The Operational Excellence (OpEx) Division Best Practice Competition

The Operational Excellence Division of IISE welcomes applications from organizational teams for the Operational Excellence Division Best Practice Award 2021.

The IISE Operational Excellence Division Best Practice Award recognizes organizations for innovative and effective implementation of Operational Excellence. These could include Lean, Six Sigma, and other innovative methods, principles, and practices that deliver exemplary business performance improvement. This award will promote the successful implementation of OpEx principles by recognizing the best in class industries and sharing their stories with others. The OpEx award is a very prestigious award for a team and their industry. The award will be announced to the top three teams and be presented at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo, ALL VIRTUAL, May 22-25, 2021.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Any team, two or more members, of any organization who want to showcase their successful implementation of OpEx concepts
  • The team must demonstrate innovative uses of OpEx tools and techniques for its measurable outcomes
  • There is no limit on the number of entries from an organization
  • At least one member of the team must be a member of IISE and belong to the Operational Excellence Division

Awarding Process

  • All entries will be pre-screened to select up to four finalist teams
  • All finalist teams will be required to attend the IISE Annual Conference & Expo, ALL VIRTUAL, and present their cases
  • Top three teams will be selected and announced before the Tuesday morning keynote. There will not be an Honors & Awards Banquet in 2021. Winners will be announced before the Tuesday morning keynote address.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Innovativeness of application.
  • Clear, measurable performance objectives, and how the team met them?
  • The approach is simple and straightforward,
  • Creative use of tools, techniques, process, and systems,
  • The organization realized significant and quantifiable outcomes, such as cost reduction, lead time reduction, quality improvement, safety improvement, etc.
  • Demonstrate at least six months of sustained or improved metrics,
  • The quality of the presentation including problem statement, clear descriptions, and metrics with visuals.

Submission Process

To ensure consistency in judging, submit your entry via the submission form. Entries should include:

  • A completed submission form
  • Support letter from senior executive officers/management of the organization
  • Credentials of team members (This may include related experience, education, recognition, etc.,)
  • Project presentation

The complete application package is due to the chair of the committee by March 31. Applicants must send their submissions electronically – preferably as an email attachment. In case of large electronic documents, applicants may upload them in an online repository (i.e. Dropbox) and provide the access to the chair of the committee. Finalists will be notified by April 30.

2021 Committee Chair

Krishnan Krishnaiyer
Marathon Petroleum Corp.

2020 Winners

1st Place:
Smriti Neogi, Josh Schaffzin, Glenn Schneider and Rodger Abbott
Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center
"Improving IV-Pump Turnaround Promotes Experience and Safety at Children's Hospital"

2nd Place:
Omid Arani and Alfonso Abad-Rodriguez
Faribault Foods
"Adopting Lean Practices to Achieve Sustainability Objectives"

Past Winners

Operational Excellence Division Page