Process Driven Results

• Most concerns faced by businesses fall into three categories; problems to be solved or avoided, decisions to be made, or processes to be improved.  Using our needs analysis process, we will lead your team to identify these concerns, determine which have the highest priority, and create an action plan to resolve these concerns.

• Once we have created the action plan, our industry-proven processes will help your teams resolve these concerns in an efficient and effective manner so that your business will experience the most positive results with the most efficient use of your resources.

• To learn more about how our processes can benefit your organization and see how we have helped others, explore the links on the left or contact us to explore your specific needs.

Needs Assessment

• The first step in any journey is knowing exactly where you want to be and where you are now.  Many companies have developed explicit mission and vision statements to provide guidance on the company strategy.  These are highly valuable, especially to those involved in the process of creating them.  The challenge often comes in when others try to use these statements to develop tactical plans to address immediate concerns.

• Process Driven Results uses a proven approach to guide your team in identifying and prioritizing those concerns into specific, actionable elements.  The current state and desired state is established and an action plan is assigned to each concern. Resources are then identified and assigned to work on the high priority concerns.

• This approach provides a clear list of issues and their owners for monitoring their progress and providing the appropriate support to enable success of the projects and alignment with your overall strategy.

Needs Assessment Examples

• Empowering New Product Introduction
At a new product development center, the efforts to introduce a new product were being delayed due to the concerns of many members of the team about potential problems of one of the new features of the product.  These concerns often surfaced in hallway conversations through the venting of frustrations, and yet nothing concrete was being done to address these concerns.  A group of 30 engineers connected with the project were assembled and led through a four-hour process to capture these concerns.  Over 150 specific and actionable concerns were identified, prioritized, and assigned to the appropriate project team for resolution.  This gave those involved the satisfaction of knowing their concerns had been heard and would be addressed, and allowed them to turn their attention on the portion of the project they were responsible to deliver.  The project was completed on schedule and the product launch was highly successful as a result.

• Fueling Hypergrowth
At a rapidly growing, international company, young engineers were being given major projects without having the leadership skills to make the projects successful.  We were able to isolate the specific leadership skills these people needed to succeed in this environment and designed and conducted intensive training to develop these skills among 15% of the population worldwide, which allowed multiple international sites to thrive through this time of hyper-growth.

Problem Solving

• Many processes and systems have become increasingly complex to the point where few people have full knowledge of both the detailed knowledge and the system interaction required to solve the problems we experience.  The challenge becomes gathering all the pertinent information from a variety of sources and organizing it in a way that it can be quickly distilled to find and verify root cause. 

• Process Driven Results brings you proven processes that dig below the surface to collect the information relevant to the problem and present it clearly to those charged with solving the problem.  This approach eliminates the costly trial-and-error approach which often leads to "whack-a-mole" results and documents the solution in a form that can be easily archived as part of your knowledge management system.

• In addition, we will identify potential problems and opportunities and take steps to minimize the risk and maximize the benefits they present.

• Using our skilled facilitators will produce lasting results that make the best use of your resources and maximize process efficiency.

Problem Solving Examples

• $20,000 a month in gold reclaim
For eight months a gold reclaim process, which typically earned $20,000 a month, was non-functioning.  After performing a 4 hour analysis of the problem, the root cause was determined and eliminated to renew that revenue stream.

• Avoiding false alarms
A life safety system, that monitors the air quality in a chemically intensive manufacturing process, set off a false alarm, evacuating the building and costing the company over $100,000 in lost production and scrapped product.  A thorough problem analysis revealed a faulty communication module that caused the alarm.  The module was replaced and a back-up installed to eliminate the problem and prevent it's recurrence.

• Open and close case
A critical motor-driven, gate valve in a harsh environment was losing closing force over time with the potential of rendering it inoperable.  A thorough two-day analysis identified root cause and developed a solution to eliminate future problems.

Decision Making

• Many successful professionals have developed highly tuned instincts that allow them to make wise decisions quickly.  Certainly, some types of situations require the ability to quickly read a situation and take decisive, unilateral action.  Where these decisions often fall apart is when they rely on others who were not involved in the decision to implement them.

• Those decision that will have significant impact on others and require full support of all involved require a different approach.  Process Driven Results will lead your cross-functional teams through a structured process to determine the shared and unique requirements of the stakeholders and evaluate how the options available perform against those requirements.  This analysis will allow the team to arrive at a decision or recommendation that provides the greatest benefit with manageable and acceptable risk.

• Your organization benefits from a clear decision which is supported by all stakeholders and which has clearly understood risks with a plan to minimize the probability of future problems and abate the seriousness of major risks.

Decision Making Examples

• Improved lighting with lower operating cost
The lighting fixtures of a 25 year old office complex lacked the energy efficiency of newer fixtures and did not adequately light the work space.  In investigating replacement options, it was important to satisfy the requirements of the various groups who worked in the area and the people who configured and supported the workspace while reducing operating cost and keeping replacement and installations costs within reason.  A team was assembled with representatives of each stakeholder group and the criteria was established that would be used to make the decision.  Available fixtures were compared for performance against these criteria and the best performing fixture was selected for wide scale replacement in the oldest buildings of the complex.  The new lighting reduced operating cost 40%, provided a significant improvement to area lighting, and still allowed flexibility of the workspace without requiring lighting adjustments.

Process Improvement

• The processes that drive our businesses were originally designed to meet specific requirements and to produce consistent results.  Often these processes are built under time constraints and without full knowledge of how they will be used or evolve over time.  This can lead to redundancies and inclusion of unnecessary non-value added activities that your company pays for in terms of cost, quality, and delivery.

• Process Driven Results will lead your teams through tested processes that will identify your current value stream.  This will allow your team to better organize activities, remove non-value added activity, and improve process flow with the result of improving consistency and freeing company resources. 

• By applying these process improvement techniques in your business, you can focus on your business strategy, knowing that your processes are tuned to produce consistent quality at the lowest cost and on the schedule your customers demand.

Process Improvement Examples

• Production capacity doubled
A prototype assembly operation had been producing up to 13 assemblies per day maximum.  By better organizing the assembly area and rearranging the product flow through the assembly process, we were able to increase the production rate to 28 assemblies per day.

• Eliminated distance traveled and non-value added time
In a production support area that introduced material into the process and then packaged and shipped it when complete, we were able to eliminate 673 feet of manual product transporting by changing the product flow. By restructuring the work assignments we also eliminated 28 hours of unproductive time per week.

• Combined processes to ensure availability
The supply chain for a research and development organization had five separate processes for different types of parts depending on the nature of the part.  They also used different systems for tracking inventory and ordering.  This resulted in frequent part shortages and extended delivery times.  We were able to combine the five processes into one with two sub routines for special order parts and build a unified tracking system to attain 98% part availability.

Services

• Consulting: As an independent consultant with a proven track record, we can help you gain consensus on priorities and provide a roadmap to address key issues.  We will give your team the tools they need to deliver the results you desire.

• Facilitation: Because we are free from detailed knowledge of your processes, we are in a position to ask the hard questions necessary to ensure that your team's solutions best serve your organization's goals.  Team members will be able to focus on the content and achieve resolution more quickly and effectively.

• Skill Development: Our approach to skill transfer uses a combination of classroom activities and real-life application to ensure that new skills can be applied to the everyday work environment.  This approach to learning helps employees understand how the new approach can be applied to a variety of applications while making progress on actual work issues.

• Project Management: Our experience in launching and managing projects will help your team establish clear project goals with metrics and key deliverables to ensure that you can deliver your project within the scope, schedule, and resource targets.

About Process Driven Results

• Process Driven Results was established by Gary R. Miller to address the needs of those companies who have limited internal resources to support robust problem solving and decision making methodologies.  We assist companies in developing streamlined processes which make the best use of available resources to improve quality and delivery while reducing cost structures.

• We draw on 30 years of personal experience working as an internal consultant to several Fortune 500 and Fortune 50 companies and the State of Oregon as well as the expertise of a broad network of associates that bring complementary skills sets.  This allows us to assess your needs and provide a solution path that best meets your needs.

• We believe that the solutions that will provide the greatest value for the organization are those that are developed by those who will use them.  Our approach is to enable your people to achieve their potential by adopting standardized approaches to work that produces the greatest results for the organization.

About Gary R. Miller

• Gary has over 30 years of experience as an internal consultant helping companies achieve and maintain excellence.  As a learning and development consultant for Hewlett-Packard, Gary designed and delivered robust learning solutions for the engineers and technicians in a rapidly growing international organization.  He also facilitated teams through project management, problem solving, decision making and risk assessment activities. 

• While employed with NEC America, Gary developed a team of Zero Defect Team Leaders and developed and delivered quality assurance training.  At The Aro Corporation, he created a series of technical training programs for distributor sales and maintenance people to support the sales and application of a wide range of industrial pneumatic devices.

• Other work involves leading the staff development efforts for the State of Oregon, Safety and Health Division, providing training in communication and listening skills, teaching high school industrial education, and providing custom training solutions and meeting facilitation for a variety of clients.

• Gary holds a Master of Education in Career and Technology Education from Bowling Green State University and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Technology Education from Western Michigan University.

• He is a Certified Program Leader and Facilitator of Kepner-Tregoe Analytic Troubleshooting, Problem Solving and Decision Making, and Resolve processes and is a Certified Instructor for LEAD Plus Strategic Communication Workshop.

• As a long-time member of Toastmasters International, he holds both Advanced Toastmaster - Gold and Competent Leader certificates and is working toward the Advanced Leader and Distinguished Toastmaster Awards.

Contact Us

Allow us to help you:
• Determine your most pressing concerns
• Facilitate your teams through defined processes to:
• Solve problems
• Make decisions
• Improve processes
• Develop these skills in your teams