Manufacturing Technology | What Gets Measured Gets Done |
Charles Schwab (1862-1939), an American steel tycoon, led Bethlehem Steel to become one of the largest steel makers in the United States. He was also a skilled motivator making use of manufacturing technology that was way ahead of his time.
Charles Schwab liked to tell the story of one of his mill managers whose people weren't producing their quota of work. While visiting the mill one day, Schwab asked the manager for a piece of chalk, then, turning to the nearest man, asked: "How many heats did your shift make today?" He said, "Six." Without another word, Schwab chalked a big figure six on the floor, and walked away. When the night shift came in, they saw the "6" and asked what it meant. "The big boss was in here today," the day shift people said. "He asked us how many heats we made, and we told him six. He chalked it down on the floor." The next morning Schwab walked through the mill again. The night shift had rubbed out "6" and replaced it with a big "7." When the day shift reported for work the next morning, they saw a big "7" chalked on the floor. The crew pitched in with enthusiasm, and when they quit that night, they left behind them an enormous, swaggering "10." Thus a fine competition was started and shortly this mill, which had been lagging way behind in production, was turning out more work than any other mill in the plant.1 Schwab's history-changing "6" proves an invaluable point—informed employees work better and harder. This story insightfully illustrates the old maxim ‘What gets measured gets done’. In this turn-of-the-century account, and throughout history, production data has been recorded and analyzed for the purpose of improving efficiency. Employing manufacturing technology to display current production metrics keeps employees motivated and keenly aware of all company goals at any given time, creating a healthy, spirited competition. 
Manufacturing Technology TodayIn recent case studies conducted by MESA International 2 (whose main mission is to help production and manufacturing industries drive improved operational excellence), it is clear that a metrics initiative drives business and plant performance. But they found that the key is that metrics must be quickly communicated to those with the ability to take action that will improve the metric, and not just get filed away in reports. Survey participants that realized the most improvement also were more likely to display performance results within a shift or in real-time, allowing a greater opportunity to improve the outcome. 3Today you may not be writing your production metrics on the floor, but perhaps you are using similar manual methods such as writing them on a white board, typing them into a spreadsheet or text file, or manually collecting data from different sources to analyze. In support of lean manufacturing, maybe you've utilized current manufacturing technology and stepped into the world-class realm of using ERP or MES systems to monitor, log and analyze all of your data, thus removing most human intervention. However you collect and save your company's most important data, you can see the importance of sharing that information with your people—automatically, quickly, accurately, consistently and reliably. Only then can you understand the cause and effects of problematic performance as well as successes, and take action to ramp up production and drive business improvement. What gets measured does get done with the right metrics initiative. Manufacturing Metric Displays from Noventri can lift employees and production to a new level. By communicating directly with your existing database (even data from multiple sources) and displaying it on strategically located screens, Noventri MMDs provide your employees and floor managers with consistent and accurate information when they need it. For more information or to request a free demo click the button below. 1 The Charles Schwab story was adapted from the book: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie ©1936 2 MESA International, www.mesa.org 3 MESA Metrics that Matter Revisited: Public Summary Report of Correlating Plant Performance to Business Performance © Copyright MESA & Cambashi Inc. 2010 |
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