Modern industries are usually not limited to one department or process. A production delay caused by a machine breakdown can have an effect on the staff, on the logistics, on the customers, and on the cost control. A safety issue can involve the design of a piece of equipment, the training of employees, the layout of a workplace, and the relevant laws and regulations.
Addressing difficult industrial challenges requires more than just solving a problem in the short term. Any solution needs to have a long-term perspective in order to ensure that the same problems do not reappear. To achieve this, it is necessary to think clearly and to analyze problems methodically, often involving more than one area of specialization.
Understanding the Full Scope of the Problem
Defining a problem as complex as industrial ones is never simple. A typical team first tries to solve the most visible symptom of a problem and then finds out that the root cause was something else entirely. A machine may be malfunctioning, but that is being caused by worn-out parts, by varying quality of materials, by poor work instructions, or by being pushed by production to run at speeds that were never designed.
Teams can focus too much on the symptoms of the problems in their industry, for example, a production team might be blamed for repeated product defects because of what they do with the product, but the real causes could be the wear and tear on the production machinery, the variation in the quality of the raw and packaging materials that are used, the lack of clarity in the work instructions that the production staff follow, and the overly aggressive production targets that are set.
A good place to start is by asking a number of simple questions to find out more about the root cause of the problem.
What is happening?
Where is it happening?
When did it begin?
Who or what is affected?
How often does it occur?
What changed before the problem appeared?
These questions enable a distinction between facts and assumptions and give teams a common problem definition.
By analyzing production data and logs as well as employee reports, maintenance records, inspection results, and customer complaints, production-related problems that seem to occur by chance actually follow a schedule. They may occur during specific shifts, with specific materials, or after a particular maintenance task.
We have information and data to work with. Look at the maintenance records, employee reports, production logs, and the results of all the inspections. Analyze customer complaints. Look for patterns in apparently random events. Sometimes a problem appears to be random but in fact it follows a regular pattern, which is visible when one looks at the data with the right eye. Such a problem occurs at specific times, with specific materials, after specific maintenance activities.
Bringing Together Different Areas of Expertise
To solve an industrial problem, several areas of expertise usually have to be brought together. Not only do the engineers in a company know the equipment, but also the operators know best how to operate the machines. The safety managers are aware of the risks that the production departments have become accustomed to in the meantime. Also, the purchasing department is important because shortly before the problem occurred, probably something had changed with the material supplier. This variation is then observed by the quality departments.
Each group holds part of the answer.
Cross-functional problem-solving brings together people from different parts of the organization to form a strong team to address specific problems. This team typically consists of people from the departments of operations, maintenance, engineering, safety, quality assurance, procurement, finance, and logistics. The correct composition of such a team is determined by the problem being addressed.
As well as being small enough to make decisions to solve a problem, the team should be big enough to understand the total system. It is also essential to have a leader of the team; without ownership of the meetings, they can so easily become non-productive and turn into discussions that achieve nothing.
A well-functioning team with good collaboration practices is important to solve problems. Experts must explain their knowledge clearly to others. Operators must feel free to report problems without fear of being blamed. Managers must listen carefully before making decisions.
Combining the expertise of different departments often leads to solutions that no single department would have found on its own.
Finding the Root Cause Instead of Treating Symptoms
Just because you have solved a problem in the short term does not mean that you have solved the problem for good. For example, you have a machine that breaks down on a regular basis. Each time it breaks down, you have to replace a part. So you replace the part, and all is well again. But the problem remains: why did the part fail in the first place?
Instead of a problem being solved by implementing a temporary fix, the root cause of a problem should be identified by employing techniques such as the five whys, cause-and-effect diagrams, a fault tree analysis, and a failure mode and effects analysis.
Find the Root Cause of a Problem by Using the Five Whys to Identify the Reason Behind the Problem. Sometimes, temporary repairs are needed to fix problems that arise with machinery in use, to keep things running. Yet to prevent similar problems from recurring, it is essential to diagnose the root cause of a failure. Use tools, such as the Five Whys method (explained below), cause-and-effect diagrams, a so-called “fault tree analysis”, and/or “failure mode and effects analysis” (FMEA) for analyzing root causes.
For example:
A conveyor stopped because the motor overheated.
The motor overheated because it was overloaded.
The motor overheated because it was overloaded.
Material built up on the belt because the cleaning of the belt was not on schedule.
The schedule was not followed because the responsibility was unclear.
It can be to assign someone to be responsible and to make better work instructions than to buy a stronger motor.
Just because you’ve found a cause doesn’t mean it’s the root cause. Test your ideas and gather more evidence and facts as needed. Only when you’ve proven your theory is it a root cause.
Improving Material Handling and Workflow Design
Material handling is one of the largest consumers of “industrial inefficiency” on the plant floor. Most problems are caused by improper handling of materials, which lead to such issues as delays, injuries, product damage, wasted floor space, and additional labor to perform the same task.
The process of improving Material Handling and Workflow Design begins by mapping the current Material Flow within the Facility. Repeated activities such as lifting, long movement of materials, and blockage of aisles cause inefficiencies in industrial processes. All of these causes of inefficiency add time to the process and pose a risk of injury or damage to products. Looking at each repeated handling of materials and designing an optimal process for the movement of those materials between processes in the facility can result in significant gains in process efficiency.
We choose the right equipment for the right task. Packaged goods might require a different solution to scrap, to bulk ingredients, to metal parts, to hazardous waste, etc. We look at the weight of the loads, the size and shape of the containers, the method of discharge, and the space available.
In operations where loose materials are frequently collected and emptied by workers, self-dumping hoppers can minimize manual handling and support faster material disposal or recycling. Such equipment, however, must be specified to match the application, used only within rated capacities, and work effectively within the process flow.
When making changes to improve the workflow, consider how the changes will make the job easier to perform correctly. If the improved workflow does not make the job easier to perform correctly, then it has not been improved enough.
Efficient workflow improvements should enable employees to do their job correctly. They should not force employees to find ways around a poorly thought-out design.
Balancing Safety, Productivity, and Cost
Trade-offs are a normal part of industrial decisions. Making a process faster may increase the risk to employees. A lower-cost material may result in a product with a shorter life. A highly automated system could increase output, but require expensive maintenance people to keep it going.
Strong decision-making considers several factors at once.
Design processes with safety as a fundamental requirement. Many processes that are safer are also more productive because they can be designed to reduce interruptions to employees, to prevent injuries and damage to equipment and materials, and to reduce employee fatigue. For information on safety at work, including identification of hazards and required training, consult OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
Cost is more than just the purchase price. A less expensive piece of equipment than others, for example, may use more energy to perform the same task or need more repairs and thereby be down for more time. In the long run, the more expensive item could have a lower total cost than the less expensive piece.
In evaluating possible solutions, use criteria that can be measured. These might include:
Initial cost
Operating cost
Maintenance needs
Expected service life
Safety impact
Training requirements
Production capacity
Quality performance
Environmental effect
A weighted decision matrix can be a useful tool to further compare several seemingly adequate options. A structured comparison will help to weigh the different criteria on a more realistic basis than just comparing “specifications” or vendors’ claims with each other.
