Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1 - Understanding Quality and Quality Requirements

THE END RESULT

QUALITY

QUALITY CONTROL

QUALITY ASSURANCE

THE QUALITY SYSTEM

QUALITY REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATION REVIEW

QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

CHAPTER 2 - Testing

TESTING: WHAT IS IT?

TESTING: LOCATION, TECHNICIANS, AND TRAINING

PROCEDURES

CHAPTER 3 - Inspection and Data Handling

INSPECTION

PLANS AND PROCEDURES

DATA, DATA, EVERYWHERE!

CHAPTER 4 - Calibration

GAUGE IDENTIFICATION

CALIBRATION STANDARDS

CALIBRATION RECALL AND DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

MOVING BEYOND THE SIMPLE RECALL SYSTEM

OUT-OF-TOLERANCE CONDITIONS

CHAPTER 5 - Corrective and Preventative Action and Error Proofing

WHEN IS CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUIRED?

REQUIREMENTS FOR A CORRECTIVE ACTION SYSTEM

INVESTIGATING AND RESOLVING A CORRECTIVE ACTION ISSUE

CORRECTIVE ACTION RESOLUTION

ERROR PROOFING

PREVENTATIVE ACTION

CHAPTER 6 - Document Control: Ensuring Vital Information Is Available to Those ...

WHY GO TO ALL THIS EFFORT?

PAPER-BASED SYSTEMS

REVISION CONTROL

DOCUMENT DISTRIBUTION

UNCONTROLLED COPIES

ELECTRONICALLY BASED SYSTEMS

GUIDELINES AND AUDITS

CHAPTER 7 - Process Control

HOW DO I DO IT?

IDENTIFYING KEY PROCESS VARIABLES

THE CONTROL PLAN

EQUIPMENT SETUP/DOCUMENTATION AND VERIFICATION

PROCESS CAPABILITY

MONITORING

CHAPTER 8 - Process Changes

REQUEST SUBMISSION

EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION OF CHANGES

CHAPTER 9 - Raw Materials, Services, and Suppliers

SOURCING: RAW MATERIALS

SOURCING: SERVICES

AFTER SOURCING: THE START OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP

CHAPTER 10 - Customers

THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP

ACCESSIBILITY

CONTACTS

AVAILABILITY

RESPONSIVENESS

FOLLOW-UP

CUSTOMER CARE

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

CUSTOMER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

CHAPTER 11 - Physical Facilities

MAINTENANCE

THE WORK AREA

CHAPTER 12 - People

EDUCATION

TRAINING

MENTORING

EMPOWERMENT

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Conclusion

APPENDIX - Quality Requirements Checklist

About the Author

Index

Wiley & SAS Business Series

The Wiley & SAS Business Series presents books that help senior-level managers with their critical management decisions.

Titles in the Wiley and SAS Business Series include:

Activity-Based Management for Financial Institutions: Driving Bottom-Line Results, by Brent Bahnub

Business Analytics for Managers: Taking Business Intelligence beyond Reporting, by Gert Laursen and Jesper Thorlund

Business Intelligence Competency Centers: A Team Approach to Maximizing Competitive
Advantage, by Gloria J. Miller, Dagmar Brautigam, and Stefanie Gerlach
Business Intelligence Success Factors: Tools for Aligning Your Business in the Global
Economy, by Olivia Parr Rud

Case Studies in Performance Management: A Guide from the Experts, by Tony C. Adkins CIO Best Practices: Enabling Strategic Value with Information Technology, Second Edition, by Joe Stenzel

Credit Risk Assessment: The New Lending System for Borrowers, Lenders, and Investors, by Clark Abrahams and Mingyuan Zhang

Credit Risk Scorecards: Developing and Implementing Intelligent Credit Scoring, by Naeem Siddiqi

Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth, by Jill Dyche and Evan Levy

Demand-Driven Forecasting: A Structured Approach to Forecasting, by Charles Chase Enterprise Risk Management: A Methodology for Achieving Strategic Objectives, by Gregory Monahan

Executive’s Guide to Solvency II, by David Buckham, Jason Wahl, and Stuart Rose Fair Lending Compliance: Intelligence and Implications for Credit Risk Management, by Clark R. Abrahams and Mingyuan Zhang

Information Revolution: Using the Information Evolution Model to Grow Your Business, by Jim Davis, Gloria J. Miller, and Allan Russell

Marketing Automation: Practical Steps to More Effective Direct Marketing, by Jeff LeSueur

Mastering Organizational Knowledge Flow: How to Make Knowledge Sharing Work, by Frank Leistner

Performance Management: Finding the Missing Pieces (to Close the Intelligence Gap), by Gary Cokins

Performance Management: Integrating Strategy Execution, Methodologies, Risk, and Analytics, by Gary Cokins

The Business Forecasting Deal: Exposing Bad Practices and Providing Practical Solutions, by Michael Gilliland

The Data Asset: How Smart Companies Govern Their Data for Business Success, by Tony Fisher

The New Know: Innovation Powered by Analytics, by Thornton May

Visual Six Sigma: Making Data Analysis Lean, by Ian Cox, Marie A Gaudard, Philip J. Ramsey, Mia L. Stephens, and Leo Wright

For more information on any of the above titles, please visit www.wiley.com.

Copyright © 2011 by Bobby Hull. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Hull, Bobby, 1958-

Manufacturing best practices : optimizing productivity and product quality / Bobby Hull. p. cm. - (Wiley and SAS business series; 29)

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-58214-5; ISBN 978-0-470-93198-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-0-470-93199-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-0-470-93200-1 (ebk)

1. Manufacturing processes. 2. Quality control. 3. Industrial productivity. I. Title.

TS183.H85 2010

670-dc22

2010031655

I dedicate this work to my mom and dad, who taught me very early that perseverance, honesty, and hard work are just as important as education. My deepest, heartfelt thanks to you both. I love you.

A man with blinded eyes does not see, because he cannot.

A man with a closed mind does not see, because he will not.

To the first, the light is freedom.

To the other, enlightenment is a demon.

Thus is the way of the world . . .

Bobby Hull 2010

Preface

When I was first challenged with the proposal from SAS to write this book, I wondered who on Earth would be the audience. With all the very complex manufacturing operations going on in the world today, what could I possibly have to say that everyone was not already doing? After all, most large companies today have systems and methods certified by more governing bodies than I can name. Surely they employ best practices, right?

Then a recent conversation with a co-worker helped me see the difference. He said, “Look at all the recent issues in the news about recalls. Just about every industry, and large industries I might add, are having to recall product due to some quality problem.” He went on to say, “And look at some of these very large corporations, ones who are supposedly too big to fail. They are failing because they have not optimized their production methods. Surely they have not embraced the best practices philosophy.”

I suddenly realized that a certified quality system does not mean the system embraces best practices. Certification, while a good thing to have, simply means your system is documented and auditable.

Certification does not guarantee quality, only consistency. In addition, production and process optimization must take place, regardless of certification, in order to optimize profitability.

With these new insights, I understand that there is a need for a 40,000-foot overview of best practices. It is necessary to step back every so often and do an honest assessment of where we are and where we are going. I trust that this book will be a tool that helps you to make this assessment, and that as you explore my thoughts, you, too, will find a new enlightenment that will help you attain your company’s goals.

As a small boy growing up in Southern Virginia, I can remember summers spent helping my dad fix up the house. Dad was the consummate handyman. Every summer, for as long as I can remember, Dad would have a pet project. It was, of course, my job to help him wherever I could. This usually entailed supplying Dad the particular tool he needed for the job at hand. The problem was, I usually got it wrong.

I can remember running to the tool shed to honor Dad’s request to “get me a saw,” and upon entering that dark, dusty place, being overwhelmed by my choices. Row upon row of saws of every type and description lined the walls, and not only saws, but tools of every kind—wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers.

There were even plows for the garden, and multitudes of different nails and screws, and boxes filled with unidentifiable gizmos. In the dim light of this place, it was hard to see any difference among the families of tools. They all looked the same hanging there among the dust and cobwebs.

“Get me a saw,” I’m thinking—but which one?

Using the best reasoning an eight-year-old could muster, I made my choice. Carefully handling the saw, I hurried back to Dad’s side. “That’s a fine-tooth finish saw,” he’d say. “But I need a crosscut.”

Dad would smile, of course, and we would both return to that mysterious haven of tools and Dad would explain to me the difference between the “finish saw” and “crosscut.” Dad said, “You see, while both these will cut wood, each is designed to be the most efficient for its purpose.”

Now you may be wondering what all that has to do with the best practices of manufacturing. Well, Dad’s understanding that knowing your tools, what each is designed to do, and choosing the right tool for the job is the cornerstone of good manufacturing.

Today, modern manufacturing is overwhelmed with tools to manage itself. In my 30+ years in quality control, I’ve seen countless hot, new innovative ideas become the flavor of the day (Deming’s Statistical Process Control, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, Lean, ISO 9000, just to name a few). All these programs offer some better tool to manage our business, make decisions, and manufacture a quality product.

No one system, however, can be an instant fix. No canned concept can guarantee your success. You can’t purchase “best practices.” Best practices come from a mindset, a philosophy developed by looking at all the tools available and deciding which ones will work for your particular goals and implementing them. Best practices also require commonsense scrutiny and must draw on the experience of your people.

Best practices also have to evolve in the truest sense of the word. Tools are tried and discarded. Some tools are adapted. Others are left untouched due to the complexity of installation or excessive cost. The outcome of this trial and error is an entity comprised of functional elements that truly works in your organization and is uniquely customized to your business. This entity is a living, breathing presence that permeates every level of your operation. This corporate consciousness becomes your center point, a place of calibration against which all decisions are measured.

I’m sure you are thinking at this point, “This all sounds very Zen, but what has this to do with real-world manufacturing, or with any business for that matter?” The answer is, “Everything!”

Look at any successful company and you will immediately recognize that each has a personality within itself and in its marketplace. As customers, we come to expect a certain experience when doing business with one of these companies. As a matter of fact, this corporate persona is what possibly attracts us as customers in the first place. This personality is the direct result of the company’s philosophy of doing business, a philosophy whose foundations are deeply rooted in its best practices. For the employees, a company’s personality is what allows it to attract the best and brightest to its workforce. Best practices for manufacturing, therefore, cannot be isolated to the shop floor but are indeed the lifeblood that permeates an entire organization.

The following pages are not meant to be a recipe book. You cannot install these pages and expect your company to suddenly sprout innovative products and break out of old paradigms. This isn’t the next hot program. Instead, our goal here is to have an open and honest investigation not only of many areas of physical manufacturing but also of business management, decision making, and personnel. We will explore what lies behind the cultivation of a corporation’s culture, to shed some light into your own dark, dusty tool shed, help you define and understand your goals, inventory what tools you have, and arm you with a willingness to consider new ways of thinking.

Some ideas you may embrace. Others you may discard. Both decisions are correct. The key to understanding best practices is the willingness to change your practices as the environment of your business shifts. Being unconsciously stuck in a paradigm is surely a death sentence. The ultimate best practice is the ability and flexibility to change, an openness to learning and exploration.

Without this ability, you will find yourself, much like that small boy, wasting precious time trying to decide your next action. All the while your customers are waiting for you to answer their requests. Let’s only hope they are as patient as my dad.

In the pages that follow I will show you step-by-step how to examine your current methods and create a set of best practices that will help you better organize your manufacturing efforts, improve your product quality, and give you a better insight into the intricacies of your operations.

Before I can produce an item, I must determine what that product is supposed to do. I must also understand my customer’s expectations. In Chapter 1, I take a look at the definition of quality and the establishment of quality requirements.

In Chapter 2, I address the various techniques for testing those quality requirements. I also discuss the importance of choosing the correct methods, equipment, and procedures, as well as employee training.

Exploration of the idea of inspection and its relationship to testing is the goal of Chapter 3. I also cover in this chapter the need for proper data handling and storage and how to do it.

Chapter 4 is where we enter the complex world of calibration. The need for instrumentation, which has been compared to a set of standards, is a critical part of ensuring product quality and consistency. I will show you the basics of how this system must be set up to guarantee success.

Even in the best manufacturing facility errors occur and mistakes happen. In Chapter 5, I show you solid investigative techniques to uncover the real reason behind these errors. I also give you proven concepts to prevent errors in the first place.

Having the right information at the right time is key to product quality. Chapter 6 explores the concept of controlling documents. I show you methods to properly label and handle your documented information—methods that provide certainty that what is on the shop floor is correct.

None of the chapters thus far will mean very much if I cannot control the processes that create my products. In Chapter 7, I break down the many different aspects of process control. I explain key process variables, process capability, control plans, and plan implementation.

Making changes in your process is necessary to address business conditions, quality issues, and customer demands. Chapter 8 discusses the ability to regulate these changes and contains detailed design requirements for a system of authorization, verification, and dissemination.

Our products are only as good as the raw materials and services that go into them. In Chapter 9, I show you how to source, evaluate, and establish quality requirements for your material and service vendors.

Manufacturers have no reason to exist without customers. Our customers are our lifeblood, without which all the best manufacturing practices in the world are useless. Chapter 10 examines our role in customer service and I give you ideas about customer retention, rating customer satisfaction, and creating a customer-focused philosophy.

Chapter 11 is about the care, maintenance, and organization of the physical plant itself. The physical plant’s appearance and organization is the outward expression of an inward attitude. In this chapter I show you several ideas that are food for thought and that will help you put your best face forward.

Although Chapter 12 is the last in this book, it is by far the most important one. Here I explore in depth the complex world of managing people. I discuss training, mentoring, empowerment, benefits, and management attitude. I also discuss our stewardship of the people we employ. How well we manage people is absolutely the first best practice.

The companies depicted in examples or case studies for this book are fictitious. Any similarity to any company past or present is purely coincidental.

Acknowledgments

Many people are responsible for getting me to where I am today. I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to Marvin Skeen and Charlie Jones (1944-2010), who saw potential in me and became my mentors in the early years. They are still showing me a thing or two.

Much appreciation to Wayne Jenkins, who taught me “patience” as I struggled to advance in my career, and Bud Alligood, who showed me that I could never go wrong by doing the right thing.

Finally, thanks to all the many wonderfully talented people I have been privileged to work with, past and present. Every single person taught me something.

CHAPTER 1

Understanding Quality and Quality Requirements

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!