Leveraging digital in lean management systems – by Tim McLean

Everyone is collecting more and more data in their operations, but its effectiveness is in how you use it to increase value for the customer. Here, Tim McLean reviews the data scene, urges us not to give up all the old, visual management ways, and outlines what we need to look for in a Manufacturing Execution System.

The industry 4.0 revolution has spawned a bewildering array of software solutions aimed at delivering operational data to operational leaders.

A recent trade exhibition I attended featured an entire section on Manufacturing Execution Systems, with at least a dozen different software tools offering to improve operational performance.

Never have businesses had access to so much data on the state of their process.

This provides a tremendous opportunity for effective short interval control. That is, tracking performance at as short an interval as possible and taking preventative or corrective action as issues occur in as close as possible to real time.

However, the challenge is what to do with all this data.

I like to say that software does not solve problems – people do. Brilliant analysis and easy to read dashboards are only effective if leaders take action to correct problems or poor performance when it is highlighted.

Removing the human element from data collection can lead to a loss of employee engagement.

When the team leader in a work area must collect the data on his team’s performance and record it on a handwritten graph on a visual management board, they have ownership of that information and view it as theirs.

In many cases they systems are one-way, presenting data, but providing no mechanism for feedback or problem solving.

However, if the data is simply presented to them on a screen, after a few weeks, they may not even notice the actual performance.

It is not uncommon for me to walk through a factory with live electronic dashboards showing off target performance through the factory and this is simply being ignored.

Even worse, many systems require front line staff to enter large amounts of data to provide reports to their managers, who they rarely see.

In this case software can even be seen as an extra chore and resented by the very people it should help.

So how do you avoid these problems make the most of these amazing digital tools that are now available?

Remember Where the Value is Created

As a manager, it is great to have tools that provide you with a live and accurate view of operational performance, enable you to slice and dice data and produce impressive reports for senior leadership.

However, this can perpetuate a top-down model when solving problems and making improvement is solely the job of managers and engineers.

This approach, which is the norm in many businesses, means that managers and engineers become bottlenecks for improvement and that response times for issues are usually measured in days or weeks.

The people who create value for your customers are your front-line teams. These team members and their leaders also have the best understanding of your process and are best placed to take immediate action when problems occur, minimising their impact and maximising your chance of eliminating the root cause.

Therefore, when selecting and developing software solutions, focus first on how front-line teams will use the data. How will they access the data? How will it help them and will the data be presented in a way that is useful and accessible to the front-line teams.

Remember that not everyone understands graphs, so what might look clever and impressive for an engineer may be incomprehensible to a front-line team member.

The same simple bar graphs and red-green colour coding that are used on manual visual boards can work effectively in bar graphs or dashboard dials on digital systems.

You should also think twice before completely abandoning manual visual boards. These can complement the digital solutions.

Even where touch screens are used to record data and communicate issues, we have observed that the time taken to wrangle the software tool can be distracting and cause a loss of focus during daily stand-up meetings compared to filling out a problem-solving concern strip by hand.

We have noticed that some of our customers that went fully digital and now re-introducing manual visual management for problem solving daily issues.

Using the Data

Another challenge is to get team leaders and even managers to make effective use of the data presented.

Leader standard work can play a big part here. Establish simple routines that require team leaders and managers to check the performance at regular intervals, perhaps hourly for a team leader and every three hours for a manager. If performance is off target, they need to record the root cause and corrective action taken.

An Andon system can be very effective here. This enables team members to flag an issue that they find and then requires the team leader to respond with support in a defined period.

If the team leader is unable to resolve the issue, then it can be further escalated to manager or support functions (e.g., the quality team or maintenance) who also must respond within a defined period.

If it is a safety or quality issue, production will stop until it is resolved. Some manufacturing execution systems have Andon built in or can be configured to include an Andon system.

Selecting a System

As I mentioned at the start of this article, there are dozens of different systems available. They vary in terms of capabilities, cost, and usability.

Equipment vendors are often offering MES tools that operate with their machines. These clearly operate seamlessly with the vendors’ equipment but do lock you in to one brand of machine, which few manufacturers are able to do.

There are also big systems that integrate directly with full suite ERP systems like SAP and enable fully automated plants to be controlled centrally.

We have one client where the production planning team can launch batches from their desk with complex bills of materials downloading from SAP, materials being dispensed automatically, processed transferred from process to process automatically, changeovers between products are automated and the only human involvement occurs when the finished product is loaded on the delivery vehicle.

However, this level of automation and control is very expensive and only viable for the largest manufacturing operations.

At the other end of the spectrum are off the shelf MES tools. Many of these are cloud based, which means that they don’t need to be installed on company servers or create security issues.

Like any software investment, the start point is to define what you want to achieve. Decide what features you must have and what would be nice to have and then evaluate a range of different solutions.

Manufacturing industry exhibitions are a good place to look as multiple MES providers are present at most exhibitions these days.

Picture: txm.com

Tim McLean has had a long career in operational management for major manufacturers including Hoechst, Southcorp Packaging and PPG Industries. He is an author and is managing director of TXM Lean Solutions.