Page 273 - Improving Machinery Reliability

244 Improving Machinery Reliability

RELATIONSHIP MATRICES

Goals and metrics vs.
critical business issues

',
I CBI Critical business
issues vs. obstacles
Relationships
mu

Direct Indirect None
Figure 4-1. Relationship matrices.

tactical level. Tactical level goals and metrics also have associated CBIs. These CBIs
become the operational level goals with their associated metrics. This top-down
approach ensures that operational level goals and metrics relate to tactical and strate-
gic goals and metrics, Figure 4-2. This goal focus sets enterprise direction.
Metric data are used to determine the impact of change on an operation. These
data are a valuable enterprise asset that must be maximized. Metrics have three
important aspects:

Determining what metric data to gather and use
Gathering the metric data
Using the metric data.

To be effective, metrics must be carefully selected to measure what is important.
What is measured will improve. Selecting what is most important to the operation,
and measuring it, will focus improvement efforts. After what is to be measured is
determined, appropriate data must be collected, stored, and made accessible.
Metrics are like other tools: If they are not used, they have little value. The value
of metric data lies in the skills of those using the tools or metrics. To provide value,
the metric asset must be used within the operation. For the value of the metric asset
to be maximized, the data must be shared with other organizations.
If common metrics are established for each enterprise operation, the data can be
shared among many operations and results can be compared. Comparison of metric
data benefits all organizations sharing the information. Value is realized by adapting
(not adopting) what is learned from the information. The competitive advantage is not
in the metric data, but in how the information is used, just as it is with any other tool.