(s) to invest limited resources? |
| | Out of the many approaches, you need to focus on the best ones. Do they compete, or do they combine? What is needed to start? |
| 10. | There is too much capacity. What are approaches that will help? |
| | Excess capacity is a cost issue, and oddly enough, it can reduce effectiveness. Hopefully a temporary problem, there are ways to treat this and save money. |
