Posted by Ashok Sivanand on Wed, Feb 24, 2010
I finally picked up a copy of Freakonomics, from the series by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. The economist-journalist combo manage to objectively derive using statistical evidence, conclusions to debatable subjects. Examples include the effect of good parenting on education and how sumo wrestlers and teachers both cheat. Their most noted finding is perhaps how they correlate the decline in crime rates in 1992 to the legalization of abortion in 1973.
My biggest take-away from the book would be that interesting (and not otherwise obvious) questions can be asked regarding a subject (and answered) if one has access to a comprehensive data set on that subject.
Sadly, very few production managers or continuous improvement champions in the manufacturing industry today have an accurate, comprehensive data-set with which they can ask similar questions pertaining to their manufacturing floor. This could handicap their continuous improvement efforts when they are invested in the wrong places and not utilized to their full potential. Imagine Superman trying to save Metropolis without X-Ray vision.
Real time performance management systems have given manufacturers Superhero-like insight by accurately highlighting and quantifying opportunities for improving performance on their shop floor. This not only allows them to minimize losses by responding to problems immediately but also provides a reliable, accurate data-set which they can analyze like Levitt and Dubner have: Manu-freakonomics.
Watch this space for stories on how a bakery solved a mystery regarding a seemingly profitable product and how a food packaging company cut changeover times in half.
Posted by Tracy Robertson on Fri, Oct 16, 2009
Continuous Improvement Series - Part 5 of 5
As organizations evolve through their implementation of Continuous Improvement (CI) Programs they work to create a culture of change. The approach to change is really geared to elimination of waste in the facility and process. How to do things better than we are today is the main focus of a change oriented culture.
In many CI programs initial changes involve physical adjustments to machines or changes to the layout of the plant. These are significant changes that consume time and resources. As processes mature and benefits are realized organizations start to look at operations to uncover the next level of waste.
Building on the tools described in this series of blogs gives organizations a step up in their search for better management tools. First, those tools provide an effective way to monitor the success of initial CI projects on an ongoing basis. An Accurate Data foundation combined with Alerts will ensure that plant performance does not regress. Changes brought about through CI initiatives can be complimented by monitoring systems designed to prevent a recurrence of waste.
The key is setting the next set of targets. Once large changes are completed it is then time to examine and prioritize the small changes. Once again the foundation of Accurate Data yields the insights necessary to set and prioritize targets.
Real time machine data will yield detailed information on stoppages that occur during the course of the day. Associating these stoppages with root causes and providing a downtime analytical framework will point to the next set of problems that are in the way of improved productivity.
Organizations can then select targets and use tools designed to make these visible throughout the organization. LED Board technology can focus attention throughout the plant ensuring the right employees are engaged in resolving the problems. As these problems are resolved Alerts can be created so that the systems automatically monitor the production process and report when tolerances are starting to slip.
The next series of improvements can then be implemented using the same approach. In this way focus is brought to bear on problems that show potential for impact to the organiztion while systems monitor processes to ensure there are no relapses.
It is the combination of incremental change, applied continuously using a foundation of Accurate Data that can yield truly sustainable CI programs.
Posted by Tracy Robertson on Thu, Oct 15, 2009
Continuous Improvement Series - Part 4 of 5
A key determinant of the success of any Continuous Improvement (CI) program is the acceptance and implementation of change by shop floor personnel. Companies face two major problems when creating shop floor change. The first is the buy in of the employees on the floor. The second is creation of systems that help to reinforce the implementation of change on the shop floor. Without creating the reinforcement for behavioral change organizations will not be able to see when change is not occurring.
Provide Visual Cues to Machine Operators
There are several ways to implement systems to reinforce behaviors and engage people . Ideally these sort of systems provide a choice for the employee or operator to make the right decision. Creating this sort of opportunity for input creates an environment where the employee is able to act in a manner consistent with the goals laid out in the CI program.
At the same time it is also important to give visual cues across the organization so that managers can identify where work is going well and where they should pay attention to potential problems.
To achieve both these goals some easily deployed technologies can be used with great effectiveness. The first is to use display boards, local screens or some other feedback loop to let employees and managers know the status of work. Display boards have the advantage of providing status information to all personnel at once. If installed in appropriate locations then both employees and managers can quickly review performance. Screens located at the machine are a good alternative but do lack the broadcast capabilities of display boards.
Whether display board or screen based, how data is presented can determine whether or not employees are properly engaged. Simple tools that can be interpreted with a glance are ideally suited to informing operators and managers of status. The most effective tools are a combination of color and key metrics.
Run rate of a machine is an example of a metric that can be read off a machine and displayed on a board or screen. By adding some colors to indicate trend states in the machine operators can be informed as to the performance of the machine.
Traffic lights create a good common paradigm that is understood across many different cultures. Using red, green and yellow coloring of metrics, like production rate can immediately indicate performance to standards and guide personnel to the right decision to maintain performance. Green can indicate when things are running to standard, Yellow can indicate when the operation is trending out of standard and Red to indicate problems.
Combining colors with publicly mounted display board messages creates an environment where all production personnel can immediately tell whether the work they are doing is performing to standards.
The use of these tools changes the focus on the plant floor, creating the opportunity to leverage accurate machine data in real time alerts that an operator can instantly understand so that the correct decisions can be made to ensure efficient and profitable operation.
Posted by Tracy Robertson on Tue, Oct 13, 2009
Continuous Improvement Series - Part 3 of 5
Once a foundation of data has been created, organizations will be able to leverage visibility into production to create an understanding of performance. A key element to measuring and understanding manufacturing performance is separating analysis from actionable activities. Both are important, but each is designed to do something different for today's manufacturer.
Analytical Measures of Performance: Using OEE
A good example of analytical evaluation of performance is Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). OEE is a mathematical formula that can be used to assess the performance of any machine independent of its age or characteristics. Production, Availability and Quality are combined to create a ranking of machine performance. With OEE organizations can adopt an analytical framework that allows them to measure each machine's performance.
OEE on it's own is a great machine level analytical metric. More advanced organizations look to leverage OEE to assess how shifts or the plant performs overall. Some organizations also look to assess individual units of work, like jobs, using OEE to understand how efficient their quoting or engineering activities are.
Downtime analysis, understanding what happened when a machine was idle is also a critical analytical tool. What was the root cause of a stoppage, is that cause repeating? Is this a characteristic of a particular shift or is it something that is occurring across similar machines?
Organizations need flexible tools that allow them to aggregate data and identify trends that indicate problems. This analytical view of the plant floor is invaluable in identifying how to move forward on a Continuous Improvement (CI) program.
Using Alerts to Solve Problems as They Occur
Analytics alone are not enough though. As companies create CI programs they establish shop floor behaviors that can become active cues to focus attention while work is being performed. Creating Alerts when a particular machine or process is out of synch is an ideal way to start to actively manage the shop floor.
Alerts can be used to broadcast problem conditions across easily deployed technology. Blackberry or other paging devices and email form very standard tools that can be used to draw attention in the office or the maintenance team to a problem that needs attention. By creating Alerts in real time companies can start to react to problems while they can still be resolved.
There are two ways to manage performance in any facility once a foundation of accurate data exists. Historical analysis can be used to understand trends and impact of particular problems across machines and shifts. Alerts can be used to bring attention to bear on problems as they occur.
Posted by Tracy Robertson on Thu, Oct 08, 2009
Continuous Improvement Series - Part 2 of 5
The foundation for integration of Continuous Improvement programs into day to day management activities is accurate and unbiased data. Unbiased data is not subject to interpretation but objectively represents the actual activities on the shop floor. Accurate data captures not just what went on but creates an understanding of what problems occurred and when so organizations can understand how they can improve.
You Cannot Fix What You Cannot See
One undeniable truth in manufacturing is that you can't fix what you can't see. With unbiased accurate data organizations can shine a light on the plant floor and create a common understanding of what is truly happening across all employees in the facility. How organizations implement this is driven largely by where there is benefit. Ideally organizations would monitor all machines and all steps in the process at the same time. In reality there may be critical process points where the first pass at collecting accurate data can yield the most benefits.
Start with the Key Bottlenecks
Organizations should be examining how to implement accurate data collection programs to maximize the return to the organization. To start pick the key bottlenecks in the facility and use the knowledge gained from accurate, unbiased performance data at these points to create a road map of where next to go on the floor.
What constitutes accurate data is also important. There are basic production data elements that are necessary such as idle time, production rate, quantity produced quantity scrapped and speed loss where machine run rate is below standard. These basic elements are often assembled into analytical tools such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness, OEE. To provide a decision making foundation companies need to look to more detail than these high level measures of productivity.
Accurate and unbiased data means tracking the source of idle time, identifying problems and the scope of problems that impair production efficiency. This analysis provides the road map for an organization, illustrating which problems will yield maximum benefit when they are eliminated. Once those are resolved accurate data will point the way to the next series of benefits the shop floor could realize by improving their processes.
Environmental Factors
It is also important to recognize that many different environmental factors may also be influencing production. Temperature, humidity, vibration could all be critical factors that should be monitored as an indicator of production health.
Employees too can be an influence on problems. Being able to examine data is important, in particular to see shift over shift performance. Getting visibility into the type of problems occurring by shift can point manufacturers to training and environmental problems.
Accurate data does create a foundation to expose production processes and problems and create a road map for any continuous improvement program.
Posted by Tracy Robertson on Tue, Oct 06, 2009
Continuous Improvement Series - Part 1 of 5
Continuous Improvement programs have the potential to yield tremendous benefits when they are first implemented. Companies start down a path of cultural change, introducing programs to enable and empower employees, uncover and eliminate waste. As change occurs the best of the companies going down this path create an ongoing culture of change. They are successfully able to dive deeper into waste and continually eliminate more cost and inefficiency. These successful companies imbed measurement of the impact of CI programs into their day to day management process.
However, for many companies the path to CI is different. A short term gain in productivity and elimination of waste is quickly followed by a period of stalled activity and in some cases reversion back to practice and procedures in place prior to the CI program.
What differentiates the successful CI effort from the others is the sustainability of the changes that are implemented through the CI process. Sustainable CI is achieved when companies do the following two things:
- Integrate CI measurements into the day to day management of the business.
- Constant honing and revision of the targets - once success is achieved with one set of targets, a new set should be introduced.
To successfully manage CI day to day companies must have visibility into what is going on in the shop floor and must have the tools to reinforce behaviors that are crucial to sustaining initial success. The foundation for CI success includes:
- Accurate data
- Performance measurement
- Engaged employees
- Constantly evolving targets
CI holds much promise for many companies but requires an integrated and focused management effort that enables ongoing management of change.