On Loan Work Assignments

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At some point in your career you may be asked by your manager to work outside of your assigned work group as a loaned out employee.  Although these assignments are usually short term to help out another group, you may feel a little put out by the request,  You may feel that your current work contributions are  deemed inadequate or you are as valued as an employee,  However there are several advantages to accepting (or perhaps volunteering) for this type of assignment:

• Get to know other teammates  - Once you report to your new team you may know some of the members but not all.  What better way to network than to work side by side with new people who could perhaps enhance you career down the road.  Or  you may be able to help them in their career.
• Learn a new part of the organization -  You may have a little knowledge of the new group but chances are you will need to know more.  A broad  understanding of your industry will only help you move laterally and upward as well as you progress  in your career.
• Other managers will get to know your work -  Probably the best part of working in a new group is the opportunity to showcase your skills for the new manager.  You will be under the microscope for a little while, so make the best of it and exceed expectations.  Once pay raises come out, the more managers that know of your good work the better chance you will have of getting a stellar raise.

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Performance Reviews

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With the end of the year comes the dreaded performance reviews that large companies put their employees through. Many companies require their employees to rate their performance over the past year in a variety of categories.  Many  of these categories are vague and so naturally it is difficult to rate yourself objectively.  From experience here are a few tips that help with the process:

• Keep a log of important accomplishments during the year -  Starting with January list all important job related activities by month in a log or journal (electronic or paper - it doesn't matter).  This helps you remember all you did during the year to verify you met or exceeded expectations.  Management is quick to forget much of the good you do so it is essential to help strong documentation to bolster your review.
• For any areas you think are weak or below par, address them with an action plan -  Chances are that if you think your are weak in a particular area, your manager may be thinking the same thing.  If you know why your performance was below standard, own up to it in the review meeting.  Then show a plan of how you are going to get better,  Bosses will be impressed.
• Ask for new assignments, responsibilities, or training -  Performance reviews are not all about how you can do better.  It's also about asking for opportunities and getting managements commitment to help you.  Management is responsible for helping develop employees to their potential.  Some managers need to be reminded of this.

Performance reviews can be positive if they are treated as a tool for communication and not a punishment.  Going into a performance review with areas addressed will go along way to moving forward.

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Corrective Action

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You have been receiving many rejections on your factory floor or at a supplier.  Each time you disposition a fix either through an official "rejection tag" or a simple work around.  But that doesn't seem to be working and the same errors continue, It is time for the next step - formal corrective action.

Corrective action does not need to be punitive.  In fact it works well if there is no blame assigned to any one person or organization.  Solving the problem with an attitude of "our problem that we need to fix" will go along way to getting everyone on board to focus their efforts together.  That is the first step.

With the proper attitude in place you can deep dive into the root cause.  If you are lucky the problem will be relatively easy to diagnose and subsequently develop a plan to eliminate the problem.  Most of the time it's not this easy and you need a bigger effort.

If it's a big problem that involves several groups then management will be aware of it and will give full support.  That is the second key step in developing corrective action - full organizational awareness and commitment.

Once the key players have identified a set of steps to fix the problem it is imperative that the right personnel be given the tasks to complete.  If there is a great deal of inexperience, then the corrective action plan is not effective and could make matters worse.  Aggressive schedules must be developed and followed on time to provide timely closure to the issue at hand.

Once the corrective action plan is implemented, naturally check to see if it solved the issue. Surprisingly many operations don't do this step and become surprised (and panicked) when things don't work out.  With a solid plan developed and proper implementation executed, you can turn attention to the next issue.

Weekly Supplier Reviews

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Communicating with suppliers can be a challenge for any organization.  If the supplier is local to the operation, then it is easy to communicate on a weekly if not daily basis.  Simply travel the short distance to the suppliers base of operations or have them travel  to your home base.  It's best if you have the one on one communication to build trust and get to know each other personally.  This helps the partnership flourish.

However most of the time the distance between operation and their suppliers is too great to travel frequently.  So you have to resort to scheduled phone calls (telecoms) or a video conference. Most likely it will be by phone.  With time differences of 3 hours or more, it becomes a challenge to coordinate schedule times, often with one party calling in from home or early in the morning.

Some important points to remember when setting meetings up with suppliers:

1. Ensure that one person is in charge of setting up the telecoms and has appropriate call-in numbers to ensure that the meeting will start on time and everyone is present.  It is maddening when some people have incorrect or outdated information and valuable time is lost.
2. Have an agenda available in advance and follow it.  The meeting leader's primary task is to keep everyone speaking to agenda items and not going off on a tangent.
3. Assign action items to anyone and have a completion date agreed to.  Once the completion date arrives check with the parties involved to determine if all items are complete.
4. If action items aren't completed, don't keep extending dates endlessly. You may have to set up a separate meeting to close the item.   Additionally you may have to involve management to help close the issue without further delay.

Video teleconferencing can provide face to face communication essential for a good supplier relationship
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Prototype Shop

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When you need quick turnaround for manufacturing operation it is often impossible in the normal flow of operations.  You may have experienced a delay in materials, a last minute design or repair change that necessitates the urgency of accelerating a part through the manufacturing process.  That is why you need a prototyping shop.

At Boeing it was referred to as "blue streak" shop named after its color code in the manufacturing operation.  The shop was usually a small area in the factory that had small drill presses, lathes, and other required equipment that could do 1 -2 small jobs at a time in a hurry.  The machinist or mechanic in the blue streak shop was an experienced person with at least 20 -25 years experience.  This was helpful not only for utilizing his or her machining skills attained during that period, but also to tap into how to best plan and execute a machining operation in fast order.

Utilizing experienced, skilled machinists can help you in a time of crisis
(Courtesy wwwinvestcastinc.com)

Granted smaller companies may not have the luxury of dedicating their top machinist to a prototyping shop.  But with careful planning and coordination, an urgent job can be seamlessly scheduled within everyday operations so as not to disrupt the entire operation.

Peer Reviews

You may think your operation is going great with only a few tweaks here and there to keep it going.  Or worse you may be under the illusion, the operation is fine and you want to spend your time looking at more emergent issues.  Still you might even be at a loss to how to improve your operation to begin with.  For these reasons you need a peer review.

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A peer review is nothing more than having fresh sets of eyes review your process and provide constructive (hopefully) feedback which you can use to improve your business.  For a large company it is easy to do this since it is likely there are other internal groups that perform the same task.  It is easy to set up since companies always like their employees to help each other.

For a smaller company, you may have to reach out to a similar size company in the same type of industry (i.e. IT, manufacturing, health care, etc).  Of course you won't look towards a competitor but a company that has successfully solved similar issues in the past.  

Set up a two or three day review of what aspect of your operation needs help.  It's best to have older experienced reviewers who have a wealth of experience that can help guide you.  Invite them over to your place of business and use a catered lunch as incentive!  Once they arrive have a kickoff meeting to let everyone know what the objectives are.  If you carefully select the right people to review your operation, then the feedback will be invaluable.

You can escort them around the factory or let them explore on their own.  After the designated review time is complete, the reviewers should be happy to share their observations.  It may be difficult to listen to problems they may identify, but remember it is in the best interest of your company to improve. Sometimes it takes someone not so close to the business to improve it.

Peer reviews are essential in any operations
(Courtesy www.employeereview.com)

Self-Directed Work Teams

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In an earlier post I discussed integrated product teams which are cross-functional teams composed of members of different  skill sets all focused on developing a product or improving a process.  Another kind of effective team is the self-directed work team.  A self-directed work team may be cross-functional in membership.  Or it may contain mostly members from a single functional group or organization.

A self-directed work team is a team which can operate autonomously to identify problems or areas needing improvement, outline plans to solve the issue, and proceed to implement the plans to a successful conclusion.  These teams do not require constant monitoring by management.  If fact they perform much better if management "stays out of the way".  It's not to say management should not be briefed on what the group is doing and a timeline for completion  - they should be aware.  It's really a fact that a self-directed team knows how to work without being told what to do.

One of the teams I worked on at Boeing was a self-directed tooling team that solved various tooling issues related to F-22 fighter airplane manufacturing.  It was a team made of experienced design engineers as well as new engineers out of college.  They common thread was that everyone on that team wanted to make the program better and worked hard to reduce costs, improve flow, and steam line operations.

One incentive to encouraging aspirations to developing a self directed work team is to set up standards for different levels to work teams.  Start at criteria for a  Level 1 self-directed work team and list completion criteria for this level.  Keep going up to say a Level 4 which would be the most complete and autonomous work team.  Provide incentives to teams to reach a Level 4 and you will find that more employees will work to improve their effort without a lot of management oversight.

A good article on self-directed work teams is here:

http://www.qualitydigest.com/magazine/1995/nov/article/self-directed-work-teams-competitive-advantage.html#

 A self-directed work team working an issue
(Courtesy www.ctspring.com)

Proximity in Operations

The time to work together is sooner rather than later
(Courtesy of www.engineeringdaily.net)

The strongest operations will purposely locate the engineering as close as possible to the manufacturing operations.  It has been proven over and again that this encourages dialogue between he two groups which benefits the operation.  But what about  within an engineering organization?  Are there good ways to set up an organization to maximize the engineering talent?

One of my earlier posts relayed my positive experience with Integrated Product Teams (IPTs).  This involved having members from different functional groups together in one group to successfully design and support a product.  However it is not enough to have these members in one group.  They must sit together or near each other to make it work.

At Boeing I was a structural design engineer.  My closest associate I worked with was the stress analyst.  It was our job to work together to develop a statically and dynamically robust design that would be eventually manufactured.  So he and I sat next to each other , even sharing a common table between us.  This allowed us to lay out drawings and sketches to discuss design details immediately rather than travelling across an office to work together.  Other functional members sat close by so even though I interacted with them less frequently, they were close by to discuss details.

Better designs evolve when everyone resides near each other
(Courtesy www.astrocenter.tamu.edu)

Many companies still embrace they idea of  the same functions (i.e. stress, design, manufacturing, etc) sitting together in an engineering operation.  But this idea allows groups to become an "us" versus "them" philosophy that stagnates production.  It is better to sit together and then "we" can use engineering skills to a better advantage.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The key component to managing any project in an operation is the work breakdown structure (WBS).  It is the very essence of what tasks and steps are needed, who will perform them, and when they are due to keep the project on task.  It takes effort to build the WBS to be effective, but there are several tips to remember to help.

An example of a WBS for a dinner party
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First, keep the tasks small enough so that one person can work on them independently on a full time basis.  By assigning the task to one person, you have established responsibility belongs to one person and he or she knows it is all on them to keep on track. If the task is too big, one person will be overwhelmed and the quality of the completed end item will suffer.  If you have two or more people assigned to a task, each may think the other(s) will complete it and as a result no one will see it finished.

Second, keep on top of the program schedule.  This sounds like a "no-brainer" but from my experience some project managers believe tasks can be performed on auto-pilot.  Depending on the project you should have at least one or two schedule reviews every week in order to address schedule challenges or delays.  It will happen so it's a good idea to be able to be ready to establish work around actions that will bring tasks back on target.  Management will ask what you are doing to fix the problem so have a plan developed quickly.

Third, get management's understanding that sometimes you need help.  There will be times when you need additional help due to unforeseen circumstances.  You or your designates may not be able to fix it by themselves.  That's why it's a good idea to sit down with your boss and get their buy in that they can get you help immediately if you need it.  A good manager will have a sense of urgency and support that will drive them to borrow or pull resources to you to help complete the process.  You won't really know until it happens but it's essential to prepare them for the possibility of a request in advance.

Establishing work tasks is essential to successful operation
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Experienced Workers in New Positions

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One of the benefits of hiring an experienced worker is you can expect him or her to be able to ask the right questions, look for answers on their won, and generally find out how to do their job without a lot of oversight.  However if a person is hired to your organization based not as much on direct experience but on common, transferable skills, it  is essential that there be some allowance for learning for the new position.

From personal experience, I have had this happen to me.  I was hired as an experienced engineer at Boeing to help out a group.  However the new group's task (passenger seat integration) was new to me and required some initial learning and mentoring that I never received.  Needless to say my experience was not a pleasant one and I eventually left the group.

Here are some ideas to integrate an experienced worker into a new role:

• Find out how much experience he or she has in the new area. Then fill in the gaps with classes, training, and mentoring to get that person up to speed.  It shouldn't take long for an experienced worker to grasp the new details so this is time well spent.
• Get feedback from the new worker.  Sometimes managers (especially younger managers) are reluctant to talk to a seasoned worker.  Get over it.  Your organization's success depends upon the solid performance of it's workers.  Let them know you care.
• Find out what areas the worker excels at and give them projects that showcase those skills.    They can help your organization by tapping on previous experience while learning the new job at hand.  

(courtesy: www.cochrenfoundation.com)

From an engineer's perspective it is important to know that while many skills are transferable there may be gaps that need to be filled in.  Don't just throw someone into the deep end of the pool and hope they know how to swim.

Database Management

For an operation to be successful many items need to be tracked in some type of database or software system. These systems are often used by manufacturing, engineering, and even management to track an event or project that all three groups (and more) have a stake in.  If one person is in charge of input and output of the database (including management report outs) then if is a straightforward process as long as you can depend on that person.

Database management requires keeping status current
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The problem comes when you have many people tasked to keep status on a project.  I have been personally involved in several of these scenarios and it is always a struggle to keep the database updated on a regular level.  One such program required the engineers to track data set releases and provide revised  estimated completion dates (ECDs)  if scheduled events were going to be late.  As the focal for the database, I would often have to track down particular engineers and extract a new ECD and input it into the database for them.  It was a lot of extra work which was unnecessary if the engineers were more diligent.

There are several things that could have been done better to help the process go better:

• Have management emphasis (and enforce) the importance of keeping databases current with the latest information.  Employees will focus on providing updated information if management is keeping emphasis on timely updates.  Management must not just send e-mails out requesting updates; they need to personally talk to those who are tardy on their inputs.
• If several groups use the database, assign one person in that group to be responsible for ensuring updates are happening.  It is pointless for one single person to be responsible for inputs of hundreds of users.  Break the task up and get help.
• Schedule daily stand up meetings to allow those who are tardy to explain to upper management why they haven't kept up.  I guarantee that this will ensure the database is current.

(Courtesy: www.gettyimages.co.uk)

Rejections on the Floor

An inevitable fact of life in operations is the occurrence of errors or rejections on the shop floor,  Upper management is always striving to "eliminate rejections", "work smarter", or some other catchy slogan to eliminate errors.  But the best you can do is to implement checks and balances in the process to help reduce the error count.  What you do when you have an error on the floor is just as important as trying to avoid it initially.

(Courtesy www.unlimitedchoice.org)

Many medium to large companies have an error reporting system established whereby standard rules are followed when a rejection occurs.  Once an error is reported or written up (usually by Quality Assurance) it is essential that the information is accurate.  Some key things to check:

• Are the correct part numbers listed in the rejection write-up? I have seen many error reports (often called rejection tags) that have the incorrect part numbers and or descriptions in error.  This is a problem if there was ever a need to go back and look at a repair later and the records were in error.
• Is the error write-up clearly written? If there is confusion on what is really in error, then the incorrect analysis and repair methodology will not effectively address the issue.
• Will a repair impact downstream users?  If your repair will effect any downstream users you must coordinated before you provide your repair fix (disposition).  Otherwise bigger problems may occur that will adversely affect schedule.

For those weighing on the repair, be certain they have the necessary skill and experience to effectively analyze the problem.  An inexperienced mechanic or engineer may have good intentions, but a lack of experience in a key juncture of the operation could be a problem further down the process.

Finally it is essential to keep a record of the different rejection scenarios that one encounters on the shop floor.  Some times repairing the error requires a unique fix that should be shared with others to help educate them.  This is most important if it is second shift or a weekend and subject matter experts are unavailable.  A good database will help locate a similar issue to consult for you rejection at hand.

Rejecting discrepant parts is a fact of operations management
(Courtesy www.blg.gov)

Testing

(courtesy www.beaed.com)

A critical but often overlooked element in operations is testing.  It is an activity that doesn't relate directly to full production but the results gained from testing will prove or disprove a design or process.  That will determine whether your chosen design will be allowed to full production.

For larger companies,  testing is scheduled and run by a separate test group. The design groups have some say into how the testing will be done.  The testing group will be able to determine the location and specification of measuring devices, the accuracy of the measurements, and ultimately the validity of the results.  It is important for the design or manufacturing group convey the purpose of the test to the testing group, otherwise the testing group may assume the wrong objective and this will potentially invalidate the results.

For testing purposes the testing group will require that one or more people from design and manufacturing groups be available on site during testing.  Testing lasts anywhere from one day to a week so you need to make sure staff is available to support the testing.  Those supporting the testing should be knowledgeable of the purpose of the test; preferably more experienced personnel rather than a junior engineer or mechanic.

(courtesy www.knifilters.com)

Once testing is complete, immediately evaluate the results to determine validity.  A thorough operation will have predicted (hopefully accurately) the results prior to the test.  Then there are no surprises once testing is done.  With the right planning, a testing operation will proceed smoothly and results will validate the design successfully.

Compatibility of 3D CAD Graphics Systems

The design and operations world has many options available to use in designing, manufacturing, and assembling a product or system.  These include CATIA, Unigraphics, ProE, Solidworks, AutoCad, and others. While all of these software packages have strengths and weaknesses, it is important to have a way of translating a 3D design from one system to another.

(Courtesy of images.frompo.com)

Hopefully, within an organization, a company is using one type of software (and the same version) when sharing a design back and forth between engineering and operations. It seems impossible that a company would use different types of software, but I have seen it done.  Obviously this creates problems right away and I would suggest that these types of companies don't have an idea what is going on.

The biggest challenge occurs when a company contracts out a design to another company and different software packages are used.  This happens quite often where different contractors win bids with different companies.  Rather than try to institute a new software (expensive and time consuming) the two partners use their in-house software packages.

To get different types of software packages to share designs, translation software is used.  Files are created and used to translate a CAD model from one software to the next.  In an ideal world this process should take no more than a couple of hours.

However, several things can go wrong.  First, the type of translation software may not have been tested accurately.  A computer or IT person may thing everything is good, but an engineer or operations person may find there are errors including the misfortune of an "unreadable model".

The conversion process may take several days which is clearly unacceptable in a fast paced industry with little buffer built into its schedule.  For delays in processing the translation many people usually have to help fix the problem, which pulls them away from other work.

Even in a normal design or manufacturing iteration, the amount of back and forth review and changing of models is time consuming and that may not be desirable in order to meet schedule.  For this reason alone, careful consideration must be given to what types of CAD packages are being used by your group and those you do business with.  It pays to work this our early on or you may pay dearly later delivering late products to market.

(Courtesy of www.plm.automation.siemens.com)

24/7 Support

Operations rarely work only 9 to 5
(courtesy of www.uniquesquared.com)

The most effective part of any operation is the ability to run 24/7 to keep product moving.  It is also one of the worst parts of an operation if you are an employee who likes the Monday though Friday day shift.  How can you keep full support of your operation without  alienating good employees who value free time to spend with family, hobbies, etc.?

For a lean operation, many of the Monday to Friday day crew will have to support second shift and/or weekend operations. The simplest way to do this is set up a rotation with the day crew to support a week or two of nights and weekends during the calender year.  A master schedule set up at the beginning of the year to cover the entire year is the first step.  An Excel spreadsheet works well and is filed in a group file on the organization's designated drive where all employees can access it. Of course you should have a backup if something happens to the original.  This lets everyone put it anything appointments that can't be missed (i.e. weddings, graduations, vacations).  Before or after this the lead will set up the shifts to get full coverage for the operation while ensuring everyone has a fair and equal turn at supporting the "off hour" shifts.  Any adjustments can be made at any time during the year so it is a very fluid schedule.  If a person is scheduled to work the weekend, he or she can arrange to shift their schedule for that week, having Monday and Tuesday off for instance. This type of system was successful when I worked at Boeing and ensured all shifts were covered with engineering support.

Another method is the use of pagers/company cellphones.  This is a less effective in that if an employee lives far from the operation, driving in may take time and the operation will be delayed longer.  In addition it is often difficult to fully  describe a problem over the phone and get a true sense of the issue at hand.  Sending pictures of the Internet may require a laptop with special secure access installed, not necessarily available to a personal home computer.

(courtesy www.economicdevelopmenthq.com)

Engineering Drawings in Operations

Operations struggles without  a clear set of engineering drawings or processes which define the part and its integration . The blueprint for making a quality product has particular characteristics depending on the type of drawing: 1) detail drawing used to define how a basic part is built, 2) assembly drawing used to show how two or more details are mated together, 3) installation drawing used to show how an  assembly is located in a final installation.

The detail drawing will usually contain the most technical information since it tells how to build the part from scratch using raw materials.  It is important to know all the correct (and up to date) processes and call outs listed on the bill of materials (BOM) or parts list.  I have seen many detail parts get held up in the quality assurance (QA) inspection because information was not current leaving the inspector to hold up approval of the detail part.  Also clear and complete drawings will alleviate any misinterpretation by the machinists or those who will fabricate the part.

A typical engineering drawing
(courtesy of www.keywordpictures.com)

The assembly drawing will bring two or more details together.  Again clear drawings help immensely as well as keeping up to date on processes.  These drawings will show many detail parts so it is essential that all detail part numbers are correct on this drawing.  QA will stop an assembly from moving if the incorrect part numbers are listed on the BOM.  Also special consideration must be given to how parts are mechanically attached to each other and if necessary put precautionary notes on the BOM.  

The installation drawing will show how an assembly is located into a final product.  Installation drawings are used in the aircraft and automobile industries due to the enormous number of parts required to build the product.  Again clear and complete definition is essential for installation drawings.  In addition, the topic of tolerance analysis must be addressed.  Many times the tolerance stack up will be too far in one direction and the assembly will not properly install in the installation drawing.  This is usually discovered in the factory and requires immediate attention to fix the current unit and others behind it in the factory queue.

An engineering drawing has many downstream users
(courtesy of www.gocollege.com)

Expediting

If you have been in operations for any length of time you know that expediting a part through the production line is an occasional fact of life.  In a large operation there are many steps that must be satisfied usually in sequential order.  When a part gets bogged down in a process and may jeopardize the overall schedule of the operation, the expediting process begins.

Usually the first task is to assess how much time is necessary to complete the process and determine how late the event is (or will be).  Then the all important "recovery schedule"  is developed showing how in a short time, with everyone working extra, the lost time will be "made up" and everything will now be on schedule.  This requires upfront coordination with the necessary players to develop a realistic recovery schedule.  A schedule that senior management will be tracking at least once a day if not twice a day.  Many projects have early morning status or "stand up" meetings to monitor the recovery until work is completed.  It's quite often a stressful time, but due diligence to ensure someone is completely on top of the project will keep the situation under control.

Expediters help with recovery
 (courtesy  www.expediterservices.com)

A person is identified as the "expediter".  It's his or her job to ensure the part is proceeding through the process based on the recovery schedule.  If there are roadblocks the expediter must remove them quickly with little disruption.  Often this job is assigned to a new person to help him or her "learn the ropes" of the operation. However the best person is one who is experienced and knows people in the organization who can help push the part through.  It takes a strong "people person" who has a way with people and can coax or convince others to go the extra mile to get back on schedule.

Value of Internships

(Courtesy of : www.forbes.com)

The importance of internships can't be overrated.  Many companies are reluctant to hire an intern for a summer (or short term assignment).  These companies feel that: 1) They are too busy to post an internship, review resumes, interview candidates, and extend internship offers, 2) they will have to "babysit" the interns during the work day and keep them focused on the business at hand, 3) the intern will complete the internship, go home, graduate, and take an offer with a competing company.  I feel these are just excuses.

Internships help both the company and the student.  It gives  the student a real world experience in which to apply what her or she has learned in the classroom.  In my experience, interns may be a little nervous at first (understandable) but quickly excel at their first assignment.  If a hiring company has introductory projects for interns to handle, the intern will not be bored and will produce fabulous results.

The company benefits by giving the intern an "audition" of sorts to see how effectively he or she integrates themselves into the business.  The company can free up more experienced personnel for more challenging projects requiring their expertise.  An obvious plus in the operations world.

If the intern looks good, extend an offer to him/her contingent on graduation. If the intern likes the experience he or she will spread the word on how great it was to work at the company and every operation likes free publicity.

(Courtesy of : www.businessinsider.com)

Quality Control - Fishbone Diagrams

One of the simplest  tools to evaluate cause and effect in quality control is the fishbone diagram.  It is simple to understand and can be implemented on a piece of paper if that is all that you have.  From it you can often quickly determine a root cause of a problem and then take the necessary steps to correcting the problem to move forward.

Using the analogy of a "fishbone", the "head" of a fish is identified as the cause of the problem.  Working back toward the tail of the fish, potential causes of the problem are identified.  Each potential cause is carefully and thoroughly evaluated to verify if is truly a cause of the problem.  As the causes are evaluated, the diagram is filled out to look like skeletal structure of a fish.

(Fishbone Diagram template - courtesy of resourcesteaching.com)

I have used this type of analysis several times and it has been proven to be very successful.  There is no advanced training or education necessary to understand it.  Only a willingness to fix a problem.

Change Boards in the Operations Process

In the operations world, no design becomes static once it is released. Although most designs are well developed before initial release, there are a number of reasons why a design must be changed:

• The released engineering is difficult to manufacture, causing a modification or change to dimensions, materials, or process.
• The design is costly to produce and cost savings programs dictate that it needs to be produced at cheaper cost,  This also applies to weight savings (i.e aircraft) where extra weight hampers technical performance and/or fuel consumption.
• Other reasons that improve the manufacturability or delivery of a part, such as inspection criteria, inclusion of new reference notes, etc.

(Courtesy of mountainvision.blogspot.com)

To get operations and engineering to agree on a new go forward path, a change board is set up.  The change board can be used for any size company but is especially necessary in a larger company (greater than 1000 employees).

To start the process, a kickoff meeting is set up to explain the "problem" and outline the solution to it.  This is usually initiated by engineering or manufacturing because one or both of these two groups will be the catalyst to the change.  Invite representatives from any affected group to attend the meeting.  Inviting "extras" doesn't hurt: they will leave the meeting if the change doesn't affect them.

During the meeting explain the change in full detail, especially explaining the cost/ schedule benefits to proceeding with the change.  Upper management will want to see "the numbers" and will balk at changing the status quo if there is no a good case for it.  After all have given input (hopefully they all approve the change), then the schedulers can decide when the change will be implemented.  Of course good communication to the group is essential with PowerPoint slides and other documentation shared along the  way.

A successful change board meeting will please eveyone!
(Photo courtesy of chaicagocitylimits.com)

Engineers on the Shop Floor

(a Boeing 747 being assembled - courtesy of hotcharchipotch.wordpress.com)

In an earlier post I explained how it is essential to have the base of engineering operations as close to the manufacturing operations as possible.  In a ideal case, would be to have the engineering and manufacturing in the same building or in buildings next to each other.  Proximity to one another is what makes a successful operation.

But it is not enough for engineering and manufacturing to be near each other.  The organization must make an effort to encourage (hopefully not force) engineering to spend time on the factory floor.  There they can learn about how different stages of the operation work and can spend time talking to mechanics to learn what their challenges are in fabricating and building parts.  At Boeing (and at other large companies I would assume the same), young new hire engineers often do not want to visit the factory and learn.  Because of organization attitudes they are led to believe that engineers design the product and "throw it over the fence" to operations to build.  Not very efficient.

On of the best ways to get engineers to engage the factory is to put them in a liaison engineer role.  The liaison engineer is a degreed engineer who is works on the factory floor and helps bridge communication between engineering design and  manufacturing.  Often the liaison engineer has authority to repair parts damaged during manufacturing which expedites operations immensely.  At Boeing I was a liaison engineer for a little over a year and that experience made me a better design engineer by learning how to design a part that could more easily manufactured and later installed in the aircraft.

(Engineers on the factory floor)

I served as a liaison engineer later in my career and would advise organizations to schedule the new hire engineers to rotate as a liaison engineer after 1 - 2 years design experience.  An early exposure to shop practices will make them better design engineers which improves the entire operation.

Just-in-time

One of the best ideas to come out of operations management is the concept of just-in-time (JIT) production.  As most know it is the idea that whatever your operation is waiting for (raw materials, finished product, etc.), it will be there right when you need it.  This avoids keeping a large inventory of items on hand which must be kept track of.  With careful planning a just-in-time system will give you exactly what you want exactly when you need it.

(Courtesy www.planproduction.tripod.com)

Of course it doesn't always work that way.  It has been my experience that some products will invariably be delayed to the downstream user because of raw material shortages, errors in production, having other work "out prioritize" your work.  Instead of a just-in-time system, you know have a "just-in-turmoil" system.  With one delay in the pipeline the rest of the operation must now work overtime to catch up.  Literally work overtime as in a 24/7 type of rescue.

The best approach is to have the parts or materials arrive a little before "just-in-time" so there is a a little safety buffer.  It may mean stacking parts in side areas a few days before you need them. This may be uncomfortable, but will keep your operation flowing smoothly.

(Courtesy: www.elblogsalmon.com)

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid Prototyping serves a fantastic role in the product or service design stage within operations.  Historically a designer would do the best job possible in identifying areas of concern prior to releasing a design to be fabricated.  Once the design was released it usually went into fabrication and (with fingers crossed) everything went well.  If not there would be a revision to the design and the process started over and more finger crossing.

With the advent of rapid prototyping, it was easy and fast to create a first look at a design before it went into production.  All the designer has to to is send a 3D CAD model to the prototyping shop.  Then the programmers would write the program and have the part "built", often using stereolithography to produce it.  Then the part can be inspected by all concerned parties and any modifications can be done quickly.  This means it can then be implemented quickly in time to support a tight production schedule.

During my time at Boeing, I was fortunate to have visited the rapid prototyping shop in South Seattle.  They could take any complex design and fabricate it to reveal what the part would look like.  It was fast and the results were amazing.

These two chess pieces were made at a rapid prototyping shop.  The grey piece made from a steel alloy and the red piece is made from a plastic.  Notice the detail on the close up of the red piece below.

The popularity of 3D printing may eventually take the place of a prototype shop.  But until everone has a 3D printer, it is worth the time to use a rapid prototype shop to prevent design delays during a critical part of the operations flow.

Plant Audits

Arriving at a supplier's plant to audit the operations process is an activity that causes much anxiety for the supplier (at least the first couple of times).  Generally it is done when there are problems identified in the flow of operations.  There may be office related (i.e. engineering) or  production related (i.e. manufacturing).  Both areas must be addressed.

(Courtesy: www.pooltechservices.co.uk)

An engineering audit may uncover errors in design.  I have audited several supplier's while working at Boeing.  One supplier had a different type of CAD software than Boeing was using (that in itself was a problem).  This particular supplier had several issues with the 3D models that the Boeing team helped uncover that might have been missed if not for the audit.

All specifications and inspection criteria must clearly be flowed down from the prime contractor to the supplier.  I saw this issue happen during the same audit trip and this time it was Boeing's fault that the correct specifications were not imparted to the supplier.

It's also valuable to ensure that the supplier's engineering team is in sync with its manufacturing team. You can usually tell how this relationship is going during a kickoff meeting day one of your plant visit.  If relations between the two appear distant or aloof, then there is trouble.

For the manufacturing side, all aspects of the process are reviewed.  Do the machines break down often?  If the break, how long is the downtime?  Are the mechanics and machine operators properly trained?  What are the specific training plans for each operation?  Is the layout of the plant optimized?  All questions that need answers.  And that is just the start.

Some people are afraid to respectfully challenge the supplier.  During my audit trip, one of my fellow Boeing engineers continually challenged the supplier about all aspects of production.  He did it in a polite but assertive manner.  But the supplier eventually got tired of him and later told him he was not welcome back to the supplier's plant.  That engineer eventually became a Boeing manager because he embraced due diligence in seeking to make the operation more efficient.

Typical Supplier Manufacturing Plant - courtesy www.logicpol.com)

Real World Use of Statistical Process Control (SPC)

(Courtesy: wallpapers-xs.blogspot.com)

If you read many books on lean six sigma, you quickly realize that much of the focus is on data collection and analysis.  If you are like me you wonder if there are any real world applications and how can using the data collection techniques improve a process.

Early on in my earlier life as a design engineer at Boeing, I was part looking into a tolerance study of stringers on the B-2 bomber program.  These stringers were attached inside the wing and serve to transfer load from the wing skin to the underlying frames and ribs.  There were issues with the location of the stringers being out of position and our engineering group sought to determine why the stringers were out of position.

A generic configuration showing the long slender stringers as they sit in a wing box - courtesy of avcom.co,za 

We took location measurements of where the stringers were actually resting on the wings stored in the factory.  We then used the +/- tolerances as the upper control limits.  We then gathered data and plotted the stringer locations as measured to try to determine if there were any significant common trends (i.e. at a particular stinger number, at  certain coordinates in a wing, etc.)

Unfortunately I left that group shortly thereafter and I lost track of the final outcome.  At that time six sigma was not nearly as accepted as today, so I don't think we even knew what else to do and how to go into much greater analysis.  But I gained a quick indoctrination into six sigma and know it can show how to improve a process or product if used effectively.

Continuity of Manufacturing

In all operations it is essential that the shop personnel ("mechanics") manufacturing the product are capable and skilled.  Not all jobs require the same skill level and some mechanics are better in some areas than others.  A world class company recognizes that it is foolish to rely on someone whose skill is marginal at a particular task.  To ensure success, there are mentoring and training done for newer mechanics to get them up to speed and perform at efficient levels. Over time the mechanics will understand their particular job thoroughly and will excel at it with the help of fellow mechanics and engineers. Over time all people involved in the operation will have an understanding about how things should be done.

But what about when a newer mechanic is assigned to a new position in the factory and he (or she) sees things differently.  In my experience at Boeing a new mechanic may offer good tips but may also cause some disruption.  If he interprets an engineering drawing differently than his predecessors, than that may cause a halt in production while things get sorted out,  Occasionally an unplanned drawing revision may be required in order to clear up or avoid further confusion to the intent and outcome of the operation.

Coil drawing courtesy of picsbox.biz

Its important for engineering and manufacturing to work together to keep continuity.  Weekly meetings to keep communication open will to wonders to avoid bigger headaches at times when the work must be completed ASAP in order to meet schedule.