8 Operational Excellence Examples That Lift Your Profit
Real operational excellence examples from Toyota to Dell, with what each one teaches an established business owner and the practical steps to apply now.
You cannot find people who will do it properly without you checking it. That is the complaint I hear most often behind requests for better systems. The popular advice is to copy a corporate program or buy smarter software. I would not start there.
Most operational excellence examples are written up as if budget and head office support did the work. Strip that away and each one rests on a plain habit. Someone made the work visible. Someone named who could decide. Someone reviewed the same few numbers until the behaviour changeThat matters because the gap is rarely a lack of tools. Buying another platform before fixing quoting, scheduling, handover or debtor follow up usually puts a faster layer over the same disorder.
Use the eight examples below that way. Take the habit, not the machinery. Then put it to work on one process that is costing you profit, time or repeat work now.
Table of Contents
- 1. Toyota Production System
- 1.1What to copy
- 2. Motorola's Six Sigma Program
- 3. GE's Six Sigma Rollout Under Jack Welch
- 4. The Ritz-Carlton Daily Lineup and Gold Standards
- 5. Southwest Airlines' Aircraft Turnaround
- 6. McDonald's Speedee Service System
- 7. Dell's Build-to-Order Model
- 8. Danaher Business System
- The eight examples at a glance
- What Staying the Same Is Costing You
1. Toyota Production System
Toyota made problems visible where the work happened. Parts arrived when the next step needed them rather than sitting in storage, and workers could pull the andon cord to stop the line when they spotted a defect. The team could then deal with the cause while the evidence was still in front of them.
What to copy
If a workshop keeps remaking a part because staff measure it differently, it needs one agreed method, a visible check and permission to pause when the check fails.
- Ask why until you reach a changeable cause: Do not stop at blaming the person who found the fault.
- Make the fault visible: Record what happened, how often and who owns the fix.
- Set a stop rule: Tell staff when they can pause a job and call for help without waiting for you.
That is the thinking behind how to improve operational efficiency (opens in new tab) in a smaller business. People closest to the work see waste first. Give them a standard and the authority to act.
2. Motorola's Six Sigma Program
Motorola's useful habit was to measure errors in a process, find where results varied and remove the causes. You do not need the corporate programme or its specialist training to apply it. Start where variation costs you money: quotes that take a day from one person and a week from another, or jobs that need repeat site visits.
Measures earn their place when leaders review them with their teams and make decisions off them, not because the dashboard looks neat.
Practical rule: If a measure has no named owner, it is decoration.
Pick a measure you will review weekly and give someone responsibility for it. If converted quotes are slipping, track quotes sent, follow ups completed and quotes won. Find the point where work stalls, change that step, then check whether the result improves. A long dashboard is no substitute for a decision.
3. GE's Six Sigma Rollout Under Jack Welch
GE made improvement part of a leader's job rather than an activity beside it. Leaders were expected to deliver improvement projects, and their progress mattered. The lesson for an owner is accountability: if a manager runs the work, improving that work belongs in their role.
Where owners get this wrong
Announce a new standard while praising whoever puts out fires fastest, and the team learns which behaviour counts. Prevention gets no time. Soon every problem returns to your desk.
Give each team leader a specific improvement to own. A supervisor might reduce callbacks; an office manager might shorten the gap between job completion and invoicing. Agree on a result you can both see and review it in the usual weekly meeting. Ask what changed, what the measure shows and what is blocked. Keep reporting light enough that it does not become another task to manage.
4. The Ritz-Carlton Daily Lineup and Gold Standards
The Ritz-Carlton uses a short lineup before shifts to reinforce its written Gold Standards and discuss guest needs. Frontline staff have defined authority to resolve problems without waiting for a manager. The habit is rehearsal paired with clear decision boundaries, so the standard does not sit unread in a folder.
In an allied health practice, a short huddle could cover difficult appointments, the standard for late arrivals and a problem from the previous day that needs attention.
- Fix something in the huddle: Do not use it only for announcements.
- Write standards plainly: A new starter should know what to do.
- Define authority: State what staff can approve, refund or rebook without asking you.
Review the boundary as staff gain confidence. If someone makes a poor call, ask whether the standard or training was clear before taking every decision back.
5. Southwest Airlines' Aircraft Turnaround
Southwest kept aircraft turnarounds short by simplifying and rehearsing the work between arrival and departure. Operating the same aircraft type reduced variation in training, parts and maintenance. Fewer exceptions made handovers easier to coordinate.
A trade business may carry several versions of the same fitting because each technician has a preference. Vans fill with stock, suppliers receive small orders, and new staff learn unnecessary variations. That complexity is a capacity management (opens in new tab) problem as well as a purchasing one.
Map your most common job from start to finish. Standardise tools and products where the customer does not benefit from variation. At each handover, decide who signals that the job is ready, what information travels with it and how the next person knows the previous step is complete.
Delays often start at handover points, not inside the work itself.
Time the whole sequence, including waiting. That reveals delays you may otherwise overlook when each person's individual task appears efficient.
6. McDonald's Speedee Service System
McDonald's made repeatable work easier to teach through fixed roles, a clear sequence and a kitchen laid out for that sequence. Consistent output depended less on an experienced person's memory and more on a process others could learn.
Test your own business systems and processes (opens in new tab) the same way. Write the steps for a common job and give them to a capable new starter. Watch where they hesitate. Is a step missing, a decision unclear, or a crucial detail held only in someone's head?
A worked example
A professional services firm prepares the same report regularly. One person gathers data from several places, another formats it from memory, and the owner checks the final version because errors have reached clients. Map the sequence, fix the template and place a check at the point errors arise rather than relying on the owner at the end.
Arrange the process around how work should flow, not where files or equipment happened to end up. Revisit the written steps when work changes. A standard staff no longer trust will not get used.
7. Dell's Build-to-Order Model
Dell built computers after customers ordered them and coordinated component deliveries with suppliers. The habit was to tie purchasing and production to confirmed demand, reducing stock held just in case.
In a service or trade business, cash tied up in stock and unfinished work cannot pay wages or suppliers. A cabinetmaker who orders materials for unconfirmed jobs may get a discount, then find the specifications change and the materials sit unused. The purchase was early, but the revenue was not certain.
- Count what is sitting still: Include stock, unfinished jobs and completed work not yet invoiced.
- Buy against confirmed work: Allow for genuine supplier lead times, not habit.
- Check margin by job: An acceptable monthly result can conceal unprofitable jobs.
The ATO publishes small business benchmarks. Compare your cost of sales and labour with the relevant industry range, then investigate gaps through your own pricing and purchasing decisions.
8. Danaher Business System
Danaher used a consistent management rhythm across its operating companies: measure work, run focused improvements and review the results. The transferable habit is not a company-wide programme. It is making improvement part of regular management rather than a plan revisited only when problems become urgent.
Investing in equipment alone does not repair weak operating routines, and automating a poorly managed process usually leaves the underlying problem exactly where it was.
Build the rhythm
Set a weekly review of a small group of measures, using the same format so changes stand out. Let the person closest to a process lead its improvement while you clear obstacles and check results.
If debtor days are stretching, the accounts person can examine invoice timing, deposit terms and follow up. Review what happens each week. Resist taking over just because you could chase an overdue payment faster yourself. If the same issue returns to the meeting without a decision, change the meeting, not the report.
The eight examples at a glance
| Example | Core Habit | Best Lesson for an SME | Where It Fits Your Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Production System | Surface defects early and fix their causes where work happens. | Give staff a clear standard and permission to stop faulty work. | Repetitive work with waste or recurring defects. |
| Motorola's Six Sigma Program | Measure errors and reduce process variation. | Give each important measure an owner and use it to decide what to fix. | Jobs with costly rework or inconsistent results. |
| GE's Six Sigma Rollout Under Jack Welch | Hold leaders accountable for operational improvement. | Make prevention part of a manager's normal job. | Teams whose managers can own a specific improvement. |
| The Ritz-Carlton Daily Lineup and Gold Standards | Rehearse service standards and empower frontline staff. | Set clear expectations and decision limits. | Customer-facing teams across shifts or locations. |
| Southwest Airlines' Aircraft Turnaround | Simplify work and coordinate handovers. | Remove avoidable variation and waiting between tasks. | Recurring jobs involving shared resources or multiple people. |
| McDonald's Speedee Service System | Use clear roles, sequences and training. | Test whether a new starter can follow the process. | Work requiring consistent output from new staff. |
| Dell's Build-to-Order Model | Tie purchasing and production to confirmed orders. | Keep cash from being trapped in avoidable stock and unfinished work. | Job-based work or businesses carrying costly inventory. |
| Danaher Business System | Review measures and act on focused improvements. | Make review a management habit that produces decisions. | Teams needing a reliable operating rhythm. |
What Staying the Same Is Costing You
These operational excellence examples treat repeat problems as faults in how work is designed, not an unavoidable cost of being busy. You can change a process once you can see where it fails.
Ask yourself:
- What have callbacks and rework cost in labour?
- How much completed work is waiting to be invoiced?
- Which questions could a clear standard answer without you?
- What happens to profit when you are away?
What would the business be worth if it did not run through you? A written succession plan alone will not transfer daily decisions, client knowledge or approvals while they still sit with one person. That transferability is built into the operation years before any sale.
The gap between knowing what the business needs and getting it done can quietly drain profit. The cause is rarely a knowledge problem. What gets found is usually something that made sense when the business was half its current size and was never revisited.
If you want to go through your actual numbers with Glenis, start with the Business X-ray, a free diagnostic session. It is a conversation, not a pitch: there is no obligation and nothing to prepare. Glenis will go through the numbers with you and look at where profit may be leaking and where the business depends on you, without presuming what the conversation will find. Book a call at yoursuccessshift.com (opens in new tab). If you would rather start on your own, the free Momentum Starter Pack (opens in new tab) includes a quick wins checklist, a small wins celebration guide and daily and weekly planning tools. Use it to choose a process, decide what to measure and give someone ownership of the next fix.
Stop Knowing. Start Doing.
Glenis Gassmann is an Implementation-Driven Business Advisor on the Gold Coast, working with established business owners across Australia and New Zealand. Author of Why Knowing Isn't Enough, a number one Amazon new release.
Topics
Operational excellence, Business systems, Process improvement, SME operations
