| 1. Challenge |
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This defense manufacturing
company was struggling with serious quality and profitability
issues combined with extreme employee dissatisfaction. |
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| 2. Findings |
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Supervisors had a marginal
understanding of effective supervision. |
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Managers spent little time
interacting with employees and responding to issues. |
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| 3. Goals |
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Reduce implementation time
for the company's Total Quality Management initiative. |
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Produce measurable improvements
in quality, efficiency, and profitability. |
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Shift from a negative/passive
culture to a positive/proactive one. |
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| 4. Recommendations |
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Develop training programs
to help management deal with barriers. |
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Install Visual Control Boards
to keep track of issues and foster communication. |
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Implement systems for regular
interaction between supervisors and operators. |
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Set up Daily Schedule Controls
to track productivity, scrap, lost time, and capacity
utilization. |
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| 5. Results |
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Supervisor interaction time
with employees jumped from 14 percent to 26 percent. |
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Productivity increased by
23 percent, corresponding with a 21 percent reduction
in scrap and a 71 percent reduction in rework. |
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By being a part of the solution,
employees experienced a lift in morale. |
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Although United Defense was
expected to lose money during 1999, the company exceeded
all projections and turned a profit. |
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