The Just Don't Get It!

transformational investments. (The Fortune magazine case study at the end of this book provides the full account of this transformation.) Getting Capital Projects Approved This disciplined approach works for projects large and small. Most companies have established templates for CapEx analysis—forms that require specific financial calculations and justifications. The key isn't to reinvent their process, but to use your data to make the strongest possible case within their framework. Here's how to maximize your chances of approval: Use your data to define the problem precisely. Don't rely on general statements like "equipment reliability issues." Instead, use the elephant hunting from Chapter 2 to quantify exactly what's failing and how often. Your data will give you the ability to describe the exact problem you need to solve in operational terms—downtime frequency, scrap rates, overtime hours, crew size requirements, changeover times, quality defects. These specific metrics make the problem real and measurable for executives who may never see the shop floor.

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