Why Request a Site Assessment?

When you call Process Improvement Partners LLC for a site assessment, you are making a choice to invite outside perspective for your organization. While there is a fee for this service, there is also a significant investment of your time and resources, so it is good to understand the value of your investment.

By the end of this 5 to 6-hour visit, you will have a greater understanding of where the highest value safety, quality, customer service, and cost opportunities are and how to leverage them. Here’s a typical site assessment agenda:

9:00 am - Team Introductions
A short review of each participant, their role, the company, and Process Improvement Partners LLC. We get to know one another and start the conversation on a personal and business level. It serves as a quick check of the team’s level of commitment, based on who is participating in the assessment and for how much time during the day.

9:15 am - Safety Review
How will we keep each other safe during the assessment? How important is safety to the site team and how strong is the safety culture of the company? During the visit, we will respect all of the safety requirements and expectations set by the team.

9:30 am - Review the Site Team Focus and Priorities
What are the priorities of the site team? What are the current pain points in their view?  What do they want to focus on during the assessment? These discussions keep everyone aligned around the purpose of the assessment and make it more meaningful for all involved.

10:00 am - Plant Walk (Gemba Walk)
We walk the process with the site team, visiting all areas, speaking with people in the process, and looking for waste and inefficiencies. The more engagement we have with people in the process, the better. When waste is spotted, we stop and discuss what we see as a team. All team members are encouraged to take notes, so that they document what they see while on the walk.

11:30 am – Review of Findings
What did we observe on the plant walk? What did we learn from those in the process? Does it validate or invalidate our initial thinking? Did we learn something new, just by the way we engaged with others on the walk? Might this be an approach to incorporate into the way we do business moving forward?

12:00 pm - Lunch
Keeping the team together during lunch is critical. Although this seems like a minor detail, it’s an opportunity to relax and discuss things in a less formal way. It also lets the team get a feel for how an ongoing relationship with Process Improvement Partners LLC might look. 

12:45 pm - Evaluate and Prioritize Opportunities
Based on everything we saw and discussed, what are the key things that the team wants to work on now and in the future? Using quick facilitation and prioritization techniques, the list of observations and ideas is narrowed to a top 5 to 10 that the team finds most important and impactful.

1:15 pm - Discuss Approaches to Leverage Top Priority Opportunities
We now discuss the tools and techniques available to drive improvement in the top priority opportunities. This is the time to decide whether the team wants to work on these opportunities without outside assistance, or with the help of Process Improvement Partners LLC. We will charter and write proposals for any work that the team feels it needs help with.

1:45 pm - Plan of Action
What are the next steps? Who is responsible? Does the team want Process Improvement Partners LLC to charter and write a proposal for the work? Is there a contact person for the work? We build an action plan that will be followed once the assessment is complete.

2:15 pm - Wrap Up and Feedback
An opportunity to review how the site assessment went for all participants. This is a learning moment for all involved, as we are applying process improvement in real time to the assessment process.

2:30 pm – Additional Time for Discussion or Adjourn
If the team wants more time to discuss the assessment, we always set aside additional time for them. If there is nothing left to discuss, the assessment is complete.

At the end of the site assessment, the team has a roadmap of activities that will help them improve their performance in safety, quality, customer service, and cost. In addition, they have had an opportunity to see how an ongoing relationship with Process Improvement Partners LLC can help them execute their roadmap.