Problems We Help Solve

 

WE HAVE HELPED CLIENTS SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS:

An existing improvement initiative (Six Sigma, Lean, TQM, etc.) did not deliver the expected value. 

• Problems identified as projects did not get fixed or were never completed. 
  
• Improvement dollars never seemed to reach the bottom line.
• People behaved the same way after the program was implemented as they did before implementation.
• All organizational levels lacked knowledge about the real cost of their problems.
• Key measures were disconnected from opportunity.
• Employees did not understand the "Big Picture" or how their efforts contributed to the bottom line.

We helped increase the bottom line by improving the system they had in place.

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Employees failed to recognize problems as opportunities or accepted problems as "part of the process". 

• PRODUCTION SUPERINTENDENT: “Shift change always takes 10 minutes longer it is supposed to. It’s been that way ever since I started working here.”
• OPERATIONS FOREMAN: “This chute plugs twice every shift, but it only takes 5 minutes to clear. There are so many other things that seem more important to fix. We have a man assigned to clear it ASAP.”
• MAINTENANCE SUPERINTENDENT: "Getting PMs started on time has always been a problem here because the right parts are almost always missing. We plan for this delay and schedule the equipment to be down 30 minutes longer, knowing that we will almost always have to go to the warehouse to correct the problem. That way operations is not expecting the equipment sooner than we can deliver it.”
• TRUCK DRIVER: “For the past 3 months, haul truck fueling has been taking 10 minutes longer because the pump on Station One broke and I have to drive to Station Two. I heard a rumor that we may not fix Station One to save money.”
• PRODUCTION ENGINEER: “When this bin gets full, the entire system shuts down for about 3 minutes several times per shift. This is a short delay and is part of the system design, so it has very low priority.”
• OPERATIONS FOREMAN: “We used to get water delivered to the drills faster until other things took priority. Now the drills sit for at least 30 minutes longer before the water truck comes.”
• THIRD SHIFT CREW MEMBER: “Third shift hand-off does not go well here. It takes at least 30 minutes every night to understand where 2nd shift left off and confirm our priorities.  It’s always been that way.”
• HOURLY EMPLOYEE: “Everyone knows that scoops are last priority here.  We never know where they are when we start our shift. We probably lose 3 hours per week looking for them. It’s just the way it is.”
• PRODUCTION SUPERINTENDENT: "Our shovel operators drive our buses at shift change.  Since they arrive at their equipment last, we lose 10-15 minutes of loading time every shift.  We budget for this loss, so it’s really not an issue.”
• DIVISION ANALYST: When asked about a transactional problem,she said "We have not talked to that department for 7 years about these kinds of problems."
• PRODUCTION FOREMAN: "Engineering never communicates the daily plan. We plan the day based on our experience level and hope we meet our production goals."
  

We changed the organization's definition of opportunity and showed them how to tackle problems that were costing them millions but remained just out of reach. 

 

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Managers and management teams...

• Struggled when solving problems that involved more than one department. 
  
• Set unachievable budget goals or requested/approved unneeded expansion capital.  
  
• Lacked processes designed to drive improvement and facilitate culture change.  
  
• Failed to communicate information that maximized production, reduced costs and stopped rework. 
  
• Were not aware of the organizational and cultural issues that prevented them from getting better.
  

We helped them improve the execution of management processes and provided management coaching and processes for leading or sustaining change.

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