How much time do you spend on the factory floor?

A

asutherland

I am not sure if this belongs here, so please feel free to move it if it has a better place.

I would like to get some ammunition.

I suspect that some of the responses may not be on the positive attribute side so I will simply ignore those that aren’t.

In my world, we are responsible for building the highest quality product in the world, at the best rate with on time delivery.

So, my question is; Quality Department “ How much time do you spend on the manufacturing floor assisting manufacturing in meeting this requirement, and what are these attributes that make this job fun?

I think this is a good question that deserves a thread of it own :agree1: , so I took your cue and moved it from Is Everyone Happy? to here. Ok, please proceed. /Claes
 
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Time well spent.

asutherland said:
So, my question is; Quality Department “ How much time do you spend on the manufacturing floor assisting manufacturing in meeting this requirement, and what are these attributes that make this job fun?
Good question, and my reply is: As much as I can, but not nearly enough.

There is of course the times when I have to go there, but the fact is that I also more or less invent reasons for a walkabout and a chat. That time is well invested:

Generally, I just need to show my face to get loads of information about the true state of events. This obviously helps me in doing a good job. When I audit manufacturing I feel that they trust me (To be looking for improvement potential, and trying to help them rather than just being a nuisance, which I have to admit that I sometimes am :lol: ).

Fun? It is that, as well as essential. Perhaps it helps that I used to be a blue collar myself (Not in this company, mind you, but still )?

/Claes
 
R

Rob Nix

My reply is very much like Mr. Gefvenberg's: as often as I can. Which is still usually around an hour or so a day. But it greatly varies.

We build machines that are at various stages of completion, and I get more involved during "run-off", or product validation, assisting them with statistical studies, sound studies, vibration analysis, etc. Formal and informal auditing also takes place on the shop floor.

But, like Claes, the most significant improvement opportunities are from the "walkabouts", where through a tour of cheerful "good morning"s and informal conversations at other times I keep my finger on the pulse of the processes. It is from these that I document concerns and improvement ideas to present to management. And each visit to our other facilities starts with a walkabout.
 

Jim Wynne

Leader
Admin
I don't spend much time at all on the production floor in my current job, mainly because I don't need to, but also because there is no production in the building where I work. I have had jobs in the past though where I spent the bulk of my time in production, wearing both the blue collar and the white.

I'll echo Rob and Claes in stressing the importance of walking around, both to see and perhaps more important, to listen. As quality specialists a good part of our working lives is affected by bias of one kind or another, and good managers need to spend time seeking it out and neutralizing it, whether it be in measurement systems or relationships between coworkers and departments. Every picture tells a story, and we need to listen to those stories and try to understand the motivations behind them, and use that knowledge to help people to do a better job. When others are busy erecting walls, we need to be the bridge builders, helping people to talk to one another about their needs and problems, and demonstrating that things are a lot easier for everyone when everyone is pulling on the same end of the rope. You can't do any of that without listening to something other than your own voice once in a while. You can't accomplish teamwork by putting up stupid "motivational" posters--motivation happens when people learn how to solve problems by helping others to solve their problems. Teamwork isn't a goal; it's a pathway, and one of the best ways to build it is by listening and understanding.
 
J

jmp4429

Well, my desk is on the plant floor, so I guess you could say I spend all of my time there. But really, I only spend a small amount of time really *out on the plant floor* by my definition. Maybe an average of 30 minutes a day or so. As the TS-16949 coordinator, I spend way too much time shuffling paperwork and not enough time hanging around the production area. When I have to walk through the plant for something, I do make an effort to be very observant of what goes on, and to make nice with the machine operators to develop a rapport with them.

I hope that once our next surveillance audit (my first!) is over and I’ve re-written all the procedures I hate and gotten our auditors to be a little more independent, I’ll have lots more time to spend on the plant floor figuring out what really goes on when the internal auditors aren’t around.
 
S

SailorWard

In my current job I'm at "headquarters" not in the factory so I very rarely get to the floor.

Up until a year ago I was ISO Coordinator in one of our plants and I tried to get to the floor every day, at least for awhile. As was mentioned in an early post, I invented reasons to go out, if needed.

Simply being available to provide a supporting ear to the grumbing is huge benefit. Having enough knowledge of the operation to be able to pitch in and help, as needed, is also a huge benefit. There were countless times I was able to provide an extra set of hands without having to be "trained" by the operators. They appreciated the help and considered me "one of them."

Obviously, this relationship was a great benefit when I did audits or asked them to do a new procedure.
 

Manoj Mathur

Quite Involved in Discussions
Time on Shopfloor

:agree1:

As a WCM coordinator, I used to spend at least 4 - 5 hours on shop floor. Do you know Machine and process will talk to you and share with you a lot of experience including their problems (Including future problems, if not attended well) provided you personally hear and talk to them.

:rolleyes:
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Not only did I spend a lot of time on my own shop floor, I spent a lot of time on the shop floors of my customers and my suppliers. I made it my business to know the folks actually running machines and pushing product. I always asked,
"What can I do to make your job easier?" and then, I LISTENED!

Some of the great ideas I got that helped carve a niche for my machining company had their start in those "walkabouts."

  • unitized packaging - exactly the number of pieces to match production for one shift.
  • line drawing of the part on the outside label of a package in addition to P/N
  • collapsible, re-usable packaging to eliminate fire hazard and environmental waste (actually cheaper to ship empties back to us than to pay someone to haul it away to an approved disposal site.)
  • buying multiple sets of gages from same supplier, keyed to same master, so that both customer and we had matched gages - eliminated LOTS of "my gage says" type hassles. (eliminating just one hour of my time dealing with a question about gaging more than paid for the gage.)
  • concurrent engineering to assure customer's design engineers understood costs involved in designs to avoid unnecessary tolerance call outs and design features that added cost, not functionality, to the product.
  • electronic transmission of product documents rather than hard copies stuffed in packaging to save time in packing and eliminate damage in handling. Also assured no documents were inadvertantly omitted or lost in transit. I had my suppliers do the same for me.
  • joint training of customer and supplier inspectors (same trainer and materials if not the same time and site) to assure everyone was on the same page
Oh, yes! I am a strong advocate of the "walkabout."
 
R

ralphsulser

Yes, MBWA.."Management By Walking Around" has been one of my routines for eons for most of the reasons already listed. Sometimes has saved a bunch of money and prevented nonconfoming product.
 
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