By: Robert Drescher

Robert Drescher — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:37:25 +0000

Often people forget that before efficiency you have to achieve effectiveness (making the right product with the right quality) if you do not do it in that order you will be very efficient at putting yourself out of business. That was one of GM big failures they often produced the wrong cars far more efficiently than the right ones.

By: Mike McAteer

Mike McAteer — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:56:13 +0000

When I worked in a Chocolate Factory they had hired a consulting company who were trying to remove people and to run the wrappers at a ridiculous rate of almost 50 % higher than necessary creating scrap, poor performance, and very disgruntled operators. Once we adjusted the speed to the necessary tact time we able to hit target, reduce scrap and demonstrate the proper respect for the operators on the line. I used a full kaizen approach with operators and others that lasted 5 days and obviously covered more than just the speed but did highlight the fact that we needed to improve.. The consultants could not see or understand the logic even though performance had improved. They were trying to throw the 100 yard touchdown pass instead of moving the ball down the field in a controlled manner. As you can imagine the consultants were not successful and finally moved on.

Comments on: Death by Efficiency

By: Robert Drescher

By: Mike McAteer