What Most Leaders Miss About Operational Excellence in Manufacturing

In over three decades of leading operations across industries, I have come to realize something both simple and profound. When it comes to operational excellence in manufacturing, most leaders are looking in the wrong place.

Many organizations spend years chasing certifications, toolkits, and frameworks. They send managers to Six Sigma training, invest in expensive equipment, and hold kaizen events in hopes of transforming performance. But tools do not build operational excellence. People do.

And those people are already on your shop floor.

The Common Misconception About Excellence

Ask a group of manufacturing leaders what operational excellence means, and you’ll likely hear a list of methods and tools. Lean. Six Sigma. 5S. SMED. A3s. Standard work. Value stream mapping. Kaizen.

There is nothing wrong with any of these methods. I have used them and taught them. But there is a crucial difference between applying tools and building a system where people can thrive.

Operational excellence is not what you do to your people. It is what you unlock in your people.

Too often, I see leaders treating continuous improvement like a campaign. A flavor of the month. They believe if they just deploy the right combination of tools, results will follow. But this approach misses the point.

Your workforce already knows where the waste is. They see it every day. The bottlenecks, the rework, the workarounds. They live the gaps in your processes. What they need is not more training or another initiative. They need someone to listen.

Listening as a Leadership System

Not long ago, I supported a mid-sized medical device manufacturer. They were struggling to meet customer demand. Throughput time in the cleanroom was taking 50 days to fulfill, and delays were becoming the norm.

The belief was to add capital, people, and floor space.

I suggested we start somewhere else.

Instead of looking at the balance sheet or the latest automation catalog, I engaged the production line and asked a few frontline employees a simple question: “If you could change one thing about your work, what would it be?”

That single question opened the floodgates.

In no time and with some training and problem-solving structure, we had a whiteboard full of ideas. most of them cost nothing to implement. They weren’t asking for robots or complex redesigns. They were pointing out obvious inefficiencies, outdated steps, and policy restrictions that got in their way every day.

They had a roadmap to improve throughput not in months, but days.

No new equipment. No restructuring. Just removing the obstacles that prevented them from doing their best work.

Within weeks, the throughput time was down to one day. From 50 days to 1. The only real change was that someone finally asked and listened.

The Real Levers of Operational Excellence

There are three foundational truths I have learned through decades of improvement work in manufacturing:

1. The answers are already in your building.

   Leaders often hire external experts to tell them what their people already know. Your team sees the problems. They also hold the keys to the solutions.

   
   

2. People don’t need motivation.

   They want to do great work. Most frustration on the shop floor stems not from apathy, but from being ignored. People want to contribute. They want to take pride in their work. What they need is permission and the right conditions to act on their insights.

   
   

3. Systems matter more than slogans.

   Operational excellence is not about what you say. It’s about what you enable. When leaders create systems that support real-time problem solving, shared accountability, and continuous feedback, performance improves. Not because people try harder, but because the system allows them to succeed.

This mindset shift, from telling to listening, from controlling to enabling, can be uncomfortable for traditional managers. But it is essential if you want to move from compliance to commitment, from sporadic improvements to lasting excellence.

Shifting the Focus: From Tools to Trust

Tools have their place. I use them every day. But tools are not the starting point. People are.

When your operating system is built around trust, transparency, and learning, the tools become multipliers. They help good teams become great. But if your culture does not respect people’s knowledge and ideas, even the best tools will fail.

In many ways, Lean thinking has been misunderstood. It is not about efficiency for its own sake. It is about respect for people. It is about designing work systems that allow people to succeed without unnecessary struggle.

I’ve seen organizations pour money into lean programs while ignoring the lived experiences of their employees. The result? A disengaged workforce that rolls its eyes at the next initiative.

Contrast that with an organization where leaders spend time at the front lines. Where they ask questions. Where they remove obstacles. Where they recognize contributions. The improvement energy in those places is real. And sustainable.

What It Looks Like in Practice

When operational excellence is working, you don’t just see better metrics. You see better conversations.

• Daily huddles where teams raise issues without fear.

• Visual boards that track problems and experiments.

• Supervisors coaching rather than commanding.

• Cross-functional teams solving problems at the root, not just putting out fires.

• Leaders visiting the Gemba are not to inspect, but to learn.

These behaviors are not about compliance. They are about learning. And they signal to everyone that improvement is everyone’s job, not just the job of a quality engineer or Lean coordinator.

Starting with the Right Question

If you are a manufacturing leader facing delivery problems, quality issues, or employee disengagement, you might be tempted to reach for the next methodology or digital solution.

But before you do, try asking your people: “What would you change if you could?”

Then listen. And act.

That question has more power than any tool in your toolbox. Because it shifts the dynamic. It tells your team: “Your voice matters. Your knowledge matters.”

You may be surprised by what you hear. You may be even more surprised by what happens next.

Conclusion: Excellence Grows from Within

Sustainable operational excellence in manufacturing does not begin with tools. It begins with humility. With curiosity. With systems designed to learn, not just perform.

It requires leaders who are willing to slow down, ask questions, and create space for people to improve their work.

I have seen firsthand how transformational this shift can be. Not just in numbers, but in morale. In ownership. In pride.

When people feel heard, they bring their best selves to work. When obstacles are removed, they move faster, with fewer errors and more joy. And when leaders truly lead, by enabling rather than dictating, excellence follows.