Who Has Time to Plan?

its really a matter of speed.

Planning takes a certain amount of time. Communication, especially verbal, solves most coordination issues, and coupled with worker's native intelligence, solves most problems.

If Planning methods could work in anything close to real time, then it would be done more.

Computers have made great strides in encoding planning algorhythms, and we can basically say we know What to do, but to really be effective, it has to be delivered in a timely manner, without becoming a burden.

simple, but difficult. If you recall the boon that first transparencies, and the CAD systems were to concurrent engineering, you get some idea of the kind of condensing technology we need for planning. We need a really elegant idea that allows all job conflicts to be anticipated, the way overlaid layers shows physical conflicts to be seen in product design. (ie, injection molds with circuit boards etc)

Chris

Chris

Hi Chris Chris.
I'm with you, communication is the king...someone I know E-mails their parent company in Italy for tech info' and doesn't get a reply for at least 2 weeks...The reply is then usually asking me him to fill in some irrelevant form
Del

Hi Del,

The next time when you want to send an e-mail to Italy, send to a friend or who you know well. The manager on the same work or the boss in Italy will concider you as an expenses and not as a revenue by doing something for the company. So, you are forgetten for days or weeks and to change that, you have to change first yourself, and second you have to change your communication too. You know what doesn't work, so make differently to different people. When you get satisfaction, stop to change and don't change your contacts. Let me know, Gil.

Hi Chris,

Yeah,I agree with you that if everything going on with our plan then we can do more works ,but not everything can going smoothly as we have planned ,everytime ,every moment we perhaps and we have the dangerous to meet the changes or accident in our works,but it is sure that we can not live and make it well without plan first hehe . well,I am an international sales and in my first job I do stainless steel kitchenware exporting ,and all our produce process workers work with big and huge machines ,about cutting stainless steel or deplating ,and so on ,but we always can not make sure when the machine will stop work,even though we have maintainers and they check them in regular time,we can not predict the accident ,and always this kind of machine need a while can be maintain OK,then it delayed our time and break our plan to the leadtime or delievery time ,for this kind of things we always work orver time and if we can not finish the bulk in time we will explain it to our clients ,sure you know that for buyers they always can not believe or understand you ,hmmmm,I think many manufacturers have met this kind of problems ,so plan always can not going on smoothly hehe , but for us we need have it and try our best to make our plan going well

Well, nice topic it is and nice to meet every one here ! Nice day and dear greetings to you all !

Hi sexylingerie,

Welcome to CR4. You will find a fun loving group here, as well as hundreds of exceptional engineering people.

In most Canadian Safety policies, (its a provincial function) one fundamental idea is that "All accidents are preventable". http://www.mhp.gov.on.ca/english/injury_prevention/strategy.pdf (see page 4)

I think this is the beginning of prevention... the right attitude.

Welcome aboard.

Chris

Hi Sexy or Lin, let me know your preference,

Did you collect a month, better a year accidents, and knowing the time to repair each time. Know the total number of pieces made or delivered or kilogram of stainless steel used, follow your exigence, during the same period of time. Put down your capabilities. . Add together all numbers and you get a good idea how many time you need to be ready and supply orders. With numbers you can explain many things, good or bad. It's data collection because without the knowledge of the past you cannot predict the future. Numbers are good to see the past and calculate the future. However, it's never 100%. You know Paretto? The 80/20 guy! He is simple but useful!

You are right that everything doesn't go well all the time but you have to know what goes well and what goes against you. Collection of data helps! Try and let us know if it helps, Gil.

Hi,

No one has the time to plan but we have to. After my experience, I collected data about certain activity, only one, during one week. It was delivery in Toronto.

After the first week, we could establish that we have capabilities but limited in time. We said in an hour we have only 45 minutes we can work as delivery work, and 6 hours in a working day, and not 8 hours as usually counted.

At our surprises, it was became the motto, and accepted by other deparments.

Observation, data, and good and short verbal communication are the centre of problems in time and work management. It's not perfect but it working well. Need improvement, please, put your ideas and experiences down for everyone, Nash will be happy and me too, Gil.

Who Has Time to Plan? - People that Won't have time to fix mistakes afterwards.

Anyone who has to get other people to do something to make the project work?

Hello Hendrik,

The word "planning" was invented by banks. They want to know who you are, what you want to do, how will be executed, and finally they will tell you that they have no money for that project, skillfully or sloppily planned!

Personally you can do the following in your department or business: Delegate to someone who is teached and motivated by you. Again, if you don't have the talent to teach and get the permission from yourself to delegate, it's overtime for you without possibilities of complaining to at least us.

If someone made a mistake, this person wasn't teached to do the right thing the first time, isn't it? If you have something to say about this style of mistake correction, try it before make any comments about what I suggest to you.

Remember, planning is made for 24 hours in one single day. Banks understand that very well, and they act accordingly, Gil.

NB: I never worked in a "bank" but presented them a few handily made "plans".

Hi Hendrik,

People don't have the time for planning not because they don't have the time to fix mistakes, they don't want to fix mistakes. It's a big difference!

First mistake because your training failed!

Second mistake because you are not know or understand what to do!

Third mistake because you don't want to do well!

Sometime the third mistake can be the first. All the best when that happens, Gil.

Who, What, Where, and When are pretty good questions to answer when you want to do something and want to do it efficently. If you think you can make everything up on the day, and not have to do some of it over, you're not being realistic.

Some people love liars, and hire those that say what they want to hear.

It costs what it costs, and takes what it takes.

"It's my plan, and I might change it!"
At least make a plan prior to commiting all your forces. You don't necessarily have to be inflexible and be married to that plan whole hog, but depending entirely on luck or improvisation "on the day", is not a good idea.

Hi Trans,

"It's my plan, and I might change it!" is an excellent business and life philosophy. Nothing stays the same for too long time or everything change as evolution does.

"WHY" is for what you want to do and you know it. If you don't know, stop here and forget everything.

"WHAT" is what you want to do and you know how to do it. If you don't know what and how to do, why you want to do it? Success is for you and failure is for someone else!

"WHO" is knowing what and how to do it. Knowledge wins everywhere!

"WHERE" is a matter of choice for convenience for your customers, your employees, and yourself. And respect the order!

"WHEN" is the starting point of the planned execution of what and how you want to do it. Here, everything is in place and you need to do what and how you want to do it.

Again, no one has the time to plan but we need knowledge, subjects, objectives, direction, capabilities, and some money, and in that order. This is the planning process. It short and easy to put on paper, first on the screen, and print out later. One page will suffice. More will be dilution of the realities, and can be misread by others.

How to plan is simple and easy! Again, simplicity wins! Put a few words - as is in this comment - in capital letters on one lettre size page at 5 cm apart, for sure in vertical position, and fill the empty spaces. This is an exercise for everyone before big decisions as marriage and business, Gil.

Usually when people talk about or do planning, they are in fact scheduling.

If you are going to take a trip, and someone says "Quick, plan your trip!", you would reach for a map and a pen, and draw a line tracing the road from start to finish. You would not likely reach for the calendar, at least not first.

So Planning is first, communicating in an efficient representation of the core activities. If you are planning an engine rebuild, your plan is to:

• plan to get paid if this is a commercial endeavor.
• Provide the environment, skilled labour, and resources necessary for successful completion.
• Identify the subject vehicle.
• Identify and position your engine hoist.
• Identify parts/bolts/materials that need to be changed out.
• Identify the machining processes that may be required
• List a bill of materials to be replaced.
• Program the dependencies and safe sequence of operations.
• Determine the labour requirements for safe and efficient work.
• Identify the rest of the tools needed to do the job.
• Specify the test procedures necessary to permit passage through checkpoints.
• Calculate the length of time to do the job. (Critical Path if not looking it all up in a book)
• Schedule the job.
• Make the plan available to all involved in the project,
• Store the plan documents in a manner sufficient to ensure the documents are not destroyed. (oil, grease, water, welding, loss, etc)

If your activities are work related and routine, the planning is speeded up by focusing on each subprocess or procedure and looking at what is necessary for the 'function' of each. (remember the map not the calendar... what is the core activity of each item)

For a build of a hydraulic accumulator system I designed a function based document for each different cluster of equipment involved. As you go through this document, the planner checks off the basic design features of the product. Symbolic representations were designed for each subsection (accumulator bottles, pumps, valves, regulators, etc.) Also included was the work order number, customer ID, delivery date, control type, basic dimensions, and the 'governing specifications' (ISO, API, etc)

This is one document of a package we put together into a binder (copy) and became an auditable 'Traveller' with the product. (together with other specifying procedure checklists, test procedures and signoff docs)

So in summary, the way to speed up planning is, for work that is repetetive, to streamline the documentation to checklist style, but leave room for mods.

It is also to focus more on the function than the scheduling, as that is really 'what you are doing'. For each segment of the overall work, there will be a type of document that best represents the work being conducted; basically the right tool for the job.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Wow! Are you created or copied the defect-free production system? Joking! It's nice to create a system to produce quality products and know what's happening every steps of the process.

I do something similar but extremely simplified compare to yours. Approved stains, sealers or coatings have a designated batch-card with execution details. What to use to do things, and how, when to use certain equipment to achieve what must be done. Everything is registered on the batch-card to remember what was done and how, signed by the operator to know who did good or bad, and correct the bad to not repeat again.

The production is work related - addition or different ingredients in container - and definitely routine - measuring the same ingredients at different level. I, because I'm alone, established how long takes to make one container, two, and more, up to twelve. When I receive the order, knowing the quantities, I can predict the pick-up time of this order. People are surprised to have a "so rapid service" like that. My business is based on different quality from the eventual competitors, but the extremely rapid service is one of the main issue. Also, I definitely make a well studied and conscious effort on the batch-to-batch, better say, container-to-container consistancy in colour, sheen or gloss level, and application properties, which makes my products an untachable winner. The customer has two obligations to transfer all these qualities to the final object or surface, "keep from freezing" and "mix well before use".

On the top of my small office, I put a sentence said by my first and most reliable customer; "Gil, you give me dirty water at high price!" After five years, he still buys the same stain, "the dirty water" as he called.

I built my business after the market, my customers, never on a product. The manufactured items are just the solutions to the original problems or the vision we have, my custoers and me.

All the best, Gil.