Identifying the bottleneck is not enough:
Finally, you've pinpointed the bottleneck's location and your colleagues agree. You feel pretty proud. It was not an easy feat, but persistence has done the trick. It is thus quite disappointing to see, a few months later, that despite your best efforts, production output has not improved in the 10-40% range as you envisaged.
The truth is that more than identifying the bottleneck's location is needed. I've often heard the response, 'We already know where the bottleneck is; we don't need any help.' Yet, years later, production output remains unchanged.
The real challenge still lies ahead—changing behaviour. This underscores the need for a concerted approach to managing bottlenecks.
Change in behaviour and thinking:
To unleash our system's hidden potential, we must ensure that the departments supplying material to the bottleneck and those moving it along after never hinder its performance. We require a shift from the current methods of managing non-bottlenecks for maximum efficiency. Instead, we must focus on protective capacity (insurance), with only the bottleneck managed for maximum efficiency. This shift necessitates a change in behaviour and thinking from all involved, which requires focused training and reinforcement.
Cooperation and trust
After years of striving for a balanced capacity production chain, with KPIs focussed on departmental performance (often leading to moving bottlenecks), trust and cooperation erode. Cooperating with other departments means they will look good, and you will be penalised for not achieving your departmental measures. It would be silly to cooperate, so workers and managers don't.
Visibility and reward:
We need to create an environment where the needs of the bottleneck are visible to all, and the efforts of other departments to ensure its success are visible in a clear cause-and-effect relationship. In this manner, we can reward the integrators and make clear when actions work against the system's performance. Seeing their efforts' direct cause and effect on production success motivates employees and increases their engagement. Areas requiring focus become visible well in advance, allowing effective coordination and alignment. Production flow is now significantly higher and stable, freeing management time and attention.
And the best part, according to participants, is that work becomes fun again.
Productivity Platform and Flow Room to change behaviour:
Over 20 years and in more than 90 interventions, we have developed a methodology we call the Productivity Platform and a short interdepartmental daily meeting we call the Flow Room that enables the needed alignment, coordination, and cooperation. This has typically delivered 10-30% more output for open-cut and 20-40% for underground mines. https://www.stratflow.com.au/delivering
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