PLANT MANAGEMENTS ROLE
The Kaizen Process
(Continued)
Four weeks before your
event, the scope of the
project
should be clear and your
objectives or expected
outcomes
should be done. Objectives
for an event should be a
stretch, for example, a
space reduction of 75
percent,
travel distance reduced by
50 percent, 80 percent of
all
non-value-added tasks
eliminated. The reason for
stretch objectives is so we
don't cut short the
potential improvements.
If you give an objective to
the team of reducing space
for their operation by 15
percent, that's what you
will get. I mean to say,
after reaching their goal
the team
is likely to say it's time
to move on, the objective
has been met. If you ask for
75 percent and get 35
percent, the event
has been a huge success.
Three weeks before the
event, your last-minute
changes or additions to the
team should be complete.
This allows everyone as much
time as possible to arrange
their professional and
personal schedules to allow
for the four uninterrupted
days the event will require.
At
this time we should also
have a food committee formed
to plan for in-house meals
and snacks. Your team is
going to work hard. They
must be cared for
accordingly.
A space should be made
available where their will
always
be a supply of cold drinks,
coffee, and snacks. Likewise
this area would be used for
delivery of three meals
per day. The
conference or meeting room
they will require
for the four days could
double for their break area.
As you will see later, we
celebrate our victory with
much enthusiasm after the
event is completed. Because
of this, three weeks before
the event someone should
have the
responsibility for procuring
token gifts for the
team—t-shirts,
hats—use your imagination.
Some elect
to design a kaizen t-shirt.
This shirt is only given to
persons
who have completed an event.
There is no other
way to obtain one. You might
also give a certificate and
a token gift like a key
chain with "kaizen" engraved
on
it. The same person will
usually also have the task
of
arranging some entertainment
for the celebration. I have
had a band come in and play
while we have lunch served
for the team and invited
guests.
All training materials and
supplies for the team should
also begin coming together
by week three. Training materials
should be in order. The
supplies or "kaizen kit"are
refurbished after each
event. The kit contains the
tools
of the trade—six stop
watches, writing pads, pens,
pencils,
tape measures, marking pens,
masking tape, calculators,
etc. We also make sure there
is a supply of hand
tools available as well as
duct tape, cardboard, flip
charts,
some pieces of wood, and
construction items. These
are
frequently used for mockups.
Your team leader,
management, and other
persons
with responsibility for
preparedness should meet
weekly
until the event begins.
Develop a checklist of the
items that we have covered
to make sure everything is
ready
for the event in advance.
This list must include any
changes that will be made to
the production schedule
to allow for down
time during the event. This
will vary
depending on the type of
area you are working on.
Realistically
ask yourself if it will be
possible to maintain
production and at what level
during the event.
One thing that I have
incorporated is a
"pre-kaizen"
task list. I have assigned
an industrial engineer who
is
also a kaizen facilitator in
training the responsibility
for getting some groundwork
done in advance of the
event. We have found this to
be a great head-start for
our teams. For example, we
go into our event already
knowing the "before" data
such as square footage
consumed by the process,
current run times, current
travel
distances, current average
production attainable per
shift, etc. By doing this in
advance our team has more
time to analyze and offer
alternatives before implementing
their recommendations.