Reflection – Learning Launch

Challenge  During my job, I worked as a senior technical associate for High Voltage Electrical field installation  products. The role involved design and development for products, mitigating issues with vendors and  supporting the operations team with process improvement opportunities.

During the tenure, we were faced with a challenge, which was to reduce the number of operating test  cycles for routine product testing from 50 to 25. This was a practice which was prevalent in other units  of Bulgaria but in India, we have not implemented it yet. To some extent, the team of old experienced  people hung onto the idea that 50 operating test cycles would be necessary as a routine test to check  the reliability of the product. Though this was a practice prevailing over years, unquestioned, there  was no substantiated proof that this was the best practice. Even there were no standards involved,  which mentioned the need to perform such extensive operational cycles. So eventually this challenge  was to prove that the reduced cycle of operations would work just fine and also challenging the  mindset of people who have been doing this activity over a period of time in a certain way and were  not ready to change it.

Selection  As we had a certain benchmark in mind, we thought of doing a learning launch to reduce the operating  test cycle from 50 to 25(Bulgarian Benchmark). Internally, we involved the stakeholders who were  affected by this change which involved the quality testing team, production team, R&D, Operations  and Services Team. It was important that I highlight the pros of the change as well as take actions to  eliminate the negatives that surface during the stakeholder meeting by doing a low-cost field test.  Hence, learning launch was the tool selected. To identify the negatives, we brainstormed and  highlighted the possible negatives which were brought up by the stakeholders which had to be  monitored during the learning launch.

Application  After doing thorough internal tests to prove the validity of reducing the routine test cycles to 25, I had  to address a specific point that came up in the stakeholder meeting, which was that, internal tests  which are in simulated lab conditions cannot completely represent field conditions. Hence, we had to  do learning launches to understand behaviour of the product in the field. Hence, I identified specific  domestic customers who were in close proximity to the manufacturing locations. This was done to  ensure that at any moment if there is any issue with the customer operations due to the impending  change, we could easily deploy service engineers or if required, components to address this issue  immediately. We made our learning launches in areas near the Indian states of Maharashtra and  Gujarat which in addition to proximity had rugged environmental conditions pertaining to very high  temperature, high rainfall and some regions were exposed to coastal environment. Harsh  environment would ensure that working conditions will further stress the equipment.

Our objective was to measure the quality of operations for which output metrics were measured viz.  time of operation, torque required to operate, travel involved. In addition to the output metrics, it  was also important to measure the ambient conditions to calibrate the operations under situations  which can be applicable globally for any environment. On doing this learning launches, we could  substantiate the claim, through a prolonged exposure of the equipment for 6 months and monitoring,  that reducing the routine test cycles from 50 to 25, does not impact the operations of equipment.

With tangible results, we could also convince the sceptics about the proposed changes and thereby  brought around this change in mindset and in a way reduced the overall testing time and reduced the  lead time to manufacture.

Insight  The key takeaway from doing this exercise is that it is an efficient way because here we can lay down  the plan to understand whether an idea generated is worth applying or not. This is also an  unambiguous way as stakeholders are initially taken into loop to understand their concerns and these  concerns are incorporated in learning launch design to ensure that the doubts are eliminated. Learning  launches are an essential tool because it gives the necessary confidence among decision makers who  would otherwise be relying only upon assumptions or gut feelings. But in carrying out this process it  is critical to eliminate any confirmation bias by having a diverse team where everybody has the  freedom to express themselves and be sceptic about the outcome.

Approach  Given an opportunity to go back, I would like to improve and work upon other design thinking tools  which I feel could have been instrumental here. I could have used Story Telling or Visualisation  techniques to communicate with the stakeholders about the need to address the problem and the  advantages, which this could bring around. Mind Mapping is another essential tool that I have added  to my kitty. This tool could have been used here to understand what are the other possible ways to  implement the learning launches. Post this, If I would have implemented the learning launch, it could  have had an overall solid combined effect on the project.


Reflection – Learning Launch Challenge During my job , I worked as a senior technical associate for High Voltage Electrical field installation products . The role involved design and development for products , mitigating issues with vendors and supporting the operations team with process improvement opportunities . During the tenure , we were faced with a challenge , which was to reduce the number of operating test cycles for routine product testing from 50 to 25 . This was a practice which was prevalent in other units of Bulgaria but in India , we have not implemented it yet . To some extent , the team of old experienced people hung onto the idea that 50 operating test cycles would be necessary as a routine test to check the reliability of the product . Though this was a practice prevailing over years , unquestioned , there was no substantiated proof that this was the best practice . Even there were no standards involved , which mentioned the need to perform such extensive operational cycles . So eventually this challenge was to prove that the reduced cycle of operations would work just fine and also challenging the mindset of people who have been doing this activity over a period of time in a certain way and were not ready to change it . Selection As we had a certain benchmark in mind , we thought of doing a learning launch to reduce the operating test cycle from 50 to 25(Bulgarian Benchmark ) . Internally , we involved the stakeholders who were affected by this change which involved the quality testing team , production team , R&D , Operations and Services Team . It was important that I highlight the pros of the change as well as take actions to eliminate the negatives that surface during the stakeholder meeting by doing a low - cost field test . Hence , learning launch was the tool selected . To identify the negatives , we brainstormed and highlighted the possible negatives which were brought up by the stakeholders which had to be monitored during the learning launch . Application After doing thorough internal tests to prove the validity of reducing the routine test cycles to 25 , I had to address a specific point that came up in the stakeholder meeting , which was that , internal tests which are in simulated lab conditions can not completely represent field conditions . Hence , we had to do learning launches to understand behaviour of the product in the field . Hence , I identified specific domestic customers who were in close proximity to the manufacturing locations . This was done to ensure that at any moment if there is any issue with the customer operations due to the impending change , we could easily deploy service engineers or if required , components to address this issue immediately . We made our learning launches in areas near the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat which in addition to proximity had rugged environmental conditions pertaining to very high temperature , high rainfall and some regions were exposed to coastal environment . Harsh environment would ensure that working conditions will further stress the equipment . Our objective was to measure the quality of operations for which output metrics were measured viz . time of operation , torque required to operate , travel involved . In addition to the output metrics , it was also important to measure the ambient conditions to calibrate the operations under situations which can be applicable globally for any environment . On doing this learning launches , we could substantiate the claim , through a prolonged exposure of the equipment for 6 months and monitoring , that reducing the routine test cycles from 50 to 25 , does not impact the operations of equipment . With tangible results , we could also convince the sceptics about the proposed changes and thereby brought around this change in mindset and in a way reduced the overall testing time and reduced the lead time to manufacture . Insight The key takeaway from doing this exercise is that it is an efficient way because here we can lay down the plan to understand whether an idea generated is worth applying or not . This is also an unambiguous way as stakeholders are initially taken into loop to understand their concerns and these concerns are incorporated in learning launch design to ensure that the doubts are eliminated . Learning launches are an essential tool because it gives the necessary confidence among decision makers who would otherwise be relying only upon assumptions or gut feelings . But in carrying out this process it is critical to eliminate any confirmation bias by having a diverse team where everybody has the freedom to express themselves and be sceptic about the outcome . Approach Given an opportunity to go back , I would like to improve and work upon other design thinking tools which I feel could have been instrumental here . I could have used Story Telling or Visualisation techniques to communicate with the stakeholders about the need to address the problem and the advantages , which this could bring around . Mind Mapping is another essential tool that I have added to my kitty . This tool could have been used here to understand what are the other possible ways to implement the learning launches . Post this , If I would have implemented the learning launch , it could have had an overall solid combined effect on the project .