Rapid Plant Assessment

There have been a lot of articles that I have come across in my so-far brief stay at XL, but the one article which I have found the most useful and which can find direct immediate real-life application is the one on Rapid Plant Assessment, " Read a Plant - Fast" by R Eugene Goodson (HBR May 2002).

The techniques mentioned in the article can be applied not only to Manufacturing plants but also to the Service industry. I had a visit to TRF (An MTO product firm in Jamshedpur) last week and prior to going there I was smart enough to read the article. The trip turned out to be a lot useful just because of the reading. The various techniques mentioned like Determining Customer satisfaction, Gauging the environment, Efficacy of Scheduling systems and other such simple methods (numbering 11) drastically changed for the better the way I looked at things in the factory.

I strongly recommend every one to have a look at the well-written content-rich article. Even Finance Managers/Consultants may find it useful when contemplating about Mergers & Acquisitions.