Unraveling the Puzzle: A Proactive Approach Solves the Enigmatic Bourbon Bottle Conundrum
On factory floors and production facilities in the US, pressure mounts for leaders to ramp up output while slashing costs. When issues like quality problems, equipment failures, or production bottlenecks arise, the standard response is often to find the culprit employee. But a smarter answer: let employees at all levels become proactive solvers, continuously improving the production system itself.
The key lies in recognizing that most production troubles originate from system issues rather than operator errors. Yet, many supervisors keep playing the blame game, hunting for culprits instead of addressing the underlying systemic issues like process, equipment, or material variables that cause the real problems.
Approaching problem-solving through Systems Thinking
Effective problem-solving begins by understanding that work results from interconnected components forming systems. When employees participate actively in system improvements, they tackle immediate work first. As they mature, they spot interdependencies, begin collaborations, and elevate improvements across departments.
Modern manufacturing systems involve not just physical components but "human work systems"-networks of interactions, handoffs of information, designed to drive desired outcomes. Often informal and undocumented, these systems can lead to high variation and inconsistency.
Making Systems Visible: The First Step Toward Improvement
You can't improve what you can't see. A quick fix is creating a simple flowchart showing your system's key components, inputs, outputs, and underlying factors that impact your work. This helps identify potential problem areas and brings the invisible into focus.
Deciphering Variation: Common Cause vs. Special Cause
Everything has variation – people, equipment, materials, processes. Common cause variations stem from the system itself and occur regularly. Examples include raw material inconsistencies, equipment performance fluctuations, and inconsistent training methods.
Special cause variations result from mistakes or random breakdowns outside normal operation. These could be an employee making an error, a natural disaster, or disruptions like pandemics or supply chain crises.
Finding Root Causes: The Five Whys Technique
Instead of blaming employees, smart leaders dig for the root causes using the "Five Whys." This technique involves repeatedly asking "why" until reaching the underlying issue. For example, careless workers might actually be dealing with the lack of standardized procedures and training-a management issue entirely within control to fix.
The Secret Formula Behind Carbonless Paper
A classic example happened at Nashua Corporation when the director of central engineering discovered that variations in raw material coating viscosity was the real problem behind production issues. By collaborating with suppliers to standardize coating viscosity, the company saved what would be equivalent to $4 million today from just one machine alone. The insight: the variation was outside worker control.
The Bourbon Bottle Riddle
At Brain Brew Distillery, we faced confused fill levels in custom bourbon bottles. Despite trying advanced bottling technology, the problem persisted. The solution revealed itself when we tested the bottles themselves. The issue: variation in bottles from different manufacturing molds.
From Breakdown to Breakthrough: The Bottling Line Story
When a high-speed bottling line was installed, reliability problems plagued production. Focusing on "cases shipped" was too abstract for effective problem-solving. Instead, the team targeted reducing breakdowns per hour, divided the machine, and dealt with one part at a time. The approach worked, with breakdowns slashed from 10 per hour to just two. The root cause? Simple adjustments that were missed during installation.
The Endless Journey of Improvement
When a senior vice president asked when the system would be fixed and done, I replied unequivocally: "NEVER!" As competitors venture to innovate, improvement must continue if an organization aims to thrive. Companies that cease improving face the same fate as stationary trees and oysters – they die.
By empowering employees as proactive solvers, offering training, encouraging participation, recognizing contributions, implementing mentorship programs, and linking incentives to performance, manufacturers create an atmosphere where continuous improvement becomes second nature, leading to enhanced quality, cost savings, and a more engaged workforce. In today's challenging manufacturing landscape, this capability is more a necessity than a luxury.
Incorporating a Systems Thinking approach within the manufacturing industry could lead to more effective problem-solving. Rather than attributing issues to employee errors, focusing on the root causes via the "Five Whys" technique can help identify underlying systemic issues like process, equipment, or material variables that introduce variability.
Continuous improvement initiatives in manufacturers can effectively empower employees by providing training, encouraging participation, recognition, mentorship programs, and linking incentives to performance. Through these strategies, any organization can foster a culture of proactive solvers dedicated to improving processes, leading to enhanced quality, cost savings, and a more engaged workforce.
