Production Machining - Your access to the precision machining industrial buyer.
Issue link: https://pm.epubxp.com/i/753552
20 PRODUCTION MACHINING : DECEMBER 2016 Helping Precision Machine Shops Be More ProducƟ ve and Profi table YOURCAREERFACTS.COM PMPASPEAKINGOFPRECISION.COM 2 GREAT BLOGS! Using Standard Work to Best Serve Customers Continued from page 18 To grow and profi t today, you have to work smarter. You have to relentlessly eliminate waste. PMPA is the way to expand your knowledge and increase your capabilities in order to grow your business. Through daily interaction with PMPA staff members, you have access to our expertise on important issues. You're also able to tap the collective knowledge of your peers: those who have "been there" and "done that." Through the meetings, resources and online connections, reports and more, we give you the tools to grow. We look at emerging markets and let you know what's hot and what's not. PMPA programs help you understand your markets so you can make sense of the issues. And we provide relevant information to help you make informed decisions. Why Join GROW! Why Join PMPA? Not Limited to Manufacturing Processes United Parcel Service (UPS) uses a variant of standard work to minimize the number of left turns that its delivery drivers have to make each day. "UPS engineers found that left-hand turns were a major drag on effi ciency. Turning against traffi c resulted in long waits in left-hand turn lanes that wasted time and fuel, and it also led to a disproportionate number of accidents. By mapping out routes that involved 'a series of right-hand loops,' UPS improved profi ts and safety while touting their catchy, environmentally friendly policy. As of 2012, the right turn rule, combined with other improvements, UPS saved around 10 million gallons of gas and reduced emissions by the equivalent of taking 5,300 cars off the road for a year." Link: short.productionmachining.com/upsnoleft UPS itself explains the value of their standard work for avoiding no left turns: "Even if this meant traveling a greater distance, results showed that more packages could be delivered in less time with reduced emissions by driving in a series of right-hand loops. It helped the bottom line, met consumer demands and increased safety." Link: short.gardnerweb.com/upsright By creating standard work to eliminate problematic left turns, UPS, "helped the bottom line, met consumer demands and increased safety." The standard work discipline delivers results to the bottom line, while better meeting customer demand, increasing the safety of drivers and the public, while reducing the resources used. This is the power of standard work. Enable Your Performers Our customer service performers struggle with ambiguity as to their role when an unexpected issue arises. Many times they fi nd themselves forced to choose between activities that deliver customer satisfaction, deliver some social good or those that maximize employer profi ts. Standardization can be an enabler for an organization. As managers, we need to provide our performers with standard tools to enable their work with customers, tools that provide both the structure to assure that the customer's and the organization's needs are met. At the same time, we need to make sure we do not stifl e our performer's ability to innovate and be creative. Frozen, rigid practices can only assure that service to our customers does not keep up with the ever-changing demands of our customers and the marketplace. We have standard work for our shop processes. Standard work has helped us bring our shop processes to quality levels unimaginable 10 years ago. Is it time now to help our team develop standard work for customer care and sustainment? I believe it is essential for us as managers to provide clarity to our performers on what is the right balance between enforcing our policies and serving the needs of both the customer and our organization. Currently, what means are available to let them know how to do just that? They have the responsibility, but do they have the authority? Standard work just might be the enabling means to help us help our performers walk that tightrope between our policies and our customers' urgent requirements. Have you considered implementing standard work for customer service?