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Upcoming December Classes

November 20, 2011 in Lean, Operations, Training with 0 Comments

Operations Strategy Consulting, in partnership with the Northwest Industrial Resource Center, is holding several public offering courses in December. For more information or to register, please contact JoAnn.

December 1: Root Cause Analysis – Penn State Behrend’s Knowledge Park, Erie, PA

December 8: Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA) – Penn State Behrend’s Knowledge Park, Erie, PA

December 9: Root Cause Analysis – B3C at LindenPointe, Hermitage, PA

December 14: Statistical Process Control – Penn State Behrend’s Knowledge Park, Erie, PA

Guest Appearance on the Solutions 21 Show

August 4, 2011 in Leadership, Operations with 0 Comments

Let me publicly say thank you to Buddy Hobart for inviting me back as a guest on Friday’s “Solution 21 Show” on The American Entrepreneur Radio. I was joined by Rob O’Donnell, Managing Director of Solutions 21, as we answered listeners questions on how to maximize their business’ productivity while keeping your employees from breaking down, especially in a tight economy when these workers are more put upon than ever before.

 

Listen to the Audio.

Is Manufacturing Still Relevant?

February 8, 2011 in Operations, Strategy with 3 Comments

As the economy continues to falter and industries such as financial and health care continue to grow, the question arises: Is manufacturing still relevant? After all, we are continually told by the media that most manufacturing jobs have been sent overseas, that the US is just not competitive, and besides, manufacturing is messy and dirty, who would want to work there anyway.

I would argue – and I think you would agree – manufacturing is key to growing our economy. Here are just a few stats you might find interesting:

  • In Pennsylvania alone, manufacturing is the single largest sector of the economy (14 percent of the gross state product in 2008).
  • Approximately 16,000 manufacturers in PA employ more than 570,000 people.
  • The average annual salary in manufacturing is $53,000.
  • Manufacturers account for 70 percent of the private sector Research and Development.
  • The U.S. produces approximately 21 percent of the world’s manufacturing output – a number which has remained unchanged in the last 40 years.

So what?

Here are four things manufacturers can do.

1. Make sure you are competitive. The U.S. needs manufacturing to remain a world leader and maintain our standard of living. That means we need you and your business. With all the resources available today, if your business is struggling in any area get help. Businesses must be strong and profitable, our communities depend on you.

2. Clean up your shop. This may sound strange, but seriously, with the proliferation of 5S (workplace organization) and the emphasis on safety, your shop should not look like a pig sty. I’ve seen foundries that do sand casting look better than some assembly shops. Not only will your shop be safer, but you will improve your productivity and your employees will feel more valued.

3. Be recruiting all the time. You need to be marketing and selling yourself as an employer – not just your products. The average age of  manufacturing employees is 54! You are going to have a labor problem in the near future, if you’re not already feeling the crunch. Get involved with your local high schools and vocational schools. Partner with the engineering and business departments are your local colleges. Host a family or community day at your plant so parents can see how far manufacturing has come (assuming you have done #2).

4. Focus on innovation. Manufacturers must find ways to innovate. Look at your process flow and procedures and find ways to streamline them so your people are freed up to innovate. How can you use your technology or processes to serve a different industry? What new products or services can you develop? Are there different technologies or approaches your could implement to better serve your existing customers?

By taking these four steps, manufacturing can be the catalyst to revving up our economic engine!

What are you doing in your business to improve your community? Share with us in the comments section.

The Number One Productivity Killer

July 26, 2010 in Employees, Managing, Operations with 1 Comment

I’ve been reading Rework by 37signals founders Jason Fried (@jasonfried) and David Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) this month and they have a short section titled “Interruption is the enemy of productivity.” The entire premise of the section is the reason you don’t get enough done at work is because of interruptions, which is why we can accomplish so much at night, early in the morning, or on a plane. These interruptions break up the work day into work moments. Thirty minutes and then you have morning break. Fifteen minutes and then you have lunch. An hour later, you have an afternoon meeting. The next thing you know the day is over and you haven’t gotten much accomplished. It’s difficult to get key tasks done when you’re constantly starting and stopping.

In an office, these interruptions are easy to pick out. All those little impromptu get-togethers, chatting with colleagues, and phone calls break the flow of people’s work. But those are not the only interruptions: email, meetings, and instant messages distract people from their task at hand and cause them to shift focus to something else, then mind-shift back to their work. To increase productivity, we need to find a way to eliminate or minimize these interruptions.

In case you think this is just an office problem, it’s not. This is just as applicable to your team members who work on the shop floor as those who work in an office. When you have an assembler or machinist that has to stop working to go find the right material, get the correct tool, or replace a cutter or drill, they have to mind-shift between these tasks and you lose productivity. Not only does this slow them down, but then they often have to recheck or inspect the parts produced once they begin working again to ensure they are in tolerance.

To get the most accomplished, we need to find ways to eliminate all these interruptions. For those in the office, the guys at 37signals suggest instituting no-talk Thursdays instead of casual Fridays. Or set work rules that from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., people can’t talk to each other (except during lunch). Or make the first or last half of the day your alone-time period. Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing (@MichaelHyatt), tweeted that they have “No Meeting Fridays.” One of the changes I made at the beginning of the year was to only check email twice a day at noon and 4 p.m. Most of my clients and colleagues know that if something is urgent and cannot wait until those times, they should call me. This helps me to not live in my inbox and stay focused on the project at hand.

What about the shop? What can you do to help your production team get more done in the day? Keep production meetings to the start or end of each shift. Talk with your team. Watch and understand the process. Do they have all the materials, tools, fixtures, gauges, and prints they need to finish the job at their work station? I once had a client that discovered out of the 7 hours and 15 minutes it took to change over one of his presses, 2 hours and 21 minutes were spent just going to find things and dealing with interruptions! Do you know what interruptions are costing your company?

Start eliminating interruptions today and see your productivity increase.

Have a great idea or are doing something to eliminate interruptions in your business, share it with us in the comments.

Efficient or Effective?

July 8, 2010 in Lean, Managing, Operations, Quality with 0 Comments

I’m starting to get tired of listening to people talk about efficiency. That may sound strange for someone in my position, but hear me out on this. We read things all the time about how to be more efficient. People talk about being more cost-efficient, more efficient with their time, and tracking employee efficiency. Merriam-Webster defines efficient as productive without waste. In other words: doing things the right way.

But, I think we’re missing the other half of the equation. I can be very efficient at, say, photocopying documents and filing them in filing cabinets. But that is not the best way to make the information on those documents more organized and accessible. In addition to being efficient, we also need to be looking at effectiveness. Merriam-Webster defines effective as producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect. In other words: doing the right things. Back to my earlier example, if I want to make the information more organized and accessible, a more effective approach may be to scan the documents into a searchable database. Another option is to change the process so the information is entered electronically the first time instead of generating paper documents.

Too often, businesses are looking at “how do I take waste out of the process” and forget to ask “Is this the best process to achieve the desired output.” When you consider that everything we do is a process, from brushing your teeth, to writing a blog, to manufacturing a locomotive, the question becomes what is the desired output of that process. Why are we performing this process? What do we hope to accomplish by following this process? By doing this, you may discover that some processes can or should be eliminated.

After you’ve identified what the desired output is, then you need to decide: what is the best way to achieve that output? Guess what? It may not be the way you’ve been doing it. Sometimes, we can just optimize the existing process, but don’t be surprised if you need to create an entirely new process. Look at others within your industry and see how they are doing things. Then look at other industries that excel at that particular area. Whatever you learn from others, remember you cannot just copy the process. Each company has its own culture and a process that works in one will not produce the exact same results in another company. So learn from others, but be able to adapt.

Once you’ve identified the most effective process, make sure it is as efficient as possible. Look for any rework, complexity, or repetition and eliminate and simplify the process.

Now, test out your process. Did it work as you had planned or envisioned? Do you need to make any tweaks or adjustments? Once you have an efficient and effective process, you can implement it.

With that success under your belt, go out and tackle another part of your business so you can be just as effective as your new process!

Are You Innovative?

June 30, 2010 in Leadership, Managing, Operations with 0 Comments

In my last post, I talked about the importance of people within your organization and freeing them up so they can become more innovative. While I got a lot of great feedback from many of you, some disagreed. The thought being: “I don’t want people changing the process or experimenting on the job. I just want them to come in, follow the process, do their job, and go home.” Now, I have to admit, that there was a time when I agreed with that sentiment – especially since I spent so many years in manufacturing and operations. However, I’ve learned a thing or two in my career that has changed my view on that.

Traditionally, if you ran a manufacturing plant, hospital, or accounting firm, you wanted people to come to work on time, follow the rules and the established processes, and leave at the end of the day. The thought being, if someone left or had to be let go, they were relatively easily replaced. And, if someone is easily replaceable like that, you can pay them as little as possible to keep your costs down and compete for business.

The problem with that mindset is it’s not working anymore. Companies cannot continue to compete on price, instead we must focus on how to add value to the customer, to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Seth Godin goes into detail in his book Linchpin about how to become a linchpin and why they are good for companies. Think about the maintenance person in your company who knows how to fix anything or troubleshoot any problem – that person is indispensible. Now imagine if all your employees were like that – what would it mean to your competitiveness?

Do we need to have processes and procedures – yes, because customers want reliability and consistency. However, there needs to be room for your people to innovate and develop new ways to wow your customers and bring more value to them. Look at the auto industry. Most of the companies are competing on price and with few exceptions cars are not very different. But what about Rolls Royce? This is a company built on craftsmanship – each car is handmade. The machinists and fabricators there are not easily replaced, they are practically artists. Do they have procedures to follow? Sure. But do they have the freedom to innovate, to really wow the customer? Absolutely; which is why they are able to command the prices they do. They are not competing on price because of all the perceived value they offer.

How can you change your company or department to become more innovative?

1. Eliminate the wasteful, redundant rework people have to do. Streamline the process to give them more free time.

2. Ask yourself if the culture fosters innovation. Are new ideas shot down because “that will never work,” or “we tried that before and it failed,” or “you haven’t been here long enough to really understand how things work.” Change your actions to begin changing the culture – even if it’s just within your own team.

3. Invite and challenge people to come up with new ideas, methods, or products.  Remember failure is a great teacher.

With the current rate of change, if you are not moving forward and innovating, you are moving backwards.

Quality Doesn’t Matter

June 23, 2010 in Lean, Operations, Quality, Six Sigma with 3 Comments

It doesn’t matter what you call it: Quality, Reengineering, TQM, Operational Excellence, Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma, or Agile – the entire process is worthless as most companies are approaching it today.

Quality, in many instances, has become just a word – and a rather empty word at that. It’s a term companies throw about and promote to customers. Initiatives are begun and eventually die off. Meetings are held espousing the fabulous gains that will be realized from the latest continuous improvement program.

On the other hand, some companies are too worried about their sales to even look at, let alone focus on, continuous improvement or quality programs. They are out there selling their services and products to customers and dropping their prices to win the oh-so-needed business.

Neither organization has got it right. Continuous improvement for its own sake is a complete waste of time, money and resources. Yet, ignoring an organization’s operational processes is surely a quick way to put a company out of business.

So what should you do?

First, realize that business is about people. The people that work for you, that buy products or services from you, and that provide materials and information to you. Business don’t do business with each other, people do. Even large corporations have people in them determining which vendors to use, who to hire, and how to sell their products and services.

Second, your processes determine your success. Every time you interact with someone, your business processes affect the experience they have with your company. From placing an order, developing specs, processing an invoice, or calling customer service, your operational processes can make people love or hate doing business with you. (For more on this see Ted Coine’s post Apathy: The Kiss of Death)

Third, determine how you can use the many tools and methodologies out there to transform your company into a great company. Don’t focus on “how do I cut costs?” think about “How can I make it easier for people to do their jobs?” If it’s easier, there’s less rework. “How can I free up my people?” If it takes them less time to complete a task, they have more time to innovate, to come up with new ideas and ways to serve customers. This is what will give you a competitive edge: engaged, passionate employees who care about the customer.

Finally, find someone who has already done this. It could be another business owner, consultant, coach, mentor, or leader, but find someone. This transformation is not easy, it’s hard work, it takes time, and it helps to have someone walking along side you encouraging/prodding you and keeping you accountable.