Reason #10: Process Difficult to Manage
We polled, you answered...Here's reason #10 for why company's Outsource aspects of their manufacturing process and why its a concern.
I love the line…Rocket Science isn’t Rocket Science to a Rocket Scientist. Turn anything into a process and it stops being rocket science.
All you have to do is:
1. know the variables that impact the outcome you are after (i.e. the lead metrics that impact the result, or lag metrics),
2. make sure you have systems in place to accurately measure the leads at an appropriate frequency (determined by their volatility),
3. know the variables you can adjust to move you towards the desired outcome (the lags),
4. know the variables you need to monitor (but are not in your control…yet) and how they move you towards or away from your desired result (i.e. eliminating rust events from the manufacturing process),
5. make timely corrective actions for the variables you can control and impact,
6. measure your outcome against what you are looking to achieve, and
7. review the data to keep refining your control strategy moving forward, adding more leads, and adjusting your control actions accordingly.
Simple!
So when a client says that an aspect of their process is “difficult to manage”, it means they are missing one or all three of the following aspects. The expertise to know what leads are important to measure and at what frequency. The systems necessary to ensure that they are measuring all those leads on an on-going basis. And three, their actions are data driven vs reactive or time driven. When managing a process, the data needs to be looked at, evaluated and it needs to drive the next step in the control loop. Too many companies try and blanket processes with time based preventative programs that end up wasting time, resources and money while still leaving the process vulnerable to unexpected “spills”.
Using preventative, time based measures to manage a process, keeps it in the world of Rocket Science with no real opportunity to eliminate waste or sustain-ably improve.
So remember, any process can be turned into a lean machine with the right systematic approach. Even rocket science. Just ask Elon Musk!