Wired Together Engaging Your Employees with Visual Systems Tom Lacey Manufacturing Manager, Manchester NH
Outline for Today s Discussion A bit of our history in Manchester for context Visual Displays and Visual Controls How to Use Visuals to Enhance your Business Adding instructions & poke-yokes Engagement, Culture and Visual Systems Case study using visual tools to achieve business results
Company Profile No. 405 AMERICAS REGION EUROPE & AFRICA REGION 4,800 Employees 12 Manufacturing Locations ASIA PACIFIC REGION 1,800 Employees 10 Manufacturing Locations 8,000 Employees 35 Manufacturing Locations PUBLICLY TRADED 57 MANUFACTURING LOCATIONS IN 26 COUNTRIES 09 TECHNOLOGY CENTERS 13 ROD ALUMINUM & COPPER MILLS 3 rd LARGEST GLOBAL WIRE & CABLE MANUFACTURER SALES REPRESENTATION & DISTRIBUTION WORLDWIDE
Manufacturing in a facility built over 100 years ago. View of Jefferson Mill from General Cable Aerial view General Cable Manchester Coolidge Mill, 345 McGregor Street Main entry, from parking lot
Why Go Visual? A common language for your organization to communicate with. Reduce risk of mistakes (poke-yoke/ errorproofing ). Puts control and decision-making in the hands of the people that are performing the tasks. Improves interaction, engagement, alignment. Reduces learning and training time. Improves standard work.
Visual Displays vs. Visual Controls Displays share information. Controls influence behavior.
Visual Displays Displays communicate or share information. familiar examples include scoreboards and road signage.
Displays can serve many purposes, and they are important - - but they do not directly influence behavior
Displays communicate the state, condition, or status to the organization.
Visual Displays in Industry From simple signage to complex process maps showing relationships between operations
Visual Controls Controls influence behavior. What are the rules of the system? How do you know?
Visuals, like language, require interpretation. Red means? Yellow means? Green means? Common language requires commonly accepted definitions.
Visual Controls in Manchester For everything from Safety -
Scheduling and workflow systems
Work in process (WIP) controls
Lighting systems to trigger Demand and Replenishment
Sign Card-based Replenishment Systems Card out signal Re-Order card Front Back Back
Define: Point-of-Use storage with Visual Controls. Copper partials * Compound E-12 Color concentrate Tips & dies Spec Schedule Primary Extrusion * Copper & Compound return to stock Finished primary wire to cabling * * Hot & Cold welders Crimpers Ceramics Sandpaper Pay-off tools Allen keys Collars = focus items Measure: Reduce lost time Waiting for materials Searching for needed tools.
Improve & Controls: * Copper Partials * Copper Return to Stock * Incoming Copper
Improve & Controls: * Features Compounds Incoming Return to Stock Blue returns tag = visual signal to remove to basement * Hot & Cold welders Features 6 tools, labeled by size/od * Crimpers Features Ready to use, within reach.
A Visual System for Colors - Product & level indicators 13 colors, with a Visual Control System
An additional example of controls Define: Copper Compound Nylon Color concentrate Spec Schedule E-3/E-13 Labels Plastic Return to stock * = Finished wire focus Tips & dies Butt-welder & supplies Pay-off tools Contact Printer Ink Jet printers * Spools/reels Boxes
Controls: * Ink Jet printers Visual Poke-yokes: Black Printer = Right hand orientation, White Printer = left hand orientation Printer carts & spaces labeled with colored tape Cell-specific All items labeled with LP number designate components to system
Control poke-yokes : Ink (top shelf) Solvent (bottom shelf) Shelf label Dedicated wash bottles, labeled & located. Clear = white printer Green = black printer
Controls The Visual Standard: This is one of the Keys to Sustain (reference for here s how it should look ).
Take 10 seconds Write down the top 3 priorities that you wish your employees were 100% committed to and engaged with in your business. Business leaders, what keeps you awake at night? If we surveyed all of your employees, what would they say were the top 3 focus priorities for your business?
Manchester s Scoreboard - Wednesday, May 20, 2015 Safety 692 Days Injury Free Injuries First Aid Events Near Misses Quality Customer Returns Internal MRB areas Plant Scrap $2,383 5.2% This month CCP $ This month Scrap (Target = 4.5%) Productivity Service & Delivery Plant Volume Work Order Delivery - $11.2k - 1/2 day $ ahead/behind ($1,000) Days ahead/behind 94.0% 90.0% Month-to-Date Last Week Bottleneck Throughput 92.9% Line Fill, MTD H-Cord E4, BW E3/E13 DC E15 H-AWG E5, BUC E7/E8, L-Cord E11, L-AWG E2 Spare Dots
Creating engagement - Monday, October 05, 2015 Safety 830 Days Injury Free Injuries First Aid Events Near Misses Let your visuals generate emotional attachment. Celebrate the successes! Would our results be different if we did not- Inject passion? Talk about the details? Celebrate our success every day? Continually reinforce safety first?
Can visuals impact Beliefs & Values? Be Kind Please Rewind
Visual Information can be a powerful tool for sharing an organization s values and beliefs.
Key points to visual systems Interpretation of visuals must be clear. Define the who is expected to do what, involve fully. Poke-yoke (reduce chance of errors). Place the controls in the hands of those who use the system (operator-led process control). Celebrate the Are We Winning. There s always room for improvement (a simpler, better way).
Fully involving the who people. As designed As practiced
Simple Is Usually Best We post everything in our value streams now that s visual! Q: How do you measure success? A1 The more, the better. A2 - The critical few. Sometimes, less is more. Pick the critical few - avoid wallpaper Easier to maintain.
Case Study January 2015 Manchester, NH Several incidents of mixed materials. Conditions/States Present: New associates, training. Remote location. Rushing, mind not on task. A kaizen team applies their skills & gets results.
The Basement Material (boxes) stored this side of aisle. 4 bins 4 bays Material consumed this side of aisle. Forktruck Aisle
Material Storage Area. Material Consumption Area. Sign Boxes (gaylords) stored between columns (bays). Surge Bin Tipper Instructions for forktruck operator: 1. Store correct gaylords in bays opposite tippers 2. Remove empty gaylords from tippers, dispose of properly 3. Move full gaylord across the aisle onto tipper, load material
4 1 X 13-digit part number 3 labels
Tipper 13-digit part number Surge Bin
The findings It s simple. Just read the part numbers. Did you happen to notice a part number disconnect on the previous slide? Let s look again The analysis 1. Poor Lighting in the area difficult to read. 2. Forktruck drivers must exit the truck to read the 4 x 6 labels. 3. Several part numbers have only 1 digit of differentiation. 4. Bins and signage not consistent or correct in all instances (bin #18 listed part number for 8205 grey). 5. Operator was not aware that he crossed aisleway 1 bay up with the gaylord, and loaded it onto the wrong tipper.
Added lighting BIG difference Remove debris (5S, 5S, 5S ) Power clean flooring Improvement Team starts working -
Mistake-proofing Material-specific color-coding Added color-coded signage Color coded tippers, surge bins, and lines
Prevention and Detection Poke-yokes Storage Bay sign Poke-yoke (red) part number highlights. Circled what to look for. Tipper & Surge Bin sign Size & shape of compound. Part number highlights
The end product Column signage 6-months later Sustaining. Adding 1 more bay/surge bin.
Visual Systems & ROI (return on investment) What is the value of a customer to your business? What is the administrative cost to fix or manage the follow-on activity when a mistake happens?
The Leader and Standard Work The Power of One Critical mass needed = 1 to trigger change. Influential Leaders vs. Positional Leaders Who best can work 1x1 with your associates to introduce change? Early adopters/passive sustainers/aggressive resistors Standard work yields more time to lead change.
Do people in your organization know how & what they contribute to the business? Do they also know what is most important to your business?
Thoughts on where to start - What three things are vital to your business? How should we communicate the status of these three things to everyone in our business? Business Critical area A bottleneck or a constraint Select an area historically challenged with mistakes, misses, upset conditions. Confidence-builder (low-risk) to foster teamwork.
Thank You! Please complete the session survey at: www.ame.org/survey Session: TP/18 Engaging Your Employees with Visual Systems Tom Lacey tlacey@generalcable.com