APICS Wichita Chapter 71 April 2007 Newsletter page 4

Gene Brockmeier, CFPIM, CIRM Manufacturing Education & Systems, Inc

Manufacturing excellence can only be achieved by the relentless solving of problems. I’m of the opinion, and experience tells me, that the more problems that we solve; 1) the better we get at solving problems and 2) the fewer we have.  So just living with and accepting as inevitable the day-to-day problems of manufacturing are like being in an endless flood with no escape.  We must recognize problems and resolve them.  I’ve been in a lot of different businesses in my career and have coined the phrase “perceived need to improve”.  I just believe that there are people who just don’t have a perceived need to improve.  They have been working with the same processes and problems for many years and have succumbed to them as “just a part of doing business”.  I guess I don’t subscribe to that thinking.  We can solve almost all of the problems of manufacturing, but it takes dedication and determination.

"We're not saying he doesn't know right from wrong, but  it’s like his good-idea filter is broken.”..  unknown

You should determine the fundamental contributors to the problem through root cause analysis.  Let’s take for example: behind schedule conditions in the shop. Behind schedule can be caused by quite a number of things.  You must take the time to identify and document the activities necessary that contribute to an accurate shop schedule. We all have some exposure to shop scheduling via our APICS chapter meetings and CPIM training.  And some of us have significant knowledge and exposure to shop scheduling. So as a problem solving exercise, let’s take a look at solving a problem with behind schedule conditions. For those of you who have never experienced behind schedule conditions in your factory, just use your imagination!! A list of things that contribute to a behind schedule condition:

• Taking customer orders within manufacturing leadtime

• Inaccurate manufacturing leadtime

• Inaccurate purchasing leadtime

• Inaccurate queue, run, setup, wait and move time

• Inaccurate service leadtimes (outside processes)

• Orders release late to manufacturing

• Inaccurate bills of materials

• Scrap

• Inaccurate inventories

• Last but not least, no one pays attention to the current schedule, accurate or not!

This list could be much longer but the above are some of the more common causes of behind schedule. My own “modus operandi” in problem solving is as follows:

1. Identify “who is responsible” for each of the above contributing factors.  Hey, you might as well get the rough part of it over right away!  Getting responsibility is often difficult but it has to be done to get problems solved. Are there multiple responsibilities?  Multiple responsibilities can really slow down progress and I don’t recommend making multiple people responsible for execution of a task.

2. The second part of this analysis is to understand the current processes for maintaining these pieces of information and understand what processes are working and which ones are not.  First question: Are there processes?  Do multiple groups have redundant processes?  How often are these pieces of information maintained? There are many questions to be asked and answers to be analyzed during this effort. If you have a lot of courage, you might just ask if there is a written procedure and see if anyone can find it!  Is it a part of new employee training?!

3. Then start listing the things that are “broken”.  The effort in part two will definitely identify the things that are broken, and here is where you document problems and what needs fixed.

4. After identifying the problems in step two and documenting them in step three, identify solutions and make recommendations for resolving them. Step five will tell you if you have knowledgeable and visionary leadership in your company.

5. Finally, take your recommendations to those who were identified as responsible in part one and work up an action plan to get processes & information fixed quickly. This is where knowledge, teamwork, leadership and vision must prevail in following up on assignments and progress.

Where do the 10 key elements of manufacturing success come into play?

• Leadership must recognize problems, establish priorities and assign responsibilities.

• Knowledge and education help provide vision of improved processes and how to achieve them. A common understanding of the relationship between processes and information and a common understanding of priorities is critical to getting improvements accomplished. APICS education is a terrific source for process and data information.

• Teamwork is required because most problems involved more than one person or organization.  Teamwork and cooperation are crucial to getting things done quickly.

• Basically, all of the 10 key elements are contributors to resolving problems.

”Problems are to the mind what exercise is to the muscles, they toughen and make strong.”  Norman Vincent Peale

The end result of problem solving is an improved condition.  One should note that you can’t just walk away from a solved problem.  Measurements should be in place and monitored on a regular basis to ensure that gains are held. 

Make the project formal through the use of documentation, status reports, schedules, meetings, management reviews, milestones and project reviews. Making the status and progress of the project visible can be a sense of pride that boosts project morale. A certain level of formality in the project management methodology helps to build team work by providing a common understanding of what is to be done and when.  Status meetings help to provide information and a certain degree of camaraderie within the team.

Project direction must drive towards vision of the completed project. The project team must share a common vision and understand how their efforts contribute to the overall project success. The project team must understand how the pieces of the project that they are responsible for are important to the team’s success on the project.

It has been my experience that APICS education for all the team members provides a common terminology among team members and also provides a common understanding of which activities need to take precedence. Without question, the best teams that I’ve had the pleasure to work with had a strong APICS based education.  This kept the teams on track and provided common terminology and understanding of project priorities.

A project team can benefit from a certain degree of enthusiasm. Fifty dollars worth of pizza once in a while won’t break anyone’s budget and can provide an intermediate reward to the team members.  Many projects can last for months if not years, the whole while waiting for that single reward of a successful implementation.  Providing some sort of occasional reward to the team during the course of the project can help instill enthusiasm and promote teamwork. Celebrating the achievement of key project milestones is a great opportunity to pick up the teams’ spirits!

Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of project management is getting some people to cooperate with others.  Let’s face it, there are conflicts within companies and these conflicts can invade a team. It’s the job of the whole team to work together.  It’s not the job of the project manager to babysit those that can’t get along with others for whatever reason. Conflicts need to be avoided if possible by understanding the dynamics of those being considered as project team members.  Should conflicts exist, it is up to the project manager, the conflicting team members and all team members to face the issue head on and get it resolved. Don’t try to sweep it under the carpet.  The success of the team and the project is very dependent on a high degree of cooperation!

Building teamwork is an important aspect to successful projects. Teamwork can make the time spent on the project much shorter and provide better results!