Advancement of Operational Eminence in the Asia-Pacific Region
Operational excellence is vital in APAC as organisations adopt new approaches and methodologies such as Agile and RPA to adapt to changing customer expectations.
FREMONT, CA: The Asia-Pacific region has been impacted by various global events, such as economic slowdown, supply chain disruptions, energy shortages, and geopolitical tensions. The field of operational excellence is growing and evolving to meet the challenges of the business world. Operational excellence professionals are adopting new approaches such as Agile and customer journey mapping to focus on customer and product-centric methods of working. As businesses undergo digital transformation, operational excellence leaders will play a significant role in driving change and innovation.
Companies are emphasizing developing a culture of continuous improvement and its impact on customer value, particularly among senior executives. This approach has the advantage of empowering employees with the necessary skills to independently address obstacles and escalate challenges as they arise, which is a significant improvement in the ability to respond to the constantly changing needs and expectations of customers.
Operational excellence is centred around how organisations prioritise digital business initiatives and automation projects. The digital transformation initiatives have shifted focus towards the deployment of various technologies like OCR, workflow tools, API, RPA, and low-code no-code automation across the business value chain.
The definition of operational excellence has broadened to include agile methodologies, customer-centric design, change management, project management, and certain digital transformation and business strategy frameworks. Due to this expansion, operational excellence leaders who possess skills in these areas are in high demand in the APAC region.
The APAC region is experiencing significant economic pressure, particularly in the shared service and value-added service provider sector, which has led to a renewed interest in lean manufacturing practices. To meet customer demands, service and transactional organisations are implementing multi-skilled, cross-functional cellular team structures. Companies are also embracing classic work-cell concepts and standard work practices to improve decision-making speed.
The process of understanding customers' needs through voice-of-the-customer and customer-needs analysis has evolved to a more advanced cognitive behavioural approach to customer journey mapping. This approach is considered highly effective in providing valuable insights into customer needs and helping organisations respond quickly. The use of these techniques has also led to significant returns on investment, particularly when used to streamline the customer onboarding experience.
Operational excellence is a critical discipline for businesses in the APAC region to navigate the challenges of a rapidly evolving economic landscape. As organisations seek to adapt to new customer needs and expectations, they are turning to a range of methodologies. The focus on the continuous improvement culture and re-equipping employees with the tools to problem-solve autonomously has become increasingly important, as has the deployment of technology such as RPA and OCR across the business value chain. The demand for operational excellence leaders with skillsets in these areas has skyrocketed, making this an exciting time for those in the field. Ultimately, the ability to effectively navigate these challenges and transform businesses for the digital age will be pivotal to success in APAC.
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