improve project and operational performance

Imagine delivering a 39% improvement here and across other sites…

Imagine if you could implement one system that pulled everything together… That got rid of most of those spreadsheets and got you back into the things you enjoy doing. That profoundly and measurably improved performance day by day, week by week. That operationalized all the longer term planning systems so you can get the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle flowing at the frontline.

Imagine everyone knows how the site is performing, they talk about it regularly and can see their KPIs on big screens wherever they look. A daily report lands in your inbox in time for the daily review meeting. It shows how processes are tracking against targets and makes variances from the plan obvious. You think through the reasons for variance and get prepared with some questions that will get people thinking.

At shift change supervisors religiously perform handovers that relate to the plan, if you went and watched you would see small groups of people standing around touch screens discussing the plan and the things that went right and wrong during the shift. They record actions that aim to fix variances and help them improve every day. During the shift they are aware of how they are tracking against their plan and are able to respond quickly when things go off track.

What if production and maintenance had a combined (and resource balanced) plan that included all the project work you need done as well. Daily and weekly planning meetings are visual and focused so that the team can get back to delivering on the plan. Work that affects you but needs to be done by other teams appears in both plans to encourage collaboration and communication.

You’ve set up a complete “Lean Visual Factory” with touchscreens for each process but there’s not a spreadsheet or whiteboard planning tool to be seen. Detailed, actionable plans are created and managed without any macros or pivot tables to go wrong. Simple reports are delivered without having to chase around for the data. Visual performance graphs are everywhere without people having to find a whiteboard marker. Crews are actively engaged in the plan both at the start of shift and at the end and come up with ideas for how we can do better.

Imagine being responsible for delivering this type of change. Looking back at the year, how much do you think performance could have improved? Do you think this might be good for your career?