Burning Platforms for change
December 17, 2008 by adrianpask
When we start working with new sites and start talking about the actions necessary to generate an increase in productivity and the ways in which the site could manage Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) one of the first things we look for is desire to change.
Simply, and i’m sure many of you would agree, if your management team doesn’t have a desire to change then no change will occur. What change will occur if your operators have no desire for change?
The answer: very little.
Why: Simple pareto - if 20% of your workforce (your managers) will be working flat out trying to drive improvements into place that are often greatly resisted, how successful are they likely to be?
Here’s the mysterious thing….in probably 80% of the businesses we go to this desire for change stops cascading down at middle or junior management level.
Quite often in FMCG businesses this desire to change is fuelled by what we call “a burning platform” i.e. an emergency situation in which change is inevitable. The burning platform may be a negative ‘push’ such as a supply issue or equipment failure, or a positive ‘pull’ such as winning a new piece of business or commiting to a change plan for the future.
When i read the news right at the moment there are lots of references to burning platforms with the so called ‘credit crisis’/'credit crunch’ that the media is using to sell papers at the moment. Just this morning i was reading this news update on the Food Manufacture website identifying how supermarket chains are placing pressure on manufacturers to cut costs in an effort to boost consumer spending.
Now here are some thoughts for your leadership team:
- Do you feel that you are in some sort of burning platform scenario with a huge need to cut cost and improve performance?
- Do you have an improvement process in place, do you need to cut costs, or are you planning a big improvement activity?
- If the answer is ‘yes’ to the 2 questions above: how effectively do you believe your ‘burning platform’ is being cascaded through the business?
- How willing and capable do you believe your teams are to adapt to this change…and what actions are they currently taking to prove this? A measure here - if you’re apprehensive even discussing change with them….then you already know your answer!
Simply:
If your burning platform is being felt at all levels of your team then change is inevitable. Vast, massive, unstoppable, OEE driving, productivity boosting change!
If your burning platform is stopping at your middle and front line management teams (as can often be case) then change will be a long hard slog!
Call to action:
What action could you take to better communicate the need for change in your business?
Your burning platform:
from that same food manufacturer article: Nick O’Reilly of BRS is quoted as saying “manufacturers should critically review their businesses and operations to see if there were any skill gaps in their managements that could be filled by interim managers.”
So again - what are you doing to motivate your teams to change because if you’re not then perhaps the statement above might be the first sparks of your burning platform.
Help your operators create their own improvement toolkit
December 3, 2008 by adrianpask
I was asked today about which books i would recommend for getting more information on continuous improvement implementation in the FMCG industry. Specifically the guy i was talking to had already read The Toyota Way and The Goal, and instead wanted something really practical to help with a specific continuous improvement implementation, something that he could use with his front line managers.
So here is a range of books that i massively recommend (and often send copies to new clients considering SMED, 5s, TPM, OEE, Poka Yoke exercises). These books are written ‘for operators’ and are extremely practical, straight forward, and hugely valuable in any application:
All the links will send you to Amazon.co.uk:
2. Identifying waste on the shop floor
3. Mistake proofing for opeartors - Poke Yoke made really simple, a great book
4. Pull production for operators
8. Cellular Manufacturing for operators
10. Quick Changeover for operators (SMED)
Just remember that there’s a difference between knowing the tools and knowing how to apply them. These books make a great start of introducing topics in a way which makes implementing them just a little bit easier.
“The end of the world is nigh (again)”
December 2, 2008 by adrianpask
I’ve just finished reading this awesome blog post by Reg Connolly about the power of perception and think you will also find it interesting.
NLP is an integral part of the OptimumFX business with 1/2 the team trained, and the other half gaining exposure all the time. I wrote a short article on this on our main website in February 2007.
For us our experiences to date with NLP have helped us to set really powerful internal goals that we have the capability to communicate to each other in meaningful ways.This article is a great example of how different people experience events in different ways - the example of the journalists on the train. To a lesser extent whenever we set business or project goals the potential for the same misunderstanding always remains and NLP processes can help us to maximise the effectiveness of our communication.
We also frequently refer to specific NLP processes when talking to sites about OEE improvement and the ways of helping people to understand what the improvement means to them. Most specifically when we’re working with a management team to create a plan for change we have found that our NLP training can help us to ask even better questions to facilitate the process.
There are 2 points that really resonated for me in Reg’s blog:
1. The power of frames - how the way in which we tune our mind to pick up information on the world…and more specifically, how these frames can be set by the press to help them sell more papers. For us I wonder how we can tune people into finding and delivering change?
2. Creating change. The “shock-sadden-scare” approach that Reg outlines is effective, and i wonder how else can we support people to create results through empowering them to change, rather than driving them to change.
When we talk to you about change and about using data (be it manual collection, XL800, or LineView) to drive that change what we are attempting to do is support your requirement to improve OEE (sell more papers) through the use of factual data that provides transparent comparison for robust decision making.
READ REG’s GREAT BLOG ENTITLED “THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH (AGAIN)” BY CLICKING HERE
Optimising Line Control
December 2, 2008 by samirshah
We believe that ineffective line control is THE HIDDEN OEE Waste! By optimising your line control you will be able to increase your performance (OEE) by up to 7%!
- Do you operate in an industry that requires filling of some sort of containers like bottles, cans, bags, etc?
- Do you have continuous flow production lines with conveyor systems between the machines?
- Do you feel that there is something not quite right with the configuration of the lines and there is scope of making the lines run a lot smoother?
If you answer yes to the questions above…..then read on
What do we mean by line control?
On continuous flow production lines, typical found in FMCG environments, there are broadly 2 types of production line configuration; block and accumulation.
Block production lines operate with most machines running at the same speed. Typically block lines run with very little conveyor space between the machines (often single track). Therefore a stop on any of the blocked machines quickly or instantly causes a direct loss of performance (OEE) for the line.
Machines are typically controlled through linking the PLC controls to change speeds/stop automatically for the entire line.
Accumulation production lines, typically food related such as Coca-Cola bottling, Crisp packaging and food packaging operate with individual machines linked with large amounts of conveyor space and generally take up a lot of factory space. Typically the machines in an accumulation line have the capability of running at variable speeds, and will normally have one machine (or one block of machines) which runs the slowest; we call this the bottleneck or ‘critical’ machine. The Performance (OEE) of this line is determined by the amount of time that we’re able to keep the critical machine running at its rated speed.
Assuming good line balance and control, the accumulation minimises the impact of minor stops on all machines other than the critical machine
Machines are typically controlled by conveyor-based sensors with little direct interaction between the machines.
Line control or line philosophy is the way in which machines are stopped / started in response to changing conditions on the line. E.g. Stopping in build back when a machine downstream stops, stopping in lack when a machine upstream stops.
Have you ever wondered WHY on your production line…..
- the conveyors are running almost full all the time
- the machines on the line stop and start from no apparent reason i.e. there has been no fault or blockage upstream or downstream of the machine
- when there is a fault downstream, it almost immediately stops the critical or constraint machine although there is plenty of accumulation conveyors in between
- when there has been a stop downstream, it takes a long time for the critical machine to start up again
- the machines downstream of the critical machine are always ‘hunting for product’ i.e. either running flat out or not at all
- when the machine stops due to a build back situation, the operator has to start the machine up again and this always causes a delay on starting up again
Would you like to see more of the following happen…..
- All equipment on the line runs in automatic with no manual intervention required
- In normal condition the line speed is matched to the speed of the critical machine
- Minor stops on machines upstream or downstream do not affect the critical machine
- Extended stops affect the critical machine for a minimum period
- Critical machine starts almost instantaneously as the machines downstream after a build back situation
…..this is our vision of perfect flow and it is possible to get as close to this philosophy as you want
At OptimumFX, we have perfected a way of optimising the Line Control philosophy of an automated production line by using what we call the ‘5 Levels of control for automated flow lines’. This includes looking at (not limited to) the following concepts:
- Look at automating all machines on the line, so that machines automatically stop and start during lack or build back situations requiring no manual intervention and the machine speeds are automatically set requiring no manual adjustment
- The conveyor speeds are adjusted so that in normal conditions they are running mostly empty maximising the dynamic accumulation space
- By adjusting lack and build back sensors the conveyor space is maximised
- Link the machines together so that speeds of all the machines on the line are matched to the critical machine during normal conditions preventing wear on machines due to sudden stop / starts
- On restart after stoppages ensure that the machines downstream have sufficient over speed capability, this enables clearing of the accumulation conveyors quicker and starts the critical machine as quickly as possible
- Look at maximising the time before the critical machine stops when there is a fault downstream and minimising the time before the critical machine starts up again when the fault is repaired
We have developed a comprehensive method of auditing the production line that will identify what needs to be changed to achieve the vision of perfect flow. This is based on prioritising the actions that will give you the greatest benefit. Give us a call and we will be more than happy to help you achieve this!
