Hello all:

Haven't posted in awhile, been busy with work in regards to the economy and issues of the such.

Anyway, I am here to post because I'm at my whit's end. I have been working for a commercial offset printing company for about a year now. I have done multiple improvements in the way of inventory, data management, 5S events and the like. I feel so far I have been very successful with the lean initiatives, and the operators also feel connected to the company more so because of the level of input they have been able to contribute.

I have come to a point where I am not sure how to approach my current situation. As the title of this post suggests, I have been told by the COO of the company to make improvements throughout the company. As I outlined before, I have done multiple events within multiple concepts that show great workflow improvements within our production facility. I explained this to him and outlined a plan to implement more continuous improvements that I have worked out with the workers within the production facility. My COO's standpoint, however, is that I am not doing enough and he wishes to steer me to specific areas in which I should concentrate on. In essence, he wishes to prioritize what I work on.

Instead of me getting down and dirty and seeing the problems alongside the machine operators, I have to follow his "Pet Project" agenda, projects he feels have the highest value to be gained. Some of his ideas include:

1) Analyzing of Time card input, see how production is inputting their time and comparing it to what they actually are doing.

2) Analyze actual time spent working on jobs in every production step compared to quoted time.

3) Analyze procedure checklists implemented in the plant and figure out how reliable the checklists are.

Those are just a few, but many more he suggested are convoluted in my mind that the concepts he is asking for isn't lean, its micro-management. What he feels is best I believe is a waste in itself.

I am at a loss of how to deal with this. It goes against everything that I am to even try to do any of these projects because they are a waste. His idea of improvements is measuring emperical data and making the final decision on his own. Complete opposite of what lean is. The biggest issue for me is because of the economy I want to keep my job but I also feel this goes against what I have been doing from the start. Within the improvements I have overseen its never been top down, its always been bottom up.

Any advice would be swell on how to deal with this or maybe some of you have had this experience in the past. Thanks for your time.

It sounds like the initiatives he's asking for aren't improvement projects, they're data collection and analysis activities. They might be used to determine where improvements could be made. There are always expenses related to data collection and analysis. In many cases they pay for themselves when they identify opportunities to be improved.

If you feel that the COO's requests are off target, follow the money trail. If you can show him evidence that other areas have greater opportunity to decrease costs or increase income, he's much more likely to agree with the activities you've selected.

It sounds like the initiatives he's asking for aren't improvement projects, they're data collection and analysis activities. They might be used to determine where improvements could be made. There are always expenses related to data collection and analysis. In many cases they pay for themselves when they identify opportunities to be improved.

If you feel that the COO's requests are off target, follow the money trail. If you can show him evidence that other areas have greater opportunity to decrease costs or increase income, he's much more likely to agree with the activities you've selected.

Thanks for your advice. Sadly, I have done the step of explaining the benefit and value of the other plans I had wished to start, but he wouldn't have it. I understand that data collection and analysis activities are warranted as long as they identify opportunities to improve. My thoughts are that his idea of improvement is looking at cost sheets and analyzing profit margins, as that is all he does.

Granted, now i'm ranting, so I'll just stop there. Thanks for the advice.

"temporarily", go with "his" way. it will not hurt you. it will be just for a short period.

then in the future, if things are in better condition, approach him again for the lean program and not measuring the details of the operations.

just keep cool....:cool: :notme:

"temporarily", go with "his" way. it will not hurt you. it will be just for a short period.

then in the future, if things are in better condition, approach him again for the lean program and not measuring the details of the operations.

just keep cool....:cool: :notme:

More likely, I fear, is the possibility that the OP will do what his manager is asking for and when it doesn't result in what the manager thinks it will, and the messenger will be shot. The COO is looking at production through the dark glasses of his P&L statement, and wants to move numbers around so he looks better.

He may not be in touch with lean as well as he thinks.

What he wants is what an Industrial Engineer or Manufacturing Engineer would do. If the company doesn't have those then it usually falls on the lean guy. I do safety as well as continuous improvement for my company. I don't like doing the safety part but it is what it is.

I'm with Howtse on this. You can use this data to make improvements then steer him towards your concepts and ideas as to how to make improvements. Kind of a give and take situation.:2cents:

Jim makes a good point too. With the economy the way it is there are managers all over that are trying to find ways to make the numbers look better. Finding those ways usually falls on the shoulders of people like you and me.

As I stated previously, I do safety. The new president of the company is very safety oriented. I have spent the better part of a year working on safety issues and little time on lean. It's part of the give and take. I like my job and want to keep it so I'll do the stuff I don't like so I can eventually get back into the stuff I do like.

My position is relatively new in the company and there are 7 facilities with my position that have both responsibilities. The company is feeling their way around with the position. Sounds like maybe that's what your COO is up to. He wants an ME,IE,Lean person. perhaps:confused:

It does sound lioke the COO is not interested in improvements, only the bottom line. Go aheadd with what he wants. then include some solution to the problems that you will uncover. eventually, the issues he has are going to be corrected by the lean systems you implement.

It doesn't sound like he's after the bottom line at all. It sounds like he is looking to blame the poor worker for slacking and mis representing their time or making mistakes because the check sheets aren't correct.

If those areas are where the 'big' money is then your company is doomed.
If those areas aren't where the money is and the COO doesn't care your company is doomed.

What you can do is to do the analysis your COO wants, quantiy it in terms of money and compare it to other larger money pits that you shoudl have identified in yoru value stream map or other device that breaks down where the waste/constraints are. Then let him decide.

If he doesn't have religous conversion - do as Deming says: get the heck outa there when the economy improves. No one who cares lasts for long in a bottom up organization.

It doesn't sound like he's after the bottom line at all. It sounds like he is looking to blame the poor worker for slacking and mis representing their time or making mistakes because the check sheets aren't correct.

If those areas are where the 'big' money is then your company is doomed.
If those areas aren't where the money is and the COO doesn't care your company is doomed.

What you can do is to do the analysis your COO wants, quantiy it in terms of money and compare it to other larger money pits that you shoudl have identified in yoru value stream map or other device that breaks down where the waste/constraints are. Then let him decide.

If he doesn't have religous conversion - do as Deming says: get the heck outa there when the economy improves. No one who cares lasts for long in a bottom up organization.

Man, as the posts come in I feel even more at loss with my situation. This company has some great people and I know it can be successful. Many have worked here for 20+ years, so it takes some time to inject ideas on how to handle their day to day operations. Lean has been a breath of fresh air for them, and I think they enjoy work more then ever now.

Speaking of doomed, is it plausible to run a company without a mission/vision statement? I think that was my first indicator.

I have been in that situation before. I just made the best of it - ensured I was able to improve on what was already on my resume - then beat it at the earliest convenience (i.e. when economy allows). Unfortunately, I never figured out how to "convert" the man in the corner office.

Thankfully I have some thick skin....

...but many more he suggested are convoluted in my mind that the concepts he is asking for isn't lean, its micro-management. What he feels is best I believe is a waste in itself.

I am at a loss of how to deal with this. It goes against everything that I am to even try to do any of these projects because they are a waste.

Well, that's no good.

You made some very strong statements against your COO. This relationship seems severly strained at best, doomed at worst.

If I owned a company, I would want to know whether or not my quote was in line with actual run times.

Only advice I have is to try and stay positive and do the best job you can. Good luck!

I don't intend to sound so gloomy, but we do need to be realistic. I've spent too much time wasting away waiting for the leadership to see the light. The critical question you must answer is "are they looking for the light switch too?" or are they deliberately 'not seeing' what is so obvious to you? "There are none so blind as those who will not see". If your management is not at least seeking a different path, they will never realize that you have found it...

take heart, the economy won't stay in the toilet for ever and you are learning valuable lessons in lean. Try some of the suggestions listed here in the meantime to placate and maybe even teach your COO - you'll still benefit in skill growth! there are really good caring committed people in every organization...you'll get another chance.

Speaking of doomed, is it plausible to run a company without a mission/vision statement? I think that was my first indicator.
Many good companies thrive without a statement, but few without a mission.

I have been in similar situations, and it is a difficult one to handle, and can be very demotivating. At the end of the day you can argue your case, but if the main man wants a certain thing done I guess you have to deliver it.

Bearing in mind the old addage of this very website, that there is no one best way, what harm could it really do.

Also try and see it from the COO's position, yeah he is probably a financial guy who has to report financial results to the board, but this is a fact of life, and at the moment these short term result type things will probably out weigh and greater or grander plans. I think its important to appreciate that there are other stakeholders and interested parties in the business, and we have to deliver to them from time to time, maybe at the expense of other stakeholders - including the customer !

We can pontificate the rights and wrongs with this, however a job needs to be done, so as long as you dont find it immoral, illegal - if it just another way which doesnt necessarily fit with your view, then do it for now.

It looks to me as though the boss is just asking for typical boss type information. Whether it's a waste of your time or not will depend on what he does with the data when he gets it. Sounds like a bit of a tedious job though but, these days, that can be a lot better than no job at all.

What a great thread. :applause:

Analyzing time cards can feel like a frightful intrusion - I have seen the negative effect this has on shop floor personnel, when management was simply trying to better understand and refine its pricing structure. Management may have even said so in the beginning, but if they did it was only once and the people felt like they were being micromanaged for the entire period.

Assuming he's sincere, this is what happens when bean counters and executive types without Lean or systemic quality philosophy try to dabble in process improvements. They play Blind Man's Bluff in a china shop.

By making improvements you may have been able to reduce slack time and differences between quote and actual. You can show that, if you haven't already done so, using the format he's asked for or one close to it. If you can manage it by speaking his language, you can show how quoting can be done more accurately, and jobs run more quickly, when systems run with fewer pauses or bottlenecks. Even if you eventually decide not to stick around, this can be a good exersize in bridging the philosophical and/or strategic gap between management and QA.

As I already mentioned I have been in this situation, I use that experience to help me bridge that gap.

I always try to show in $$$$ what improvements will save. Sometimes, you win...sometimes you don't - but at least I know I presented the data in a fashion that would translate to upper management better than just saying "But is will improve us" without answering "how" in their language.

Even uncomfortable situations allow you to learn - it is just a matter of discovered where you are able to learn.

Hello all:

Haven't posted in awhile, been busy with work in regards to the economy and issues of the such.

Anyway, I am here to post because I'm at my whit's end. I have been working for a commercial offset printing company for about a year now. I have done multiple improvements in the way of inventory, data management, 5S events and the like. I feel so far I have been very successful with the lean initiatives, and the operators also feel connected to the company more so because of the level of input they have been able to contribute.

I have come to a point where I am not sure how to approach my current situation. As the title of this post suggests, I have been told by the COO of the company to make improvements throughout the company. As I outlined before, I have done multiple events within multiple concepts that show great workflow improvements within our production facility. I explained this to him and outlined a plan to implement more continuous improvements that I have worked out with the workers within the production facility. My COO's standpoint, however, is that I am not doing enough and he wishes to steer me to specific areas in which I should concentrate on. In essence, he wishes to prioritize what I work on.

Instead of me getting down and dirty and seeing the problems alongside the machine operators, I have to follow his "Pet Project" agenda, projects he feels have the highest value to be gained. Some of his ideas include:

1) Analyzing of Time card input, see how production is inputting their time and comparing it to what they actually are doing.

2) Analyze actual time spent working on jobs in every production step compared to quoted time.

3) Analyze procedure checklists implemented in the plant and figure out how reliable the checklists are.

Those are just a few, but many more he suggested are convoluted in my mind that the concepts he is asking for isn't lean, its micro-management. What he feels is best I believe is a waste in itself.

I am at a loss of how to deal with this. It goes against everything that I am to even try to do any of these projects because they are a waste. His idea of improvements is measuring emperical data and making the final decision on his own. Complete opposite of what lean is. The biggest issue for me is because of the economy I want to keep my job but I also feel this goes against what I have been doing from the start. Within the improvements I have overseen its never been top down, its always been bottom up.

Any advice would be swell on how to deal with this or maybe some of you have had this experience in the past. Thanks for your time.

I've had similar experiences in the past when companies I worked for reorganized, and I'd get stuck reporting to someone who A.) didn't understand any part of my job or the intent of the quality system, and B.) hated the quality department! It's definitely no picnic in the park when you're reporting to someone who offers no support.

There are lots of angles you can take to approach and educate the COO, but whether or not you'll succeed is going to be based on how open he is to input, and how you approach him.

These situations are often a losing battle for the person in your shoes, though. My attempts would include analyzing ROI, and showing before and after data for the processes that have been optimized. If you have compelling data, and there are dollars attached, he WILL listen.

The data points he's asking you to analyze are important enough to him that he thinks there is a benefit in improving them - or at least monitoring them. Treat them as any other suggestions for improvement... analyze the processes, collect the data, etc. Determine the ROI on any possible improvements to the areas he's concerned with then prioritize the improvements in a quality plan and present it to him.

If your quality plan demonstrates the process improvements and associated ROI's, he's bound to listen to your input.

Everyone:

Thank you very much for your replies. Its good to know people out in the world understand the kind of thing I'm going through. Stories and experiences help out.

Just to give an update, I've already started to draw up plans to automate a lot of the current data management/analysis of the company. It seems our current MIS system has the capacity to track a considerable amount of information, its just that no one wanted to set it up. That is my first goal. Once completed, I'll see about creating programs to analyze different types of data while seeing it happening first hand on the production level.

The largest issue I see is the ever changing market and, as a printer, the company needs to broaden to other types of work instead of just "custom printing". Granted, I can only suggest that as some people just do not see this company as anything but a printing company. That's why I mentioned vision/mission statement. I feel those are key to understanding what you wish to do as a business. That's also one of the first steps to implementing lean. In order to create a culture around those concepts you need to actually know what you want to do.

Wish me luck!

Thanks for your advice. Sadly, I have done the step of explaining the benefit and value of the other plans I had wished to start, but he wouldn't have it. I understand that data collection and analysis activities are warranted as long as they identify opportunities to improve. My thoughts are that his idea of improvement is looking at cost sheets and analyzing profit margins, as that is all he does.



Matt,

Perhaps the COO is unsure if the improvements you want to make will have an impact on the bottom line or not. Many times lean initiatives and traditional cost accounting clash head on. Try taking your list of initiatives and create a time line along with expected savings from each initiative. You will be able to show the COO that you are not just doing "drive by Kaizen", there is a plan that connects the improvements to cash. This document will also show how the earlier improvements will pay for the later ones. Keep it data based and visual - data eliminates emotion.

Roger

A critical part of being a black belt is being able to identify projects that will benefit the business. Its sound like the CFO/COO is frustrated here. How is he supposed to justify your position? Are you generating enough savings? If not, he will find a project for you.

I think this is an important thread facing a lot of Black Belts right now (at least those who are left!).

In the current market (with a few exceptions :mad:), the bottleneck resides in the market place. Any improvement we make to increase capacity will result in no immediate financial benefit. Thus, we are left with elevating revenue, reducing operating expense and reducing inventory. You need to find projects that do these things.

Can you optimize your supplies or inventory?
Consider 5S blitzes to consolidate and reduce supplies in production and maintenance.
How is your paper waste? Isolate and measure your sources of waste (plant damage, strip waste, etc).
Look at your suppliers. Do a quick sampling and validate that they are not short changing you in terms of actual weight or basis weight.

Its tough out there, but dont delegate this important part of your work. Black Belts need to justify their existance in good times and bad.

Good luck and let us know if you need more help.

2) Analyze actual time spent working on jobs in every production step compared to quoted time.Perhaps you could bend this one towards true Lean without upsetting your boss (which usually is a singularly bad thing to do notwithstanding how right you are): If you examine the work saturation and come up with ways to improve it, you may be able to reduce cycle times while still providing the operators with more time for improvement actions.

/Claes

Matt, do the analysis your boss asked and then get back into the saddle again. Quantify the main inputs to Operating Expense and Inventory to identify projects and present them to your boss to show him/her you are a partner and capable of identifying good projects.

In the current environment there will be a lot of pressure to keep labor under control (as it should be). Show your boss your that you take this concern seriously. You can turn this disadvantage into advantage. Reward key stakeholders with extra hours to work on carefully picked projects and recognize their support.