In manufacturing, a small number of quality problems account for the lion's share of the costs. This follows the 80/20 rule that shows up in many areas. All manufacturers have multiple quality problems but there are only enough resources to work on a few so you must be smart about which problems get tackled first. This assumes that your company has a weekly/monthly Pareto chart of these problems. With this kind of chart of the costs of nonconformance, everyone can know, follow, and support the top few.
Three keys to success in Industrial Problem Solving are;
1. You must know the top problems.
It has to be based on cost to the business and that includes the effect on the customer. When a customer is dissatisfied, the cost to the business is hard to measure precisely, but clearly very high. Internal costs will be easy to tabulate. External costs will require additional insights. Bottom line - you must know them and rank them by cost. The Pareto chart is the correct tool.
2. One problem at a time.
People tasked with solving the problems must be dedicated to this one job. If you assign a problem to a team member who already has a full plate, it won't get done. Some team members may have other responsibilities, but your best problem solvers must be dedicated to one problem at a time.
You may want four problems running concurrently, but don't have one team take them on. Have four, well-trained teams. Your top problems are eating away at your profits every day. So you want the problem solving activity to be advancing a little every day, no breaks.
Concentration is the key to results. Problem solvers need to minimize the amount of time and attention given to activities that do not advance the ball down the field.
3. Develop your team's problem-solving skills.
There's a lot that you need to know about problem solving. Without proper training, people merely wing it, fumble around, throw darts and hope for the best. It happens in every factory, and I am sure you've seen it. Various brainstorming tools are used, and root cause candidates are identified and that often means through voting, so, not science. Months later, the problem is still there.
When you work with a talented problem solver, you see a professional at work. And it's different. They ask better questions. They provide better analyses. They verify assumptions and use data and charts routinely.
These three keys to success will provide focus, structure and discipline to what is likely the most important activity in your factory. Problem solving is about recovering financial losses from poor quality.
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