Last night I attended the Leonard Cohen concert at Holy Heart auditorium, in St. John's. Small intimate setting for the concert. Leonard was humble, gracious and a true entertainer. This was without question the best concert I have ever seen in my entire life. His words impacted me like no other live performance has. The only other live performance which runs a close second is the performance I have th chance to see each year when I visit Preservation Hall, in New Orleans.
Leonard Cohen's lines I remember most from last night:
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
I had to present at the CME Leadership convention this morning. At 5 this morning, I threw out the notes I had prepared and wrote new notes on Leadership according to Leonard Cohen.
According to the Canadian military when I undertook officer training camp in 1987, leadership is "the art of influencing human behaviour so as to accomplish a mission or a task".
The bells you ring are the resources, the team, and the skills you have at your disposal to get the job done. Use them with all your heart. Use them sincerely. Honesty is the key, and when you are honest, you open yourself as necessary to build the relationship.
Your perfect offering is the perfect solution. It is the data you must collect, the research you must complete, the work that must be done before you make your decision. Forget it. Make your decision. Take the risk. The risk of inaction is paralysis.
There is a crack in everything. You will make mistakes. You will find them, and others will find them. Through these cracks, you will build trust and respect, as long as you hold yourself accountable.
That's how the light gets in.
One must open themselves to looking at project management in a new light. Standardize the process where you can, and schedule a self-monitoring process.
VSM the project management process.
Break your meetings into manageable categories, such as daily technical, weekly tactical, and monthly strategic. Keep the subject matter narrow in each meeting.
Stage some schedule freezes. Make the stakeholder take notice and get involved. Make them notice and approve, before the project proceeds any further.
Standardize all work possible that must be scheduled. Free your time to manage what's going wrong, or changes, or risks.
Project management has a crack. It needs to be looked at and analyzed. It needs to be critically shortened and tested for value.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Quality Cycle
We’ve been away from the blog for a while but still working away on the lean projects discussed last time. Our designers have been very busy with production design project work and we’ve had some growth in the last months adding new staff and projects.
We’ve added another initiative to our lean work that ties together existing lean projects and complements our human resources plan.
The current state of quality control is not clearly defined and checking of work before release to clients is performed but not to any particular set of standards. Reliance on the expertise of project managers and senior designers is now the cornerstone of the quality process. It works but project managers needed a way to ensure consistency in the process and streamline it to reduce rework and ensure errors are not missed during our period of business and employee growth.
We met with project managers and decided that the whole cycle needed to be addressed and not just the quality check piece. There needed to be standard operating procedure for design and quality checks, error tracking for improvement purposes, an understanding by employees of what was being checked, and a feedback loop including, training and best practices. All of this is linked then to human performance management, which includes the training and development piece, coaching, and performance improvement.
It’s important to note that all of this is to be achieved with the lean principles in mind. Foremost in these principles is that the view of this process is from the customer’s perspective. The quality cycle objective is to deliver quicker with higher quality. It’s also about improving the performance of the value stream and that can only be achieved with employee involvement and participation in the process. The quality cycle is not about individualizing and tracking employee performance. It is designed to improve overall company performance.
It is about individual accountability though. Managers will review through feedback, coaching, and documented training objectives how employees develop skills to improve performance. If a skill deficiency exists, a training plan is established and employees are accountable to improve the skill. In relation to what is measured, the process is very open and employees will be provided the list of deliverables that will be reviewed during the quality check process.
We are now at the check stage where we will run a trial of the future state starting the end of this month and then review and adapt before implementation company wide.
Go Montreal!!
Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa
We’ve added another initiative to our lean work that ties together existing lean projects and complements our human resources plan.
The Quality Cycle Project, which I’m leading, links standard operating procedures, employee expectations, quality checks, error tracking, employee communication, training and development, and performance management.
The current state of quality control is not clearly defined and checking of work before release to clients is performed but not to any particular set of standards. Reliance on the expertise of project managers and senior designers is now the cornerstone of the quality process. It works but project managers needed a way to ensure consistency in the process and streamline it to reduce rework and ensure errors are not missed during our period of business and employee growth.We met with project managers and decided that the whole cycle needed to be addressed and not just the quality check piece. There needed to be standard operating procedure for design and quality checks, error tracking for improvement purposes, an understanding by employees of what was being checked, and a feedback loop including, training and best practices. All of this is linked then to human performance management, which includes the training and development piece, coaching, and performance improvement.
It’s important to note that all of this is to be achieved with the lean principles in mind. Foremost in these principles is that the view of this process is from the customer’s perspective. The quality cycle objective is to deliver quicker with higher quality. It’s also about improving the performance of the value stream and that can only be achieved with employee involvement and participation in the process. The quality cycle is not about individualizing and tracking employee performance. It is designed to improve overall company performance.
It is about individual accountability though. Managers will review through feedback, coaching, and documented training objectives how employees develop skills to improve performance. If a skill deficiency exists, a training plan is established and employees are accountable to improve the skill. In relation to what is measured, the process is very open and employees will be provided the list of deliverables that will be reviewed during the quality check process.
We are now at the check stage where we will run a trial of the future state starting the end of this month and then review and adapt before implementation company wide.
Go Montreal!!
Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa
Monday, February 18, 2008
Five Lean Projects Underway
In a recent blog I discussed Lean Level 1 Certification through CME. Since then, the classroom portion of the training is complete and we’ve selected three projects for these teams.
In addition, two other lean teams are up and running and we've made significant progress.
In each case, project charters including scope, deliverables, and milestones have been established.
Team projects are summarized as follows:
1. Training and Development Team
This team was established in November to assess current skill levels and create a means to improve performance and develop employees. Led by Senior Designer Brian Newhook, the team has completed a skill assessment of all employees, established company skill level requirements, identified areas of risk, and put together the plan for improvement.
They are presently focusing on minimizing the risks identified in specific areas through a mentoring program to ensure expert level capability exists in all areas, with a minimum of three employees meeting the expert criteria. They also have an excellent plan that will be launched this week to all employees that will see individual skills improved using training plans to close skill gaps.
Employees will submit their individual training plans to the team who will approve training plans to raise the overall skill level at Genoa.
2. Total Productive Maintenance Team
Led by Gus Slaney, IT Support Specialist, the team will review the current maintenance requirements for all of our computer equipment. The objective is to provide solutions that will remove the need for individuals to run the various programs that scan for viruses and clean up hard drives. Ideally, automation of these functions will free up systems and operators to concentrate on design work. Presently, relying on manual interventions increases risk of infection and slows operations.
A cost / benefit analysis completed as part of the project will allow Genoa to decide which solution options are practical.
3. Cut the Waiting Team
One of three projects undertaken by the leaders trained by CME, this project is looking at sources of waiting that impact production, and cause delivery delays. The team, led by Project Manager, Chad Mercer has identified many sources of waiting and divided the list into two categories. External waiting includes all issues outside the direct control of Genoa. Studying these issues will identify issues in which Genoa can influence outcomes and improve lead times as a result. Internal waiting is directly within the control of Genoa and with corrective actions can greatly impact lead time. Both categories have been assessed and assigned to a priority matrix. Impact on operations, and ease of correction are criteria used to determine areas to work on.
Next, the team will meet with senior managers selecting items to work on.
4. Value Stream Mapping - Modeling
Led by Project Manager, Kyran Pennell, value stream mapping techiques will be used to analyze the modelling process. The objective is to identify waste, create flow, and introduce lisp routines minimizing designer effort. A training and best practices component of this project will allow designers to share knowledge and create learning opportunities improving performance. Of the projects ongoing, this one will identify and eliminate the waste within the work. In all other projects, waste identified could be considered as external to the design process.
Experienced designers on this team have their work cut out as the nature of the work lends itself to creativity and operator-unique approaches to completing tasks. The challenge will be in finding methods of improvement without removing the creative aspect from designers.
5. Standard Operating Procedures, Checklists, and Tools
Senior Designer, Angela Porter leads this team to formally identify, document and/or establish standard procedures and tools for the performance of all tasks. The goals and objectives of the SOP Project include standardization of procedures, work instructions, checklists and other tools relating to Genoa's operations and project deliverables.
It includes items such as, consistency in standards related to Genoa deliverables, assisting new employees with clearly defined procedures and documentation, assist training and development, and creation of an environment promoting employee involvement.The team will compile and index existing procedures, review them for relevance, opportunity for improvement, standardize a format, and identify needs for new procedures. It will develop a mechanism for continuous review and renewal. A communication component ensures awareness of procedures.
This is great progress and many thanks to team members for remaining focused and to employees for contributing to the results.
Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa
In addition, two other lean teams are up and running and we've made significant progress.
In each case, project charters including scope, deliverables, and milestones have been established.
Team projects are summarized as follows:
1. Training and Development Team
This team was established in November to assess current skill levels and create a means to improve performance and develop employees. Led by Senior Designer Brian Newhook, the team has completed a skill assessment of all employees, established company skill level requirements, identified areas of risk, and put together the plan for improvement.
They are presently focusing on minimizing the risks identified in specific areas through a mentoring program to ensure expert level capability exists in all areas, with a minimum of three employees meeting the expert criteria. They also have an excellent plan that will be launched this week to all employees that will see individual skills improved using training plans to close skill gaps.
Employees will submit their individual training plans to the team who will approve training plans to raise the overall skill level at Genoa.
2. Total Productive Maintenance Team
Led by Gus Slaney, IT Support Specialist, the team will review the current maintenance requirements for all of our computer equipment. The objective is to provide solutions that will remove the need for individuals to run the various programs that scan for viruses and clean up hard drives. Ideally, automation of these functions will free up systems and operators to concentrate on design work. Presently, relying on manual interventions increases risk of infection and slows operations.
A cost / benefit analysis completed as part of the project will allow Genoa to decide which solution options are practical.
3. Cut the Waiting Team
One of three projects undertaken by the leaders trained by CME, this project is looking at sources of waiting that impact production, and cause delivery delays. The team, led by Project Manager, Chad Mercer has identified many sources of waiting and divided the list into two categories. External waiting includes all issues outside the direct control of Genoa. Studying these issues will identify issues in which Genoa can influence outcomes and improve lead times as a result. Internal waiting is directly within the control of Genoa and with corrective actions can greatly impact lead time. Both categories have been assessed and assigned to a priority matrix. Impact on operations, and ease of correction are criteria used to determine areas to work on.
Next, the team will meet with senior managers selecting items to work on.
4. Value Stream Mapping - Modeling
Led by Project Manager, Kyran Pennell, value stream mapping techiques will be used to analyze the modelling process. The objective is to identify waste, create flow, and introduce lisp routines minimizing designer effort. A training and best practices component of this project will allow designers to share knowledge and create learning opportunities improving performance. Of the projects ongoing, this one will identify and eliminate the waste within the work. In all other projects, waste identified could be considered as external to the design process.
Experienced designers on this team have their work cut out as the nature of the work lends itself to creativity and operator-unique approaches to completing tasks. The challenge will be in finding methods of improvement without removing the creative aspect from designers.
5. Standard Operating Procedures, Checklists, and Tools
Senior Designer, Angela Porter leads this team to formally identify, document and/or establish standard procedures and tools for the performance of all tasks. The goals and objectives of the SOP Project include standardization of procedures, work instructions, checklists and other tools relating to Genoa's operations and project deliverables.
It includes items such as, consistency in standards related to Genoa deliverables, assisting new employees with clearly defined procedures and documentation, assist training and development, and creation of an environment promoting employee involvement.The team will compile and index existing procedures, review them for relevance, opportunity for improvement, standardize a format, and identify needs for new procedures. It will develop a mechanism for continuous review and renewal. A communication component ensures awareness of procedures.
This is great progress and many thanks to team members for remaining focused and to employees for contributing to the results.
Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Data Analysis Term Paper
In our search for takt time, Allison Kennedy, a Memorial University Naval Architecture student, wrote a final work term paper on, "Lean Principles in a Marine and Shipbuilding Engineering Environment."
This detailed analysis used data collected from past projects at Genoa and tested theories of production rates existing in the marine engineering design field. This is something we've been working on as a R&D project and I've referred to it in past blog postings.
While the entire paper most accurately describes the process and findings, the following is a summary of Allison's conclusions and next steps.
It doesn't read like a John Grisham novel but contains some valuable information.
Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa
"Lean Principles in a Marine and Shipbuilding Engineering Environment"
Conclusions
Implementing lean into a virtual marine and Shipbuilding Company is not a straightforward process. There are no physical objects to count or measure in order to determine the production rate. It is still unknown if a valid production rate can be determined by analyzing accumulated data from past projects. This may be an aspect contributing to the fact that there are hardly any similar companies worldwide that have attempted to implement lean. Since there are no guidelines to follow, the process is deemed as research and development and this adds to the level of difficulty of the problem.
There were a total of six tests completed using the accumulated data from past projects in an attempt to determine a valid production rate. Five of these tests were based on the same idea, which is to use the collected data to find parts per volume and parts per hour value. These general values were used to determine the number of completion hours required to complete future projects. The first step taken was to determine the calculated number of parts by multiplying the calculated parts per hour value by the known volume. Next, the number of completion hours could be found by dividing the calculated number of parts by the calculated parts per hour value.
Tests one through five grew increasingly more detailed in attempt to determine a smaller completion hour variance. The first test was general and determined ppv and pph values from analyzing the entire data set. The second test divided the data based on ship type assuming that similar ship types would have similar ppv and pph values. Test five was the most detailed test in which the data was split into ship type, ship section and ship length. The outliers were also removed in this test. The results prove that as the testing process moves forward, the completion time variance between actual and calculated values becomes smaller. Test five provides the best results having a variance of approximately 23 percent. This variance is still high and therefore the production rate calculated would not provide beneficial results. However, one must note that the results are continually improving as testing continues. This is a positive factor, which gives hope that an accurate production rate can be achieved.
Test six was based on the determination of a volume per hour value from the analysis of vessels of similar types. The idea for this test was sprung from the thought that additional inaccuracies are introduced from the calculation of a number of parts and that this uncertainty was introduced into the calculated number of completion hours. The method used in test six is more direct than that of tests one through five because the completion hours are calculated in a single step. The results of test six are poorer than that of test five. The barge results of test six are compared to the results of test five since test five was completed only on barges. It can be seen that test six produces a variance that is higher by approximately ten percent. This was the first test completed using the volume per hour method, further testing will undoubtedly determine a closer approximation.
Recommendations
There are a number of recommendations which should be taken in order to develop the most efficient and effective method of completion time determination. These are all outlined below for review and consideration:
1. The validity of data should be studies to determine usefulness. As discussed, old data is less valid than newer data for various reasons. A study could be completed to test variations in new and old data and remove any old data which falls out of a certain range.
2. Data capture process should be more accurate. A process should be put in place so that employee time recording must be done at the end of each day. This will decrease the chance that time is allotted to the wrong task and increase the validity of the collected data.
3. There should be consideration put into performing an analysis based on the input of design drawings received from the client. Some details contain less detail causing more PM, set up, modeling etc.
4. An analysis should be done in which the actual hours worked are compared to bid hours. This will give an idea of the variations in bid and actual hours.
5. Additional columns should be added to the ‘Time Estimation’ spreadsheet to ensure the user compares the vessels, which are indeed the most similar. For example the overall length, draft and hull form coefficients should be displayed for each of the completing vessels so that they can be compared with the proposed vessel.Research and development should continue in this area so that an efficient and effective method of determining completion time can be found.
This detailed analysis used data collected from past projects at Genoa and tested theories of production rates existing in the marine engineering design field. This is something we've been working on as a R&D project and I've referred to it in past blog postings.
While the entire paper most accurately describes the process and findings, the following is a summary of Allison's conclusions and next steps.
It doesn't read like a John Grisham novel but contains some valuable information.
Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa
"Lean Principles in a Marine and Shipbuilding Engineering Environment"
Conclusions
Implementing lean into a virtual marine and Shipbuilding Company is not a straightforward process. There are no physical objects to count or measure in order to determine the production rate. It is still unknown if a valid production rate can be determined by analyzing accumulated data from past projects. This may be an aspect contributing to the fact that there are hardly any similar companies worldwide that have attempted to implement lean. Since there are no guidelines to follow, the process is deemed as research and development and this adds to the level of difficulty of the problem.
There were a total of six tests completed using the accumulated data from past projects in an attempt to determine a valid production rate. Five of these tests were based on the same idea, which is to use the collected data to find parts per volume and parts per hour value. These general values were used to determine the number of completion hours required to complete future projects. The first step taken was to determine the calculated number of parts by multiplying the calculated parts per hour value by the known volume. Next, the number of completion hours could be found by dividing the calculated number of parts by the calculated parts per hour value.
Tests one through five grew increasingly more detailed in attempt to determine a smaller completion hour variance. The first test was general and determined ppv and pph values from analyzing the entire data set. The second test divided the data based on ship type assuming that similar ship types would have similar ppv and pph values. Test five was the most detailed test in which the data was split into ship type, ship section and ship length. The outliers were also removed in this test. The results prove that as the testing process moves forward, the completion time variance between actual and calculated values becomes smaller. Test five provides the best results having a variance of approximately 23 percent. This variance is still high and therefore the production rate calculated would not provide beneficial results. However, one must note that the results are continually improving as testing continues. This is a positive factor, which gives hope that an accurate production rate can be achieved.
Test six was based on the determination of a volume per hour value from the analysis of vessels of similar types. The idea for this test was sprung from the thought that additional inaccuracies are introduced from the calculation of a number of parts and that this uncertainty was introduced into the calculated number of completion hours. The method used in test six is more direct than that of tests one through five because the completion hours are calculated in a single step. The results of test six are poorer than that of test five. The barge results of test six are compared to the results of test five since test five was completed only on barges. It can be seen that test six produces a variance that is higher by approximately ten percent. This was the first test completed using the volume per hour method, further testing will undoubtedly determine a closer approximation.
Recommendations
There are a number of recommendations which should be taken in order to develop the most efficient and effective method of completion time determination. These are all outlined below for review and consideration:
1. The validity of data should be studies to determine usefulness. As discussed, old data is less valid than newer data for various reasons. A study could be completed to test variations in new and old data and remove any old data which falls out of a certain range.
2. Data capture process should be more accurate. A process should be put in place so that employee time recording must be done at the end of each day. This will decrease the chance that time is allotted to the wrong task and increase the validity of the collected data.
3. There should be consideration put into performing an analysis based on the input of design drawings received from the client. Some details contain less detail causing more PM, set up, modeling etc.
4. An analysis should be done in which the actual hours worked are compared to bid hours. This will give an idea of the variations in bid and actual hours.
5. Additional columns should be added to the ‘Time Estimation’ spreadsheet to ensure the user compares the vessels, which are indeed the most similar. For example the overall length, draft and hull form coefficients should be displayed for each of the completing vessels so that they can be compared with the proposed vessel.Research and development should continue in this area so that an efficient and effective method of determining completion time can be found.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
New Year's Resolutions
It's a new year, and the air is full of resolutions.
I just received Jim Womack's latest e-newsletter concerning cadence, and the fact that he has resolved to write one e-newsletter per month.
Personally I have set goals that may very well exceed my capabilities in 2008. Writing this blog once per month may be an example...or may not.
Already, my to-list list is far too long to see an end.
How to prioritize? How to start the lengthy task that we know will take 2 days to complete, when there are other tasks of similar priority that only take one hour and can be easily stricken off the list? How on earth does one organize such a mess? Throw on top of this a Lean Project that will occupy the Lean focus within our company for the next 5 years? With so many items that need attention, focus, teamwork and research, how to pick which Lean project or task to accomplish first?
Cadence mixed with prioritization mixed with low-hanging fruit dangling around our heads...
I believe that this is why we have a tidy little tool we call the Lean Diagnostic. This handy-dandy tool enables us to self-evaluate in an organized fashion, within a variety of topics that span the complete spectrum of running a business.
So as we analyze, it becomes obvious through the low scores, where the weaknesses are, and where the priorities lie.
So as we analyze, we create pull.
Isn't that what a good to-do list should do? It should pull our efforts from us. But the to-do list must be developed intelligently enough that it pulls from us as the customer demands, not in an arbitrary fashion that depends on our moods, or our likes or dislikes. One can compare this to brain "setup" and batching in our brain according to our likes of the day. Every good Lean practishioner knows that batching ain;t good.
Back to cadence. Introduce cadence into the customer pull, and you come up with a way of setting daily goals to strike to-do items off your list. But how do you know how many to accomplish per day if you have not levelled the individual tasks? How about conducting a Value-stream mapping exercise on a to-do list to see which items are wasteful? How about levelling the tasks into equal efforts so that we can set a cadence for ourselves? Not quite Takt, but the cadence that Jim refers to.
So...with these things in mind, I should be able to insert this blog-writing task, which is of equal effort to other items, into my to-do list, set the day, accomplish the task, and strike it off my list once per month. Thus, I too have cadence, and the blog gets done regularly.
This is not the final frontier, but when we can start using Lean lessons and tools to change the workings of our brain, we start making some tremendous hits. To 5S the brain is like finally letting the 5S team enter your office to mess with your drawers. After all...we all know that 5S is good for the other people, but will never work for us.
I think this year I have made some resolutions:
1. Let the 5S team into my drawers.
2. Set a cadence for my to-do list.
3. Get the blog out once per month.
A couple of fun resolutions:
4. Change my voice mail daily, so people know they are leaving messages on a dynamic system, not a useless tool.
5. Run a road race.
Leonard
I just received Jim Womack's latest e-newsletter concerning cadence, and the fact that he has resolved to write one e-newsletter per month.
Personally I have set goals that may very well exceed my capabilities in 2008. Writing this blog once per month may be an example...or may not.
Already, my to-list list is far too long to see an end.
How to prioritize? How to start the lengthy task that we know will take 2 days to complete, when there are other tasks of similar priority that only take one hour and can be easily stricken off the list? How on earth does one organize such a mess? Throw on top of this a Lean Project that will occupy the Lean focus within our company for the next 5 years? With so many items that need attention, focus, teamwork and research, how to pick which Lean project or task to accomplish first?
Cadence mixed with prioritization mixed with low-hanging fruit dangling around our heads...
I believe that this is why we have a tidy little tool we call the Lean Diagnostic. This handy-dandy tool enables us to self-evaluate in an organized fashion, within a variety of topics that span the complete spectrum of running a business.
So as we analyze, it becomes obvious through the low scores, where the weaknesses are, and where the priorities lie.
So as we analyze, we create pull.
Isn't that what a good to-do list should do? It should pull our efforts from us. But the to-do list must be developed intelligently enough that it pulls from us as the customer demands, not in an arbitrary fashion that depends on our moods, or our likes or dislikes. One can compare this to brain "setup" and batching in our brain according to our likes of the day. Every good Lean practishioner knows that batching ain;t good.
Back to cadence. Introduce cadence into the customer pull, and you come up with a way of setting daily goals to strike to-do items off your list. But how do you know how many to accomplish per day if you have not levelled the individual tasks? How about conducting a Value-stream mapping exercise on a to-do list to see which items are wasteful? How about levelling the tasks into equal efforts so that we can set a cadence for ourselves? Not quite Takt, but the cadence that Jim refers to.
So...with these things in mind, I should be able to insert this blog-writing task, which is of equal effort to other items, into my to-do list, set the day, accomplish the task, and strike it off my list once per month. Thus, I too have cadence, and the blog gets done regularly.
This is not the final frontier, but when we can start using Lean lessons and tools to change the workings of our brain, we start making some tremendous hits. To 5S the brain is like finally letting the 5S team enter your office to mess with your drawers. After all...we all know that 5S is good for the other people, but will never work for us.
I think this year I have made some resolutions:
1. Let the 5S team into my drawers.
2. Set a cadence for my to-do list.
3. Get the blog out once per month.
A couple of fun resolutions:
4. Change my voice mail daily, so people know they are leaving messages on a dynamic system, not a useless tool.
5. Run a road race.
Leonard
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