Corrective Action

(Courtesy www.quality-wars.com)

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

(Courtesy www.nexicom.net)

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
(Courtesy www.itthoughtoftheday.com)

Prototype Shop

(Courtesy www.rpmaustin.com)

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.

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.

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
(Courtesy: 8u.fotomiser.com)

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)

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)

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)

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.