Chapter 5. Create Connected Process Flow 105Case Example: Creating Flow in Order Processing
The creation of flow is an effective method that will provide benefits to
any operation that produces a “product.” (We often think in terms of a
manufactured product, but these concepts apply to anything that moves
from person to person as it is being processed. It could be a purchase
order, an insurance policy, or a sandwich being prepared at Subway.) In
this case, the “product” was a customer order that required data entry
into the computer system, modifications to the order for special cus-
tomization, ordering of materials for custom work, CAD drawing work
to design custom elements, and a review process.
Similar to typical manufacturing operations, each of these functions
was separated into different departments, each with a specific task.
The order would move from department to department, each time
landing in an “in basket” pile. Elaborate systems had been developed to
track dates and to ensure that orders were processed FIFO, but in reality
this was not the case. Some orders were more complex, requiring more
time, and others were simpler jobs and “finish up” jobs that needed
to move more quickly because they were related to completing jobs
that had already been shipped to customers. The result was long lead
times for order processing, which left little time for manufacturing
and also left the stress of dealing with the complexity.
how do you do this with an information process like engineering,
where each design is unique?
The answer was to schedule the releases at each step based on a
“staggered release.” Don’t wait to design all the different seat varieties.
Design one and release it to parts ordering so they can get started
ordering parts. Get all the parts for that seat to build prototypes, and
get prototypes for that one seat to the test department so they can
give feedback as quickly as possible to the seat engineers.
A key tool to enable this was something they called a “pull board.” It was
a simple visual management tool: a white board with key information
about each of the seats in process. Each department had one. So parts
ordering could see when they ordered parts, when the parts were due to
arrive, whether they came in on time, as well as when the next seat
design could be expected. If they started to get backed up with seat
designs before getting the parts in, they could inform engineering of this.
If they were ready for more, they could inform engineering of this as well.
The result was significant time reductions for this process. It was no
longer a bottleneck, and feedback was faster and improved the quality
of designs. Suddenly the process gained some semblance of control.