How can this book be used for all management?

Many of the examples can be used at any level of the business, open communication, awareness, visibility that builds character and integrity of the manager. The spinoff will be recognition and possible fast track movement.

Why did you write this book?

In my last assignment I was asked to train two Plant Managers. Working off a blank sheet, I put a program together that connected the dots. I was appalled at the gaps and have tried to close these in this book to make it easier for those going into this position.

Why this book? There are so many books on management

This book is not full of diagrams and telling you what must be done. Instead it is different in telling you through examples of what in all probability is going to happen and guidelines on how to handle these situations. The job must be handled in your own way depending on your operations, no holy grail …it’s a tough job and a massive challenge for anyone who is a plant manager.

These principles have been taught over and over again.

From my perspective as the writer of the book I am telling you as it is. I am clear about this and you have everything you need to be aware of to be a great plant manager. All you now have to do is put it in place to get things to work. This I not like anything you have ever seen before please read it more than once that’s why I have kept it short and to the point.

Is this all that needs to be done?

No, not in the least. These are general guidelines that put the job into context. Depending on the business you are in as a Plant Manager you have to right size the concepts, tailor them for your operations and make them work.

What about World Class Manufacturing and Bulleting Boards?

No, not in the least. These are general guidelines that put the job into context. Depending on the business you are in as a Plant Manager you have to right size the concepts, tailor them for your operations and make them work.

Euan James

Dec 4, 20194 min read

Updating SOPs: the Art of Leveraging Creativity on the Shop Floor

This is the last blog of this series of quotes and the last for 2019. My blogs will kick off again the second week of January 2020 with a new theme related to the content of my book, The Plant Manager.

Last Month's SOPs Should Be Out Of Date

In this blog, we will be looking at the second quote by Taiichi Ohno whose background is in Blog #3, "TheTruth About Costs", but as a quick refresher, he is better known as the "Father of Toyota Production Systems” which inspired lean manufacturing in the US.

Source – everythingsupplychain.com

Taiichi’s thinking was that the people employed within a business have the ability to think and can therefore improve operations. The “how to do this” is a management responsibility and involves designing good management systems as well as providing the necessary systems tools required. These are noted in my book as guidelines in the different chapters.

“Something is wrong if workers do not look around each day, find things that are tedious or boring, and then rewrite the procedures. Even last month’s manual should be out of date.” – Taiichi Ohno

Leveraging Creativity on the Shop Floor

Let’s look at today’s quote and find out where the opportunities exist to leverage this creativity on the shop floor and how to do it.

1. Manuals need to be updated.

In problem-solving teams at different levels, there will always be problems, and as pointed out in my book, the root cause will, in all probability, be operating procedures, training, or maintenance. The operating procedures and maintenance activities both apply to the above quote where the manuals need to be updated. This should be done across all departments at least once a month across the plant.

2. SOPs should be updated, "workers" should be retrained.

One of the weaknesses in most plants is that the problem-solving teams get on with solving the problems, but when the problems are “done and dusted,” the SOPs are not updated, and the “workers” are not retrained and brought up to date. This is one of the major reasons some problems come back again and again, even after being “solved”. For more on SOPs, see my blog post on "Quality Improvement and The Power of Simplification".

3. Departmental KPI's should be managed by the "workers".

Back to KPI’s again... This is a common thread through every chapter of my book, starting with the owners’/shareholders’ expectations and will always be at the forefront of the operation. I did breakdown KPIs into different categories. The high-leverage ones are reported to upper management, but the departmental KPIs must not be lost and need to be managed by the “workers” where the leverage is.

4. Innovation can come from the shop floor

The question that needs to be asked is, have the operations staff or “workers” been made aware of these? If yes, then have they been challenged to improve them? I was often surprised at the innovation that came up from the shop floor, even more so over the last decade where the average operator and maintenance technician are now better qualified academically.

5. Executive Members should be involved in KPI improvement

Added to this, in my book I suggest that when plant KPIs are reviewed, it is a good practice by the business to have executive members at the plant meeting to ask where improvements can be found. This must be enforced in the plant as well, where senior plant management attends the departmental KPI reviews, always looking for improvement and, of course, not forgetting recognition of those who did a great job.

6. The facts need to be communicated

In my book, I extensively talk about open communication, walkabouts, asking questions, daily meetings, and monthly reviews in various forms. The fundamental of all these interventions is what must be communicated are the facts – what is really going down, what the impact is on the business, and why.

7. Informed "workers" means more engagement on the shop floor

The “workers” armed with this information are now in a position to look around their respective workplaces looking for opportunities for improvement other than those raised before. This puts a stop to the feeling that the job is getting tedious or boring, and instead replaces that with an attitude that the shop floor is a great place to be where you can always look for opportunities.

What Taiichi did in the 1950s was turn Toyota into one of the most competitive suppliers in the automotive industry, and it still is today. These points still stand, and I know that there are a lot of new startups – entrepreneurs buying rundown businesses and some businesses that are in a rut – where all these points are very applicable. So, once again, take what can be used, adapt it for your business, and my hope is these will help you reach your goals successfully.

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Until next year…