Certifications for Your Business?

Certifications in business have even more value now given the increasing level of complexity we all face.  According to MEP, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, we see increasing value looking recent data on the benefits of business certifications.

AS9100 and ISO9001 Certifications Provide a Competitive Edge.

Gem City Metal Technologies’ business results are shown here as an example:

• $11,000,000 in increased or retained sales
• 50 increased or retained jobs
• $45,000 in cost savings
• $4,130,000 in new investment

The first challenge with this or any business initiative is generally about resources and priorities. There must be an ROI of sufficient value to drive the investment. It IS a large investment if done properly.  And it will have desired ROI when implemented. Deciding to invest time, people, and energy and of course money, is the all-important first step. Certification for a business is a commitment, whether you talk about TQM, Six-Sigma, or ISO, it requires changing the way you do business on an everyday basis.  I call this "working ON the business, not just working IN the business".

Challenge #2 in this arena is the prioritization. If you intend to embark on this path, the best assurance to achieve good results is by applying FULL TIME cross-functional resources with the charter and authority to make it happen.  One of the major issues with any strategic initiative is to always design accountability and execution metrics into the strategy.  Too many firms design great plans but have too little or no execution metrics built into the strategy plan, leaving the initiative to become an afterthought when it fizzles. Once you have a solid commitment, and full-time resources assigned to specific deadline-oriented objectives, now you have a much higher probability of achieving the desired outcome.

Challenge #3 is alignment.  If your management staff and direct labor staff struggle to articulate and implement the strategic objectives, it’s most likely because they don’t clearly understand the goals, and that starts first with your leadership communication.  One major reason teams fail is when they are not all on the same page up and down the organization.  If it’s not crystal clear what you and the C level team are driving for, they will get lost, spend time and money that doesn’t generate results.  But it may take time before you realize it’s too late, time and money are already spent and you are not getting the results you hoped for.

After addressing these three all-important concepts, you are now ready to see results as you track operations performance to specific milestones. This is where certification begins to pay off handsomely.

·      Be ready to acknowledge Quick Wins.

·      Over communicate on progress, and obstacles so everyone involved is engaged and feels part of the program.

·      Be prepared in advance to deal with setbacks. This is a big reason why you cannot afford to run strategic efforts with part time resources. You will experience setbacks. What matters is how employees and customers see the firm respond.  They engage to the extent they see the firm commitment and engagement.  If the boss stops talking about an initiative, to instead talk only about late backorders, it’s as good as dead. Keep an eye on the ball!

If you think it may help your team to do a step back to reflect assessment, that will be useful. Let us know if we can assist you in this thinking.

In our next article we'll discuss professional certifications for individuals.

Bob Forshay,

www.supplychainPro2Know.com