Fit for the future

Continuous improvement is actually a lot like the world of crash dieting, experts told the Works Management Manufacturing Conference (WMMC) last month. It's a multi-million pound industry peddling overnight fixes for punters desperate to shed flabby excess – when, in truth, the most effective way to get in shape comes from a blend of commitment, clear goals and constant measurement. "Everyone's looking for the miracle cure on continuous improvement," Grant McPherson, plant director at Jaguar Land Rover, Castle Bromwich, told delegates. "People think you can just pay a lean consultant and your factory will be fixed." Not so, McPherson told an audience of over 150 manufacturing managers and directors. "There are no quick fixes. Success is down to commitment and there is a lot we can learn from the way it's done in Japan." Splash guards for noodle eaters and a device to stop narcoleptic subway passengers missing their station were used to illustrate the point. Japan is good at problem solving, McPherson stressed – and he should know, having spent 20 years at Honda UK. It's data that powers the creative streak, he explained. The Japanese insist on measuring the gap – finding out why you failed and fixing it. McPherson showed how the theory has been used to fine-tune takt times on the factory floor. By measuring the time each workstation takes on a process, production bottlenecks can be identified. "Once you know where the bottleneck is, you can engage the shopfloor in trying to fix it," he said. The Japanese repeat their efforts at this level until they have to spend money to solve the next tier of problems. Data should be viewed as a sat nav for CI, WMMC delegates heard. Managers must use measurements to steer improvements and avoid congestion, but too many left the sat nav buried in the glove compartment or had it set on a foreign language, according to industry experts. McPherson criticised the overuse of graphs by some in the UK and again hailed Japan where electronic data boards beam live, easy-to-understand, operational data to the factory floor. Data must be kept simple to be effective, agreed Barry Tumelty, who has led a three-year CI turnaround at car components manufacturer Gestamp. "If you show information in too many complex graphs, people become bored. We came up with a smiley board for operators: if it's green you've achieved your target, if it's red you've not." But with all the talk of data, it's important to remember CI is not just a numbers game – it's very much a people game, too. Tumelty revealed how shopfloor workers had initially complained of discrimination because the smiley board listed individuals by name. Management took a conciliatory approach to the resistance and agreed to switch to numbers rather than names. They also ensured the focus was on improving the process rather than finding scapegoats, Tumelty added. The anecdote highlighted the essence of good CI: management empowering the shopfloor to deliver kaizen. The trouble that UK operators face is historic animosity between the two, explained Mark Bown, CI head at power giant Cummins. "I've never been anywhere that's as cynical as the UK. A lot of it is to do with our demand and control management which has created an 'us and them' attitude. It's really hard to break down those barriers." However, crisis points offer a powerful catalyst for change, Bown advised. "You need a crisis for improvement. The crisis at Cummins is constant growth, but it's hard to get the workforce to see it that way. But if Cummins looks to take work from one plant and transfer it to China, then suddenly the crisis is very real for the guys in that plant." A useful way to thaw the ice is for managers to relax alongside shopfloor colleagues, WMMC delegates heard. Gestamp bosses, for example, donned fancy dress as part of open days with the workforce – a simple gesture that fostered team spirit and spurred morale, said Tumelty. Similarly, McPherson told delegates how he'd taken a factory cleaner for lunch after spotting the employee going beyond the call of duty, picking up litter from underneath a thorny bush. Factories have to turn old hierarchies on their head, agreed Jason Larkman, CI head at Britvic. He said: "There's been a shift from 'these are the KPIs you have to hit', to 'what is your CI plan and what support do you want from us to hit your plan?'. It sounds simple but it's been a massive change." There's one final point from WMMC that's worth remembering: "We've heard lots about initiatives and programmes," concluded Larkman. "That makes CI sound like a bolt-on to the day job, but this is not a programme or an initiative – CI has to become the way we do things around here." Don't miss the next CI masterclass:?sign up for WMMC 2012. Call Julie Knox on 01322 221144 or email jknox@findlay.co.uk