Ten operations playbooks, each step backed by research.
Broad areas of operations improvement, each sequenced from diagnosis to sustainment. Every step names the research it transfers and the checkpoint that tells you whether to continue.
Demand forecasting
A forecast is not a prediction contest; it is an input to a decision. This path fixes the decision first, establishes a reproducible baseline, and governs human judgement so that overrides can be measured rather than argued about.
6 steps · 6 cited sources Path 02Capacity & flowCapacity, flow and scheduling
Congestion is usually a system property, not a motivation problem. This path finds the constraint, measures variability and utilisation honestly, then changes release and staffing before adding capacity.
6 steps · 7 cited sources Path 03Quality & reliabilityQuality assurance and process control
Quality improves when the definition is operational, the measurement is trustworthy and variation is separated from noise. This path moves from customer requirement to control chart to standard work, without treating every wobble as a crisis.
6 steps · 5 cited sources Path 04InventoryInventory and replenishment
Inventory is a consequence of policy, lead time, variability and data quality. This path fixes records first, sets policy by item class, then aligns the information and incentives that create bullwhips.
6 steps · 5 cited sources Path 05Supply chainSupply chain and supplier resilience
Resilience is a balance between vulnerability and capability, not a maximum of buffers. This path maps dependencies, tests visibility, and chooses between collaboration and inventory with the recovery time in view.
6 steps · 6 cited sources Path 06Service operationsService operations and customer experience
Service failures are usually produced by handoffs, variability and mismatched recovery. This path maps the journey from the customer's side, measures waits honestly, and designs the promise, staffing and recovery together.
6 steps · 8 cited sources Path 07Quality & reliabilityMaintenance and asset reliability
Maintenance is a portfolio of decisions about failure consequences. This path starts from asset criticality and failure history, then chooses tasks by consequence rather than habit or vendor fashion.
6 steps · 4 cited sources Path 08Change & adoptionContinuous improvement and change adoption
Improvement is a capability, not a campaign. This path uses structured tests, participation and visible adoption management, and it expects the performance dip that follows most real changes.
6 steps · 9 cited sources Path 09MeasurementMeasurement and operating cadence
A measurement system is a decision system. This path starts from the decisions the business needs to make, keeps the measure set small and time-ordered, and runs reviews that end in decisions rather than status reports.
6 steps · 7 cited sources Path 10Process & qualityIncident response and on-call
Incident load is produced by the system: noisy alerts, unclear ownership, change-induced failures and a rotation that is too small. This path measures the load, fixes routing and command before adding people, and protects rest as a design constraint.
6 steps · 4 cited sourcesStep citations are hand-curated. The wider library matches below each path are selected by subject and domain. They are a structured starting point, not a certification: check each checkpoint against your own operation before moving on.