Plant Management and Operations Training Course

Module Seven: Lead by Establishing Trust, Respect, and Encouraging Growth

This module focuses on building trust-based leadership. Participants learn to cultivate mutual respect, encourage growth, prepare employees for promotion, and foster a culture in which learning from mistakes drives innovation and continuous improvement.

Module Eight: Lead by Motivating Your Team

This module explores proven motivation theories and practical tools for improving morale, engagement, and retention. Participants learn how to apply Herzberg’s theory, expectancy theory, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, personality-based motivation strategies, incentive programs, and morale improvement plans tailored to manufacturing teams.

Module Nine: Lead by Setting SMART Goals

This module teaches leaders how to set and manage performance goals using the SMART framework and the GROW model. Participants learn how to establish norms, standards, performance objectives, strategic plans, and job analysis processes that drive accountability, engagement, and measurable improvement.

Module Ten: Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

This module introduces leaders to Employee Assistance Programs and employee savings programs. Participants learn to implement EAPs, leverage organizational purchasing power, and provide meaningful support resources that improve employee well-being and retention.

Section Three: Departments’ Responsibilities and Accountability

Module One: Plant Management

This module provides a comprehensive view of plant-level accountability. Participants examine the roles of plant management, HR, engineering, safety, and quality, including what each department can do for—and to—the organization. The module emphasizes the development of KPIs, compliance, training, recruitment, and continuous improvement across all support functions.

Module Two: Supply Chain Management

This module provides a comprehensive overview of the end-to-end supply chain. Participants explore synchronous and agile supply chains, cost accounting, sales, customer service, purchasing, logistics, VMI, DRP, SLAs, and warehouse operations. The module emphasizes cross-functional accountability, vendor management, and KPI-driven performance improvement.

Module Three: Operations

This module focuses on production and maintenance accountability. Participants learn how operations, production, and maintenance directly impact profitability, customer satisfaction, and asset reliability. The module provides KPI frameworks and performance management strategies to drive operational excellence.

Section Four: Creating Operational Excellence

Module One: Building an Intrinsically Motivated Company

This module teaches leaders how to build a culture driven by intrinsic motivation. Participants learn how to hire, promote, and develop employees who take ownership of performance, innovation, and continuous improvement, thereby creating a sustainable competitive advantage.

Module Two: Production Planning, Scheduling, and Control

This module delivers practical tools for controlling production performance. Participants learn production roles, planning and scheduling best practices, Production Activity Control (PAC), job planning, kitting, staging, feedback systems, and planner workflows that enable organizations to transition from reactive to proactive operations.

Module Three: Inventory Management

This module provides a structured approach to managing inventory as a strategic asset. Participants learn inventory fundamentals, carrying costs, stockout costs, EOQ, reorder points, safety stock, inventory turnover, and metrics that improve service while reducing working capital.

Module Four: Asset Tracking

This module introduces modern asset identification and tracking systems. Participants learn about SKUs, AIDC, barcodes, QR codes, RFID, voice recognition, barcode readers, technical standards, and system selection strategies that improve accuracy, visibility, and traceability.

Module Five: Just-In-Time and Lean Production

This module teaches Lean and JIT production principles for eliminating waste and improving flow. Participants learn Kanban, Kaizen, Heijunka, Andon, SMED, TQM, and TPM methodologies that drive productivity, quality, and reliability throughout manufacturing operations.

Module Six: Theory of Constraints

This module focuses on identifying and eliminating operational bottlenecks. Participants learn the TOC five-step process, root-cause analysis methods, and continuous improvement tools to increase throughput, reduce lead time, and improve system performance.

Conclusion: Challenging the Process

This concluding module equips leaders with the mindset and tools needed to drive change. Participants learn why change is difficult; how commitment and consistency influence behavior; how to think creatively; how to build business cases; how to lobby for improvement; how to apply reverse mentoring; and how to convince leadership to embrace innovation and transformation successfully.

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