Shoplogix Machine Truth Blog

Plant Floor Superhero - the Freakonomics of Manufacturing

 Email Article |  Twitter |  Facebook |  digg it |   delicious |   StumbleUpon |   LinkedIn |  reddit 

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.