Manufacturing Operations: Improving Performance by Managing Change
Posted January 30th, 2013
Manufacturers have known since the Industrial Revolution that change is needed to improve processes and create better products. Yet not enough manufacturing organizations adapt quickly enough or make the right changes at the right time. According to management consultant Paul Glover, “Where companies go wrong is thinking that operational improvements start with processes, when they actually start with people.” And not just any people, but the employees who staff the plants. So why is management often reluctant to engage this valuable resource? And perhaps even more importantly, why and how should they do it?
The Barriers
There are several reasons why manufacturing management may avoid asking employees about their ideas for operational improvements. If policies and procedures have been implemented by current management, they may fear being blamed or looking weak if their work is found lacking. Even if the systems were acceptable when originally implemented, and merely need to adjust to changing markets or conditions, managers can feel defensive about having their work scrutinized. In addition, it’s sometimes hard for management to accept suggestions from the very people they are used to supervising. That “Father Knows Best” attitude, however, can prevent real progress – in both productivity and profit.
The Benefits
As Glover reports, “Employees can quickly tell us how to improve operational processes by letting us know what works and what doesn’t.” In fact, a common characteristic cited in all six winners of Industry Week’s “2012 Best Plants” award was, “. . . they engage the entire workforce as talented and knowledgeable contributors to operational excellence”. For Warren Rupp, Inc., such engagement resulted in reduced lead times, improved on-time delivery and continued improvements. Lockheed Martin’s Pike County Operations boasts 100% employee participation in empowered work teams – and had a 100% on-time delivery with 0% customer rejects to show for it. CNH Wichita Product Center included their operators in an effort to upgrade the layout of manufacturing lines, improving efficiency to the point that some workers could be shifted to other, overly taxed areas of the plant.
The Process
Genuine openness to feedback is the first step toward harnessing the power of employee participation in making manufacturing changes. Staffers must be encouraged to be critical thinkers and constructive communicators, while management must be willing to relinquish some control and develop a partnership with their employees. Such changes do not happen by themselves or overnight, but as evidenced by the examples above, the value of a collaborative culture in manufacturing plants cannot be understated.
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