Very frequently when helping implement a new ISO 9001 based quality management system and helping establish a set of core objectives, when it comes to on-time delivery (or whatever you call it according to your circumstances) most would guess that their performance was around 80% to 90%, but when they actually started measuring it, they were closer to 50% to 60%. Once they started to actually measure it, and resolved the issues that interfered, scores improved. Sometimes it took a while. One of those companies that I continued to call on for over 15 years eventually were consistently scoring 99+%. None of it was difficult, just plug away at the issues as they come up. One of the first issues that usually pops up is inaccurate forecasting on how long it will take to get the order through the system. Salespeople often need to learn or develop tools to aid in their accuracy. It starts with accurately tracking the actual performance.
QMS Improvement - Where To Start?
- Thread starter Kurt Smith
- Start date
This. Unless I'm reading you wrong, it sounds like TM has this company at least plugging along with a little profit, year over year. Because of this, they are fine with status quo, again, if I'm reading you correctly. If they don't really care about maximizing profits and really squeezing the fruit for the extra juice, you're probably wasting your time. If, however, $$$ DOES talk, your best route is to identify one or two pieces of low-hanging fruit that would show a nice ROI by using the tools/ideas noted above and demonstrate how much $$$ they are letting fall off the table. Maybe it's enough to up employee salaries, too? Of course, how that side works out depends on the type of people in TM.
Kurt Smith
Involved In Discussions
Thats exactly right. This thread is the result of the VP calling a meeting to push for better on time delivery. (Or whatever you want to call it) In talks with our biggest customer he learned we were losing work because of how often we were late. Our internal metric for OTD was coming from accounting and apparently was deeply inaccurate.
We had the management meeting and brainstormed some basic ideas. But the main result of the meeting was that we all need to try harder. We didn't set goals or actions to be taken. Nothing measurable came from the meeting. I pitched looking into some basic lean training, but the TM insisted they know what they are doing.
So I set out to make more accurate metrics. (Let me know how it looks so far?) Hopefully better tracking will help. But more than anything I want to find a way to convince TM that it is worth it to actually use best practices. They see anything that requires more record keeping or set standards to be corporate bloat.
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A lot of this will have to do with how plugged in your management is. Management that is plugged in can give you "stats" without measurement that will be remarkably close to reality. Aloof management will have no clue. Most management is probably in between. And yes, record keeping can lead to bloat. You want to make sure all records make sense to keep. And please, stop throwing out "quality jargon" to your management. Things like "best practices" will make their eyes glaze over. And don't assume that your management hasn't considered things before. Most likely they have.
But based on your chart: It looks like you broke it down by part number? Probably a good start -- at least you'll know which parts are causing the problem. Now, if I am management, my next question is -- Ok, so what. The more important question is why are we late. Then you can attack the causes. Good luck.
So now that TM realizes that the internal metric for on-time finish/delivery/etc was badly inaccurate, what will they use in the future to track this? What measure did you use to make that chart? If required OTD is still not met, then what? Will they simply insist a little harsher that "we all need to try harder"? It almost sounds like they just don't want to rock the boat inside this company and put any single point in the system under any scrutiny that might come off negative. That's okay, if TM is fine with status quo, but if they are worried about losing work, and the resulting $$$$, that's not going to do well.
With that kind of attitude from TM, you're a bit handcuffed. Maybe you can start taking on more of the data over the near future that could point to where things are bottle-necked, if OTD does NOT improve.
With that kind of attitude from TM, you're a bit handcuffed. Maybe you can start taking on more of the data over the near future that could point to where things are bottle-necked, if OTD does NOT improve.
A TM that is not convinced to do more than “try harder” even after a critical customer told them of the actual consequences is stupid. And there is little hope. Sorry but I’ve been there and done that. Go ahead and try but your talent is being wasted. Find another place to work
Randy
Super Moderator
TM is smoking stuff that hasn't been analyzed yet!
Scenario..........I'm a contracted truck driver, you get all your stuff made, inspected, loaded and I'm out the gate a day early.....On the way to your customer I take a phone call from my employers saying "That increase you asked for, it ain't happening"............Regardless of where I am, I park the truck, get on a Greyhound, and go home, not telling anyone where it is. A month after your product is due for delivery the truck is found. Was the OTD metric met? How good are your planning, and metrics now?
Scenario..........I'm a contracted truck driver, you get all your stuff made, inspected, loaded and I'm out the gate a day early.....On the way to your customer I take a phone call from my employers saying "That increase you asked for, it ain't happening"............Regardless of where I am, I park the truck, get on a Greyhound, and go home, not telling anyone where it is. A month after your product is due for delivery the truck is found. Was the OTD metric met? How good are your planning, and metrics now?
Have literally had to write a complaint response twice over this exact scenario, though it's been over a dozen years ago
. Customer was a steel mill that tracked OTD of their vendors' material.Yeah, let's throw TM under the buss. The place is doomed. Maybe they do need to "try harder."
Look, I have been there and done this. We had less than 75% OTD to our largest customer. It was a complete cluster blank. They where looking to get rid of us. What OP needs is a structured approach to solving the issues, one bite at a time. They don't need "lean training." They need a little common sense and a unified goal. The goal has been set -- improve OTD. Now get into the details and go do it.
It is actually pretty simple. Track the shipments every day. What went out and was it on time or late. If it was late, determine why. Possible answers: capacity issues, not enough lead time, machine down, incoming material was late, tool needed repair, sat on someone's desk too long (i.e.; disorganized office), etc. Do it for a month, then pick the top 2 or 3 issues and make an improvement. Rinse and repeat. If you go to TM and say "the top reason we are late on jobs is this, and here are some solutions" they will work with you. If they don't, then you know.
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