Advanced Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth Training Course – Paris, 19–30 Apr 2027

Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth is the subject of this 2-week advanced training course for operations managers, general managers and continuous improvement leads in growing businesses, who shape a Capacity Growth Roadmap for the unit they run. Volatile demand, expansion targets and customers who expect speed and reliability mean capacity and process choices now decide whether growth is delivered or stalls. Jupiter Prime Training runs this course in operations strategy and capacity growth.

Why Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth Matters Now

Three forces push operations up the leadership agenda: demand that swings faster than fixed capacity can follow, digital tools that change how work is scheduled and measured, and boards that judge operations on cost, speed, quality, flexibility and dependability at once. An organisation whose operations develop deliberately grows without proportional cost and keeps its promises to customers; one that leaves operations to drift adds capacity in the wrong places, carries hidden waste and misses service targets. The course rests on Slack's five performance objectives, the Hayes and Wheelwright four-stage model, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and the Theory of Constraints (TOC).

Who Gains Most from Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth

• Managers accountable for output, cost and service across a plant, depot, hospital unit or service centre
• General managers who must align operations capacity with growth and market strategy
• Improvement leads who choose which processes to redesign and which methods to deploy
• Planning heads who balance capacity, inventory and service levels against demand
• Function leaders who build skills, roles and structures inside the operations team

A leadership group made up of the operations head, a general manager and the improvement lead gains most when attending together, because the roadmap needs strategic and practical owners.

Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth Capabilities

Participants leave able to link operations choices to strategy, size capacity and processes for growth, and sequence improvement work into a roadmap that leadership can fund and track.

• Align operations performance objectives with business strategy — informing the leadership team
• Calculate capacity requirements and choose between lead, lag and match strategies — serving finance
• Design processes using layout, flow and variety–volume logic — supporting site and service managers
• Map value streams and identify constraints and waste — guiding improvement leads
• Specify an operations KPI tree linked to strategic goals — informing boards and owners
• Build a staged capability and improvement roadmap — engaging teams and sponsors

Key Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth Terms

• Performance Objectives — the five dimensions of cost, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility on which an operation competes.
• Capacity Strategy — the choice of when and how much capacity to add relative to forecast demand.
• Value Stream Map — a visual of every step, delay and information flow from order to delivery for one product or service.
• Constraint — the step whose capacity limits the output of the whole system at a given time.
• Process Type — the arrangement of resources, from project and jobbing to batch, line and continuous, suited to a variety–volume position.
• KPI Tree — a structured breakdown linking top-level operations goals to the measures teams influence each day.

Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth Day by Day

Day 1: Operations and Strategy

• Operations Strategy Matrix — Linking Market Requirements to Resource Decisions
• Slack's Five Performance Objectives — Ranking Order Winners and Qualifiers
• Hayes and Wheelwright Four Stages — Positioning the Operation's Contribution
• Manufacturing and Service Case Comparisons — Learning From Contrasting Operations
• Operations Maturity Baseline — Selecting Where Development Starts

Day 2: Process Design

• Variety–Volume Matrix — Choosing Project, Batch, Line or Continuous Processes
• Layout Types and Flow — Reducing Travel, Handling and Waiting
• Service Blueprinting — Designing Front and Back Office Steps
• Process Capability and Variation — Setting Realistic Standards
• Process Design Checklist — Testing New Designs Before Launch

Day 3: Capacity Planning

• Demand Forecasting for Operations — Turning Forecasts Into Capacity Needs
• Lead, Lag and Match Capacity Strategies — Weighing Risk and Utilisation
• Rough-Cut Capacity Planning — Checking Plans Against Key Resources
• Queuing and Utilisation Effects — Explaining Delays at High Loading
• Capacity Investment Cases — Comparing Shifts, Outsourcing and Expansion

Day 4: Lean Operations

• Lean Principles and the Seven Wastes — Spotting Non-Value Activity
• 5S and Visual Management — Making Standards and Problems Visible
• Standard Work and Takt Time — Pacing Operations to Demand
• Pull Systems and Kanban — Limiting Work in Progress
• Lean in Service Settings — Adapting Methods to Offices and Clinics

Day 5: Value Streams and Constraints

• Current-State Value Stream Mapping — Measuring Lead Time and Flow
• Future-State Value Stream Design — Prioritising Flow Improvements
• Theory of Constraints Five Focusing Steps — Raising System Throughput
• Drum-Buffer-Rope Scheduling — Protecting the Constraint
• Bottleneck Investment Logic — Deciding Where Extra Capacity Pays

Day 6: Planning and Control

• Sales and Operations Planning — Balancing Demand, Supply and Finance
• Inventory Positioning — Choosing Where Stock Protects Service
• Scheduling Approaches — Matching Rules to Process Type
• Supplier and Partner Integration — Extending Flow Beyond the Site
• Planning Calendar and Governance — Setting Decision Rhythms

Day 7: Performance Measurement

• Operations KPI Trees — Linking Strategy to Daily Measures
• Balanced Scorecard for Operations — Combining Financial and Operational Views
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness and Service Levels — Measuring Asset and Customer Outcomes
• Tiered Performance Reviews — Escalating Issues to the Right Level
• Benchmarking Operations Performance — Setting Credible Targets

Day 8: Improvement Methods

• PDCA and A3 Problem Solving — Structuring Improvement Projects
• Six Sigma DMAIC — Reducing Variation in Critical Processes
• Kaizen Events — Delivering Rapid Focused Change
• Improvement Portfolio Selection — Ranking Projects by Impact and Effort
• Benefits Tracking — Confirming Gains Reach the Bottom Line

Day 9: Building Operations Capability

• Operations Organisation Design — Setting Roles, Spans and Interfaces
• Skills Matrices and Development Paths — Growing Supervisors and Specialists
• Digital Operations Tools — Selecting Systems for Scheduling and Visibility
• Change Leadership in Operations — Sustaining New Ways of Working
• Operations Excellence Maturity Models — Staging Capability Growth

Day 10: Practising the Capacity Growth Roadmap

• Strategy Alignment Case — Applying Performance Objectives to a Business Unit
• Capacity and Constraint Exercise — Sizing Growth With Value Stream Data
• KPI Tree Build — Linking Roadmap Goals to Daily Measures
• Peer Review of Improvement Portfolios — Testing Priorities and Sequence
• Capacity Growth Roadmap — Completing Stages, Owners and Measures

Applying Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth After the Course

• Map the current-state value stream for one product or service and identify its main constraint.
• Draft an operations KPI tree for the unit and agree it with the leadership team.

Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth Questions (FAQ)

What is operations strategy and capacity growth and why does it matter now?

It is the practice of aligning operations choices with business strategy and adding capacity and processes in step with growth. It matters now because volatile demand and expansion targets punish capacity added too late, too early or in the wrong place.

Which roles gain most from operations strategy and capacity growth training?

Operations managers, general managers, improvement leads and planning heads gain most. They decide capacity, process design and improvement priorities, so strategy alignment, value stream methods and KPI design shape their next investment and staffing choices.

How does operations strategy and capacity growth differ from a lean practitioner course?

It works at the level of the whole operation rather than a single method. A lean practitioner course builds tool skills, while this subject connects strategy, capacity expansion, process design, measurement and capability into one growth path.

What do you bring back from operations strategy and capacity growth training?

You bring back a Capacity Growth Roadmap for your unit. It links performance objectives to capacity, process and improvement choices, with stages, owners and KPIs that leadership can review and fund.

Operations Strategy and Capacity Growth: The Way Forward

The Capacity Growth Roadmap first informs which capacity and improvement investments the unit makes next. Operations managers, general managers and improvement leads use it to sequence projects and report progress. After the first review cycle, it is worth revisiting whether the chosen performance objectives still match customer priorities, since markets often shift faster than plans.