As the global markets, especially manufacturing, grind to standstill what is your company doing to stay busy? Is there enough work to make it through to the "upswing"? Is there any glimmer of hope that you can turn it around or return to form?
This downturn is probably the best time to implement projects...everyone is less busy and anything new and positive could be a catalyst for you.
Let me know your thoughts on putting in motion big projects during times of recession.
thanks,
jay
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Corrective Action - how do you do it?
Someone has just brought to your attention some bad material out on the manufacturing floor, how do you deal with it? Who, what, where, when, and how. This is happening at this moment, in any given manufacturing environment around the world.
How do you put your hands around the situation? How to protect your internal business from external nonconformances? How to follow through the entire process to ensure that you have corrected and hopefully prevented this sort of thing from happening again.
please post your comments, as I am quite interested to hear how others do their dirty work.
jay
How do you put your hands around the situation? How to protect your internal business from external nonconformances? How to follow through the entire process to ensure that you have corrected and hopefully prevented this sort of thing from happening again.
please post your comments, as I am quite interested to hear how others do their dirty work.
jay
Monday, January 19, 2009
Setting the Bar
Setting the expectations for your suppliers seems quite easy - perfection or nothing. That is where it goes all downhill, as fantasy and reality clash.
Everyone wants 0 defect, no production interruptions, not having to sort material, not having to fill out corrective actions - the truth is that this happens every day in almost every manufacturing facility. So when you start your relationship by demanding perfection from your supplier, but then turn around and use the nonconforming parts because you have no other choice, what is the message you are really sending, for sure it is not WE MUST HAVE 100% COMPLIANCE OR YOU WILL PAY DEARLY...as you slam your fist on the table.
So what is the expectation? What specifications are truly critical to stay within tolerance? How far can you bend without breaking? Really, what do reasonably believe your suppliers should maintain as a level of excellence?
What can suppliers expect from you when dealing with nonconformance - either to product or processes? I find consistency is key, act and react with the same set of logic, establish a predictable pattern and suppliers will respect your 'demands'. Another great approach is to not bow to suppliers' threats - if they refuse to work with you, or play coy and force you to use the material 'because everything in house is like that', you are just enabling them. Stick to your guns and get your desired outcome. And have a plan BEFORE you make first contact. Do not fall victim to knee jerk reactions. This is where a lot of us fall down.
Be reasonable, stay consistent and close the loop.
take care,
jay
Everyone wants 0 defect, no production interruptions, not having to sort material, not having to fill out corrective actions - the truth is that this happens every day in almost every manufacturing facility. So when you start your relationship by demanding perfection from your supplier, but then turn around and use the nonconforming parts because you have no other choice, what is the message you are really sending, for sure it is not WE MUST HAVE 100% COMPLIANCE OR YOU WILL PAY DEARLY...as you slam your fist on the table.
So what is the expectation? What specifications are truly critical to stay within tolerance? How far can you bend without breaking? Really, what do reasonably believe your suppliers should maintain as a level of excellence?
What can suppliers expect from you when dealing with nonconformance - either to product or processes? I find consistency is key, act and react with the same set of logic, establish a predictable pattern and suppliers will respect your 'demands'. Another great approach is to not bow to suppliers' threats - if they refuse to work with you, or play coy and force you to use the material 'because everything in house is like that', you are just enabling them. Stick to your guns and get your desired outcome. And have a plan BEFORE you make first contact. Do not fall victim to knee jerk reactions. This is where a lot of us fall down.
- Once you find that there is a problem, establish what the true problem is before throwing a supplier under the bus and looking for a scapegoat.
- Determine what is the true acceptance criteria. This may not fit the specification, but it will salvage material and still allow for production to continue without ill effects downstream.
- Formulate your inventory needs prior to contacting the supplier so you don't get stuck eating their bad inventory.
- Establish reasonable expectations and requirements from all parties that will remedy the situation.
- Now communicate to the nonconforming party what the situation is, and what it is you expect them to do.
- Do NOT bow to pressures and let the supplier dictate the situation - you must stay in control no matter what. As long as you are making sound decisions based on all of the information available, you must LEAD - as soon as you let the supplier take control you are at their mercy.
- Keep a cool head - the hardest part of the entire process if things really come off the rails.
- Stay consistent throughout the process, and continue to re-enforce your expectations.
- FOLLOW THROUGH ON YOUR REQUIREMENTS
Be reasonable, stay consistent and close the loop.
take care,
jay
Monday, August 4, 2008
Supplier Selection - Auditing
Auditing is an effective way of gathering data. You have the ability to to build an audit plan, visit the location and ask as many questions as you would like.
Audits can also be long, boring and a huge waste of time, for both you and the auditee. Everyone has sat through one of these and tried to duck out as fast as possible, only to be dragged back for the complimentary luncheon and then the dreaded closing meeting. For me, auditing has to be more of a value added (sorry for the cliche) process. If I'm going to spend time and resource on travel and using up valuable time at someone's facility, I have to walk away with something tangible - the results must justify my work.
The most effective method I have used is a total business model approach. I do not put much faith in audits to "the standard" as that only captures a portion of what I'm interested in. If the plan is to pour money (thousands or millions annually) into an organization, I want to know a lot more about them than if they have rework instructions or if their calipers are "in calibration". This type of Q&A is a total waste of time. If an organization doesn't have the basics covered, there isn't much hope of them being and organized body all moving in the same direction.
On to the audit planning.
I find the most effective way of evaluating a location or organization is by keeping the overall scope simple. I loosely follow the Ishakawa diagram 6 Ms (Machine, Method, Materials, Maintenance, Man and Mother Nature (Environment)) and then focus on each of the major departments (Sales, Engineering, Quality, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Customer Service, IT and Support)
The plan I developed and follow looks at each department individually and asks only relevant questions, as what I categorize as relevant :). Also, the questioning method is simply what is the Condition Expected and your findings are the Conditions Realized, this removes any vagueness as you clearly state what you are looking for and report what you found.
First I look at the personnel, do they they have enough people to do the work? If I put more work into this area, can they handle it? Do they have a training program to get the group up to speed and keep them current? More importantly - Do they even know if they have the right amount of people and what their knowledge levels are? That is the hardest question to ask and have answered - basically are you self aware?
I move on to the easy stuff after that - what do you do, how do you do it, how do you track it and are you getting better? This is the list of usual suspects and going through the motions for each step of their process. The only thing here is asking these questions in the NON-Manufacturing departments. Again, are these companies self aware of the entire process or do they just focus on the manufacturing. I find this is where organizations fall down. They do not have process in place for support departments and they do not have the means to measure the effectivity and efficiency of their people.
The final round of questions is about the environment - is it comfortable, do people like it there, what type of work environment are people subject to, etc. I try not to score these with much weight, i.e. lesser number of questions, but it is important none the less. Companies that realize that the most important resource is the people working for them (again, cliche but true) are usually the highest performers.
Scoring
Again the goal is to keep it as simple as possible, 1-2-3. 1 = you are not achieving any of the expected conditions, 2 = partial achievement and 3 = fully achieving the expected requirement. When you try to expand beyond 3 different states you introduce opinion and conjecture. This taints your audit results and opens the floor up to lobbying for leniency. I look at it as either you aren't doing anything, OR what you are doing is something but not enough, OR you are in full compliance of the expectation. There is no way for someone to dispute these states.
Closing the Loop
If you can put together an audit that captures the true business from start to finish, not just the making of the parts, and can rate people accordingly, I feel that you have a worthwhile audit. These results should give you a good indication of how this organization will perform when the rubber meets the road.
If you have solid audit reporting you can now use that with the other data you plan on evaluating during the Supplier Selection process.
Audits can also be long, boring and a huge waste of time, for both you and the auditee. Everyone has sat through one of these and tried to duck out as fast as possible, only to be dragged back for the complimentary luncheon and then the dreaded closing meeting. For me, auditing has to be more of a value added (sorry for the cliche) process. If I'm going to spend time and resource on travel and using up valuable time at someone's facility, I have to walk away with something tangible - the results must justify my work.
The most effective method I have used is a total business model approach. I do not put much faith in audits to "the standard" as that only captures a portion of what I'm interested in. If the plan is to pour money (thousands or millions annually) into an organization, I want to know a lot more about them than if they have rework instructions or if their calipers are "in calibration". This type of Q&A is a total waste of time. If an organization doesn't have the basics covered, there isn't much hope of them being and organized body all moving in the same direction.
On to the audit planning.
I find the most effective way of evaluating a location or organization is by keeping the overall scope simple. I loosely follow the Ishakawa diagram 6 Ms (Machine, Method, Materials, Maintenance, Man and Mother Nature (Environment)) and then focus on each of the major departments (Sales, Engineering, Quality, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Customer Service, IT and Support)
The plan I developed and follow looks at each department individually and asks only relevant questions, as what I categorize as relevant :). Also, the questioning method is simply what is the Condition Expected and your findings are the Conditions Realized, this removes any vagueness as you clearly state what you are looking for and report what you found.
First I look at the personnel, do they they have enough people to do the work? If I put more work into this area, can they handle it? Do they have a training program to get the group up to speed and keep them current? More importantly - Do they even know if they have the right amount of people and what their knowledge levels are? That is the hardest question to ask and have answered - basically are you self aware?
I move on to the easy stuff after that - what do you do, how do you do it, how do you track it and are you getting better? This is the list of usual suspects and going through the motions for each step of their process. The only thing here is asking these questions in the NON-Manufacturing departments. Again, are these companies self aware of the entire process or do they just focus on the manufacturing. I find this is where organizations fall down. They do not have process in place for support departments and they do not have the means to measure the effectivity and efficiency of their people.
The final round of questions is about the environment - is it comfortable, do people like it there, what type of work environment are people subject to, etc. I try not to score these with much weight, i.e. lesser number of questions, but it is important none the less. Companies that realize that the most important resource is the people working for them (again, cliche but true) are usually the highest performers.
Scoring
Again the goal is to keep it as simple as possible, 1-2-3. 1 = you are not achieving any of the expected conditions, 2 = partial achievement and 3 = fully achieving the expected requirement. When you try to expand beyond 3 different states you introduce opinion and conjecture. This taints your audit results and opens the floor up to lobbying for leniency. I look at it as either you aren't doing anything, OR what you are doing is something but not enough, OR you are in full compliance of the expectation. There is no way for someone to dispute these states.
Closing the Loop
If you can put together an audit that captures the true business from start to finish, not just the making of the parts, and can rate people accordingly, I feel that you have a worthwhile audit. These results should give you a good indication of how this organization will perform when the rubber meets the road.
If you have solid audit reporting you can now use that with the other data you plan on evaluating during the Supplier Selection process.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Supplier Selection Process
So you have a design that you think is ready for manufacturing, both at the supplier and in your own system. Now you have to go out and find the right supplier to do the job. What criteria are you going to use? Geographic location? Past performance? Lowest price?
We all know which one gets used, past performance - NOT. The powers to be usually go with the lowest price regardless of everything else. In the end, the old adage of you get what you pay for rings true. The guy that can make it as cheap as possible usually delivers late, has high scrap rates internally and a high PPM rate within your facility. And to add to that, who knows where this company is that can provide you with a low piece price, usually not right next door. The approach I prefer is a combination of as many attributes that I can gather. I do this by combining an on-site audit with any historical data available. For new suppliers making a bid, the audit is the only thing you have, unless you have a common denominator - like a business associate who deals with them or you have access to their customer list and ratings. Either way, the unknown is always an adventure. At least looking to your current list of suppliers, you know what you are getting.
We all know which one gets used, past performance - NOT. The powers to be usually go with the lowest price regardless of everything else. In the end, the old adage of you get what you pay for rings true. The guy that can make it as cheap as possible usually delivers late, has high scrap rates internally and a high PPM rate within your facility. And to add to that, who knows where this company is that can provide you with a low piece price, usually not right next door. The approach I prefer is a combination of as many attributes that I can gather. I do this by combining an on-site audit with any historical data available. For new suppliers making a bid, the audit is the only thing you have, unless you have a common denominator - like a business associate who deals with them or you have access to their customer list and ratings. Either way, the unknown is always an adventure. At least looking to your current list of suppliers, you know what you are getting.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Best Practices – A Closer Look at Supplier Scorecards
The Supplier Scorecard assesses suppliers based on major performance benchmarks in several key areas such as Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT), On-time Delivery, Quality Parts per Million, Cost of Poor Quality, Inventory Turns and Productivity Gains.
Supplier Scorecards are one of the best techniques in using facts to rank the supplier’s relative performance within the supply base and tracking improvement in supplier’s quality over time. Scorecards also provide a data point into any future business negotiations. Following are the key operational metrics that leading manufacturers track in their supplier scorecard:
PPM of Supplier Components
# of Corrective Actions Last Quarter
Average Response and Resolution time for Corrective actions
# RMAs Processed per month
MRB Inventory Levels
# of Rework Hours due to Supplier Components
% of Actual COPQ Recovered from Suppliers
# of Customer Complaints on Product Quality
Warranty Reserves
Relative ranking of supplier
Performance against benchmark
Supplier Scorecards are one of the best techniques in using facts to rank the supplier’s relative performance within the supply base and tracking improvement in supplier’s quality over time. Scorecards also provide a data point into any future business negotiations. Following are the key operational metrics that leading manufacturers track in their supplier scorecard:
PPM of Supplier Components
# of Corrective Actions Last Quarter
Average Response and Resolution time for Corrective actions
# RMAs Processed per month
MRB Inventory Levels
# of Rework Hours due to Supplier Components
% of Actual COPQ Recovered from Suppliers
# of Customer Complaints on Product Quality
Warranty Reserves
Relative ranking of supplier
Performance against benchmark
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Jade Innovations Supplier Management Solutions
Jade Innovations offers a comprehensive, Supplier Relationship Management Software solution to manage the ever-critical supplier base. The Jade difference is simple – 1000s of hours of user-feedback combined with easy-to-use interfaces leading to an advanced software solution to manage your supplier base. At Jade Innovations the software is designed and created by Quality Experts with real-life experience and knowledge in the quality field – thereby ensuring the Supplier Relationship Management software meets the requirements of both the user and the supplier-base, whether performing Supplier Corrective Action or reporting via Supplier Scorecards. Try out the free demo today at www.jadeinnovations.com.
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