R
Rob H
SOPs are the answer to everything.
They are the wedge that holds the wheel of progress steady on it's uphill journey. They are the magic bullet in Toyota's global dominance and process leadership. They are the Holy Grail of manufacturing.
However. They are an onerous task to write, they are owned, badly, always by management or support functions. Even if "the Team" write them, they forget about them after a day or too. The forms gather dust on the shop floor in their lovely plastic display folders, or live hidden in the bottom of a menu hierarchy that had logic at one time in a computer system.
Occasionaly an ISO auditor checks on them, and if they have been signed and appear updated and look like official forms, then everyone is happy.
But they are not updated, checked, used, remembered or believed in. They are a tick box exercise that gets ticked and then allowed to gether dust. They are a compromised snpshot in time. They are a waste of time, and a waste of money that is used to try to drive in Lean Production. The shop floor aren't stupid. They see the mixed messages, and make their own conclusions.
I have jaunted around the world of manufacturing, geographically and segmentally and have never seen an SOP fulfill it's potential.
In my factory I have Safety Risk assessments owned by Safety. Quality Process documentation owned by Quality. Industrial Engineering Process documentation owned by Industrial Engineers. And training documentation owned by Training. I know deep down a good SOP can combine these, make then usefull, and used, and genuinely add value to my organistaion. But I don't know how to do this.
Truthfully now, does anyone work in a manufacturing organisation where SOPs work? And if so what do they look like, and how are they managed?
Robin in Essex, England
They are the wedge that holds the wheel of progress steady on it's uphill journey. They are the magic bullet in Toyota's global dominance and process leadership. They are the Holy Grail of manufacturing.
However. They are an onerous task to write, they are owned, badly, always by management or support functions. Even if "the Team" write them, they forget about them after a day or too. The forms gather dust on the shop floor in their lovely plastic display folders, or live hidden in the bottom of a menu hierarchy that had logic at one time in a computer system.
Occasionaly an ISO auditor checks on them, and if they have been signed and appear updated and look like official forms, then everyone is happy.
But they are not updated, checked, used, remembered or believed in. They are a tick box exercise that gets ticked and then allowed to gether dust. They are a compromised snpshot in time. They are a waste of time, and a waste of money that is used to try to drive in Lean Production. The shop floor aren't stupid. They see the mixed messages, and make their own conclusions.
I have jaunted around the world of manufacturing, geographically and segmentally and have never seen an SOP fulfill it's potential.
In my factory I have Safety Risk assessments owned by Safety. Quality Process documentation owned by Quality. Industrial Engineering Process documentation owned by Industrial Engineers. And training documentation owned by Training. I know deep down a good SOP can combine these, make then usefull, and used, and genuinely add value to my organistaion. But I don't know how to do this.
Truthfully now, does anyone work in a manufacturing organisation where SOPs work? And if so what do they look like, and how are they managed?
Robin in Essex, England