Page 199 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

Sustaining the Gains 177

are not really happy unless they can find a few things done wrong. It seems to quench
their thirst and convince them that they have done a good job. In my experience, nearly
all auditors have that desire: to catch people doing things wrong. Those audits are not
really helpful, much like the standard itself. On the other hand, the objectives of these
Routine Management Audits are much different and are twofold:

• To teach management
• To check the ability of the system to meet the policy
It is my experience that the major opportunity for improvement in manufacturing
lies not in improving the people; rather, it lies in improving the systems. Let me say that
again, it is my experience that the major opportunity for improvement in manufactur-
ing lies not in improving the people; rather, it lies in improving the systems. In fact, in
controlled studies we have done, we routinely find that 85 to 90 percent of all variation
is system created. More simply said, most of the variation is because people are:

• Using the raw materials they are supplied
• Running the machines they are supplied
• Following the instructions they are supplied
• Working in the environment they are given
Consequently, most of the time, when we wish to make progress and when the
analysis of the variation is complete, it is the raw materials, machine operating condi-
tions, work instructions, and work environment that must change, not the people. Keep
in mind that the selection of raw materials and machines, the writing of work instruc-
tions, and the creation of the work environment are all done by management. These
four things largely define “the system.” (Recall the definition of variation in Chap. 3: the
inevitable differences in the individual outputs of a system.) Unfortunately, and all too often
when problems appear, the managers do not have the necessary understanding of vari-
ation to respond properly, and all too often they inappropriately focus the attention on
the workforce when it is these systems that must change.
The managers, particularly the middle managers, have a lot of emotional invest-
ment in these four aspects of the system and do not really want to change them—after
all, they created this system. To change this system is then an admission that they had
created a defective system. The truth is, no system is free from deficiencies—all can be
improved.
All kinds of cultural forces protect the status quo, yet the status quo must change,
and frequently the middle managers do not see or do not want to see the changes neces-
sary. For this reason and others, I have found that there is no substitute for top manage-
ment presence on the production floor. These audits provide just such an opportunity
and provide the teaching of the managers and the middle managers as well.
There is a third benefit that is achieved when the managers perform these audits.
Here I do not mean, “make sure these audits get done,” I mean to do them. I mean:
• To review the standard
• To compare the actions to the standard
• To draw conclusions and develop corrective actions