news 11 Aug 2025

Operational Excellence in Action: Turning Standards into Execution to Eliminate Rework and Recalls

At the FSI Conference, Serkan Atlas, Head of Operational Excellence for EMEA at OFI (Olam Food Ingredients), delivered a compelling and practical talk titled “Operational Excellence: Where Standards Meet Execution to Eliminate Rework and Recall Risk.” Drawing from real-world experience across global operations, Serkan took the audience on a 15-minute journey into the true meaning of Operational Excellence (OpEx) - not as a checklist of best practices, but as a culture, a mindset, and most importantly, execution.

The Apple Tree Analogy: A Simple Yet Powerful Framework

To introduce the concept, Serkan likened an organisation to an apple tree:

The Apples represent results – profitability, productivity, quality.
The Roots symbolise the systems and processes that support the organisation.
But even healthy roots can fail to produce apples without the right climate – which he defined as organisational culture.

Without a strong culture supporting consistent execution, the best systems will still fall short. In operational excellence, it’s not enough to plant the tree, you must also tend the orchard.

Two Numbers That Define Excellence: 100 and 0

Operational excellence revolves around two critical numbers:

100%: representing the pursuit of total efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity.
Zero: denoting the goal of zero recalls, zero defects, zero injuries.

Both targets are equally critical. An overemphasis on efficiency without eliminating risks creates an unstable system. Excellence lies in the balance between these two ambitions.

The Customer at the Core

Traditionally, businesses had to choose two of the three: good, fast, or cheap. Today’s customer demands all three. Organisations can no longer excuse a lack of speed or affordability with quality. Consumers measure value based on experience, not internal processes.

Serkan illustrated this with a powerful metaphor: quality professionals often fall in love with their processes, but the customer never sees the process – only the outcome.

“You may be proud of your systems, but what matters is how your customer experiences your product.”

Value vs. Waste: The Ultimate Litmus Test

Value, according to Serkan, is anything the customer is willing to pay for. Everything else? Waste. This mindset forms the backbone of tools like Value Stream Mapping. Operational Excellence, then, becomes a dual mission: maximise value, minimise waste.

And yet, execution often becomes the bottleneck. Citing data from the UK Food Standards Agency, Serkan revealed that over 80% of food recalls are due to execution failures, not standards.

“We’re obsessed with standards – but it’s time to obsess over execution.”

Three Pillars of Operational Excellence Execution

Serkan encouraged organisations to focus on three actionable pillars to drive better execution:

Standards emphasised, must evolve. Going to Gemba isn’t about control – it’s about continuous improvement.

1. Go to Gemba – The Place Where Value is Created

Gemba, a Japanese term, refers to the real place – the factory floor, the supermarket shelf, the distribution centre – where work happens.

At Gemba, leaders must observe with three core questions in mind:

Is there a standard for this activity?
Is there a visual management system to confirm it’s being followed?
Is there a reaction protocol when deviations occur?

2. Root Cause Analysis – Go Beyond the Symptoms

Problems rarely appear in obvious form. He illustrated this with the famous Jefferson Memorial case study, where a crumbling building was eventually traced back to something as simple as light schedules attracting insects, which in turn attracted birds – and their droppings.

True root cause analysis often requires more than a few hours. Atlas cautioned:

“If your RCA took two hours, you probably didn’t find the real cause.”

A five-whys approach, done properly, can uncover deeply hidden inefficiencies that simple symptom-treatment approaches miss.

“If your culture only welcomes good news, you won’t solve real problems.”

3. Psychological Safety – Speak Up Culture

No operational excellence system can succeed if employees are afraid to speak up.

Operational failures often remain hidden not due to incompetence, but due to fear – fear of punishment, blame, or being dismissed.

Serkan tied this concept to neuroscience, describing how fear-driven environments activate the brain’s survival mechanisms, preventing problem-solving. Only in psychologically safe environments can people remain in the higher executive thinking state where true innovation and problem-solving occur.

Simple Systems, Profound Impact

He concluded with a reminder that operational excellence is not about complexity. Sometimes, mistake-proofing (Poka-yoke) can be as simple as designing a USB stick that only fits one way – or even better, a USB-C that fits every way. Simple design can eliminate error before it happens.

Likewise, minor tweaks in daily operations – from light switch timers to cleaning protocols – can deliver dramatic reductions in risk and waste.

Final Takeaways: The Heart of Excellence

To wrap up, Serkan offered several memorable takeaways:

Don’t judge systems by averages – outliers hold the key to understanding variability.
Be aware of blind spots – what you don’t see will hurt you.
Design for prevention, not just detection.
Invest in the hard work – operational excellence is not instant or easy.

“There are no shortcuts. But if you go to Gemba, ask the right questions, and create a safe space for people to speak out – you’ll get there.”

Conclusion

Serkan Atlas’s presentation was a call to action for food industry leaders: Stop idolising standards, and start prioritising execution. Operational excellence is not about ticking boxes; it’s about creating a culture where people are empowered to see, speak, and solve problems at the root – before they grow into recalls or rework.

By turning insight into execution, and standards into action, organisations can finally achieve the elusive goal of being 100% effective with zero risk.

last update 11 August 2025

Operational Excellence in Action: Turning Standards into Execution to Eliminate Rework and Recalls

The Apple Tree Analogy: A Simple Yet Powerful Framework