Manufacturing at World Class levels is a relentless pursuit of 100% quality, 100% on time, at the lowest cost possible. Its about increasing efficiency, while eliminating waste and wasteful activity.
Plants and plant managers are always on the lookout for how to reduce costs while at the same time improving OEE and keeping their resources focused on high value activities.Unfortunately sometimes, cost reduction efforts can miss the big picture, especially when these initiatives are solely focused on reducing unit costs.
In this video I offer an example where the team was excited about implementing a cost reduction opportunity however it was clearly a containment action vs true process improvement that supported the overall objectives of the facility.
It’s tough to differentiate containment actions from real waste elimination opportunities when you’re living inside the process. Sometime an outsider can help spot the assumptions and ask the right questions to look at the problem differently.
Look hard at your current CI projects, are they containment actions or process capability improvements? The later has to be the priority as we race to maintain World Class Standards.