When flying a plane the most important time of a flight is the take-off and landing !!! The same can be said for the start and stop of a shift within your operations.
As we deployed our Daily Report-Out methodology with a client we decided to track how many pieces a process would produce within the first 30 minutes of operation. Why ???
If the process can run at rate right from the start of shift we will know the following;
The process was left “wet” so the incoming individuals can immediately process
• Standardization is in effect
• Effective 5S has been implemented
• Engineered material conveyance is working properly
If the process cannot begin to work effectively at the start of shift it will alter the attitude of the employees with alarming results to the process …
• Improper 5S and standardization creates Poor Attitude
• Poor Attitude creates Poor Performance
• Poor Performance creates Poor Quality
• Poor Attitude creates Poor Through-put
If we fail to get good employee engagement at the start of shift there is a high likelihood that the balance of the shift will continue to produce poor performance. So it is imperative that we closely monitor how the start of shift unfolds.
So in addition to traditional KPI we suggest that you have a start of shift KPI. If the process fails to meet a certain criteria within the first 30 minutes the employees should alert senior coaches so that the process can be realigned and get back on track.
Like a pilot once the airplane has completed the take-off the actual flight goes into auto-pilot … unless something goes wrong. Here is where Hourly Activity Boards are a great asset. The operators working a process will enter a hypnotic state producing at a steady rate unless something goes wrong. This is why it is good to have the operators report the output of a process at a regular time, typically hourly. Most organizations
then convert this data into an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
calculation.
Having Hourly Activity Boards that the operators must update on an hourly basis does several things;
• Makes the operator pause to report through-put
• Identifies issues hampering process
• Makes Robust processes visual
• Measures actual Output to Goal
When implementing Hourly Activity Tracking Boards you need to incorporate the following tips to enhance the their effectiveness;
Only add 2 numbers … your operators are trained to be operators and not mathematicians so it is imperative that your board requires that as the shift progresses your operators are only adding 2 numbers. When designing your hourly tracking board in addition to the Goal and Actual columns you need to add an Accumulation column. With this at the end of each hour your operator only needs to add 2 numbers to provide a running total that is easily transferred to a graph at the end of shift without any additional calculations or the use of a calculator.
Staffing … most organizations today flex their labour during a shift depend on requirements so it can be a good idea to have a column that indicates the level of staff present at the end of each hour. In this manner by the end of shift you can easily take the total number of staff (labour hours) divided by the Total Number of Pieces Produced to give you the Pieces Produced per Labour Hour.
Downtime Tracking … you can either have a detailed definition of Downtime criteria or just a general comment section. Significant Downtime issues will always be recorded by the issue of Micro-Stoppages will be overlooked and quite often are considered to be inherent attributes of the process. The secret is the ability to identify the Micro-Stoppages and eliminate them. This will insure that you are constantly enhancing your processes to be robust.
The Landing … just like a pilot preparing to land the aircraft … they get the plane ready for landing by working their way through a checklist. You need to provide your employees a checklist to insure a successful ending of shift and preparing the process for the next successful take-off. The checklist should include the following;
• Cleaning of critical areas of the process
• Progressive stepped cleaning of other attributes that will insure a complete clean each week.
• Replenishment of Operating Supplies to established levels
• Return and audit of tools to Shadow Boards
• Completion of the 5 Minute 5S activity for the day.
• Updating of KPI’s and plotted on graphs
• Review and conducting TPM of process
The landing requirements should be time studied so that they can be completed by the operator or the team within 5 minutes.
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