PLANT MANAGEMENTS ROLE
The Kaizen Process
(Continued)
In my first event, I had the
V.P. of marketing from a
service supplier on our
team. During the event it
became
necessary to have his
organization provide a service
for the changes to proceed.
He picked up the phone
and had a crew there within
a couple of hours. They
provided their service to us
in record-breaking time.
Since we pay them for time
and material, it worked out
very well for us. If we had
to schedule their service
under
normal non-emergency
conditions, we might have
waited weeks for the
required support activities.
His
excitement for the process
quickly spread to his crew.
Likewise, if your event will
impact a customer, internal
or external, this is the
chance to let them be part
of
the solution. Their
cooperation in weeks to come
can be counted on because
they feel an ownership of
the
changes that have been made.
They also now have a total
understanding as to why the
changes were required. What
they learn may become a
selling tool for them in
providing services to other
organizations. It is a true
win-win
situation.
If you have a multiplant
company, invite a few members
from other plants. Focus on
those who may have
similar processes in their
departments. This can
provide
cross-fertilization of best
practices in both
directions. If
this process is very
technical in nature, make
sure you
have at least one member
with the technical
background
required. Also encourage
members of top management
to put on their jeans for
four days and roll up their
sleeves. They will enjoy the
experience, and your associates
will see just how important
this process is to the
organization.
All team members must be
committed to four days
of no interruption—no
pagers, no beepers, no
meetings
outside the event. Everyone
will be expected to work
long
hours each day. It is not
rare for a team charged with
enthusiasm to find
themselves working until
10:00 p.m.
After selection of your
team, and acceptance by your
candidates, the plant needs
to hear about the event. The
vehicle you elect to use is
up to you. One idea is a
plantwide
communications meeting. Here
is the perfect
forum to announce your plans
for a kaizen event. Take
this opportunity to
begin supercharging your
team with
some public recognition.
Call up your team members
and introduce them to the
plant associates. Tell them
why these people were
chosen, and why this area
was
chosen. If not at a meeting,
perhaps a company newsletter,
together with a general
posting on bulletin boards.
Try some banners: "KAIZEN
COMING SOON TO A
DEPARTMENT NEAR YOU."