How to increase productivity? MPM Conference

On November 22-23, 2007, a conference organized by MPM prodAction was held at the Sofitel hotel in Wrocław. The main theme of the conference was: “MASTER PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT – increasing the productivity of companies struggling with dynamic demand”.

During the conference, various methods of increasing productivity and reducing waste in enterprises through the optimal use of their resources and the implementation of an integrated planning system were presented.
The organizers invited participants to actively take part in 5 thematic workshops and listen to 2 plenary lectures. The speakers were consultants from MPM prodAction coordinating the implementation of the MASTER PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT program and, which is worth emphasizing, managers and specialists who build and use the program on a daily basis in their companies. The workshops were organized in parallel, in small groups, so as to create a foundation for discussion and enable each participant to express their own opinion on the topics raised and share observations from their own company’s operations within the analyzed areas.

The first day of the conference began with an introductory lecture entitled “Has Lean failed?” conducted by Zbigniew Sobkiewicz (Consulting Director – MPM prodAction). In his speech, the author listed the competitive advantage factors currently used by Polish enterprises in their daily operations, which aim to increase productivity. For many companies, such action is still a major problem. A fundamental factor hindering operations is unstable demand. Lean solutions prove to be most effective in situations of stable demand, and striving to achieve stability is a natural behavior for companies operating on the Polish market. However, an obstacle to achieving the stabilization of demand, and consequently of processes, are various manifestations of waste generated both in the operational (production) area of the enterprise and within the framework of process planning. The intended increase in productivity therefore requires the enterprise to implement and consistently execute a program of planned reduction of this waste. The conclusion that ended the lecture was the presentation of the main elements of the MASTER PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT (MPM) program, whose main task is precisely to eliminate waste in companies and for them to achieve the highest productivity.

Workshop I – Business strategy, or how to bury the hatchet in the company?
Moderator: Petr Navratil, Ekol – Unicon – Procurator
One of the goals of the paper was to draw the participants’ attention to the occurrence of conflict between company resources and the market, especially in enterprises struggling with dynamic demand. A key method for eliminating disputes arising within an enterprise is business strategy. One of the essential processes allowing for efficient and effective management of an enterprise is S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning).
The speaker presented the idea and practical application of S&OP in enterprises in an orderly manner.

Workshop II – The plan is nothing, planning is everything.
Moderator: Marcin Karymow – forecaster in one of the leading FMCG companies; Consultant – MPM prodAction.
The workshop topic included a practical look at the forecasting process in enterprises. Based on his own experience, the speaker introduced the participants to the world of “fortune tellers” – a colloquial name for forecasters. He pointed to the multidimensionality of the demand forecasting process. An effective and fast flow of information between individual areas of the enterprise’s operation was considered an extremely important element determining success in this area.
The speaker interestingly presented the way the forecasting area functions in an enterprise.

Workshop III – Integrated planning – or how to give production a chance
Moderator: Piotr Kobiela – planner in one of the leading FMCG companies; Consultant – MPM prodAction
As part of this workshop, using the example of one of the companies in the FMCG industry, the idea of integrated planning was presented. The speaker drew attention to the classic conflict occurring in manufacturing enterprises between the sales and production departments. The lack of efficient information flow in the organization and the non-functioning of an integrated system for planning and controlling processes causes production to act like a firefighter – constantly putting out fires (e.g., executing a sudden additional customer order).
An interesting discussion of the classic sales-production conflict problem illustrated with an example.

Workshop IV – Volleyball and inventory management, or how I lost two sets of the Poland – Russia match…
Moderator: Tomasz Komnata, Logistics Manager PEPSI-COLA General Bottlers Poland; Consultant – MPM prodAction.
The intriguing topic of the presentation turned out to be the result of the author’s experiences, who, while working in the logistics area in the FMCG industry, received a phone call from a subordinate employee during the Poland – Russia volleyball match with information about a warehouse overflow. This event became, in a way, the spark for developing the issue of finished goods inventory management. One of the causes of chaos in inventory management is the lack of integration and coordination of activities throughout the supply chain. The speaker emphasized that maintaining inventory is not wrong, provided that its level and structure are the result of cooperation, the implementation of well-thought-out plans, and a jointly determined strategy.
Workshop participants willingly shared observations from their own companies regarding maintained inventory levels and the management techniques used.

Workshop V – The plan is nothing, throughput is everything.
Moderator: Wojciech Mączyński, Consultant MPM prodAction
The workshop aimed to raise awareness of the importance of production process productivity. The production process was compared to a pipe, which, when fed with a production order, determines the time and efficiency of executing that order. The effect expected at the outlet of the “pipe”, i.e., the finished product, can be delivered with an increased productivity indicator. However, the increase in this productivity depends on the degree of reduction of various manifestations of waste in the production process, which, by depositing on the inner walls of the presented “pipe”, reduce its throughput. One of the important measures of production process productivity is the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) indicator. An interesting presentation of three methods for increasing productivity and the benefits resulting from their application completed the positive assessment of this workshop.

The proverbial icing on the cake was the closing lecture of the conference conducted by Zbigniew Sobkiewicz (Consulting Director – MPM prodAction), who summarized the two-day intellectual feast that was the “MASTER PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT – increasing the productivity of companies struggling with dynamic demand” conference.

In side conversations, the majority of the 50 conference participants spoke very positively about the way the individual sessions held during the conference were conducted and their topics. The professionalism of the organizers is particularly worth emphasizing.
A conference worth recommending.

The MPM prodAction team cordially thanks the participants, patrons, and sponsors for their participation in the conference. The next conference will be in the spring of 2009.
We cordially invite you.