Yes there is. It has become second nature in many companies to address problems as challenges. People who use the word “problem” are often immediately corrected or cast into the role of “not a team player”. Yes, problems can bechallenging. But sometimes you just need to call them what they are…problems. Climbing Mount Everest is a challenge; running out of oxygen on your way down is a problem. Receiving more orders than expected is a challenge; having key equipment that supports those orders breakdown is a problem. Addressing each appropriately to the given situation can make a significant difference in how people respond.
We need to hire someone and now!
While just about anyone can learn and possess a thorough, working knowledge and understanding of everything Lean, no one can remedy all, let alone most of your problems (or challenges!). Anyone who claims they can solve all of your problems has either been hogging the crack pipe or is in it for their own best interest. You can know kaizen and kanban inside and out and recite the wisdoms of Deming and Gilbreath all day long. But learning and understanding a company’s culture, business goals, and infrastructure is paramount to knowing how and when to apply the appropriate tools.
What’s in your Mission Statement?
I’ve read Mission Statement’s that proudly boast the company’s commitment to shareholders, profit, diversity, flexibility, being the supplier of choice; but failed to include the heart of what makes a company a team with a common goal: commitment to the customer, commitment to service, commitment to values, and commitment to one another.
Making a BIG production out of a company-wide unveiling of a new and improved Mission Statement can work wonders for morale, motivation and capturing that team spirit. A key is to include employees somewhere in the process. Nothing makes people feel more like part of the big picture than being asked for their input.
SWOT Assessment
SWOT assessment is not an action item in a to-do list. It is an ongoing practice of evaluation to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that affect every resource. A SWOT assessment is the springboard from which critical plans of action should be born. Embarking on a new direction without identifying and planning for SWOT can lead your team down a very bumpy road. Assessments include identifying:
Exceptional, weak and poor performance
Bottlenecks
Use and application of improvement concepts
Morale
Education and training
4 ] Strategic Process Improvement Outline
This outline can be put into action from its most conservative to its most comprehensive application. Regardless of where you launch improvements it is important to acknowledge that any or all associated functions could at some point prove to thwart your progress. Once identified these inhibiters must be addressed, assessed, and rectified.
Regardless of the range of application, there are common thread components that are critical to the success of even the most conservative applications. The need to consider and/or apply any or all of the following must be acknowledged every step of the way.
SWOT assessments
All forms and channels of communication
Metrics
Cycle time/time studies
Bottlenecks and constraints
Budgets
Company principles and practices
Company policy and procedures
Psychology, culture, relationships
Accountability
Capacity and resource management
The 7 wastes
Follow-thru
Commitment
Health and safety
Documentation
VSM
Proper tools and training
Performance
Attendance
And anything that adds value in the eyes of the customer
PRIORITY ONE – The Master Schedule
In recent years I have learned that many companies are echoing the same battle cry: We’re behind, late, past-due, in trouble, delinquent, on backorder, in real trouble, overdue. The right product at the right quantity, quality and price means nothing if it’s not delivered at the right time. A good Master Scheduler will also be a good detective, starting with three simple questions:
Who currently manages the MS?
How is it managed?
How is it driven?
You may wonder why I didn’t include “Just how behind are we?” If you already know you’re delinquent, why ask the question? The only questions to ask are those that will lead you to the constraints causing your delinquency. The answer to improving on-time delivery is not in keeping track of how behind you are or in expediting past-due orders (though these are necessary evils). The answer is in understanding why the delinquencies exist and taking swift action to correct the course.
Planning and Production Control
Planning process
Routings
Release process
Follow-up
Demand management
MRP management
Scheduled, firm and released order tracking
Reporting
Managing backorders, shortages, changes
Manufacturing
Set-up/teardown
Scrap/defect handling
Rework/repair processes
Equipment availability
Calibration/shelf-life
Equipment and machine maintenance
Retrofits/modifications
Queue, wait and move times
Inventory Management
What is inventory? Ask this question of several people and the answers range from “parts” to “the stuff we keep on shelves”. The real answer is inventory is money, period. A key to inventory management is in teaching people this very fact. Making money is the most common denominator from the assembly line up to the shareholders, and everyone in between would always be happy to make more. Dropping a part on the floor and kicking it under the work station is common. Dropping a dollar bill on the floor and doing the same is unheard of. Teaching people to respect and understand how inventory relates to their own success and future is a connection that can prove valuable for years to come.
Cycle Counting
Physical inventories
SKU maintenance
Security
Receiving, stocking, issuing processes
Return process
Data management
Record keeping
Obsolescence, excess, scrap, dead stock, out of configuration
Loss and damage
Theft and pilferage
Customer furnished/owned
Consignment and VMI
Configuration and Change Management
Documentation
Change processing
Document Control
Serialization
Quality Control
Documentation
Document Control
MRB process
Standards and practices
Procurement
How material requirements are identified
How allocations are considered prior to making procurement decisions
Use of EOQ, JIT, min/max and other inventory management strategies
SCM
Material consignments and VMI
Change management
5 ] Summary
In addition to all of the above: engineering; the daily demands of customers, stockholders, associates, competitors; Receiving and Shipping; suppliers and vendors; system flags and signals, and/or any other internal or external factors may directly or indirectly impact any organizations ability to cash-in on the value Strategic Process Improvement can offer. Whatever the case, as they surface, those issues and challenges need to be identified, accepted and the plans set in motion towards securing for your company a thriving and prosperous future.
