Measure your level of commitment

by Clair D. Urbain

I feel very fortunate in my job because I get the chance to talk with many people about how they get their work done.  I learn a lot from them.

While no two plants are ever the same, there is one recurring theme when it comes to streamlining work processes: If the men and women in management do not buy into the concept, the project will fail.  Their commitment is essential to improve work processes.

You can measure their commitment by thinking about how management reacts when it must make choices between short-term gains vs. long-term benefit.

If the production line must go down on the third shift for planned maintenance and it means only a partial order will be shipped to a customer, followed by the remainder the next day, which will they choose?  Will they postpone the planned maintenance?  Do they truly believe that the delay for planned maintenance will head off troubles down the road?  Or, do they even realize it?

Or, does management (sales, marketing and purchasing) frankly believe that time delays in the sales, marketing and purchasing departments can be made up on the plant floor?  After all, everyone wants overtime out there, right?

That’s an awful lot of questions in a row, but I am building that scenario to make a point:

You can’t reach the next level of efficiency if front-line workers must desert improvement plans to satisfy the whims of management caused by poor planning on their part or their lack of commitment to get better.

After all, there are thousands of excuses for missing deadlines, most of which tickle the bottom line.  And that’s where you really find out how committed your company is to truly improving processes.

If you are committed to taking the next step to greater plant reliability and productivity, how are you assuring that management is behind you?  And if they aren’t behind you, what are you doing to make sure you’re not wasting your time?

Make sure your management team buys into the idea of improving productivity and reliability.  If upper management doesn’t see the benefit to the corporation or to the bottom line, you are wasting valuable time you could use to fight the fires they want you to fight.  But if they buy into the concept, you’ll get the cooperation and flexibility you’ll need to make the difference.

One final point: Before you challenge your management’s commitment to plant improvement, what is yours?  It’s difficult to “sell” commitment to the button-pushers if you are not committed to the concept.

Good luck in your efforts to become more productive.  After all, it only takes top-to-bottom commitment.  The rest is easier.

This article appeared in the April/May 1998 issue of MRO Today magazine.  Copyright, 1998.

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