WK 3 – 02 DISCUSSION “Applying Flow and Pull Tools at MasterControl”

[Mike Hincks]

Chapter 8 of Lean For Dummies introduces you to the tools used to analyze and configure a process so that it transports information and material with as little waste as possible and at the highest quality. These tools are centered around the principles of single piece flow and the pulling (rather than pushing) of information/material through processes.

As you consider your functional role at MasterControl, there are specific tools in Chapter 8 that will likely be of particular interest to you.

For this discussion, select a tool covered in Chapter 8 and describe how it could be applied to the benefit of your work at MasterControl.

Please include your thoughts on this discussion question as a response to this posting. To create and send your response, just select this note and click on the Reply button, add your file or photo, and click Send. Also be sure to read and comment on the ideas posted by the other Improvement Team members.

Thanks!

[Ryan]

For me, I like the Devising Flexible and Reliable Equipment and then the Maintaining the Equipment when the equipment is equated to us as TSEs. As we determine what we need to create flow and follow a routine, then determine what we will continue to need to keep up/improve flow over time, we can essentially determine where we are, where we want to be and what it will take to get there. It also allows us to evaluate what we need to stay sharp and to avoid burnout and minimize frustration.

[David Healey]

Source Inspection:  Kind of like proof reading.  Before a person submits a paper or other assignment to a professor, or a manager, it is an important rule to always proof read the document/assignment.  S/he is likely to find some misspellings, grammatical, and punctuational errors s/he never intended to submit.  Source Inspection is very similar.  If we would just take a small fraction of the time it took us to create/write/modify the project, we would reduce waste, and increase productivity.

[Ely Mcginty]

I think poka-yoke strategy would be something great to have for beginners and experts. It would be nice to get to a point where the users were unable to make mistakes with our system at all. 

[ajones]

Mastering the quick change - the aim is to minimize down time or lost time between the end of one activity and the beginning of the next activity. I feel that this tool would be a good tool for us to master in our role as support. We need to learn how to move from one case to another quickly while providing good customer service.

[Chanse]

I think Balancing the Operations is a good tool for TS.  I look at the Q1 and Q2 schedule as the area where balancing the operation comes in.  Spreading out how many people are in Q1 and at what times is very important and relies on the times customers need us most.  At 6:00 am MT, only the eastern customers are likely to be starting their day so we only need 1 -2 people available.  However, by 10:00 am MT, most of our customers are staffed and working so that is the start of when most TSEs should be in Q1.  This seems to be how the current schedule is and it seems to work when we are fully staffed. If it changed much, we may have difficulty attending to the needs of our customers.

[estolberg]

When reading the Poka-yoke section, I immediately thought of mistake-proofing within the MasterControl software. As the bridge between users and Development, it is our job to recognize common mistakes our customers make and relay that (via bugs) to the Development team, as they have far less user-interactions and often do not know how customers are using the software. Examples could include: more JavaScript logic on pages to make sure users aren't selecting only certain options and setting themselves up for failure later on, more checks on data integrity before writing to the database (import spreadsheets anyone??), or even more Tooltips and help document entries for users to get a better handle on the correct usage for a feature within MasterControl. By submitting these ideas and getting them incorporated in the software, we are hopefully proactively eliminating customer issues in the future.

[lgleason]

Source inspection and Poka-yoke both apply to the IQ review process. Until we can create a method of mistake-proofing the execution of IQ’s, reviewing one’s work or Source inspection becomes very valuable. Quickly proof reading an executed IQ prior to submitting it for the formal review will significantly reduce the processing time and eliminate the need for correction.  

[Jared Allen]

Error-proofing can be applied pretty much anywhere.  Any place that we recognize that mistakes are made can be analyzed and changes made to keep it from happening again.

[bmiller]

I love the concept of Creating work modules or work cells.  Imagine small groups of 3 taking ownership on cases and organizing themselves how they work best.  they can collaborate together and combine years of experience on cases that will get resolved faster due to the consistent attention the cases get from all three individuals.  There will be more cases when you combine all 3 TSE's cases, but there will be many that are resolved imediatly due to the combined knowledge of the group and as a group, they will grow and learn together, be responsible for trainings in team meetings and best of all, provide friendly competition. :)