NC State of Business

What do you think when you hear the word "standards"? Different people think of different things.

Some people think of an acceptable or even an exceptional level of performance: as in setting, meeting, or exceeding "the standard." Some think of something that's expected or routine, as in the "standard features" in the new car you bought to get that tax break. Some think of a benchmark or other reference, like the "gold standard" or standard temperature and pressure.*

If you're in business, though, you probably think of industrial standards, which combine elements of all those different possibilities. I'm sure your company has standards of practice, and your industry probably has standards that define products in such a way that they're interchangeable and consistent.

Most of the time these aren't "quality standards," not like the ISO and other standards for quality management, environmental management, etc. More likely they're product standards: usually developed by professional societies, possibly adopted or developed by national bodies like the American National Standards Institute, sometimes even codified into law.

So let me toss out a few questions for you to think about:
- What are your standards? Do they exist for your product? If not, should you develop a standard so your customers know exactly what to expect every time?
- How well do you know your standards?
- How well do the people in your company know your standards? Do line workers know them well enough to know when your product begins to go out-of-spec? Do sales people know them well enough to explain to potential customers how well your product meets or exceeds the standard?

Standards can serve as guides for performance, as the starting point for negotiations and agreements with your suppliers, as a basis for reasonable expectations on the part of your customers, and as benchmarks for comparing your company with your competitors. If your standards are good, I wish you luck in living up to them. And if you need a good standard, maybe we can help you put one in place.

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*For any engineers or scientists in the blogosphere.

Have you ever been put in charge of setting up a new assembly line, installing a new ERP system, coordinating a major office move or implementing an ISO 9001 program? If so, then you were a project manager! The next time you find yourself “accidentally” in the role of project manager, here are some ideas you may find helpful in managing your project.

Define the project well enough so that everyone involved has a clear understanding of the undertaking. Describe the goals and objectives of what you are trying to accomplish. Define the scope and boundaries as specifically as possible. This will get everyone on the same page and make managing the scope easier once the project starts. Assess the potential risks and make plans to handle those risks if they occur. Establish, in advance, the criteria that will determine success for the project. Determine all parties that have an interest in the outcome of your project and establish appropriate communication methods for these stakeholders. Ensure that you have all the necessary approvals and buy-in from management and the customer (internal or external).

Develop a plan for your project. Note: a plan includes a schedule, but is not just a schedule! Break the project down into manageable tasks and activities and understand how these tasks are linked together. This helps in estimating how much time the tasks will take and in assigning resources, plus it provides a clear picture of all the work that needs to be performed. Taking the time to create a work breakdown structure (WBS) that defines all the tasks, helps clarify the project scope and helps you monitor the progress once the plan starts being executed. When the tasks are well defined and dependencies determined, then the schedule can be created.

Executing the plan is more than just looking at your project schedule and hoping things happen on time! This is where your organizational skills, people skills and time management skills come into play! More than likely you’ll have a team of people working on your project. It’s your responsibility to motivate your team members to accomplish their tasks on schedule. You will need to manage the inevitable changes that crop up in any project. It will also be important to communicate the progress (or lack of progress) to all stakeholders. Remember that you are the liaison with the customers or users and will need to manage their expectations, which may result in scope changes.

Monitoring the progress of the project involves managing the schedule to ensure that activities are being completed as planned or figuring out how to get the schedule back on track. It means tracking the costs to ensure that budgets are not being exceeded. Include regular reviews of the risks identified during project definition to be ready in the event they become real. Also monitor the quality and functionality of the deliverables to ensure they will meet the customer specifications and requirements.

Closing out the project means ensuring that all tasks are complete and all deliverables are accepted by the customer. It also means completing the project documentation and issuing final reports regarding performance of the project. A good practice is to conduct a lessons learned session to discuss what went well on the project and what could be done better on future projects.

Following these steps will not guarantee that your project will be a success, but it may increase the likelihood of making effective progress toward your desired outcome. Alan Lakein, a time management expert once said: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Taking the time to properly plan your project will help you “accidentally” manage your project.

I am certainly fortunate to be able to work with so many different types of clients and to be a part of the journey to improve the ability to meet their customer’s needs. It is quite easy to get caught up in the fast paced activities and the overwhelming demand to out-perform the competition. The reliance on striking gold on every dig can push resources to the edge and, in most cases, will divert associates from working on the items needed to sustain the company. Dissatisfaction sets in and associate involvement disappears. A lot of us know to apply common sense solutions; but, for some reason or another, we often forget that just because it sounds like the right thing to do; it might just be the right thing to do. One local automotive glass manufacturer that I have had the opportunity to spend a good amount of time with does just that. They utilize common sense in their lean approach. While some of the glitz and glamour may not always be present; the results sure speak for themselves.

It starts with the direction from the top. Senior management provides the direction and the time to train. They then allow associates the time to participate. Yeah, I know you have heard this recipe before; but, how many of you can honestly say you give your folks the time to participate in the improvement activity. If you do, then you are probably shaking your head in agreement that this ingredient in the recipe makes the bread rise. This is where common sense ideas are incorporated into solutions. Senior management ensures that the teams work on opportunities that are strategic to the operation’s goals and objectives. The teams are cross-functional and consist of diverse blends of talents and operational responsibilities. For example, to reduce lead time to the customer, they used kaizen teams to drive down lengthy changeover times. They now can make more changeovers to accommodate the daily demand required by their vast number of customers. Many companies would tie up significant quantities of cash purchasing additional capacity or add-ons which take time to implement and leave them with higher costs to produce the same waste. They took a similar approach to drive out waste in their processing lines. The objective was to balance the flow at the demand of the customer. By getting all operations to perform to takt time, they are able to reduce overproduction and focus on the quality of the product. Improvements in quality translated directly back into meeting customer expectations and reducing time each operation had to spend re-making a good part.

These successes breed other successes. Team members want to participate and believe that their ideas can contribute. Slow down. Quit shooting in all directions. Target your efforts and focus on involving your associates. As the above team members will tell you, keeping it common sense simple, often means getting it right.

In an effort to ensure compliance with OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard – 29 CFR 1910.1200, many safety professionals have thrown up their collective hands and adopted the common philosophy that an MSDS is needed for every chemical.

On the surface this might seem like a good approach. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes cumbersome and generates questions that seem to never end. For example, is an MSDS needed for the alcohol wipes in the first aid kit? What about permanent markers, the dish detergent in the break room or the hand soap in the rest room?

In the details of 29 CFR 1910.1200, we find that the Haz Com standard does not apply to EVERY chemical. There are several exceptions that will help keep your MSDS binders a bit slimmer, including:

• Drugs
• Cosmetics packaged for consumers or intended for personal use
• Consumer products used within expected consumer limits

There are several others included in the exceptions, so while the hazardous communication standard is widespread in its application, it is not all-inclusive. The next time someone in your workplace comes to you in a panic because the big yellow book does not contain an MSDS for each item in the first aid kit or the Palmolive in the break room, don’t panic. Read the regulation and check paragraphs (b)(5) and (b)(6) before you try to find an MSDS on these items. They may very well be exempt.

I’m a native Princetonian, born down the street from the historic university in New Jersey. Okay, so I only spent a few days there before I left the hospital and went home to the town I lived in down the road, but it sounds cool to say “native Princetonian”. I also love basketball. So I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Princeton University basketball. I grew up during the Pete Carril coaching era. Pete was the Tigers’ coach from 1967 through 1996. As you can see from his Hall of Fame link, during his reign, Princeton won over 500 games, won 13 Ivy League titles, and made 11 NCAA tournament appearances. This was accomplished in the face of very selective admissions standards, little television exposure, and a conference policy of no athletic scholarships. Carril and his fellow Ivy League coaches weren’t able to recruit very many blue chip players. He had a number of players with famous connections (e.g., the sons of coaching legend John Thompson and all-star player Bill Walton, and another solid player, Craig Robinson, who is President Obama’s brother-in-law), but they, like their teammates, were not household names while playing for Princeton. How did he do it? In addition to his natural coaching and teaching skills, a lot of credit is given to his offensive system, which has come to be known as the “Princeton Offense”. It’s characterized by total team involvement and patience (e.g., a lot of passing until a player is open for a very high-percentage shot near the basket).

What are some key points about Pete Carril and the Princeton Offense that relate to Lean thinking?

Strong Human Support System and Teamwork. Carril built his rosters with talented and unselfish players who put their trust in the system. Each had to understand their role and not veer from the “standardized work” in the playbook. Likewise, in a strong Lean business, it is essential to have a well-trained and motivated staff to execute all of the good tools and methodologies that have been introduced to them.

Simple is Best. In its purest form, the Princeton Offense features only a handful of plays, with well-defined roles. In a lean process, we seek to not overcomplicate things.

Teach Others to See. Carril once said, “The measure of any teacher, provided he’s not an egomaniac, is to see anybody that he taught do better than he did.” This is the mindset that a strong Lean leader or sensei must have. Many of Carril’s players went on to become successful coaches in their own right. For example, John Thompson III took his Georgetown team to the 2007 NCAA semifinals.

Work Hard for Results, Not Attention. Like Toyota, Princeton had a very successful operating system that “flew below the radar” for many years. Toyota’s system became well known after books such as The Machine that Changed the World and Lean Thinking came out. Carril’s system gained notoriety after the Tigers upset a much higher seeded UCLA team in the 1996 NCAA tournament.

Benchmark and Adopt Best Practices. Many coaches at the NBA (professional) and college level have consulted with Pete Carril over the years and adopted the offense to suit their teams. Many companies benchmark Toyota and other strong Lean companies in order to improve their own processes.

Can you think of other sports or team analogies that link well to Lean thinking?