Interdisciplinary Professional Programs
College of Engineering

Operational Excellence Strategies for Transforming Manufacturing Performance

Operational excellence (OpEx) is the foundation of sustainable success in modern manufacturing. It transcends individual tools, isolated improvement projects, or short-term cost-cutting initiatives. True operational excellence integrates people, processes, and technology into a cohesive management system that enables organizations to consistently deliver superior performance, resilience, and competitiveness.

In an era of high customer expectations, market volatility, and technological disruption, manufacturers must go beyond Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement as stand-alone efforts. Operational excellence provides a unifying framework that aligns daily actions with long-term business goals, builds resilient systems capable of managing variability, and fosters a culture of accountability and innovation.

This two-day course is designed specifically for experienced manufacturing professionals who are ready to elevate their impact. It equips participants to move beyond basic tools and methods toward mastering integrated OpEx strategies that work across functions, sites, and value streams.

The course blends lectures, case studies, group exercises, simulation, and guided action plan development. Through this hands-on, systems-level approach, participants will leave prepared to drive operational excellence in their organizations, not as a collection of tools, but as a way of thinking, leading, and managing.

Learning Outcomes:

At the completion of this course, participants will be able to:

·      Design and implement an operational excellence framework integrating Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement

·      Build resilient systems that manage variability and reduce systemic waste

·      Develop leader standard work and management systems to sustain results

·      Apply design thinking to operational challenges

·      Foster a culture of trust, engagement, and accountability

·      Create a tailored OpEx action plan for their organization

·      Apply Kata Coaching techniques to reinforce daily improvement habits and support frontline engagement

Who Should Attend:

This course is designed specifically for experienced professionals working in manufacturing environments who want to take their operational leadership and systems integration capabilities to the next level. It provides advanced concepts, tools, and frameworks that go beyond foundational Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement training.

This course is ideally suited for:

·      Manufacturing engineers, process engineers, and Lean/CI professionals: Technical contributors and continuous improvement specialists who want to design, implement, and sustain integrated OpEx systems that align with business strategy and drive lasting impact.

·      Plant managers, project leaders, and technical managers: Leaders responsible for translating operational excellence principles into daily execution, fostering accountability, and sustaining high performance at the plant or project level.

·      Operations managers, directors, and VPs: Senior operational leaders accountable for plant or multi-site performance, seeking to unify improvement efforts, build resilience, and embed OpEx into daily management and long-term strategy.

·      Continuous improvement and change leaders: Transformation professionals focused on integrating existing improvements into comprehensive systems that deliver sustained cultural and operational change across the organization.

Who should not take this course: This course is not intended for beginners or individuals seeking an introduction to Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement concepts. Participants should already have foundational exposure to improvement methodologies and be prepared to engage in advanced, systems-level thinking and application.

Future course dates coming soon!

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Course Details: RA00113

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Course Outline

Module

Topic

Activities and Alignment to Course Learning Objectives

Day 1

Operational Excellence Foundations

·      Define OpEx beyond Lean/Six Sigma. 

·      Explore systems thinking; review frameworks integrating people, process, and technology. 

·      Group discussion: What does OpEx mean in your organization? Establish shared understanding of OpEx as a system aligned to business goals.

Resilient Systems & Variability Management

·      Identify systemic waste, variability drivers. 

·      Introduce tools (standard work layering, flow mapping, bottleneck analysis). 

·      Case study: Variability reduction in high-mix manufacturing. Small group flow mapping exercise to diagnose and prioritize improvements.

Design Thinking for Operations

·      Apply design thinking to operational challenges. 

·      Reframe a common operations issue (e.g., setup reduction, defect elimination). 

·      Group share-out.

Applied Systems Thinking Workshop

·      Facilitated team activity. 

·      Map an operational system from participants’ organizations (or provided case) and identify systemic barriers to excellence. 

·      Group reflection on key learnings.

Operational Excellence Foundations

·      Define OpEx beyond Lean/Six Sigma. 

·      Explore systems thinking; review frameworks integrating people, process, and technology. 

·      Group discussion: What does OpEx mean in your organization? 

·      Establish shared understanding of OpEx as a system aligned to business goals.

Day 1 Recap and Q&A

·      Consolidate key learnings and prepare for Day 2 focus on implementation

Day 2

Reflections and Takeaways from Day 1

·      Reconnect to key concepts and personal insights

Management Systems & Leader Standard Work

·      Explore OpEx management systems with visual management, tiered meetings, leader standard work. 

·      Introduce the principles of Kata Coaching to help leaders support daily continuous improvement, reinforce habits of scientific thinking, and sustain operational excellence through structured coaching routines.

·      Interactive design of leader standard work routines. 

·      Review of real-world sustainment examples.

Culture, Trust & Sustaining Excellence

·      Build a culture of trust and accountability by applying ACT principles to strengthen engagement and support lasting behavior change.

·      Learn ACT-based approaches to build psychological flexibility in leaders and teams. 

·      Explore how values-based conversations, mindfulness strategies, and commitment techniques can be used to reduce resistance, increase engagement, and support long-term cultural change.

·      Develop a cultural sustainability map that links behaviors to operational expenditure (OpEx) outcomes.

Operational Excellence Action Plan Project

·      Develop tailored OpEx action plan. Current state, priority opportunities, systems, cultural strategies, metrics. 

·      Peer reviews and instructor feedback. 

·      Ensure an actionable plan is aligned with the participant organization.

Management Systems & Leader Standard Work

·      Explore OpEx management systems. Visual management, tiered meetings, leader standard work. 

·      Interactive design of leader standard work routines. 

·      Review of real-world sustainment examples.

Final Reflections and Commitments

·      Share action plans and next steps. 

·      Build accountability for follow-up in participants’ home organizations

Program Director

  • Program Director

    James Rink

Total Credits:
CEU 1.4, 
PDH 14,