(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) JUNE 2009
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Replies, inquires and feedback to
<mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@...
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)
(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)+(+)

============================================================

This newsletter is a free service of Changeover.com. Visit our website at
http://www.changeover.com
or contact me at <mailto:john%40changeover.com>john@...

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be
interested
=============================================================

I know that for many of you things may be a bit
slow right now. That makes this the perfect time
to do training and implement a changeover
improvement program. This newsletter will tell
you how but I can do a much better job with my
CHANGEOVER MADE ESEE workshop. For those
subscribers to the newsletter, I want to extend a
special offer. The workshop is normally $5,000
plus travel (in the US) but I am offering it here
for $4,000. I have availabilities in July and
August or, if you are in a big hurry, even next
week. Give me a call at 787-550-9650 or e-mail me
at 787-550-9650 and I will be happy to provide a
detailed course outline or answer any other questions.

Do it NOW!

SOME THOUGHTS ON…

DEVELOPING A LEAN CHANGEOVER PROGRAM

You know that you need to reduce changeover
downtime. The problem is how to tackle it.
Changeover is such a massive issue, affected by
and affecting virtually everyone in the company,
that it terrifies many people. This fear leads to
indecision about how to start, indecision leads
to nothing at all being done and the high costs
of changeover continue year after year into the future.

To start, you need a formal program. Here is a
step by step process for getting the program going:

1. Calculate the cost of changeover - This
must be the first step and must be done by the
finance department. Anything else is unofficial
and will have credibility issues. Improving
changeover will cost money. Generally not major
capital expenses, though there can be some, but a
lot of relatively small expenses as well as time.
If the cost of changeover is not known, it is
impossible to evaluate whether improvements make
sense. (If you want to know more about costs,
drop me an e-mail at john@... and I'll
send you a presentation I did on costs)

2. Decide that a program will be implemented
and set a timetable - Talking about improving
changeover is not a program. Putting it off
doesn't make it get any better. Just do it. The
timetable, initially, is for getting the program
going, not necessarily accomplishing reductions.
It takes an effort and if there is no deadline it
will get pushed back into never-never-land.

3. Develop metrics to measure changeover
times - As the saying goes, if you don't measure
it, you won't control it. Decide what you will
measure as well as how you will define it and how
you will measure it. Absent good metrics there is
no way to know if changeover is getting better or worse.

4. Decide which areas you will focus on - I
divide changeover into two broad categories.
"Mechanical" is the modification of machinery and
equipment to ease changeover. "Operational" are
all other functions including material handling,
documentation, quality inspections/line
clearance, package/product design, job
assignments, scheduling. Some of these are
interactive but for the most part they can be
viewed as separate paths. In some plants the big
bottleneck will be operational issues. In others
it will be mechanical. Both need to be addressed
but, depending on the resources available, it may
be best to focus on one or the other at least initially.

5. Decide who will be on the team -
Especially at the beginning, a primary attribute
of the team members must be enthusiasm. The
selection of team members will depend to some
degree on which path, mechanical or operational,
you will initially concentrate on. One key is
that the team have a leader, what I call a
"Champion" who can preside in an effective
manner. This Champion can be a manager,
supervisor, engineer, mechanic or operator. The
most important qualification, in my view, is a
strong belief in the benefits of reducing
changeover and a desire to succeed. Needless to
say, whoever is selected to be Champion, they
must have strong support from management.

6. Provide training - The first thing they
need is training. It is not reasonable to simply
expect a team to come together and intuitively
figure out how to reduce changeover times. This
training must include the basics such as
definitions and must provide a methodology for
looking at changeover and identifying improvement
opportunities. Finally it must provide techniques
to implement those opportunities. Finally, the
training must provide facilitated opportunities
to practice the methodologies and techniques.
NOTE: This is precisely what my "Changeover Made
ESEE" workshop is designed to do. E-mail me at
john@... for more info.

7. Provide resources - The most important
resource to be provided is time. The team must
have time to meet. Meetings should be regular and
should have an agenda. Other resources include
books, magazines, contacts and even visits with
other similar and dissimilar plants. It goes
without saying that resources must also include
support and funding to implement improvements.

8. Set goals - If it is not specific, with a
completion deadline, it is not a goal, it is
merely a good intention and we know what road is
paved with those, don't we? A generic goal I
often recommend is a 50% reduction in 6 months.
Milestones along the way are also a good idea.
The problem with continuous or perpetual programs
is that people lose enthusiasm and that without
time pressure of a deadline, some of the sense of
urgency is lost. This does not mean that at the
end of the project you should stop improving.
Simply start another project when the first is
finished. It may have some different people
and/or a different focus. I favor a series of
consecutive, specific, projects rather than the amorphous perpetual project.

9. Implement the program - As the team
develops improvements, they should be implemented
as soon as possible. One of the things I
recommend is that some very simple, quick (less
than 2 weeks) to implement improvements be
implemented right off the bat. This will instill
an initial sense of success and confidence and
can be built on with more complex improvements.

10. Expect failures - Babe Ruth, who long
held the baseball homerun record still holds the
strike out record. There will be failures. Do not
let them slow the program. Build on them and learn from mistakes.

11. Recognize the participants - At the end
of the program, take stock of what has been
accomplished. Was the goal met? Why or why not?
How much benefit has the program been to the
company in dollars? Congratulate the participants
for a job well done (or at least a valiant effort if the goal was not met.)

12. Go back to step 1 and start all over
again - Your competition is continually getting better. You can't stop now.

Space prevents me from doing much more than
giving a skeleton here. A lot of this is covered
in more detail in an article I wrote a few years
ago for The Journal of Pharmaceutical
Engineering. E-mail john@... if you would like a copy.

TIP OF THE MONTH…

GEORGE STALK

I am currently teaching a graduate course in
Strategic Management and one of the department
assigned readings was a Harvard Business Review
article by George Stalk, Philip Evans and
Lawrence Schulman titled "Competing on
capabilities". It discusses the importance of
eliminating wasted time in business processes,
especially, but not only, in manufacturing. It
distills a lot of things I've seen and read as
well as thought about over the years. This is the
first time I have seen it all so powerfully
written in one place. The article can be downloaded at:
http://my.execpc.com/~jpurtell/HBR-CompetingonCapabilities.pdf

I would say it is a must read.

Two other articles by Stalk that I highly recommend:
http://www.bcg.com/publications/files/434TheTurnaroundMansLastSpeech.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/global/2004/1018/026_print.html
(The Forbes article is especially useful if your
company does business with Wal-Mart)

On the strength of the article I bought his book
"Competing Against Time" and am about a third of
the way into it. Based on what I see so far,
anyone engaged in manufacturing should read it.



Best,

John R Henry CPP

"All progress is made by a lazy person looking
for an easier way." - Lazarus Long

www.changeover.com www.smedblog.com

Twitter johnrhenry 787-550-9650