PlantSuccess Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue 6
17 March 2004
Dear
Subscriber:
The
world received a wakeup call on 9/11/01 and will never be the same as it was
before that fateful day when war was declared against everything the democracy
of the US has embraced for 200+ years. Our countrys action and resolve has
been appropriate and made a difference. 3/11 will become the anniversary date
of another wakeup call; Spain reacted very differently and history does not
favor their action. Terrorism is against rational thought, human decency and
a productive way of life and we will not defeat it easily. We will defeat
it because of the true genius of America -- our very productive way of life
and our ability, experience and willingness to dramatically improve the lives
of millions.
Leaders
in this fight share their ideas, experience and best practices with attendees
at PlantSuccess. Join us 22 April at the Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake for
PlantSuccess Gulf Coast 2004 and another conference under the theme: Best
Practices Driving Plant Performance.
Tom
Jefferson, Director, IT Production & Technology, Bayer Polymers, LLC,
will set the conference table for another roster of outstanding speakers with
his presentation: Facility and Asset Management: Delivering a Realistic Value
Proposition. Review the list of sessions and presenters from a broad range
of industry leaders and plan now to join us.
|
PlantSuccess Gulf Coast 2004 Preliminary Agenda |
|
| Wed; 4/21/04 |
|
| 5:00-9:00pm |
Welcome
Reception -- Texas-style BBQ |
| Thu; 4/22/04 |
|
| 7:30-9:00am |
PlantSuccess Registration - Grand Ballroom Foyer |
| 7:30-8:30 |
Continental Breakfast Solutions Marketplace Grand Ballroom |
| General
Session |
|
| 8:30-9:30 |
Welcome
Carl Howk, Chairman Introduction:
Kirk Wilson, VP of Engineering Services, Bayer Corp Keynote
Address: Facility & Asset
Management: Delivering a Realistic Value Proposition |
| 9:30-10:15 |
Right
Risk -- Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps With Your Life |
| 10:15-10:45 |
Beverage
Break |
| Dual
Session |
|
| 10:45-12:00 |
Operational
Effectiveness Improving
Operational Performance in the Offshore Environment Centers
of Competency: Sustaining the Value of Change |
| 10:45-12:00 |
Collaboration
Works Taking
Projects "Out of the Box" - Challenges & Successes Knowledge
Collaboration |
| 12:00-1:00pm |
Buffet
Lunch Solutions Marketplace |
| 1:00-1:45 |
Site
Management: A New Role |
| 1:00-1:45 |
Strategic
Planning Brings New Life to a Reliability Program |
| 1:45-3:00 |
MOC
Across Divisions, Products and Systems E-MOC:
Electronic-based Management of Change IT
Systems Enhancement Using Stage-Gate Methodology |
| 1:45-3:00 |
Improved
Profits From Maintenance & Reliability Propagating
Best Practices through a Complex Global Organization Optimizing
Asset Reliability |
| 3:00-3:30 |
Beverage
Break |
| General
Session |
|
| 3:30-5:00 |
Sponsor
Panel Discussion -- Solutions for Process Industry Owner-Operators |
| 5:00-7:00 |
Cocktail
Reception Solutions Marketplace |
| 7:00pm |
Wrap-up
and Drawing for Raffle Prize -- Solutions Marketplace |
The
agenda is complete; online registration is open at www.PlantSuccess,com -- take advantage
of the early-bird discount. If lodging is required, call the Hilton Houston
NASA Clear Lake at 281-333-9300 and specify PlantSuccess for a special room
rate of $109.00 plus taxes. If you have questions or need additional information,
please call me at 770-565-3282.
Plan
also on joining us Wednesday evening, 21 April for a Welcome Reception that
will be fantastic a Texas-style BBQ.
Carl
Howk, Chairman
*****************
Current
Links
*****************
Tom Peters:
In Search of Excellence, Best Practices and Out-Sourcing
The
seminal management book In Search
of Excellence, by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, was published in
1982, and remains one of the biggest selling and widely read business books
ever. It helped American executives look into the mirror and see that some
of the things they were doing were not bad at all, that others were excellent,
and that they could borrow excellent ideas from each other. Today we call
these best practices.
Peters
and Waterman found eight common themes which they argued were responsible
for the success of the chosen corporations, which have become pointers for
managers ever since. The themes:
In
a 2001 interview, Peters claimed that were he to write In Search of Excellence
today, he would not tamper with any of the eight themes, but he would add
to them: capabilities concerning ideas, liberation, and speed. READ MORE.
Peters
has recently joined the fray which will receive as much press as anything
else this presidential-election year with his "Off-shoring"
Manifesto/Rant: Eighteen Hard Truths about Inevitabilities, Pitfalls, and
Matchless Opportunities. Some of the most noteworthy:
- "Off-shoring" will continue; the tide cannot be reversed.
- The automation of business processes is as big a phenomenon in job shrinkage as off-shoring.
- The wholesale, increasingly upscale entry of 2.5 billion people (China, India) into the global economy at an accelerating rate is virtually unfathomable. Unfathomable = Unpredictable, exceptional challenges, amazing opportunities.
- Free trade works. Period. It makes the world a safer place ... in the long haul. The process is not pretty at times. (Sometimes long times.) Those who dutifully followed yesterday's rules yet are displaced must be helped when the "rules change." Such help must not be in perpetuity -- it demands a sunset date.
- Big Companies are off-shoring/automating almost exclusively in pursuit of efficiency and shareholder value enhancement. (This is not new or news.)
- Job creation is entrepreneurially led, especially by the small fraction of "start-ups" that become growth companies (Microsoft, Amgen, FedEx et al.); hence entrepreneurial incentives including low capital-gains taxes and high R&D supports are a top priority.
- Future success rests upon ... Excellence in Innovation. Hence, among other things, research universities must be vigorously supported. READ MORE.
Growth is back on the corporate agenda. Of the 456 CEOs who gave one-on-one interviews for the survey, 80 percent declared that their primary objective has shifted from cost cutting to revenue growth.
As they reach for growth, however, the CEOs see several potential roadblocks. Most CEOs, for example, say their companies are neither responsive enough to changing business conditions nor agile enough to pursue new market opportunities. READ MORE.
The PlantSuccess Newsletter generates a substantial number of visits to our website, we welcome the interest and the access to previous issues of the Newsletter which are available there. If you'd like to share this newsletter with a colleague, just forward a copy. Subscribe or cancel by sending a request to Carl.Howk@PlantSuccess.com
Full links to Volume IV, Issue 6 Newsletter articles:
2. http://www.businessballs.com/tompetersinsearchofexcellence.htm
3. http://www.tompeters.com/toms_world/observations.asp