Developing capabilities for operational excellence in multisite production companies

Operational excellence (OpEx) in organisations requires a systematic approach and the involvement of all employees in improvement processes. Multisite production companies typically manage this through global OpEx programmes. However, unclear priorities and limited adaptation often create obstacles to programme development. This study aims to propose an action-guiding capability framework based on practitioners' experiences by identifying their main challenges. An interactive research approach, incorporating joint workshops, was employed to build on the experiences of programme managers in five multisite production companies with varying maturity. When developing programmes, three main recurring and interconnected problems tend to occur: establishing priorities during programme initiation, achieving impact with limited resources, and adapting to evolving conditions. Key capabilities include programme managers earning executives' commitment, avoiding premature scaling of the programme, and controlling programme development. The framework proposed here can be used to map programme capabilities and guide actions to avoid problems and improve programme performance.