Category: Industry Forum Blog

We are living in a time of blindingly rapid technological change. Every day we read about a new material or method of manufacture that will not only improve our productivity but help us to improve health and raise living standards across the world. We are on the brink of the fourth industrial revolution.

But….

In the UK, the Royal Academy of Engineering predict that by 2022 we will have a shortage of around 550,000 advanced technicians and professional engineers.

In the States, Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute estimate that due to a talent shortage, around 60% of the 3.4 million manufacturing jobs needed in the next decade are likely to be unfilled.

Although around 50,000 engineers graduate from UK universities every year, it is still 37,000 short of our predicted need. And despite the number of technical and engineering apprenticeships being on the increase, only half of the entrants finish their training.

How do we ensure the right skills for the future?

You might be tempted to think; Ok let’s list the skills we need and then design relevant, interesting and practical courses to be delivered in our universities, colleges and schools.

But this is extremely challenging. It’s estimated that 65% of today’s primary school children will go into jobs that don’t even exist yet! (US Department of Labor, 2013)

Also, our initial skill set is unlikely to see us through a lifetime of work.

Most industrialists and educators agree that sparking interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects from primary school upwards is a great start.

So as well as involving students in exciting STEM based activities, we need to equip them with the ability and desire to constantly learn, not just memorise facts.

Phew – we seem to have solved that then! “Someone” can revamp our education system and “the employers” can look after continual skills development.

It’s not enough!

I think each of us in industry has a vital role to play. Right now!

It’s our responsibility to inspire the next generation to continue designing and building the world around us.

Whether we are in manufacturing, engineering or as a parent, we can influence and support their choices.

I’m going to end this blog with a list of just a few of the ways we can do this. And a challenge for you.

• Encourage youngsters to experiment with the latest technology. As representatives of Siemens explained it to me, they are looking for the gamers of today to be the designers of tomorrow.

Our iPad and smart phone savvy children are at home with the intuitive, visual drag-and-drop interfaces that will be increasingly used in the workplace alongside the VR and AR technology.

• Inform them about the myriad of possibilities open to them by choosing STEM subjects.

While some are excited by images showing amazing feats of construction, plenty more are impressed by YouTube videos of AR gaming.

• Share your exciting industry experiences, talk at school careers events. My job was described as “sick” by a year 8 student. What a compliment!
• Volunteer your skills at clubs (some links below). Especially ones in emerging technologies. 82% of young people say they are interested in digital making. But only half get the chance to do this once a week or more. Could you help year 7s with these BBC micro:bits?

My challenge to you – what will you do to build a better manufacturing future?

Interesting clubs and schemes

https://makerclub.org/ ‘The Maker Movement’ was the top toy trend of 2015!

http://www.stemnet.org.uk/ambassadors/ Encourage young people to enjoy STEM subjects.

http://www.ogdentrust.com/ Inspiring primary children with a love of science, especially physics. Providing continued professional development for teachers.

http://www.mykindafuture.com/ Schemes to get large business creating challenges for school leavers.

Creating UK engineers of the future – http://www.theengineer.co.uk/all-hands-on-deck-to-create-uk-engineers-of-the-future/

Business terminology – it’s a bit like Marmite.

You either love it or hate it!

Some people can’t wait to try out the latest Japanese sounding technique. Others are put off by foreign names, or associate them with a particular industry.

I find it always helps to use an analogy. This takes the focus off the terminology and shows the principles in a different context, separating them from one sector or style of business.

This is how I explain Hoshin Kanri, or Policy Deployment, to people in any sector.

Set the scene:

We are going on a group hike. We have a map and we are starting at position X.

I actually mark “X” on a real map in front of us.

 

Ask the team: “Do we just set off and hope for a nice ramble? Would we have a satisfying day out?”

Hopefully they answer along the lines of no. And they may elaborate, if not you can.

It’s not an ideal situation, some of the group may want to head off in a different direction, we may lose a few and most will probably lose interest as we wander aimlessly. At the end of the day we might well be tired but not very satisfied.

Now challenge the team: “Would it be better if we decided where we wanted to go and what time we wanted to reach our destination?” It’s especially useful if there is an incentive like refreshments to aim for.

So now on your map, mark a large “F” for the finish point and even write the finish time if you want.

Now ask the team: “Do we set off in a straight line and just hope for the best? Or what else might we give them?”

Encourage answers like:

• Give them a map and compass so they can check they are on course.
• Plot a safe route to follow across the terrain. A straight line isn’t always possible.
• Make sure the route gets them to the end on time.
• Give them a map and compass so they can plot a new course if unexpected obstacles arise, like a shut footpath or flooded river.

Ask your team: “Would this be a better day out?”

Everyone makes it to the end point, still tired but on time for the promised refreshments. Result – everybody is more satisfied!

How did the team achieve this?  They provided a clear end point and gave everybody the tools to move in the desired direction.

Now is the time to draw the analogy with Hoshin Kanri.

The start point “X” is equivalent to our current performance results. Where we are now.

The end point “F” is the results we want to have, at a set point in the future. Where we want to be.

The map is our view of the current and future business environment, the terrain we have to navigate from X to F.

When hiking we follow a specific direction on our compass. In business our vision statement is our direction.

The detailed instructions are created by turning your vital few policies into specific plans and objectives for each layer of your business.

Checking you are on course and have not been deviated by an obstacle, is like reviewing your progress and actual performance against target.

So by using an everyday analogy we aim to demystify the business terminology and help people to see the potential benefits of applying the principles. Then you can go on and design a Policy Deployment framework that works for your own business.

To make your system lean you need to introduce pull and flow.

A pull system is one that is designed to make only what the customer requires, when they want it and in the exact amount.

Flow means producing or processing one piece at a time. Each item is passed on immediately without waiting or being stored.

This makes sense, you think. No work in progress, no inventory of finished goods, no waste.

Last week you read that to introduce pull and flow you had to level the demand internally, even if your customer didn’t send the orders in a level format. Let’s try it…

Let’s level the quantity

Your customer orders 100 parts each week; 25 red, 15 orange and 20 each of purple, green and blue. They usually pull off 20 items a day for delivery.

It seems simple. You make a level plan for 20 parts each day; starting with red and working your way down the order.

 

 

 

The only minor problem is that each colour takes a slightly different time to make.

So did we create a level demand? No!

Although the quantity is level each day, the time to make each days’ work is different.

This results in ‘feast or famine’. One day you have more work than you can make in normal hours and on others you finish early.

To make matters worse, the customer asks for a mix of colours to be delivered each day. So we have to keep some finished stock to meet demand; about 4.5 days’ worth!

Let’s level the quantity and the mix each day

The ideal level demand is where the same quantity of product and the same mix of variants is required in each time period.

So let’s make the same number of each colour each day; 5 red, 3 orange, 4 each of purple, green and blue.

Is this level demand?

Sadly the answer is still no. Although the quantity and the variant mix are level each day, we still have batches.

It’s better than the first scenario, but not ideal. The work content still varies throughout the day and we still have to hold some stock, albeit only 1 days’ worth, to ensure we can meet the daily order.

Let’s eliminate the batches

If we make 1 of each colour at a time, we not only have the same quantity and variant mix each day, but the work content is levelled as closely as possible as well.

The more level the work the less inventory needs to be held in the system to meet demand.

As the lead time to produce all of the colours at least once is reduced, you can respond to changes in demand from the customer much more quickly.

We call this the “making Smarties” approach. It is the ultimate aim when demand levelling.

Caution!

While this looks good on paper, in practise there are other consequences.

If changing the variant involves a change in set up on the machine, you will increase the total amount of downtime and reduce your capacity.

For the “making Smarties” approach to work you will need to use SMED, or Set Up Improvement techniques, to reduce the amount of time it takes for each individual changeover.

So – how level is your plan? Are you making batches or Smarties?

If you need advice on any of these techniques the Industry Forum team will be pleased to help.

There are several different perspectives on how lean is best achieved. But the one I am used to deploying centres on changing from push to pull systems and the reduction of batch sizes.

The key is to ensure that you, as the supplier, never overproduce. Remember overproduction is one of the 7 Wastes! It means making or providing more than the customer wants at that point in time. This applies if you are a manufacturing company or a service provider.

If you are starting to plan your lean system, or doing future state Value Stream Mapping I would recommend you use these 7 principles as a start point.

You don’t have to incorporate each one in your solution. Some will be more relevant than others for your circumstances. Consider each one and design what works best for you.

1. Make (or provide) what product the customer wants, when they want it, in the quantity required

This is about introducing a pull system instead of running a push system.

Ideally you need to be able to make (or supply the service) to order. To do this you need to:

• Ensure your capacity equals demand.
• Work at exactly the same rate as the customer wants to consume the product (takt time).

If you cannot do this then you will make to stock instead

2. If the downstream customer demand varies, then level the demand internally to allow you to introduce pull and flow within your process

Customers do not always send in their orders in a level format, however you must level it across all your own functions to eliminate waste.

Flow means producing or processing one piece or unit at a time, with each item passed immediately from one process to the next without being stored or waiting.

 

In later blogs we will look at some of the methods you can use to do this.

3. Minimise the amount of inventory throughout the system

Inventory between processes, departments and different organisations represents a lack of flow, costs you money and extends the lead time of the process.

All of this is bad for your cash flow cycle!

As a guideline only allow inventory where the supplying process cannot keep pace with the next downstream customer.

Ensure the quantity of inventory is standardised and controlled.

4. Minimise the amount of transport required

Exactly the same issues apply where you have excessive transportation as they do for inventory.

Try to eliminate the distance items are transported, rather than substituting a faster form of transport.

5. Minimise the amount of information processing in the information flow

Excessive processing of information in a system is a waste. The less the information is processed, the less chance there is of order corruption occurring.

Ideally you should design and deploy formal communication systems that are visual, are located in the area where the process is carried out and can be viewed and used by everybody.

6. Minimise and standardise the lead time

The shorter the lead time, the quicker the response to meet the customer order.

It also means you can complete the cash flow cycle more quickly.

 7. Visually manage the process

All the elements of the pull systems, working to takt (or other target) and information flows you have set up, need to be maintained for your lean system to work.

Visual Management is the tool for this.

 

If you would like to find out more about the principles, let me know, or contact the Industry Forum team who will be pleased to help.

 

The sight of Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) being used in the workplace is a familiar one in best practise companies. But will these paper based documents become relics in the digital factory?

Why do we have them?                                                

SOPs capture the best current method for doing each job.

They detail how to use manpower, materials and machines in a safe way, to ensure we get the right output performance every time.

Having eliminated variation from the process we expect it to run in a predictable way. To maintain this standard, and prevent abnormalities form occurring, we encourage the sheets to be used at the place of work.

Initially we use them to train employees in the best method. Then they are used at set periods to check that employees are following the correct sequence of tasks and the associated quality, ease and safety points.

As in the pictures, they are often displayed as close as possible to the place of work, for reference. Or used to investigate when an abnormality has occurred.

The sheets are also used to check that the process is operating as it should in terms of time and layout.

Is this the best we can do?

Paper based procedures are a vast improvement on having no agreed standards.

• They capture the knowledge accumulated by individuals over the years.
• Training becomes more comprehensive, allowing people to reach a higher level of skill more quickly.
• They improve communication of the best methods, not just to immediate colleagues but those in other departments or on other sites.

However in today’s world, the use of physical documents is a slow process and feels out-dated. And using them to conduct spot checks on an operation is never going to prevent abnormalities from occurring.

What can emerging technologies offer us?

The automotive and aerospace sectors are already experimenting with virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) technologies. Here are a few examples showing how well designed digital products may well replace the physical piece of paper, but keep the benefits of standardisation.

1. Training operators in an immersive environment can happen off line before full scale production starts. Tests show that errors and time to assemble are reduced, even for first time users.
2. An immersive environment allows a person to interact with 3D virtual items.Assembly tasks, or checking the running condition of equipment, is enhanced by having an AR overlay of information and instructions on top of actual physical items. The information can be anything from physical position to temperature, speed and flow rates.

Have a look at this video of the Daqri Smart Helmet. This device projects the information in front of your eyes and also doubles as a hard hat with safety goggles.

Now imagine the possibilities of AR technology linked to SMART products and tooling.

• Prevention of abnormalities caused by following the incorrect procedure.
• Live tracking of actual versus target performance with instant alert.
• Ability to very quickly update procedures and communicate them.
• Faster problem recognition.
• Ability to instantly capture issues and share world-wide.
• Ability for the user to request more information through the system and receive answers from archives almost instantly.

So while the introduction of paper SOPs has improved the repeatability of tasks, the introduction of technology will further improve the prevention of abnormalities and speed up the detection and resolution of other issues.

Let me know what you think about the future of our paper SOPs.

There’s no doubt about it, today’s emerging technologies are changing our business models.

Not only are companies looking to utilise the benefits of cloud computing, Big Data and the Internet of Things to improve the development of new products and their manufacture. They are also realising that there is money to be had turning a product business into a sales and service business.

So not only can we use the data we collect to monitor how we are performing and make improvements. We can now analyse it and add value to it by turning it into information that other people will want to buy.

Here are a couple of different examples.

Selling information to the end user

Farming equipment manufacturers, John Deere, now make tractors that have full connectivity with their own web portal. This allows farmers to effectively connect with all their employees, contractors, equipment and the John Deere support teams.

They can receive information on when and where to plough and fertilise their fields, the best routes to take while sewing and harvesting and have remote health checks run on their equipment.

The information package as a service is a big feature of the product itself.

Selling information to other parties

Traditionally commercial TV channels have made money by selling advertising space in the breaks between shows. As viewing habits change with more people watching on catch up, and on different devices, there are fewer opportunities to reach potential consumers with advertising.

One cable TV company in the States, The Weather Channel, found their advertising revenue under threat from the use of smartphone weather apps. Their response was to correlate weather patterns with the sales of different products.

I wasn’t expecting this, but they found that women buy different hair products depending on the forecast. This is clearly where I have been going wrong with my hair!!

The upshot was, they approached Proctor and Gamble Co. As a result of P&G changing which version of Pantene products they advertised and when, sales increased by 28%. Read the article.

A note of caution

While cloud-based services, like Facebook, may get away with selling information about you to other parties, it’s not to everyone’s taste.

Facebook uses various data it analyses about you, to sell to others. For example, it uses your photos to determine if you put on weight e.g. over the holiday periods. Then it sells that information to companies who target you with diet-related products.

However, Mattel’s new talking Hello Barbie doll has provoked the #HellnoBarbie social media campaign.

Hello Barbie is an internet-connected doll. She records what a child says to it during play, sends it by Wi-Fi to the cloud where it is stored and analysed by a software company called Toy Talk.

Conversations at a later date with the doll appear to be real, as Barbie recalls facts that the child mentioned before. Maybe she mentions a favourite band or a trip that the child has gone on.

The problem is this. How will Toy Talk or Mattel go on to use the information? Will they sell it to other parties to earn more revenue? Will the children be subject to subtle advertising; the latest record by their favourite band or an offer at the theme park? Read their response.

So what are you doing in your business? Could you use emerging technologies to analyse

No, I’m not being heretical. I do follow structured problem solving methods and use a single, tightly defined effect to describe the problem at the head of a Fishbone diagram.

But sometimes …….. just sometimes, bend the rules a little. 

Use the structure of your Cause and Effect (or Ishikawa) Diagram to help with a different kind of problem. A big, unstructured problem – not at all tightly defined!

This way of using a Fishbone was shown to me by Hiroshi Seino, one of my Nissan Master Engineers. He called it a Chaos Fishbone.

Instead of using the diagram to explore all the potential causes that result in a single effect, use it to organise your team’s response to a larger, more open question.

How does this work?

So for example let’s ask the question “How can we encourage people to submit more ideas for improvement?”

This is still an issue that exists in the workplace, but it’s not in the form of a tightly defined, single effect. (The latter would be like “What stops the two screw holes on the Model X handle lining up?)

Follow these steps with your team:

• Write your question or issue in the box where the effect goes.
• Get your team to brainstorm ideas (causes) and write each on a sticky note.
• Place the notes on the appropriate bone of the diagram (man, material, machine, method and environment).

• Place identical ideas on top of each other.
• If there are any bones that have no or very few ideas then prompt the team to fill the gaps.

Although these steps are pretty much the same as you would use in normal cause and effect analysis, you will now get a lot more variance in the ideas generated. This is because you weren’t too specific about the issue you were investigating.

Not being specific in normal problem solving mode is usually a disaster. It results in more possible causes making the next step harder.

However in a Chaos Fishbone it’s the reverse.

• The open question encourages a huge and varied number of causes.
• Using the Fishbone structure organises and groups the huge volume and variety of ideas making the next step easier.

The next step

In normal problem solving the team select the most likely basic causes to investigate further. The countermeasure for each root cause is put in place and the result monitored.

If there are a lot of basic causes to select from and investigate, the process of analysing the root cause becomes cumbersome and time consuming.

On the Chaos Fishbone the next step is to spend some time grouping similar ideas together. This rationalises the mass of notes and develops themes. The team then select the top theme(s) they wish to work on.

As each theme contains a number of ideas, or causes, they can develop a good solution or approach to try out. And again the team implement it and monitor their results.

Try it out

So let me know if you have used a Chaos Fishbone and how it went. Or maybe you will give it a go at the next opportunity.

Begin with something realistic though – the solution to world peace may be a little too challenging to start with.

 

 

I never truly understood how important a clearly explained vision statement is to the success of an organisation, until I recently came across two very different cases.

Like many managers, I thought that vison statements were the icing on the corporate cake. A set of clever words designed by expensive, external consultants to make the company look and sound world class.

A vision statement is supposed to describe the possible and desirable future states of the organisation, like this one of Harley Davidson’s.

“We fulfil dreams inspired by the many roads of the world by providing remarkable motorcycles and extraordinary customer experiences.”

Then I learned that the vision statement is at the pinnacle of Policy Deployment methodology.

Policy Deployment, or Hoshin Kanri, is the organising framework for planning, implementing and reviewing the changes required to move an organisation towards its vision.

This started to make sense to me, the vision acts like a goal for the organisation, a direction to travel in.

In fact the aim of Policy Deployment is to point everyone in the organisation in the same direction and navigate them to the desired end point.

And this is what I have observed, without a clearly stated vision and an organising framework even the best intentioned business can miss an opportunity.

Company A

A small establishment with less than 80 staff, led by “John” who has lots of passion and enthusiasm. He believes that everybody can see what they are trying to achieve and that the old vision statement is just a bunch of nice, but empty words.

John doesn’t plan for longer than a year as he believes any plans he makes can be wiped out in an instant.

Results show that their overall performance has been steadily improving over a number of years.

So why do I think they would benefit from a revamped vision statement and supporting plans to cover a medium term period?

I observed a management meeting where each department reported back on what it had been doing. Despite the very differing formats it was clear they had good intentions, worked hard and were individually proud of their achievements.

However, as they asked questions of each other it became apparent that there were some overlaps in effort, some areas that had been missed and no clear priorities on which actions to take. Nowhere were there links to the budget.

In this case a clearly stated vision and supporting plans would help the team to all pull in the same direction, to prioritise actions and allocate spending accordingly, resulting in even better overall performance.

Company B

A larger establishment of 200 staff, and a division of a multinational. The site has a beautifully crafted infographic depicting their vision, with specific performance targets covering a 3 year period. They report that all their indicators have just turned green.

So what could be better? When I questioned a few different people they found it very difficult to explain what the performance measures on the graphic meant and how what they do directly affects the results.

So while the end destination and yearly targets are very precisely quantified, it is harder to motivate individuals to contribute to achieving the targets.

In both cases it’s about harnessing the power of every individual in the company. When people have a vision that is clearly explained and translated into co-ordinated action plans, then their efforts can be aligned to give the best result for the effort put in.

So, how well do you use your vision statement?

What is the best approach to improvement? Only a slightly simpler question than “What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?”

There are many well-known practitioners and writers publishing their findings and recommended approaches. And of course, a number of people branding their approaches as the ultimate solution.

However, this week I read an article by a much admired leader in all things lean, Jim Womack, which made me stop and think.

In his article, Jim describes how in the last year he has started advising clients to make changes in one single place in an organisation, as opposed to starting with the big picture and the end-to-end value stream. This enables the team to discover what things they need to address across the whole organisation to ensure they have a functioning and stable environment, that gives a solid foundation for sustainable improvement.

This reminded me of the way in which I was taught to approach improvement by the Master Engineers from Nissan, Toyota and Honda.

Work in small steps

Always, always work in small steps towards your overall goal.

There are two key reasons for this;

• If you apply a small improvement now, the savings will start straight away and build up over time.
• If you delay until you design a complete and perfect solution, the chances are you will lose focus and never implement any improvement at all.

This is summed up in a quote attributed to Mark Twain; “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”

It’s a bit like climbing a very large mountain. Rather than one long steady slope, there are a number of peaks to conquer along the way. And if you look ahead, you can see the nearest peaks, but not the highest. You have to keep on climbing to reach the summit.

 

The summit, or your overall goal, is best represented by your vision or mission statement. Research shows that the most sustainable improvement activities are those whose targets are linked to achieving that goal.

Your strategy is like the route you chose to the summit. It breaks down attainment of the goal into achievable segments. You then choose and deploy the tools that are best suited to achieving each segment.

Top deployment tip

When working on one of the segments and deploying a tool, break your actions down into even smaller steps and trial your ideas as you go.

Always encourage your improvement team to try out an improvement idea immediately, and don’t spend money on it straight away.

You can mock up the suggested countermeasure, or solution, using whatever materials you have to hand. Sticky tape, cardboard, spare pairs of hands and the ability to scrounge are your best friends here.

Use cardboard cut outs of equipment to trial a new layout. Use people to act as stands or shelves. Borrow equipment from another area. Sketch out shadow boards or document layouts.

The key is to trial the idea and check that it works before you make permanent changes and spend money. (Remember to use the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle).

Keep going

Keep moving through the small steps to complete the segments of your overall plan. This allows you to see progress and build on your successes.

I always use these 3 phrases to remind the improvement team to work in small achievable steps, no matter what technique is being deployed and what their end goal may be.

• Do it now! No excuses.
• Use your wisdom, not your money!
• Improvement is infinite, better is not good enough.

Take a look at our Leadership Development Programme, which is a programme designed to manage the sustainability of all improvements made in the workplace. We have three courses in the programme:

• Team Leader Essentials (TLE)
• Manufacturing Manager Training (MMT)
• Senior Leadership Training (SLT)

If you’d like to speak to one of our experts, drop us an email or call us on +44(0) 121 717 6600.