How Do We Make Things Run Better?

Exactly...you got it in one...Especially listening to the people who actually do the job.
GA from the Cat.

Another GA.

We've been phasing in Lean for almost a year and communication, especially between engineering and production, is a hot topic right now.

An environment where the builders, designers, engineers and managers all have a voice in the process and procedures is having a positive impact.

Engaging all employees in this and having ownership of things makes a huge difference in the attitude of the employees towards it (Lean Deployment). It is a lot to shove down someones throat and is best recieved if key people (not management) on the floor can deliver it to the masses....

There are a few books that are available that are easy reads and can help get people in a lean state of mind. Check out "Andy and me" and the Toyota way.

The benefits of this far outweigh the initial resistance to change that is always experienced when something new is introduced.

Yup it's great until mangement loose interest and shift back to their dictatorial ways or onto the latest craze....leaving the 'key people' hung out to dry like kippers.

And they wonder why the workers aren't keen to 'get on board'.

Been there, done that, stood on the soap box preaching to the factory...then got burned by an arse of an HR manager, who disciplinded my workers for using their initiative to save time/money, which was what they'd been encouraged to do.
Left shortly after (Having only just resisted the temptation to use projectile weapons)
Del

Del you have brought up a key point....

All these different schemes pretend to want involvment on all levels.

As soon as mgt figures out that it may have an impact on todays bottom line the creep back to the old ways begins. Before you know its on to the next new thing.

There's always the claims about open doors, confidentiality, blah blah, which are rarely true.

Union shops can be worse yet with the supposed representative being the dictator along with the manager.

mgt. tend to be like alcoholics they don't think they have a problem & for damm sure don't need the likes of you or I to help them with the problem they don't have.

I remember reading that a GM NUMMI (New United Motors Manufactoring Inc - a joint venture between GM & Toyota) was asked if he ever got reprimanded for not meeting quota. He replied, "No, but I have been for missing quality targets."

Quality costs at first but then goes to the bottom line. You're not going to make money if you make crap.

Management's biggest problem is giving up control (read power) and becoming cheer leaders.

Management should remember who their customers are & the service they provide.

I don't mean the end user or consumer.

Though they have to answer to higher ups, their actual function should be enabling the workers to do the best job possible with the resources at hand.

RIGHT....INTERNAL CUSTOMERS ARE IMPORTANT TOO, TECHNICIANS, QUALITY...ETC....

"Talk and Listen"

If it was that easy there would be no wars...

The "Story of the Dent" pretty well sums it up, but that last bit needs some clarification:

The American worker sends the dented part through because a month ago he stopped the line for a dent, and his supervisor told him not to stop the line again.

The supervisor tells the worker not to stop the line because the way the "Just-in-Time" strategy has been implemented has created a situation where everytime the line stops the supervisor gets chewed-out for failing to make shipment because there is not enough wiggle room in the production schedule to deal with a problem on the line.

I found this section from the Wiki article particularly interesting:

Deming philosophy synopsis

In the 1970s, Dr. Deming's philosophy was summarized by some of his Japanese proponents with the following 'a'-versus-'b' comparison:

(a) When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, defined by the following ratio, quality tends to increase and costs fall over time. (b) However, when people and organizations focus primarily on costs, costs tend to rise and quality declines over time.

The belief that quality lowers costs.

It costs less to make something correctly than it does to make it incorrectly and then fix it.

Yep, I totally agree that if your going to do someing, do it right to begin with and save a bundle in the long run.

Ah, grasshopper...
The problem is defining 'right'
When you have some dumb ass exec' who is the CEO's Nephew defining 'right' as a butt ugly gas guzzling unreliable station wagon with more chrome than Dolly Partons vest, which no body wants.... there lies a problem.
Del

Del,

Are you talking about British cars or American?

Many years ago, when I was coming out of my Alfa Romeo & Formula Ford phase, I was in England and rented a British Ford. My reaction to the car was "Damn, I'd buy THIS car!" but nothing like it was offered by US Ford.

P.S. The hardest part of driving on the right was making my left arm work the manual shift. In the US the left arm only is used to hold up the roof.

Lew

I say old chap..that was hardly a description of a Britsh car.
Besides...we screwed our industry before you guys
Del

If you check, you will find that W. Edwards Deming taught the Japanese his system of management when the country was rebuilt at the end of WW2. You will also find that his picture is on the plaque for the award for industrial excellence in Japan. His beliefs directly conflict with the Taylor style of management which is the "gold standard "for management in the US.

If we would use his style on a large enough basis in the US we would see major rewards in any field it would be used in.

Any engineer should read his stuff as he applies engineering to all types of management practices. It includes answers to pretty much all problems sited in this post so far.

Eliminate waste.

Everybody's job.

milo

You test a portion of the process to verify the results. For example, simply produce a part with no manual intervention (CAD to CAM). Evaluate the results and repair the impediments. Repeat as necessary,,, db