By Becky Ferrell
OK, be honest. We’ve all laughed at these memes, forwarded them to friends, etc. In fact, this particular one significantly cheered up the day I was having when it popped into my in-box. It gave me a much-needed moment of humor.
But what happens when “this” is YOU??? Still laughing? Thought not……
Those of us in the manufacturing realm may have a unique thought process, I’ll freely admit it. (Just like those of us who worked on ambulances have a unique sense of humor. I’ll save some of those stories for a later blog.) The damage in this meme is “fixable”. It’s going to take some time and effort, both of which are waste in our lean systems. Hopefully, this error is not going to cause a construction delay at the correct address, and there’s no damage associated with unloading at the wrong address.
Once I had my mood-lifting chuckle, my mind immediately flipped to “what went wrong” and “how could it have been avoided”.
Skip the Blame Game
When things like this go wrong, generally the first reaction is to try to figure out who to blame. Once blame is assigned then, in many organizations, the analysis stops. Guilty party found, move on!
But is that the right way to handle it? What other problems (failures) could be lurking in the way business operations are being handled? Wouldn’t it be better to look at the entire process, start to finish, and try to determine all the ways the process could fail? And then determine, proactively, a means to mitigate each potential failure, thus preventing customer dissatisfaction and eliminating the waste associated with correcting the problem.
It’s not a vision. Tools exist to help organizations do exactly what I’ve described.
Failure Mode Effects Analysis
Many in manufacturing are familiar with the various forms of FEMA – Failure Mode Effects Analysis. It’s a common methodology used in manufacturing and engineering, focusing on identifying potential failure modes in systems to reduce potential failures as well as avoiding operating and design costs. Two major forms of FEMA are:
- PFMEA (Process Failure Mode Analysis) focuses on process control objectives.
- DFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) assists engineers in identifying potential risks in product design in advance of investment.
Manufacturing and engineering professionals have long been users and advocates of these tools, but let’s take a minute to look more closely at one of these: PFMEA.
P=Process …. Manufacturing and engineering processes or ANY process? It turns out that PFMEA can be successfully used in ANY process, including Supply Chain.
PFMEA Application
During the planning for a major product launch, we kept running into Supply Chain issues. Part of the problem was the relative level of inexperience of some of the SC team members; this was a greenfield facility. At this stage, there were no major issues, but we didn’t want them to become major during the launch and ramp of production. We needed a tool to identify these potential issues before we “stumbled” on them. Sitting through an engineering PFEMA review, my team decided to see if we could take their format and use it.
We started with the overriding question: How many ways can Supply Chain fail to deliver the right part to the right location at the right time? As a team, we developed a detailed Process Flow Map of our function, asking that question at each stage in the flow. As with engineering and manufacturing processes, we were able to identify the potential failure and frequency, impact of the failure, and determine a means of mitigation.
The experience was actually a two-fold success. Certainly, we accomplished the original goal of completing the PFMEA, including writing procedures and training packages to ensure mitigation processes would be instituted, followed, and were part of layered audits. As importantly, and some might argue perhaps more-so, completing the process as a team exercise brought the team members closer, ensuring each team member understood the functions and potential issues/impact of each other team member’s functions.
Mitigation Plan
During several Circle of Colleagues meetings, our experience was shared with other facilities. Over time this process was adopted throughout the global Supply Chain organization to be used whenever there was a launch or process change.
Application to other functional processes? Absolutely!!! The power of the tool lies in the fact it’s used during the design phase meaning fixes are in place at “go live” eliminating potential impact to “customers” of your function.
At HVM, our experienced professionals have developed Process Flow Diagrams and completed FMEAs to support multiple functions. Getting ready to launch a new product / process, or need to analyze an existing one? We have the ability to train your employees in how to execute the processes, identifying risks, and providing proven methods for mitigation. Give us a call! You’ll be pleased with the quality of our work and your result!
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