Operational excellence (OPEX) is a key component of modern business success, improvement and innovation. Continually shaped by evolving factors ranging from digitization, new ways of working and standardization to cost savings, efficiency and customer needs, OPEX focuses on continuous improvement and the optimization of business processes to achieve better results.
“OPEX initiatives, driven by the need to increase competitiveness, enhance customer relevance and attract top talent, are essential for modern organizations to thrive,” says Ricardo Henriques, transformation leader, business automation professor at Católica Lisbon School of Business and PEX Network Advisory Board member.
“By focusing on continuous improvement, data-driven decision making, technology integration, customer-centricity and employee engagement, organizations can achieve sustainable growth and long-term success in a rapidly evolving market landscape.”
Here are five free training courses for business leaders looking to increase their OPEX knowledge, understanding and skills.
1. Manufacturing strategy – quality management and operational excellence – Alison
Covering the importance of OPEX for achieving world-class manufacturing standards, this course helps learners identify manufacturing taxonomies and quality management for manufacturing excellence. The course begins with a discussion of how manufacturing evolved from the traditional view to the strategic view of manufacturing. It then moves onto scholarly contributions to manufacturing strategy taxonomy, the strategic importance of quality in manufacturing and the requirements for effective total quality management (TQM) implementation.
Participants also explore the dimensions of process choice in manufacturing, competing priorities and the levels of application of product profiling.
READ: How OPEX transforms financial services
2. Operations systems excellence – University of London/Coursera
This University of London course, available via Coursera, provides an introduction to the development of operational systems and how operating methods can help achieve corporate excellence. Content includes an exploration and definition of the meaning of operations management using case studies and introducing simple tools to help the fundamental types of operations.
The course also examines the focus of operations in terms of processes and research underpinning process design to gain a grounded sense of operations management, as well as what this means in practice.
READ: 8 OPEX principles to grow your business
3. Application of OEE measurement on business profitability – Udemy
This course outlines improving productivity and profitability using the operational excellence measurement known as OEE. It covers the basic understandings of the OEE concept and its relevance to profitability, how to calculate OEE, misconceptions of OEE applications and step by step implementation.
The course includes real case study examples of OEE use and its impact on business profitability in various industries and processes. It is beneficial to those struggling to improve operational productivity in their organization.
4. Manufacturing operational excellence – Alison
Focusing on applying the TQM approach to drive quality excellence within an organization, this course outlines how to describe and analyze manufacturing systems against best practices. Participants learn the various frameworks, standards, models and techniques that enable an effective and cost-efficient manufacturing system, along with eliminating non-value-added, wasteful activities in manufacturing processes and applying various tools and techniques to drive incremental improvements.
READ: UK manufacturing sector recovers but are AI & energy priorities misaligned?
5. Master key business concepts and operations for excellence – Udemy
This course teaches the fundamentals of business management and honing skills like understanding market competition, mastering business theory, executing plans, analyzing data and making informed decisions. Participants learn about developing business acumen to help them stay updated on business trends, refining analytical abilities and maintaining a competitive edge.
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