PROGNOSIS
I approach my work in a similar fashion as would a doctor. I ask a myriad of questions to the patient (leadership and employees) and listen to learn. Most often, I identify leading and lagging indicators. I watch for when the lagging indicator jumps and investigate the conditions of the leading indicator. As soon as these are collected and I begin to think about what systems need to be put in place to permanently eliminate each issue. If you have multiple production lines, each line may be treated as a separate entity. This phase is reactive, but if it’s the first time the “patient” has has this much attention, he or she will have a lot to say. Proactive activities will rise later when we learn how to stop ‘chasing the truck’ and reacting to extreme immediate needs.
CADENCE phase 1
Once we have acquired a firm understanding of cause and effect on the shop floor, we look at KPI’s next. It’s important to thin-slice these as fine as possible. I’m not a proponent of blanket statements like, “Scrap needs to be reduced.” Problems may be on third shift on one line, and first shift on another. In this way you are telling the team where to focus; maximizing resources.
With the team informed and problems identified, this is when we introduce the Run The Business (RTB) concept. RTB’s are challenges that may arise that impedes the team from getting the results. These are often overlooked (or forgotten) items, but we will create a place to capture them. A template is crafted to identify them, understand the solution, pick ONE owner, a realistic due date, and (if resolved) how it will impact SQDC. A process owner (usually the Supervisor or Production Manager) owns this list, and we will meet weekly to discuss progress.
The key is to MEET EVERY WEEK regarding RTB log on the floor with a time cap of 15 minutes (this implies that the team should be prepared to address specific items). Leadership needs to understand the importance of where actions need to happen, as most people are looking for a cadence of meetings, so they can prepare for and share ways that they help the team win.
Adjust & improve
As RTB starts, new challenges may arise and the team will need guidance. Some common issues:
Data collection may be necessary to further understand process variation. Take data only when you need to and then stop. My rule is to never take data simply for data’s sake. This coincides with my belief that data needs to be turned into information, specifically to tell a story. If you can’t tell a story it doesn’t exist. This challenges the team to develop management proposals with this expectation in mind.
This may be faux pas to say, but I’m a 90%’er. The team can waste time looking for a silver bullet when a few little things could get similar results. This ties to teaching the team to fail, forward, fast. Try things out. Good leaders want their team to fail in safe ways, its how most of us learn. I some times celebrate how many tries it took to get it right.
RTB will make initial progress but items not accomplished will get tied up more and more from one or two sources. This could be maintenance, finance, anything. Use the accomplishments you have made to leverage management to alleviate these barriers. No one wants to stop a success train. This builds more trust.
The original team will change and it should. When contributions are made, release the team member for other tasks. I don’t believe in people showing up to show up.
Low to Mid level managers have been handed off the RTB with an understanding that 80% of their time should be focused on those items. Skills should be instilled that they can, as mentioned above, deliver insightful information to management.
Several items should have fallen out by now that are Change The Business (CTB). They are bigger, long term objectives that only need to be review bi-weekly. Most will be out of the hands of internal teams but these are the next waves to hit the ship and must be monitored.
In addition to RTB and CTB, strategic objectives should be established. Some are imposed by corporate but the local team should have the most influence based on how they see priority. This can be space, audit radiance, or cycle counting. Again, leaderships focus will make many levers move.