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We hope you enjoy this month's edition of our operational excellence newsletter. Please take a few minutes to read the story of how Aluminum Trailer Company's adoption of Lean saved their business. This is another example of how transforming to Lean can be the difference between success and failure for a company. Happy reading.
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Quantum Associates, Inc
Operational Excellence Newsletter
Delivering Swift and Significant Results
"Our groove is to help you improve."
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October 2016
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Is It The People or The Process?
Many times while working with clients I hear how bad or ill prepared "our people" are. Quality and customer experience issues are rampant through the company and the retort is we need to hire better people. As a process improvement consultant I always ask them about the process the people are laboring under. Is it robust? Does it prevent them from making mistakes? Is it designed with the customer in mind?
Not surprisingly, the organization has never considered the process as the reason for all the quality and customer experience issues. As W. Edwards Deming proclaimed, 85% of the problems in any organization is process or system related, but I find many managers focused on the 15% of people/other related activities. Every day the organization and most of all the customers are involved in a series of processes-getting our computers to work, getting our work done in the workplace-whose steps must be performed properly in the proper sequence to get the results we seek.
I tell my clients, what is fascinating is that when "people are working in a bad process they often become bad like the process"-poor quality work, inferior customer service, and a cavalier attitude about getting the work done. I tell them to stop the blame game, step back and think about the process itself and how it can be improved.
The widespread existence of bad processes in all organizations is a great opportunity for improvement. Managers should be leading the way in rethinking every process producing "bad" people and poor results. So the next time you encounter "bad people" in your organization, please give this concept of looking at the process a try.
"If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing."-W. Edwards Deming
Willie
Willie L. Carter is the president Quantum Associates, Inc., Highland Park, Illinois. Along with his nearly 40 years experience in operations, quality and consulting in various industries, Willie is a Certified Lean Sensei, Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence, and a Certified ISO 9000 Lead Assessor. He can be reached at wcarter@quantumassocinc.com
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Manufacturers Must Adopt Lean Production to Achieve Higher Efficiencies, Competencies
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Contributors: Mansoor Ahmad
Lean-production can help manufacturers and service providers attain higher efficiency, save time, and money to stay ahead of competitors...(Read More)
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32 Essential Lean Manufacturing Tools
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When you hear "lean manufacturing," you have your own world view of what it means. Every lean manufacturing consultant offers expertise but few will be an expert with every tool...(Read More)
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Lean Management Saves Aluminum Trailer Co.
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Contributor: Michelle Nash-Hoff
Fighting for survival during the Great Recession, Aluminum Trailer Co. adopted lean manufacturing and was profitable the next year...(Read More)
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Five Steps to Improved Manufacturing Quality
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Contributor: Jason Piatt
There is no better cost to eliminate than the cost of poor quality. Scrap material and lost labor hours add no value to the operation...(Read More)
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Our Reason for Being
Quantum Associates was founded on the premise of bringing together like-minded associates with multiple years of industry experience reducing waste and improving processes in organizations. Our goal is to leverage the knowledge and experience of our seasoned associates to assist both service and manufacturing organizations train their employees to untangle intermingled processes in order to clearly see the specific process they manage or touch as it flows from start to finish and to improve the performance of those processes so that every stakeholder (customer, employee, supplier, investor) is better off. We serve as the nucleus for delighting your customers by preparing your people to improve their processes.
What We Look For in a Client
We look for companies/organizations who want to untangle their processes in order to clearly see how to improve the performance (efficiency, productivity, customer experience) of those processes so that every stakeholder (customer, employee, supplier, and investor) is better off.
We guarantee 100% customer satisfaction absolutely.
"Our groove is to help you improve."
Enjoy the Newsletter,
Willie L. Carter
President
"All improvement happens project by project and in no other way." ~ Joseph Juran
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