Involving People Gave Us the Improvements We Needed

We had a problem with handling materials in a production department. Our process required raw materials to enter the department, be processed, and leave the department. The raw material was placed on pods, delivered for production, removed from the pods, placed on a staging fixture, removed from the fixture and process materials were then placed on another pod and delivered to an internal customer. Internal customer had to place on still another pod.

Someone suggested placing the material from the fixture onto the customer's internal pod to reduce handling, errors, etc. Room was tight (because two different style pods were used, one for raw material and one for processing) and someone long ago suggested moving a wall to create more space for easier movement of the pods.

After we realized that involving people would give us the improvements we wanted, someone suggested modifying the pods into a cart that could hold more material and reduce our need for more space. Others became involved; Martin developed possible designs for the cart while speaking with his coworkers to find out their ideas.

A cross-functional team designed and built a new cart. It held more raw materials, eliminated the need for the staging fixture, and allowed raw material and processed material to be transported on the same cart, eliminating the need for the second pod. The cart was built by reusing materials from the old pods.

Immediate benefits included less movement and less contamination of materials, also the new cart was more ergonomically friendly. After using the new cart, others came up with more ideas. All together 20 people contributed improvements to eliminate unnecessary equipment, combine processes, and reduce cost. Fourteen process steps were reduced to seven, operator motion was reduced, material was moved less, quality improved, and the job of the operator was made easier.

Recently someone had the idea of using the cart in a different area, so more improvements are to come.

Copyright © 2005 Chuck Yorke - All Rights Reserved

Chuck Yorke is an organizational development and performance improvement specialist, trainer, consultant and speaker. He is co-author of "All You Gotta Do Is Ask," a book which explains how to promote large numbers of ideas from employees. Chuck may be reached at ChuckYorke@yahoo.com

---

Write Winning Proposals For Venture Capitalists

You need to secure money for your project. You visit... Read More

Gift Giving for Business a Major Headache

Corporate gifting is a big headache for most business owners;... Read More

An Original Perspective on Waging Conflict as a Way to Promote and Restore Self-dignity

Conflict is a fact of life for all of us,... Read More

Rapid Culture Change is Possible

Purpose: Show how immersion leadership training makes strategic initiative success... Read More

How to Delegate Effectively

ACCOUNTABILITY: Delegation is not complete unless subordinates are held accountable... Read More

Why Would Anyone Do That in My Meeting?

Imagine that you open a meeting by saying, "We need... Read More

Can Your Business Run Without You?

If you are a business owner or a business owner... Read More

Designing Your Healthy Administration - A Management Overview

Management or Leadership?Simply stated, management ensures that things get done,... Read More

Your Blueprint For Business Success

Before you start your own business one of the first... Read More

What Every HR Manager Should Know About Hiring Productive Employees

The characteristics of job applicants have a strong influence on... Read More

The Rise of Corporate Chair Massages

Employers have rapidly begun to understand the importance of stress... Read More

Top 5 Services Your Company?s Accounting Department Should Outsource

Accounting is one area which every company has to maintain... Read More

When Change Is In the Wind...Heads Up!

In these days of takeovers and mergers, of downsizings and... Read More

Delegation: When to Delegate, Who to Delegate to

There are some very simple guides for delegation.Most people delegate... Read More

Using, Choosing, and Using an educational consultant

IntroductionThe aim of this document is to provide advice and... Read More

To Outsource or Not to Outsource

In these days of restricted head count and tight budgets,... Read More

Performance Evaluations Can Be Beneficial

THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW MEETING: It's a fact - most supervisors... Read More

How Businesses Can Stop Wallowing in Bad Debt and Prevent It in the Future

"Become the Squeaky Wheel", a new book just published, explains... Read More

The Comfort Zone

The Comfort Zone I... Read More

Seeking Help

Where does the time go? Billable time. As a consultant,... Read More

Taking Care of Middle Manager Bounce Off

How many times have the management consultants been 'in' and... Read More

Bye-Bye Boring Meetings! Make Yours Remarkable!

It's the middle of the night. You've woken up with... Read More

Keep Your Good Workers by Building Good Leaders

A recent report from the American Hospital Association's Commission on... Read More

More Computer Consulting 101 Hiring Tips (Part 2 of 2)

Does your company need to retain the services of a... Read More

When Business Becomes A Battlefield

"We have to be careful it's like a minefield out... Read More

How to Meet Quality Standards with ISO 9001

In today's hectic business environment, it is vital that we... Read More

Finding the Right Way to Motivate Your Employees

Fear, Incentives and GrowthZig Ziglar says that there are three... Read More

Protect Your Computer System with a Comprehensive Security Policy

The most difficult part of creating a Security Policy for... Read More

Are You Using the Right Form of Energy?

As we near the end of summer, here is a... Read More

Problem Solving the Problem Solving Meeting

We go to meetings to share information, to report on... Read More

Motivating For Higher Performance

Employee motivation is probably the most important single manageable factor... Read More

Eliminate Performance Anxiety Forever

You've had many years of training in your craft as... Read More

The Boss Didn?t Understand Why His Staff Wasn?t Reading His Mind

Many people believe that everyone sees the world exactly the... Read More