As you all know I have been studying the past months with Ritsuo Shingo (the son of Shigeo Shingo). It has been a mucher greater learning than I could have hoped for and an amazing experience. I will be eternaly gratefull to Shingo San for all the time he spend with me, teaching and answering my questions.
As always these are more or less my notes from my sessions with this great and humble ex Toyota Manager with over 40 years experience in Toyota. Later I will write an article to sum up my learnings and Shingo Sans teachings. These are some questions that Shingo San was answering in a fireside chat.
What do you do if one day you are on target and then the next we are not?
- You should create standards involving the employees. If you don't then chances are they will not follow the standard. If they were involved in building the standard the propability is higher that they will follow the standard.
What do you do if the CI is not done by the people doing the job?
If one person (editors note: leader) says go to the right and the other says go to the left the employees don't know where to go. Involve them and let them decide the standard work. Not the CI people (coaches)
Continous Improvement is easy to say but difficult to do!
Everyday improvment is a message or a way to think. You can not improve every day! Not possible.
Improvement should be done ny watching the situation (1 week, 2 week or a month) and then begin improving.
Can we make an improvment everyday?
I do not like suggestion systems, writing down 5 improvement suggestions a month - no good! The content is important, the quality is important - not the quantity. I do not blame the suggestion system but how it is used.
I see companies doing like Toyota but they have no depth. They have a beautiful show case but their back yard is a mess. If you change something every day then the employees can not learn the work. People can not do that. You must build a standard then review. Too much changing does not create any sustainability.
Are there common approaches to implementing Continous Improvememt?
No there is no common approach. Every company is different. Of course everybody knows SMED and that this is the best way to reduce change over time.
When I go to the Shingo recipients it looks good, clean and quiet. At a certain plant the CI manager took me to the plant and she showed me top management listening to quality problem. Top Management often goes to the Gemba. But that is not Gemba to me! If there is a problem with the molding machine you have to go to the molding machine and closely watch.
How does Toyota approach a merger for its organisation?
Once Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Sales had to merge. But they had very different ways of thinking and acting. The sales people can go to the barber shop but production can not. They will be missing. We send the Top Management but very difficult. It will take 10 years, 15 years. A long time. Better to exchange the people and bit by bit they will merge. They will learn what standard to set when they experience the different cultures. But not only Top Management, it must be every level. Changing offices doesnt create a merger.
What is the most difficult part of continous improvement?
It is the human relationship I find. What is the standard work for? For the machine? No, its for the people. The machine doesnt think. The humans has to think. You can not say how to command! No! You have to find out how to motivate people. Peope want to work happily. Why are you doing every day delivery I ask the framing department. The Customers does not request that. Everyday delivery creates a lot of frustration. After 10 o'clock you do not accept any more orders.
Take a jewelry shop. It will take 3-4 days others will take one day. Everyday delivery? No way. Why deliver in one day? The quality is more important. Talk to the customers.
What are the expectations for continous improvement?
Quality is the most important! We have to make sure we deliver quality to the customer. Everybody should think quality. No need to think about rushing. If you make bad quality first it costs money but afterwards it cost your brand.
If each process has produced 100% quality then you do not need the quality department. Do not point fingers at who has the problem. Work on avoiding the quality problem.
What are some of the ways to improve quality?
Reduce the amount of information that needs to go into the order. Handwriting is not good! Mistakes happens because of the handwriting. Please comfirm with the customer to make sure the information is correct. Sometimes people send a new one! No this is not problem solving. No! Make sure there is no error! This is wack a mole thinking.
What is the best way to approach quality?
Everybody improvement! Dont leave it to the shop floor, dont leave it to the management. No! Everbody has to improve. It is very important to involve the shop floor. No good leaving it up to a steering commitee. Each worker should be involved like a QC circle.
Why is problem solving best done as a group activity?
I like the group activity because everybody gives their concern and view points. Only one person is difficult because that person has to convince everybody. QC circle does not only solve quality problem! No! They solve any problem.
Only one single answer: how you can do it! Not a 1.000 reasons why you can not!
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