Manufacturing Operations Strategist Rebecca Morgan, president of Fulcrum ConsultingWorks, Inc in Cleveland, OH, has advised leaders of mid-size manufacturers for over 30 years, after being one herself. In her recent book, Manufacturing Mastery: The Path to Building Successful and Enduring Manufacturing Businesses, she discusses five common self-induced obstacles.

"One of the most common self-induced obstacles to success and endurance in closely-held manufacturers is a lack of discipline," says Morgan. "That is a primary reason why we keep solving the same problems over and over, why alignment throughout an organization is rare, and why both speed and costs do not meet market needs."

Trying to avoid micromanagement and committed to moving quickly, leaders all-to-often say something, believe it is happening, and move on to the next thing. Unfortunately, people look at leaders as role models. When they see the leader keep moving on to something new, they believe they should as well. That is a significant problem. Morgan explains that "follow up is an important part of communicating and reinforcing priorities and decisions. Without it no one is sure what they should be working on first. That is expensive and a terrible waste of resources."

PDCA is a concept approaching 75 years old, and one that most companies claim to follow. But few do. Plan-Do-Check-Act is a model for solving problems and for learning. "It requires an underlying commitment to discipline," says Morgan, "and few companies are truly willing to take the time to learn and improve."

Lack of discipline is not the only self-induced obstacle in a manufacturing business, but it is one that is instrumental in precluding success. A strong leader will not accept this obstacle within the organization.