Questions worth asking about your own operation.
Short articles on the problems we are most often asked to fix. Each one starts with five questions you can answer about your own operation, and ends with what to check this week.
Your OTIF figure is probably flattering you
Most on-time in-full figures measure the promise, not the request. Before anyone works on the performance, it is worth checking what the number is actually counting.
3 min read · Read the article → £1m → £40kThe backorder report everyone reads and nobody acts on
Most operations with a backorder problem already have a backorder report. The question is whether anything changes between one edition and the next.
3 min read · Read the article → 32% → 0%When a 32% defect rate becomes how the process runs
A sudden spike in defects gets attention. A defect rate that has sat at the same level for a year usually does not, because it has stopped looking like a problem.
3 min read · Read the article → −47%Most of your lead time is spent waiting, not making
When orders run late, the instinct is to add capacity: another shift, another machine, more people. In most factories the time is not being lost at the machines.
3 min read · Read the article → £6.1m+ delivered or ledWhy improvement programmes fade after the consultants leave
Most operations directors have seen it happen. The programme reports strong results, the consultants leave, and within a year the old numbers are back.
3 min read · Read the article →Bring the number you are least sure of.
Thirty minutes on what is actually happening in your operation. Free, and no obligation either way. Bring the problem as your team describes it.