CHALLENGE & SELECTION

The first tool I used was the Visualization tool.

I started work as a storeman at a pre-cast factory recently. The factory produce concrete panels  which are transported to construction sites and put together to construct a building or structure (a bit like Lego blocks). I am the only storeman for the factory with a workforce of about 25 on the  production floor. The company was facing issues with items/ components from the store to the production floor as it  has constantly caused production disruption (PDs). The production line would be working on a  concrete panel midway only to realise they weren't able to continue work due to problems like  missing items, components, incomplete drawings etc. This has caused much frustration and  production downtime.

Over a few months, the store and the production office looked into ways to overcome the issue of  PDs. Changes were made and we saw improvements that the management wanted to see. However,  these 'improvements' worked mostly around the purchasing and supply chain. It ensured the correct  items and quantity were purchased based on the correct drawings. The store now had everything the production workers needed to complete their job. All my customers (the production workers) had to  do was walked down to the store to get what they needed. The frequency of PDs reduced.

Since I started the Design Thinking course, I decided to put what I learnt into my workplace. My  aim is to understand why PDs, (although reduced) are still occuring. I spoke to the production  manager for permission to explore the matter more and present to him my findings (if any). Since I  am the only person managing the store and I have no prior knowledge of pre-cast industry, I decided to use the visualization tool to help me better understand the problem.

APPLICATION

Since I have no knowlegde of how a factory makes a concrete panel, I decided that I would spend  some time on the production floor. My aim is to:

1. observe and understand better the processes in the making of concrete panels

2. gather feedback from production workers on why they think the PDs are still occuring

My observation starts with the arrival of the steel bars to the factory. The steel bars are tied together  using tie wires based on approved engeneering drawings. As this 'cage tying' process transpire, the  production workers set out to set up the shutters for the concrete mould. This is probably the most  tedious and important part of the process. The mould determines the size, shape, thickness,  dimensions and all the other critical factor that will decide if the concrete panel is built to  specifications for construction site assembly later on. It is also during this process that items from  the store are required most. Once the mould is complete, the steel cage is then placed inside the  mould. Once a quality check is done, the concrete truck will arrive on site to pour wet concrete into  the mould. The workers then work quickly to 'finish' the wet concrete over a period of few hours to  make sure it is even and have a reasonably presentable surface finish. After a certain period of  setting time, the mould is taken apart and the concrete panel lifted away to be stored.

I gathered feedback by chatting with workers during breaks (and sometimes during work hours).  Most questions are open ended questions. Examples of questions:

• What do you think may have caused the recent production disruption?

• Do you have any suggestions what we can do to manage the steel cages better?

• Any suggestion on how to make your work run better?

I spent roughly 1 week focused on the above to gather enough information to put into drawing my  findings. I added more and more information on my drawings and finally summarized them into a  single page that I believe captured the essence of my observations. See attached drawing.

INSIGHT & APPROACH

The experience of participating directly in my customer's world reveals what is actually happening  on the production floor. I understand better their work routine, challenges and rational of their  comments/ feedbacks. The experience and information gained I then put them into a drawing which  I feel best captures the relationship between production and store. This picture gives me a birdseye  view of what is happening and this enables me to narrow down areas that can be improved.

Among others, my observations from this drawing include:

• The different stages of the production and what tools/ items/ components from the store that  supports the ongoing work. Certain items (example: vacum cleaner) are used several times  at different stages of the production. Having to return to store is each time after use is rather  unproductive.

• The number of trips from the production floor to the store that workers have to make daily.  Some workers walk 10 times to the store each day to collect items they need for their work.  This is time consuming and can be demoralising considering each trip is about 200m to  300m return.

• How some important production items are found on production floor (labeled 'excess' in the  drawing). When these 'excess' items are not returned to store, they can cause problems to  other working teams. Example: some items were overdrawned from the store and left on  production floor. When other teams working on other panels need those same items, they are not available in the store and this disrups work in progress.

• Some feedback, ideas and suggestions from workers makes perfect sense when it is  understood from their daily work routine. Example: Invest in more electrical tools to make  work faster and safer. Rather than having only one tool shared among working teams, invest  on a set of tools for each team to use.

The observations from this visualization tool led me to propose a few ideas to the production  manager for his consideration. Here are some of the What Ifs proposed:

1. Create a central area on the production floor where general shared tools are kept. Shared

items like vacuum cleaner, concrete vibrator and wheel barrows are to be left in this central  area. This will save time having to retrive and return them from the store.

2. Team leaders will prepare a list of items needed for a particular concrete panel for the store.

The store will prepare all the items in a box and deliver to the teams. No more walking up  and down 10 times a day to the store. It also reduced overdrawn items from the store.

3. The store will do two rounds of 'sweeps' each day to collect unused (excess) items from

production (if any). No more missing items and this also reduce double purchasing.

4. A distribution shelf was built and placed in the central area of the production floor to reduce

the number 'trips' to the store by the workers. This shelf will be stocked with items that the  workers use a lot (like silicon, rags, chairs, tie wires)

We are still monitoring the impact of these changes on the number of PDs in the factory. Although

only time will tell, one unexpected development we received was the feedback from the workers.  Some commented that work is now made easier with less time and energy spent walking to the store or around the production floor looking for items/ tools they need. Some commented they are  happier now that they are able to work more efficiently.

Putting my observations and gathered information into a picture makes it easier for my superiors to  understand. Listening to my explaination and looking at the drawing captures more audiences (than  otherwise just talking). The drawing became a central reference for any particular matter discussed  and everyone knows exactly at which stage of the production is being referred to. I find this very   rewarding as oppose to trying to describe the situation only through verbal communication. With  the drawing, everyone is on the same page. This would probably be one of my future 'go to'  approaches to problems in the future!

