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Value Focused Insights - Stop and Solve
Annah Godwin
In today’s world of “go, go, go” the idea of stopping is hard to imagine. This same “go, go, go” mentality also applies in the business world. As managers, executives, owners, and employees, we find it difficult to stop, even when it is obvious that we should. This is especially true with defects and the process failures that allow them to occur. In this blog, I will discuss stopping the errors by building processes to prevent defects from getting to the customer.
When a defect occurs is it better to focus on fixing the defect or eliminating the error? Most defects happen because of an error, which may be caused by a machine, material, or person, and may be the result of an omission of a step or doing something incorrectly. With time and resources, you try to salvage the part via repairs or reworks, but what prevents it from occurring? I bet the same issue continues to occur until we address the error, which is why it is vital to eliminate the root cause as soon as possible by stopping and solving the problem.
In my experience rarely do we stop and solve the problem. In fact, stopping the processes is usually seen as a last resort, instead of the first step in corrective actions. We are content for lines to continue running materials and parts, as we add extra people to provide costly inspections and quality rechecks, all with the hope the customer doesn’t receive a bad part. Sometimes that works, and sometimes, even with all the extra effort, poor quality makes it to the customer. However, there are proven ways to break this cycle and save us from defects.
Start shifting from the old motto of “Catch the defect” and move to the new motto “Can’t make a defect” by applying these actions.
- When errors and/or defects occur stop the process and investigation. The real-time information gathered helps to determine potential causes that could contribute to the defect. Look at the equipment, raw materials, work instructions, and work orders, along with discussing with the operators, material handlers, inspectors, and others involved to understand the circumstances that led to the error. It takes some time, but the more you follow this pattern of problem-solving, the deeper your knowledge will grow and the quicker you will move to problem resolution and error elimination.
- Ask the right question. The question is not how to stop producing defects but rather how to prevent errors. If we only focus on eliminating the defect, we will be stuck in an endless game of Wack-a-Problem. We will focus on moving resources from problem to problem and while some may be resolved, you will find some of the same issues may reappear in the future. As you transition from catching defects to eliminating errors, you will find the number of defects, errors, and line stops will begin to drop as root problems are fixed. Remember, we stop the line, so we don’t have to stop the line. Take the hit on your metrics today, so tomorrow the processes run more efficiently with higher quality and improved metrics.
- Design the process so that mistakes can’t be made. This is one of the hardest goals to achieve within a process. I don’t think I have seen one that was 100% successful because processes seem to always evolve or devolve. A process is either developed from a lack of planning and standardization with lots of variation and errors or is designed from the ground up. Over time, shortcuts, poor training, and out-of-date standards can introduce process creep to even the best-designed processes, which in turn increases errors and, thus, defects. If you find mistakes, errors, and omissions happening today, it is time to insert inspections throughout the process that are quick, real-time, and cover 100% of the products. Problems will be highlighted that lead to the detection of defects and errors immediately through poke-yokes, built-in tests, feedback loops, and source inspections. These tools protect your customer from poor quality arriving at their doorstep.
Customers want a quality product, part, and service so building a culture that encourages stoppages in the process when poor quality occurs helps save time, energy, and money for the organization while keeping the customer happy. In this environment, your process will continually improve as your team members move toward problem solvers that not only fix the defect but address the error to prevent future occurrences. The next time you have a quality issue or defects take a different approach by stopping the line and addressing the real issue, the system that allows the error to happen. You will find that stopping is the best way forward.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and found the information helpful and informative. I would love to hear your feedback, thoughts, and opinions on it.
Peaks and Valleys.....
The impact of placing the right person in the right role is nothing short of transformative - both for them and the organization. It aligns with the aspirations of lean, which continually reminds us to promote respect for people as they are the cornerstone for success. If done correctly, it will breed success.
Have you ever asked someone to explain the concept of Gemba? If you ask for specific details about the Gemba, like who should go to the Gemba, and when to go to the Gemba, did you find variations in their answers? If you push the discussion deeper and ask about the individual’s experience with Gemba, like when they go to Gemba, how long they stay, and what is their purpose for going to the Gemba, what answers did you get? I find that opinions on Gemba can vary a lot from person to person which brings me to the topic for this blog. I want to debunk a few of the misconceptions about it.
If you are like most organizations, you have too much rework and/or defects. It should come to no surprise that most processes do not have good standardized work. In theory, this should be very easy to see and deal with, but other things tend to consume our time. As a result of bad quality, we have to make more to meet demand or stop what we're doing and fix something. This puts us behind pace and have to throw more resources to catch up. In some value streams, poor quality can go undetected until much later downstream.
In some cases, final quality is hidden from view until right before packing! These firms use inspection only at the end of the process as a catch-all and pay the price. Poor quality moves unnoticed as it travels the value stream, adding significant costs along the way until they decide to deal with it.
There are many advantages for organizations that have long-time employees. They can bring stability, knowledge, and understanding of the business’ organizational culture and they also have first-hand experience of their day-to-day processes and the products produced. While there are many great things associated with long-term employees, there is one potential pitfall that needs to be acknowledged and watched for. Continue reading this week's blog to learn what the pitfall is.
Imagine this scenario: your workplace receives a substantial order, demanding a 35% increase in production for a continuous six-month period, commencing at the end of the next quarter. The knee-jerk reaction for many organizations is to dive headfirst into hiring, adding shifts, and equipment. However, is this the most strategic move, or merely a countermeasure that might lead to a slew of unforeseen challenges?
Today, companies face a tremendous challenge with staff shortages which should remind companies that people, specifically their employees, are the most valuable resources. Replacing or backfilling vacancies is a long and arduous process with the result not always guaranteeing a great match between the company and the new hire. Companies willing and eager to invest in their employees and appreciate their value and contributions to the company can turn the company-employee relationship into a “win-win”.
Great teams make things happen - whether it's pulling a win out at the last minute or beating metrics to save the quarter. Bad teams perform poorly, never seem to "catch a break" and eventually lead to management changes. This is the way.
If you are in responsible for a team - there is no bigger expectation than for you to build it into a cohesive force that wins.
• What drives the people in your organization and how does your management behavior influence it?
• Do you have a group of individuals that only work together when it's favorable for them or do you have a team that is selflessly focused on collective success?
• How do you convert a team made up of "ME-people" into "WE-people"?
How do you get people to be less about themselves and more about the team? Your approach should be one that transcends individual accomplishments, emphasizing the power of a collaborative and team-centric culture. The good news is it doesn't have to necessarily start with your onboarding or selection process.
Imagine the stakes: a critical issue surfaces in your value stream, threatening quality, flow, and customer satisfaction. The clock ticks, resources deplete, and every moment the problem remains unsolved, your organization is caught in a costly web of workarounds and compromises. It's all hands-on deck to execute quick and effective problem-solving.
So, how does your team meet the challenge and get to true root cause quickly and restore operations back to the normal levels? We'll unravel some common pitfalls —from the blame game, leadership biases and the perilous allure of hearsay and opinions. Join us on this exploration - of why, in your quest for solutions you need to demand a steadfast commitment of prioritizing facts over opinions.
In this week's blog, we start a new series from Peak Productivity titled, "Value-Focused Insights - Hard-Learned Lessons from Gemba. In it, I discuss the need to spend the time and energy to create a plan that builds efficiency in the design and layout phase of the process, not remove waste after the equipment, flow, and processes are se t.
There is an alarming statistic that 90% of lean transformations will fail. According to McKinsey, 74% of private-sector business initiatives will not achieve their objectives. In the public sector, similar types of projects can have failure rates as high as 80%.
At best, your next change initiative has around a 70% chance of failure. How do you change the odds in your favor?
Join Peak Productivity as we provide the answers in our upcoming series of articles, entitled: "Value Focused Insights – Hard Learned Lessons from Gemba".
