Choose from these PIP Speak topics

• Continuous Improvement
  
  • Is your call centre actually working?
    The proliferation of contact centres has been driven by their ability to handle increasing complex transactions, plummeting communications costs, and increasing customer acceptance. However, we all h... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Continuous Improvement – 15 minutes of fame or a timeless masterpiece?
    Most improvement projects fail to sustain results, let alone lock in year after year of ongoing improvements. What separates the few sustained exceptions from the majority of temporary events are thre... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Prioritisation – Have You Got It Yet?
    Too much happening and nothing getting done? Get serious about prioritisation and deliver rapid results, through using proven prioritisation tools and developing sustainable prioritisation habits. Show abstract...
    
    
  • PIP’s spin cycle – a powerful approach for rapid results
    The Spin Cycle methodology is a powerful tool to drive rapid behavioural change. It enables change to be captured ‘in the line’ and delivers quantifiable results quickly after implementation. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Managing industrial marketing
    This article covers the levers for improving EBIT via industrial marketing (account management). In heavy industry businesses a lot of effort is often put on volumes and costs and yet industrial marke... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Four things that delay execution
    In this article PIP explains how basic business improvement techniques can free up time for managers and staff by helping them to use it more effectively. PIP has identified five core business i... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Putting ‘Continuous’ back into Continuous Improvement
    There is a depressing sense of déjà vu about much business improvement – a series of one-off projects where many of the savings are not sustained and the cycle starts again. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Sustaining Disciplines – essential if you want to sustain change
    To sustain results and drive improvements, managers must ensure that key sustaining disciplines are carried out. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Tinkering? Or committed to delivering sustainable change?
    To fundamentally change a culture you must fundamentally change many of the hundreds of wiring elements. This requires considerable work and sufficient quality resources. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Timely, intelligent mine plans - possible? Or just a myth?
    Errors in mine planning cost millions of tonnes of ore in the mining industry every day whilst destroying cost budgets and jeopardising careers. At most mines, the planning process is slow and cumbers... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Improvement results not as good as expected? Got a hole in your bucket?
    A large majority of improvement programs fall short on delivering potential savings because they fail to adequately cover all three of the dimensions below: • Ideas Management • Wiring • Coaching ... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Pricing and margins – fertile ground in business-to-business sales
    PIP does extensive work in marketing and sales effectiveness and can assist to deliver market side results that are rapid, significant and in general capex-free. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Ideas Pipeline
    The Ideas Pipeline identifies high value ideas & proactively manages them to lock-in results. This article describes the essential stages and discusses the importance of proactively & continuously man... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Do you have time not to do business improvement?
    In this article PIP explains how basic business improvement techniques can free up time for managers and staff by helping them to use it more effectively. PIP has identified four core business improv... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Focusing Business Improvement (Using value driver trees to find the money)
    Whether it’s looking back at what drove results, or looking forward to identify how to meet difficult targets, understanding the critical levers that drive performance should be the starting point. Show abstract...
    
    
• Transaction Services / Private Equity
  
  • Private Equity: Where to from here?
    PE firms are facing tougher times and will have to look closely at the ways in which they can support portfolio investments in generating superior returns without access to further capital. This arti... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Private Equity: Making the most of your advisers
    In an increasingly competitive private equity market, how does one clinch the right deal and achieve superior returns? This is the key challenge facing Private Equity companies today. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Transaction Services: Making sure your acquisition does not fail
    Most M&A transactions fail and those presiding over failed M&As lose their jobs. The key to success is identifying and eliminating the key sources of transaction failure, which is where we can help. ... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Considering a change to private equity ownership?
    There are clear attractions of private equity for executive teams including financial rewards and managerial freedom. However, these benefits are associated with significant risks. Show abstract...
    
    
• Cost Reduction
  
  • If the money isn’t out there, try looking inside!
    There are times in all businesses’ lives when the belt needs to be tightened to free up cash. This article shows you three main areas to look into, and suggests more than 25 things you can do (nearly... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Debtor days - the good, the bad and the ugly
    Simple ideas that can help improve your cash flow by reducing debtor days Show abstract...
    
    
  • Cost Wiring
    Many businesses are finding their costs increasing. If these are not reined in now, they will become cemented into the business and hard to remove. This article outlines some of the basic elements to ... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Lower cost country sourcing
    China sourcingToday we take it for granted that many goods in supermarkets, toy shops, hardware stores are made-in-China. How about equipment in your mine, process plant, railway or port? Show abstract...
    
    
  • Cost Reduction
    Many of our clients are facing worrying signs. Some are already feeling the impact of lack of cost management on their profitability. We outline the 4 drivers of costs and methods to tackle them. Show abstract...
    
    
  • It’s time to buy
    Whether you are tight for cash or just sense the opportunity to negotiate lower prices in this market, now is a great time to revisit your procurement contracts. This article outlines the basic ... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Maintenance cost reduction - when you can no longer accept that 'things just cost more now'
    This article illustrates 4 lenses through which maintenance costs can be viewed and the approaches we use to reduce each cost type: 1) Discretionary spending applying a behavioural SPIN approach... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Optimising Overheads – It’s That Time Again…
    This article outlines how to tackle overhead costs. It focuses on clarifying how a function adds value, how to increase this value and how to reduce the costs associated with this. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Optimising overheads (part II): a practical guide
    When optimising overhead functions, PIP follows a four step approach: 1. Establish the principles to guide decisions on centralisation versus decentralisation 2. Develop a baseline of costs consum... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Footprint Rationalisation
    Rationalising manufacturing sites can be a daunting task, requiring complex economic decisions while dealing with tough people issues. This newsletter describes PIP’s approach, which combines: • iden... Show abstract...
    
    
• Wiring
  
  • Wiring your organisation for success... it's crucial
    An organisation's wiring and its associated behaviour has a positive or a negative impact on overall performance. To improve performance and results it is necessary to change the business' wiring. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Supply Chain "Wiring"
    This article covers the lever of supply chain ‘wiring’, illustrating the significant financial and compliance results that can be delivered. Show abstract...
    
    
  • ‘Hard wiring’ for high performance
    Like electrical wiring behind the walls, organisations are ‘wired’ in a way that determines broadly how it will behave and therefore how it is likely to perform. Show abstract...
    
    
• People Management and Skills Development
  
  • Agreeing deliverables – getting the conditions right for excellence in execution
    Agreeing deliverables is the first, crucial half of ensuring accountability. If done well, accountability just seems to flow. If done poorly, execution becomes an exercise in frustration for managers ... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Meetings that work
    In this article PIP outlines the ‘5 Ps’ of good meetings – the key ingredients for meetings which are consistently productive. Good business meetings have a clear purpose and end products, from ... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Proactive management – debunking the ‘micromanagement’ myth
    The terms “empowerment” and “micro-management” are most often seen as lying at opposite ends of a spectrum. A better approach - which we term “proactive management” - is a hybrid of both styles. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Salesforce Effectiveness
    Salesforce effectiveness is driven by five interdependent elements: sales strategy, account coverage, salesforce skills, salesforce motivation and performance management. Gaps in any of these elemen... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Communicating for High Performance
    The real challenge for effective 'communication' is how to ‘hard wire’ systems and habits so that the organisation communicates and shares information with itself as an ongoing habit. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Solve your skills shortage through faster recruiting processes
    With skills shortages hobbling many companies, the race is on to find and attract the best candidates before your competitors. The key is to increase the speed of the recruiting pipeline. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Front line coaching – getting the engine room productive
    The difference between good and great front line coaching is the extent to which it targets the KPIs and people that will have the biggest profit impact. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Sick of absenteeism and tired of overtime?
    Absenteeism and overtime can often be rapidly reduced through a combination of rapid behavioural change (increasing controls and closed loop reporting) and implementing root cause solutions to issues ... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Getting the most from your people
    Our experience, which may be counter-intuitive at first, is that by increasing performance expectations and improving your performance management system, you’re more likely to retain your best people.... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Want to lower your handicap? Look at your training and coaching regime.
    Like golf, while the basics of managing and improving a business are all very simple when viewed in isolation, the combination of many simple things in a dynamic situation means that achieving good re... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Training for High Performance
    Want to lift skills for a high performing business? Training courses alone won’t help. Experience shows that a whole-of-organisation strategy needs to be deployed to get a performance uplift that stic... Show abstract...
    
    
• Maintenance
  
  • Maintenance – Outsourced but not out of mind
    Although there are many reasons that companies outsource, the trigger is often the realisation that a constant internal headache could potentially be dispensed with by seeking external expertise. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Root Cause of Top Maintenance Pareto
    This article outlines our approach for reducing the largest causes of unplanned downtime. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Maintenance - The 5 Whys
    The tail of a maintenance unplanned downtime pareto is typically long. While dedicated teams can tackle the top causes, we suggest ‘hard wiring’ a process in parallel where maintenance crews systemati... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Planned shutdowns: How to unlock value by reducing costs and downtime
    Planned shutdowns represent a high direct cost and a large opportunity cost from lost production. If poorly executed, they can also increase injuries, reduce operational stability and campaign length.... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Before the horse bolts: Predictive maintenance increases production and reduces cost
    Predictive maintenance is a philosophy and approach to maintenance that aims to detect and correct equipment problems before a major failure occurs, thereby preventing expensive repair and loss in rev... Show abstract...
    
    
  • It’s not just about the machines - ‘Managing the maintenance team’
    The key to excellent maintenance results is not about the size of the maintenance budget or the level of sophistication of the maintenance tools, rather the way they proactively manage their people. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Maintenance Maturity
    Understanding your “maintenance maturity” will help you to select and deploy the right initiatives that will deliver results. We illustrate our approach for designing a targeted improvement program. Show abstract...
    
    
  • FLAC - Contamination Control
    PIP has developed and successfully applied to several sites a Contamination Control Framework that addresses the causes, prevention and cure of FLAC (Fuel, Lubricant, Air, Coolant) contamination. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Equipment Based Strategies
    This article lays out the key steps for developing equipment-based strategies. It provides guidelines for determining what equipment to focus on and provides simple decision trees that can guide strat... Show abstract...
    
    
• Operations Management
  
  • PIP gets traction in tyre crisis
    With a global shortage of tyres now upon us, most companies need to extend tyre life to prevent trucks going off-line completely from a damaged tyre. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Improving Excavator Productivity at an Open-Pit Mine
    PIP’s work at a North American diamond mine shows that significant improvements can be achieved – and sustained – in core open-pit mining operations. Show abstract...
    
    
• Energy, Emissions and Waste Reduction
  
  • Concerns over emissions, energy and water pricing?
    PIP has been helping clients achieve dramatic reductions in energy and water usage and carbon emissions. Our methods helps identify, capture and lock in efficiencies in resource intensive industries. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Energy Cost Reduction
    As energy costs continue to rise, PIP is seeing an increased focus on energy cost control and reduction. The rigorous focus and analysis that PIP brings can yield great results in these areas. Show abstract...
    
    
• Diagnostics
  
  • Crystalising the improvement opportunity and aligning your people behind it
    A diagnostic will quickly determine what the potential improvement is for a site and establish a plan and alignment amongst the managers to capture those improvements rapidly with sustainability. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Maintenance Maturity
    Understanding your “maintenance maturity” will help you to select and deploy the right initiatives that will deliver results. We illustrate our approach for designing a targeted improvement program. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Helping your team to identify further cost, cash and capital reductions
    This article outlines the steps PIP takes your team through in a rapid diagnostic to identify further cost, cash and capital improvements in your business and how to deliver them. Show abstract...
    
    
• Outsource or Insource?
  
  • Maintenance – Outsourced but not out of mind
    Although there are many reasons that companies outsource, the trigger is often the realisation that a constant internal headache could potentially be dispensed with by seeking external expertise. Show abstract...
    
    
  • Outsource or Insource? Getting it right and getting results
    Changing your outsourced supplier, or taking things back in-house (insourcing) is a major step that doesn't always deliver what you expect. We outline how to make the right decision and get results. Show abstract...
    
    
• Capital Projects
  
  • Capital Projects: Fix the wiring upfront to maximize project returns
    Under-delivery in the first 1-2 years of a project can easily destroy 30% or more of the expected NPV. Attention upfront to the detailed implementation of sound operational processes improves results.... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Capital portfolio optimisation
    Optimising capital allocation across a portfolio of projects is a complex and critical decision process for capital intensive businesses • To make the right trade-offs, companies need a clear decisio... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Capital Project Management
    A significant portion of the blowouts in time & budget on capital projects are controllable through improved capital project management. We look at 3 elements needed to control a capital project well.... Show abstract...
    
    
  • Project capital cost reduction - PIP’s ROCX methodology
    PIP can improve the economics of capital intensive projects using the Rigorous Optimisation of Capex (ROCX) methodology which can potentially add enormous value and has delivered dramatic results. Show abstract...
    
    
• Salesforce
  
  • Salesforce Effectiveness
    Salesforce effectiveness is driven by five interdependent elements: sales strategy, account coverage, salesforce skills, salesforce motivation and performance management. Gaps in any of these element... Show abstract...
    
    
• Contractor Management
  
  • Getting the most out of your contractors
    PIP has extensive experience in effective contractor management, having tackled the issue from both a cost and safety management angle at more than 20 mining and processing sites. Show abstract...
    
    
• Safety
  
  • Safety and operations improvement go hand in hand
    PIP has found that the application of core improvement and management disciplines can rapidly improve sustainable safety results. Show abstract...