Our approach starts with taking a fresh look at all aspects of our operations, both from a site and a functional perspective. This "clean sheet" approach challenges our previously held beliefs and compares us to both external and internal benchmarks and best practices at a granular level.
Once these gaps are understood, we engage our employees in structured problem solving to develop solutions. As we partner with employees, we are not simply asking for ideas, we are also trying to understand the key barriers to performance at the site and team level. This insight allows us to develop solutions that not only increase productivity but also enhance employee engagement and ownership of the opportunities.
To ensure we capture their full value, once ideas are approved, we implement detailed performance metrics and corresponding metrics-based discussions at all levels of the organization.
A key element to our overall approach is the formation of functional centers of innovation and excellence (CIEs). Each CIE consists of a small group of dedicated resources focused solely on operational excellence. These CIEs work closely with each site to promote technical expertise, drive the process and ensure that methodologies are followed systematically. We have already formed CIEs in production, maintenance/workflow, reliability, energy and workforce development.
The movement of employees across sites is another important element of our approach to operational excellence. Our footprint and scale are differentiating strengths for Mosaic, and we are leveraging these strengths by rotating key talent around the company.
A measure of mechanical productivity, improving "wrench time" is one way that Mosaic is pursuing operational excellence throughout the company.
