By Bill Huseby, President & CEO
It’s easy to lose track of everything that happens in a year, and hard to find a moment to reflect on what we should focus on for the coming year. Looking back at 2019, we were served up some challenges, along with a good dose of new prospects and fruitful accomplishments.
As we look to 2020 and beyond, I like to celebrate the successes we’ve achieved and look forward to dedicating teams to new Strategic Initiatives (SI’s). At the end of the year, the entire company is engaged in SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) work sessions, giving everyone a chance to voice what they feel is important for the company. Then we compile these insights using them to develop our company strategic initiatives for the coming year.
2019 HIGHLIGHTS
In 2019, we focused on these strategic initiatives:
1. DEPARTMENT TRAINING PROGRAMSThis initiative advanced our goal to invest in our employees by developing and recognizing the best. We had a number of employees that spearheaded various training programs for each department focusing on specific capabilities that improved efficiency and/or better deliverables to our clients. One example is the Project Manager Team participating in a 3-day workshop for project management training. The team honed skills in prioritization, scope changes, communication, and much more.
2. QUALITY CERTIFICATION (ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System)
This initiative focused on our framework of quality and process management. Certification and quality standards will give our clients requirement compliance and improve our overall business practice. In September we “went live” with our ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System compliance process. Our Stage 1 audit was completed the first week of January 2020, and our Stage 2 audit is scheduled for the last week of January. Once we complete our ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System certification, we plan on obtaining additional more rigorous certifications.
OUR FOCUS FOR 2020
For 2020, with our new insight and a framework plan for company-wide action we will tackle 3 new SI’s.
1. ERP OPTIMIZATION (The software we use to operate the company)Two years ago we implemented a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) system. This software system assists the company with both financial transactions and project management. We’ve made great progress as we continue to learn to expand the system, but this year we’ll focus more energy on optimization so that we have even better reporting, all in an effort to run the company as effectively as possible.
2. PDM/PLM ROBUSTNESS (The systems we use to control product design information)One of the areas we recognize as needing improvement is the Product Lifecycle Management process. For 2020, we will focus on the systems we use to manage product data. We have put together a team to define our needs in this area and identify any process changes we need to make as well as what tools may be needed. Continuously improving is a major focus.
3. MANUFACTURING OPTIMIZATION
Currently we do a substantial amount of manufacturing work (Supply Chain Management, Fabrication and Assembly). At SIGMADESIGN we believe there is even more opportunity to grow that arm of the business. In 2020 we will focus on becoming even more efficient with our processes all the way from quoting to executing on our customer’s needs.
As our mission states, we want to “Be the BEST Product Development company in the world by offering solutions from Concept through Production for our clients.” Our Strategic Initiatives for 2020 will move us ever closer to this mission. Every year brings the excitement of new projects with existing and new clients. We’re motivated to be the BEST for our clients and as partners we hope to support and deliver more of whatever is needed to make your business a success.
Best to you in 2020,
Bill