Summer
1999 To
Streamline Plant Operations, Focus on the
Customer
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As organizations grow in complexity -- with multiple shifts, departments and processes -- it becomes easy to get consumed by an organization's internal conflicts: Maintenance vs. Production; day shift vs. night shift; equipment efficiencies vs. line changeovers. Unfortunately, valuable energy, time and resources are often wasted on activities that add little or no value for customers. Many internal conflicts can be resolved by asking one simple question: "What's best for our customers?" If customer interests are best served by running a difficult product on the night shift to ensure availability for next- day shipping, then all resources should be brought to bear to support the night shift in this endeavor. If line efficiencies must be sacrificed to manufacture just the quantity needed of several different products, then so be it. Internally-focused measures that have nothing to do with satisfying customers are one of the greatest threats facing manufacturing today. Your customer doesn't care if your #4 press ran at 97% efficiency if you didn't complete the orders on time for the required products! If customer recognition is lacking in your shift operation, here are some suggestions: Make Customer Orders Visible From raw material receipt to finished goods shipping, everyone in your organization should understand a number of things about each customer order: the quantity required, the specific quality standards, the delivery due date, the current progress toward each of these measures, the functionality or final use of the product and who the key competitors are. In prominent locations throughout the plant -- and even at major work centers -- the information might be displayed as in Table 1.
Product Graphite
shaft #6030 Customer Callaway
Golf Company Quantity
Required 7,500 Quantity
produced as of 6/21/99 2,249 Delivery
Due Date 7/1/99 Quality
Standards see
spec. sheet #6030 First-pass
yield as of 6/21/99 91.7% Final
product use Great
Big Bertha Driver Competitors Graphite
Engineering, Inc. Titanium
Golf Club Co. By keeping customer order information visible for all processes and all shifts, intershift and interdepartmental squabbles are reduced by steering the focus from petty internal problems to important customer goals. Once customer goals and performance are visible and understood, the next step is to ensure that associates understand how they, as individuals or work teams, can influence product performance to meet customer goals. To achieve this... Promote Teamwork & Coordination Across Shifts and Processes Achieving customer focus on the shop floor requires the dismantling of barriers between shifts and processes. By cross-training associates in upstream and downstream functions, they will gain a broader undertanding of how operating processes must be coordinated to optimize Cost, Quality & Delivery of the final product. For example, associates might work their "home" position, but rotate into upstream and downstrseam functions for one day per week. Another idea is to form cross-shift teams (groups of people sharing process responsibility but with different shift assignments). By focusing on continuous process improvement, intershift barriers can be dissolved while channeling associates' energies from shift optimizaion to customer satisfaction. The end result? Associates who not only understand the performance standards of their operation, but why these standards exist. In addition, having clear performance standards facilitates corrective action and prevents blame-fixing when problems arise. Get Associates Involved Believe it or not, associates would rather work to satisfy customers than just "get through the shift". So why do so many associates spend much of their work day staring at the clock on the wall? Because they're bored and unchallenged. It's up to managers and shift leaders to challenge employees to solve process problems and strive for customer satisfaction goals -- and to reward them for achievement. Effective shift leadership should entail not just efficient day-to-day management of shift operations, but also encouraging and leading coordination efforts across shifts and processes. Shift leaders should be skilled at leading problem-solving and process improvement discussions with their crews. Work is much more enjoyable (and performance is improved) when associates are challenged to delight customers and beat the competition rather than crank out parts and meet machine standards. Some plants arrange for shift associates to visit customers' facilities to experience first-hand the use of the final product as well as better understand the reason for product specifications. Associates often return to work with a renewed enthusiasm and commitment to customer satisfaction. So where to get started? First, create a vision for customer focus on the shop floor. Example: weekly shift change meetings between shift supervisors and operators to discuss operating problems and customer satisfaction goals. Then communicate your business strategy to all shifts, discussing key customer requirements, the competitive situation and the priorities and key challenges or obstacles. Finally, enlist lower management levels to lead associates in day-to-day tasks and activities that achieve customer satisfaction goals. This worthy pursuit can help improve internal processes, promote associate job satisfaction and increase customer orders. Make the effort to ensure a total customer focus throughout your plant and you'll find that you're able to deliver on those aggressive plant goals.
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