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Operations Excellence Council Update: Nov. 15, 2018

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Argonne’s Operations Excellence Council (OEC) provides a senior management forum focused on delivering leading-edge science, and developing a strong commitment to, and culture around, research and operational excellence throughout the laboratory. The council supports timely, transparent and effective decision-making on operational programs. It communicates customer feedback, needs and priorities, and reviews lab performance targets and metrics.

Operations Update
Interim Deputy Laboratory Director for Operations Kim Sawyer pointed out that the Combined Heat and Plant was back up and running on Monday, Nov. 12. She acknowledged the excellent job done throughout the repair process. A training program stemmed from this incident and workers now have additional training and certifications.

The Safety Academy for Excellence (SAFE) Program will continue into the new calendar year with a goal of 100 people completing the class. Efforts are underway to bring additional training sessions to Argonne. The focus is on sending first and second line managers and Principal Investigators that oversee hazardous work.

There will not be an extension for Qualified Electrical Workers (QEWs); those who have not qualified by the end of the calendar year will no longer be able to work. Progress is excellent with approximately 95 percent of QEWs completing classes and nearly 80 percent completing the required competency practical.

OEC Charter

A new charter for the Operations Excellence Council was distributed. Interim Deputy Chief Operations Officer Mike Dunn noted the following additions and suggestions:

  • Operations and safety discussions will now be combined
  • A small subgroup will be formed within the next week to meet/focus on risk and bring back to the OEC for discussion
  • Read-aheads were required
  • Powerpoint presentations will be limited to 3-4 slides
  • Meeting topics should be sent to OTD Administrative Secretary Mel Knoderer and Performance Assurance Manager Renee Salazar-Romero

Per Kim, preparation is key. Mike encouraged the group to send substitutes if they are unable to attend the meeting. The OEC will be utilized for discussion and decisions. The group approved the new charter by unanimous vote.

ACTION: Form a Risk Subcommittee prior to the next OEC meeting on 11/29/18.

Lab Operations Metrics

Greg Morin, Director, Strategy, Performance and Risk, presented “Key Performance Indicators for Ensuring Success.” His discussion focused on the following key areas:

  • Laboratory Performance Management model (focusing on how the Laboratory integrates strategy, planning, execution, feedback, and improvement activities)
  • Current mechanisms for obtaining feedback (customer feedback, assessments, etc.)
  • Key Performance Indicators (not traditionally used by Lab leadership at the “lab level” as a “feedback” mechanism)
  • Opportunities to improve (leveraging the Impact Argonne framework, develop KPIs to provide lab level perspective into S&T, Operations, and Talent)

ACTION: Develop a Dashboard framework to review and react to by the next OEC Meeting on 11/29/18 (Greg and Renee)

High Risk Work

Bob Einspar, Continuous Improvement Manager for Infrastructure Services, demonstrated the laboratory dashboard. This system has helped track risks on the laboratory level. Filters are available to track not only high-risk work, but moderate- and low-risk work as well. A weekly report is sent out on Wednesdays to notify a listing of hazardous work within the next four weeks. Many division directors utilize the dashboard where as others were interested in introducing the dashboard to theirs.

There was also discussion on the reason and value for entering work into the high-risk register. Mike asked that the group continue to have the discussions at the OEC meeting and re-evaluate the effectiveness in a few weeks. There was some agreement that the process does drive conversation of high-risk work within organizations and has triggered additional visibility and reviews.

Roundtable/Future Meeting Topics

PSE Directorate Chief Operations Officer Maria Curry-Nkansah reported that there will be a teleconference December 3 with Dow DuPont. ESQ Interim Senior Director Gail Stine has agreed to sponsor this three-hour call, which will focus on learning best practices on high-impact learning in ways around safety and lab onboarding. Maria expressed how exceptional this opportunity is; more information (attendees, agenda, etc.) will be available soon.

The group briefly discussed changes to the honorarium process due to IRS rules. Chief Financial Officer Jeff Purnell is available to provide an update at a future meeting if there are any remaining questions or concerns.

Future meeting topic requests included risk, workday financial update, business transformation projects.


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