If you’ve wondered why some manufacturing organizations consistently outperform their peers while others struggle to scale operational improvements, Episode 13 of Practitioners Unplugged provides the blueprint. Manufacturing excellence principles, not technology purchases, form the foundation of sustainable success. Ed Koch, operations veteran with over 20 years across Unilever, SAB Miller, and AB InBev, cuts through the digital transformation noise with a timeless truth: sustainable manufacturing excellence starts with building capabilities, not buying technology.”

Working across six continents and 120+ facilities, Ed helped design and implement SAB Miller’s legendary “Manufacturing Way”—a systematic approach to operational excellence that enabled rapid integration of acquisitions while maintaining performance standards. His philosophy challenges the current obsession with AI and automation: focus on developing people and processes first, then leverage technology as an accelerator.

As Ed puts it: “Manufacturing is a team sport, and excellence is only achieved through deliberate focus on continuous improvement and organizational learning.”

Here are the five key insights from our conversation with Ed:

The concept of organizational “ways” goes far beyond standard operating procedures. For SAB Miller, the Manufacturing Way served as one of eight strategic capabilities (alongside Marketing Way, HR Way, etc.) that provided a unified framework for a rapidly growing, acquisition-heavy business.

“The idea behind ways was really a single credible point of reference in how we operate, how we run the business, how we believed was the best way to run our operations,” Ed explains. This wasn’t about creating rigid processes but establishing enduring principles that could adapt to local contexts across Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The genius of the approach lies in its structure: overarching principles that don’t change, organizational design that adapts to regional needs, competencies that build over time, and work practices that evolve with technology. Think of it as a four-layer framework where the foundation remains stable while the surface adapts to changing conditions.

This principle-based approach enabled SAB Miller to integrate acquisitions seamlessly. New facilities could understand “how things work around here” through a common language and methodology, accelerating both operational performance and career development across a global organization.

Ed’s observations working with manufacturing leaders worldwide reveal a stark divide: companies that treat manufacturing as a core competency versus those that view it as a cost center to optimize. The leaders consistently pull away from the pack because they understand that operational excellence creates sustainable competitive advantage.

“We have some clients that have fantastic performance and brilliant factories. One of the things that we observe is that the leaders continue to lead and in fact get faster, get better, faster. They innovate faster and pull away from the pack.”

These leading organizations share common traits: strong engaged leadership close to the workforce and factory floor, well-trained manufacturing technicians and operators, and what Ed describes as “a restlessness, a hunger to find new ways to perform better.”

The implication for executives is clear: manufacturing excellence isn’t achieved through periodic improvement initiatives or technology deployments. It requires sustained investment in building organizational capabilities that compound over time. Companies that understand this create performance gaps that competitors struggle to close.

When designing SAB Miller’s “brewery of the future,” Ed’s team asked a fundamental question: if we built a brewery with the latest processes and technology designed to operate for 30-40 years, what would a day in the life of an operator look like?

The answer revealed the inadequacy of traditional job descriptions. Modern operators must run equipment, ensure quality, perform basic maintenance, track performance, develop team members, and learn new skills continuously. It’s a complex, critical role that directly impacts business performance.

“These are the people that really add value to the product. These are the people that make the difference in the business,” Ed emphasizes. This led to the concept of the “master manufacturing technician”—a role that leverages all available capabilities to solve problems in real-time.

The parallel to pop culture is apt: like the Mandalorian with advanced gear and capabilities, the future manufacturing worker operates within a system that amplifies their problem-solving abilities rather than replacing them. This represents a fundamental shift from Henry Ford’s industrial model toward human-technology collaboration.

One of SAB Miller’s most powerful tools was a maturity model covering ten operational areas with defined stages of development. This created a common language across 120 facilities worldwide and enabled sophisticated internal benchmarking and knowledge transfer.

“It allowed us to see how all those facilities were both performing in terms of a defined set of metrics, but also how mature they were in terms of their work practices,” Ed explains. The system drove shared learning where lagging facilities could learn from leaders, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement.

The assessment process balanced self-evaluation with external calibration. Facilities conducted self-assessments twice yearly, with regional calibration covering one-third of operations annually. This three-year cycle ensured consistency while maintaining cost-effectiveness.

The key insight: maturity models must evolve as capabilities advance. What represented leading practice five years ago becomes middle-of-the-road today. Organizations must recalibrate their standards to maintain competitive advantage and drive continuous improvement.

While AI dominates current manufacturing conversations, Ed maintains focus on fundamental operational excellence. His approach to digital transformation reflects hard-won experience: establish solid operational foundations before adding technological complexity.

“I think if we create that standard way of operating around the world, it also creates a common language of people being able to talk to common processes and standard methodologies. When you start thinking about digitizing and using digital tools, you want to make sure that the processes and systems that you have in place, the fundamental building blocks, are good ones.”

Ed advocates for a hybrid approach combining digital insights with human problem-solving. While real-time data provides valuable performance information, gathering cross-functional teams around physical problem-solving boards often produces faster results than sophisticated digital tools.

The key is viewing technology as an enabler for proven methodologies rather than a replacement. Organizations with strong operational foundations can leverage AI and advanced analytics more effectively because they understand the underlying processes and can interpret technological insights within proper context.

Ed Koch’s experience across global manufacturing operations demonstrates that sustainable excellence comes from systematic capability building, not technology deployment. The Manufacturing Way approach—anchoring on enduring principles while adapting practices to local contexts—offers a proven framework for organizations seeking lasting competitive advantage.

The lessons extend beyond manufacturing to any operation-intensive business: identify strategic capabilities that differentiate your organization, build systematic approaches to develop those capabilities, create measurement systems that drive internal benchmarking, and maintain leadership that stays close to front-line execution.

As manufacturing faces pressure from shorter careers, frequent organizational changes, and technological disruption, Ed’s approach provides stability. By building capabilities that don’t depend on individual knowledge or specific technologies, organizations create resilience that survives workforce turnover and technological transitions.

The Manufacturing Way isn’t about resisting change—it’s about building the organizational foundation that enables rapid adaptation to whatever challenges emerge next. Companies that invest in these capabilities first position themselves to leverage new technologies effectively while maintaining operational stability.

Excellence is built one principle, one process, and one person at a time. But once established, it creates momentum that separates leaders from followers for decades.

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