An IDEA SYSTEM for QMO

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An IDEA SYSTEM for QMO

• Idea System Team

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BACKGROUND

• Dr. Alan Robinson, author of Ideas Are Free,
  conducted management training for over 40
  Operations management personnel that included
  implementing effective idea systems.
• After the second round of training, 3 teams were
  formed to develop and implement the concepts
• Ideas System
• Hedgehog Principle
• People Process

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AN IDEA SYSTEMTHE OPPORTUNITY

• Front-line workers see a great many problems and
  opportunities that their managers don't.
• Today, most managers either don't realize the
  full power of employee ideas or have never
  learned how to tap them effectively.
• To be truly excellent, and effective at
  execution, you have to be able to capture and
  implement large numbers of employee ideas.

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EXAMPLES OF GOOD IDEA SYSTEMS

• Boardroom Inc. 104 ideas per person per year
• Wainwright Industries 65 ideas per person per
  year 90 percent implemented
• Dana Corporation 24 ideas per employee per year
• 95 percent implemented
• Richer Sounds 20 ideas per employee per year
• Milliken Corporation 110 ideas per employee per
  year
• Toyota Lexus 100 ideas per employee per year
• Google 20 Time, Ideas eBoard (rating buzz
  level), white boards in hallways, game room,
  snack
  bars with creativity centers

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WHY IDEAS ARE IMPORTANT?

• The greatest source of competitive advantage is
  not really cost or quality, but creativity.
• John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
• Business editors of the Economist
• The quickest and easiest way to launch
  improvement activities is through employee
  ideas.
• Norman Bodek
• Founder and CEO
• Productivity Inc./Productivity Press

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THE GOAL

• Develop and run a good idea system, to enable
  everyone in QMO to act on the problems and
  opportunities they see.
• Once rolled out Ideas will be logged, tracked
  and reported to upper management.

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IDEAS INNOVATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS

• When people come up with new ideas, they are
  either
• Improvements - changes to what is already done or
  already exists
• OR
• Innovations - entirely new activities for the
  group
• (The Deep Dive).
• Note All improvements require change, but not
  all changes are improvements!

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The Deep Dive Summary

• Who has the best ideas?
• Employees/workers those doing the work
• The process
• 1 conversation focused
• encourage wild/silly ideas build on them
• defer judgment
• team votes/decides
• Fail often in order to
• succeed sooner
• Enlightened trial error succeeds over the
• planning of the lone genius

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WHY THE NEED FOR A SYSTEM?

• To know that what is supposed to be happening is
  happening (e.g. Reporting, Rules Guidelines).
• To create a time and place where people know
  their ideas will be taken seriously.
• Handling ideas ad-hoc makes them more of a
  nuisance (disruption) than a help over time.
• A system "Saves Yourself Stress, Time, Energy and
  Money instills discipline

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HOW TO IMPLEMENT A GOOD IDEA SYSTEM

• Step 1. Training/education of management and
  design/ implementation team
• Step 2. Design of system. Need to figure out
• How to handle the issue of recognition rewards
• How people will be held accountable
• What the idea process will look like
• How ideas will be handled, metrics, how process
  will be reviewed etc
• What resources will be needed to make the system
  a success
• Staff, budgets, training for workforce, further
  development training
• Step 3. Pilot program
• Step 4. Training of workforce
• Step 5. System launch

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5 KEY POINTS

• POINT 1 GO AFTER SMALL IDEAS - It is impossible
  to improve performance past a certain point
  without getting the little things right.
• POINT 2 MAKE IDEAS PART OF EVERYONE'S JOB -
  Document ideas and track them. Expect ideas from
  all employees.
• POINT 3 DESIGN AN EFFICIENT IDEA-HANDLING
  PROCESS
• POINT 4 FOCUS IDEAS IF NECESSARY - Ask your
  people directly for the kinds of ideas you need
  e.g. productivity, safety and efficiency
  improvements.
• POINT 5 HELP PEOPLE COME UP WITH MORE AND BETTER
  IDEAS share ideas/make visible, put people in
  places with most potential (e.g. job rotation)
  ASK FOR PROBLEMS THAT CAN BECOME OPPORTUNITIES

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POINT 1 GO AFTER SMALL IDEAS

• It is impossible to improve performance past a
  certain point without getting the little things
  right.
• Most small ideas stay proprietary and create
  sustainable competitive advantage.
• Small ideas are the best source of big ideas. If
  you don't go after small ideas, you won't get
  many big ones either
• What other ideas does this one suggest?
• Where else might this idea be used?
• Are there any patterns in the ideas that have
  come in?

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POINT 2 MAKE IDEAS PART OF EVERYONE'S JOB

• Document ideas and track them.
• Expect ideas from all employees
• Value them based on the quantity and quality of
  their ideas.
• Teach supervisors and managers the value of ideas
  and their own four roles
• Encouraging, Mentoring, Championing and Looking
  for larger implications of ideas.
• Value them on how well they promote ideas.

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POINT 3 DESIGN AN EFFICIENT IDEA-HANDLING PROCESS

• Make a clear and visible commitment to everyone
  that ideas will be taken seriously.
• Keep turnaround times low.
• Pay extra attention to those early ideas e.g.
  Pilot
• Drive down decision-making and implementation to
  lowest possible levels.
• Match resources to volume and types of ideas that
  come in, to avoid bottlenecks.
• Design forums into the process to discuss as many
  ideas as possible within workgroups.

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POINT 4 FOCUS IDEAS IF NECESSARY

• Ask your people directly for the kinds of ideas
  you need e.g. productivity, safety and
  efficiency improvements.
• Articulate and legitimize what wasn't on the
  radar before. Ask for problems
• Surprisingly, focusing people on particular
  topics leads to more ideas.

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POINT 5 HELP PEOPLE COME UP WITH MORE AND BETTER
IDEAS

• Try to expose your people to new experiences that
  will broaden their perspectives on, and deepen
  their knowledge of the company.
• Job rotation, benchmarking, contact with internal
  /external customers, reading groups, ongoing
  learning and development.
• Use idea activators, and hone their technique,
  both in "hard skills" and "soft skills
• such as speaking, persuasion, negotiation,
  running meetings, and confrontation.
• Show them how to Improve their powers of
  observation.
• Teach and value problem-solving skills.
• (Learning After Doing - After Action Review)

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THE GOLDEN RULE

• As experience is gained with the process, always
  think about how to improve it.
• If things go well, it should change (improve) and
  evolve over time.
• (Everyday Creativity)

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Everyday Creativity

• We all have the potential to be creative
• Creativity look at the ordinary, see the
  extraordinary
• find uncommon solutions to everyday challenges
• Like changing the lens on a camera change your
  perspective/point of view
• Theres always more than 1 right answer
• Reframe problems into opportunities
• Dont be afraid to make mistakes learn from
  them
• Train your technique put yourself in the place
  of most potential find other right answers

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Example / Exercise
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Hint Simple, quick to implement, relatively
inexpensive
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Exercise

• http//csob.berry.edu/faculty/jgrout/15minexe/inde
  x.html
• HINT think The Hierarchy of Controls
• Best site for ideas
• http//www.mistakeproofing.com
• also
• http//elsmar.com/Error_Proofing/

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Hierarchy of Controls 4 Levels

• Elimination or Substitution This means to design
  the error-potential out of the process or to
  substitute an existing material or process with
  another that does not pose contain the
  error-potential. (think the familiar term
  thats a mistake waiting to happen)
• Engineering Controls If the error-potential
  cannot be eliminated entirely, engineering
  measures are added to the process in order to
  provide protection from the error or minimize the
  error-potential.
• Administrative Controls (e.g. Training
  Warnings) The objective of training is to teach
  workers how to avoid errors. Warnings are means
  by which the existence of an error and how to
  avoid it are communicated to anyone who may be
  exposed / prone to that error.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) This is
  apparatus worn on the exposed person's body that
  places a barrier between the person and the
  hazard.
• Just as the term hierarchy denotes, this is a
  top-down approach in which elimination of the
  error-potential, being the most effective, is at
  the top of the hierarchy.

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Step 1 SUBMITTING PROBLEMS / IDEAS

• Establish a simple system, but one that is
  tracked documented.
• i.e. a centralized, visible place for posting
  problems AND ideas e.g. cork boards, white
  boards, etc.
• Collection can vary to fit what works best for
  that group but overall system is same.
• as a guideline for participation average 1
  problem or idea per person per month
• All Problems/Ideas will be logged showing issue,
  submitter, disposition and responsibility
• Log is available for review (e.g. posted) by all
  workers and by next level supervision/management.

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Step 2 PROCESSING IDEAS

• First-line supervisors are the focal point and
  are accountable (part of their performance
  expectations)
• Supervisor can approve immediately OR defer to
  local peer team/committee
• Only local team/committee can refuse/reject
• If disagreement continues or potential contract
  violation, defer to the next level manager
• Categorize Problems / Ideas
• ESH Environment, Safety or Health improvement
• Q - Quality improvement
• P - Productivity improvement
• C - Cost reduction

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Step 3 EVALUATION / FEEDBACK

• Quick turn around on decision.
• Evaluation team/committee should meet at least
  once every 2 weeks.
• Decisions captured in local idea logs.
• Target for providing feedback to idea originator
  2 weeks max.

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Step 3B CAN IDEAS BE USED ELSEWHERE?

• Local team / committee identifies ideas with
  sharing potential
• Organizations should have a contact (POC) to
  share ideas, consider applicability of ideas from
  other organizations and handle ideas that are not
  local.
• Again see www.mistakeproofing.com

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Step 4 RECOGNITION / REWARD

• Recognition of accepted ideas encouraged at the
  local level, e.g. quarterly breakfast, lunch etc.
• Recognition of implemented ideas at the
  organization level, e.g. quarterly drawing by DDO
  for small prizes
• Use ideas as criteria for existing awards e.g.
  Spotlight Awards.
• Tie to Creativity in Performance Appraisals
  Generates new ideas is innovative, resourceful
  and versatile.

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IDEA SYSTEM EFECTIVENESS

• Minimum level of stats pushed up the management
  chain to DDO, Monthly
• Ideas submitted
• Ideas accepted
• Implemented
• awaiting implementation
• Training / Pilot
• Will start with first-line then deploy at all
  levels of Operations, up to the DDO!

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THE BIG PICTURE

• Keep it simple
• Keep it local
• Keep it inexpensive and quick/easy to implement
  SLIQ test
• Not a suggestion system but ideas that can be
  implemented easily, preferably by the worker at
  the local level
• Focus on problems first then any idea that will
  make the workers job easier, improve safety,
  increase effectiveness and productivity and/or
  reduce cost
• Not a program or flavor of the month that
  will fade over time but a system that will be
  monitored and measured
• ALL problems/ ideas are welcome!

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IDEA SYSTEM ELEMENTS FOROPERATIONS

• Posting of ideas should also include problems
  to spur/generate other ideas at meeting keep it
  simplee.g. use white boards or cork boards...
  want ideas that can be implemented by the
  submitter
• Be wary of a cumbersome approval process need to
  let go of the suggestion box mentality
• Hold Idea meetings at local level - once a week
  or every 2 weeks at minimum (NOT monthly - too
  much delay) either a separate meeting or part
  of existing meeting (e.g. Toolbox)
• All decisions on ideas can be made by the group
  at the meeting
• 1) Do It! implement ASAP
• 2) No/Cant (Why Not) e.g. safety or health
  violation
• 3) Need More Info. e.g. may be contract
  violation
• 4) Kick Upstairs need decision by next level
  management ?
• i.e. feedback comes automatically during the
  meeting

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IDEA SYSTEM ELEMENTS FORQMO

• Track only submitted implemented ideas up the
  chain monthly (to DDO) Track quantity, location
  and speed at local level.
• Recognition should predominantly be through use
  and sharing of the idea, 90 with the other 10 a
  reward - local breakfast/lunch is ok but also use
  tangible items e.g. result of a drawing...
• Sharing through POCs and Central POC / Central
  System (e.g. web page or a newsletter with
  picture of employee and his/her idea)
• i.e. Show it off !
• Training is crucial at all levels
• Accountability at the supervisor level
  (maintaining, reporting) and worker level
  (problems/ideas submitted)

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Tracking Problems / Ideas
PPM IDEAS/ISSUES LOG
Do It No/Cant Needs More Info. Kick Upstairs
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Safety ExampleSawStop - DESIGN for Safety

• SawStop Saws are the most advanced saws in the
  world. Each saw is equipped with a safety system
  that detects when someone accidentally contacts
  the spinning saw blade, and then stops the blade
  in milliseconds
• http//www.sawstop.com/how-it-works-videos.htm
• In most cases, such an accident would result in
  just a nick on a SawStop saw, instead of the
  devastating injury which would likely occur on an
  ordinary saw.
• Longer-term idea or solution
• Engineered Control

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