Category Archives: Systems

Limited Resources

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“There are four elements to every goal,” I explained. “You correctly identified two of those elements, the quantity required and the quality standard. But there are two more elements.”

Denise looked up, eyes open.

“You may have to add or modify steps in your system based on the resources that you have available.”

Denise looked down at the picture of her system. Her pencil went to circle number seven. “Yep,” she said. “Here we have to move some of the finished pieces to a temporary storage bin because, sometimes, we don’t have enough people to do the next step.”

“So, because of the limit in your resources, you have added a temporary storage step in your system?”

“Yes, and you know, it’s only because the machine that produces step number six can produce about ten times the parts that we actually need running through our system.”

“How do you know it’s ten times the part you need?” I asked.

“All I have to do is look at the goal,” Denise smiled.
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Looking at the Goal

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Her pencil turned over and she erased some of the marks in the picture of her system.

“It’s funny, as I look at some of the steps in this system,” Denise explained, “I remember we put them in because it just seemed like a good idea. But when I look at the goal, especially the quality standard, I can see two steps that are not necessary.”

“How long ago did you create those steps?” I asked.

“Three years ago. One is a part that we buff up, makes it shiny. It gives you the impression that it is a higher quality part. It’s not, it’s just shiny. Then we put it inside the unit, so no one ever sees it again.”

“Why did you make a decision like that in the first place?”

“Four years ago, we had some failures in the field. The service techs would take the unit apart and then badmouth the “low quality” of the part. The failure had nothing to do with the part, but with a seal that was leaking.”

“And when you buffed up the part, what happened?”

Denise smiled. “Well, we fixed the leaky seal about the same time, but we actually got feedback from the field telling us they were happy that we started using higher quality parts. They were the same parts, just shiny.”

“So, someone does see the parts?”

“Not anymore. We have only had three failures in the past two years over 300,000 units. We don’t fix them anymore. With only three failures, it’s cheaper to replace the whole unit. We don’t have to train a field technician to take it apart.”

“So, we can simplify the system by looking at the goal?” -TF
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Draw a Simple Picture

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“I don’t know,” Denise delayed, mulling things over in her mind. “How do you just make something simpler?”

“It calls for a bit of analysis,” I replied. “Tell me about a simple process that your team does on a repetitive basis, something with several steps that they do over and over.”

Denise nodded and began to describe a system, with thirteen steps. On step number three, I stopped her.

“I want you to draw a simple picture, a series of circle, each circle representing a step in your system. And draw a line between each of the circles.”

I watched as she turned the paper to get all the circles on one page, carefully labeling each of the thirteen steps.

“Now what?” she asked.

“Now, ask which of these steps is necessary to achieve the goal.”

“The goal?”

“Yes, I want you to add one more circle and describe the goal, the quantity we want to produce at the quality standard necessary.”

Denise drew an empty circle and I could see the churn in her mind. As soon as she wrote something in the goal circle, I could see her make mental connections to the other circles.
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You Can’t Cut Your Way Out

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“You have worked very hard to eliminate things that are no longer (or never were) necessary,” I added.

Denise nodded. She was listening and thinking.

“You cannot cut your way out of this. Your next step is to simplify. Look around you. What methods and processes should be simplified? What happens to methods that become simpler?”

Denise was slow to respond. Her focus had been on eliminating things. “When we simplify something, it takes fewer steps, it can be done quicker,” she replied.

“Business is not too complicated. Find a customer need (that they are willing to pay for). Make sure there is a market large enough to sustain a business. Then find ways to fill that need faster, better and at a lower cost than your competitor. Simplifying a method or process makes it faster and often lowers its cost.” -TF
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February 16 – Decision Making
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Time Span Appropriate

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Ruben was stumped. “You are right. Just because we give Edmund a new title, doesn’t mean he is going to change his ways.”

“Edmund will always be Edmund, and we have to redefine his role. It’s not a matter of giving him new rules not to do this or not to do that. You have already tried that in his role as supervisor. As Lead Technician, what will be his new goals? How will you re-direct him?”

“It sounds obvious,” Ruben replied. “It starts with his job description.”

I nodded affirmative. “This is critical fundamental stuff. It’s the stuff you ignore because it sounds so simple. It’s the stuff you ignore that gets you in trouble. Stuff like setting goals, performance standards and holding people accountable for performance.”

“I think I have a job description around here that might work,” Ruben hoped.

“Why don’t you start from scratch. As the manager, you have time span goals of approximately one year. Your annual plan has stuff in it that you are held accountable to deliver this year, and next year. If you had a supervisor, which Edmund isn’t, you would drive some of those goals down to that level, in time span appropriate chunks. For the time being, you are going to have to step into that role, review those supervisor outputs and determine the time span appropriate goals for your new Lead Technician.”

Ruben was quiet.

“Look, do you want to lose Edmund?” I asked.

“No way,” Ruben replied. “He’s a great technician.”

“Then you have some management work to do.”

Just Because He Has a New Title?

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“Our system creates predictability,” Ruben explained. “It creates predictability without stress. It allows us to do our maintenance at the best times, allows us to properly inspect our raw materials, test our setups accurately. Everything runs.”

“What are you going to do with Edmund?” I asked.

“He should never have been promoted to supervisor. He is a great technician, a great operator, our go-to guy. We don’t want to lose Edmund, but he cannot continue as supervisor.”

“What are you going to do with Edmund?” I repeated.

“I am going to assign him to a new role called Lead Technician. He won’t like it, but right now, he won’t quit. The job market is too thin.”

“How are you going to keep him from screwing things up, just because he has a new title?”

Not a Hero

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“So, in your mind, Edmund is not a hero?” I prodded.

Ruben shook his head. “No, and what’s maddening is that Edmund, as a supervisor, keeps describing his behavior as results oriented. It’s all about the results, he says. So, maybe he delivers, but there are body bags all over the place.”

“So, notwithstanding the results, how would you describe his effectiveness, as a supervisor? Thumbs up? Or thumbs down?”

Ruben laughed. “You know, that’s it. Effectiveness. If I can judge his effectiveness, it’s thumbs down. A supervisor is not effective when he ignores the metrics, skips steps in the process, then works overtime to save the day when the system breaks down.”

Proud of the Chaos

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“How do you involve Edmund in the decision making about solving the problem?” I asked.

“As soon as we have the project specs,” Ruben explained, “when we know the outputs and the deadlines, we call a meeting. Edmund is the supervisor, so once we get into production, he is the one to call the shots. So, he is there, at the meeting. He sees all the elements we see, he just cannot connect them together.”

“And?”

“We have developed a very thorough system that identifies the constraints and keeps them productive. The metrics are easy to follow and the system makes our throughput very predictable. But Edmund fights the system, ignores the system and almost weekly causes a production snafu that could have been prevented.”

“How does he explain the snafu?”

“Usually he manages to jump in and pull the project out of the fire, but not without some overtime and not without putting the project in jeopardy. It’s almost like he is proud of the chaos and being the hero.”

Resistant

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“He resists everything,” Ruben explained. “We cover the same solutions to the same problems. At the time, Edmund finally agrees, but I sense, he agrees only because he can’t argue the logic. He goes along with the solution, but two weeks later, the same problem pops up and we start all over again.”

“So, you have to step in and it takes up your time?” I asked.

“Worse than that. It’s almost underhanded. Behind the scenes, it’s like he wants the solution to fail. He doesn’t openly sabotage the new method, and I haven’t caught him bad-mouthing the process. Sometimes, it’s just the way he rolls his eyes in the meeting.”

It’s Your Committee

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I need to design an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for procurement of goods and services and inventory management.

We have the Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager who are more interested in establishing their supremacy.

We need to design a clear cut process that supports our systems.

Response:

The Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager are only doing what you told them to do. The Factory Manager is to produce a high quality product as efficiently and profitably as possible. The Purchasing Manager is to purchase raw materials and services that meet the minimum specification at the lowest possible cost.

Sometimes those agendas are in conflict. This is actually normal.

However, it is your responsibility to integrate these two agendas, meet their essential requirements and orchestrate the solutions where there are differences.

  1. Convene a committee. Make it clear that it is YOUR committee and that while you are asking for input and analysis, YOU will make the final decisions as to what will be included or excluded from the SOP.
  2. The committee will contain three or five individuals. The Factory Manager, the Purchasing Manager and an additional Administrative Manager at their level. If the Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager each need an assistant, then you have five on the committee.
  3. The Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager will be tasked with separately creating a list of requirements and submitting them at a meeting (without you) to be conducted by the Administrative Manager. The Administrative Manager will be tasked with collecting those requirements, holding a discussion and writing the first draft of the SOP.
  4. You will review the first draft and submit your written comments back to the committee so the Administrative Manager can complete the final draft.
  5. You convene a meeting to congratulate the team for producing the SOP.
  6. Schedule a review meeting for 90 days to review how the SOP has worked and solicit input for additional changes. The SOP should be calendared for review every 6-12 months.

Keep us updated. -TF