As a German-owned manufacturer working in the aerospace supply chain, we like to think of ourselves as a pretty forward-thinking company. A lot of the products we make are extremely high-tech, and we’ve recently invested in new, state-of-the-art machinery. Business is good, and orders are approaching a record high.
However, that technology doesn’t translate to the shopfloor, where we still rely on more old-school, analogue methods. As a result, we are drowning in paperwork, with old blueprints, contracts, shift patterns and other flotsam bursting out of drawers across the factory.
A few months ago, we had a visit from head office. As you would expect, being based in Munich, they expect things to be done a certain way. The company’s main site is a shining example of order, calm and productivity. The CEO took one look at our paper mountains and demanded an explanation. No amount of placating and showing him the excellent figures would change his mind – we had to find a solution to our paper problems.
As a result, we’ve invested heavily in iPads, on which is stored all the ‘stuff’ we previously had on paper. Each cell has one, as does each line manager. To begin with, all was good. People liked the new toys and people told me they felt like the factory was finally moving into the 21st century. However, since then, cracks have started to show. It began with people failing to clock out on the system when their shift ended, and reached a head when a major change to a design wasn’t logged, causing serious delays to the manufacturing process.
The team are becoming disillusioned with their new technology, and want to go back to pen and paper. We’ve obviously invested a lot of time and money into the iPads, and have received praise from Munich for our ‘seamless adoption’ in the early days. It seems like we’ve taken a step forward only to go backwards in our organisation, and we’re struggling to see a way out. Any ideas would be most welcome.
Solution: Kevin Eyre, managing consultant, S A Partners
It's no doubt tough to have received plaudits for adopting the preferred methods of HQ 'seamlessly' and then to find that, in spite of your best efforts, they haven't worked. Do you make the best of a bad job in an effort to appease HQ or do you deal with the reality confronting you? You know and I know, that's there's only one answer!
Your front-line people, the people who know what's going on, and probably knew what was going on, before the problems with clock-out failure and design changes occurred, want to go back to the pre-existing methods of pen and paper. A straight forward return might be politically tricky but a 'back to basics' stance might well prove valuable. 'New toys' just about sums up the venture so far.
There is a need to get your processes back under control before you automate. It looks like in adopting HQ's methods you have failed to do this. Consider the following five step process:-
1.Understand all delays to the manufacturing process and eliminate causes with robust counter-measures. Support this with an open process of communication across the business to that the culture of openness around problems is maintained
2.Root cause and problem solve the failure around clocking-out and design changes and implement counter-measures immediately to avoid a recurrence. Communicate the intention and the result to Munich HQ so that progress is transparent.
3.Set about a systematic programme of re-design and risk reduction of existing processes where these involve a significant proportion of 'paperwork'. Prioritise in terms of highest risk to performance and bring in additional resources to make the changes quickly and rigorously. Involve front-line people and relevant internal teams but make sure these are led with appropriate and experienced expertise. Solving this lot fast is necessary for continued confidence from HQ.
4.Prioritize all improvements using the tools of risk analysis and reduction such as the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis. A detailed analysis of key process steps, the risk they pose to the stability of your manufacturing processtogether with a systematic attempt to reduce these with the involvement of your teams, will yield positive results
5.Gradually, incrementally, automate processes and associated paperwork using the appropriate technology. This may or may not be, tablets. Involve your IT specialist early in the process
With this effort it is likely that as well as automating the use of your paper systems, you will improve your productivity. Munich may feel disappointed initially but following the rules is not the mark of leadership.
Are you up for it?
