Prove Your Operations Management Chops

Map and Analyse a Real Business Process

Elective. Choose a real operational workflow — order fulfilment, patient intake, onboarding, manufacturing line — and map it end to end. Measure the time and cost at each step. A person who works in or manages the operation must review your map for accuracy.

3 milestones

1. 1Map the Current-State Process
2. 2Identify Waste and Root Causes
3. 3Design Future State and Present to Process Owner

Identify a Bottleneck and Propose an Improvement

Elective. Use data from the mapped process (or a new operation) to identify the primary bottleneck. Propose an improvement with a before/after metric plan. An operations professional reviews your analysis and confirms both the diagnosis and the proposal are grounded in real operational logic.

3 milestones

1. 1Map the Process and Identify the Binding Constraint
2. 2Develop and Quantify the Improvement Proposal
3. 3Present Proposal to Operations Professional and Incorporate Feedback

Conduct a Supply Chain Audit

Elective. Audit the end-to-end supply chain for a real product or service. Map every stage from raw material to final delivery. Identify ≥3 vulnerabilities (cost, lead time, single-source risk). Verify at least one with a supplier or operator interview. Proof includes the map, the vulnerabilities, and the interview record.

3 milestones

1. 1Map a Real Supply Chain End-to-End
2. 2Identify Bottlenecks and Design Improvement
3. 3Present Audit Findings and Defend Recommendations

Complete Six Sigma Green Belt

Elective. Complete a Six Sigma Green Belt certification using the DMAIC methodology on a real process improvement problem. The DMAIC project deliverable — a real process with measurable before/after data — is the proof, not the certificate alone.

3 milestones

1. 1Define a Real Process Improvement Problem Using DMAIC
2. 2Measure and Analyse the Process Using Statistical Tools
3. 3Implement the Improvement, Build a Control Plan, and Document Results

Build an Operations Metrics Dashboard

Elective. Build a dashboard tracking real operational KPIs for a real business or department. Include at least one non-obvious insight derived from the data — something that would change a decision. A person in the operation validates that the metrics are meaningful and the insight is non-trivial.

3 milestones

1. 1Specify KPIs and Confirm Data Sources
2. 2Build and Validate the Dashboard
3. 3Present Insights and Document a Decision