Comments on: Systematic Problem Solving

By: Mark Rosenthal

Mark Rosenthal — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:13:58 +0000

I sent you an email directly.
- Mark

By: vishaank

vishaank — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:29:33 +0000

Hi ,
i have a question ,i need your advise on which lean methodology we should apply for going on lean direction in an industry which does only prototype manufacturing.

your inputs would be appreciated.

regards
vishaank

By: CYRUS kARANJA

CYRUS kARANJA — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:34:34 +0000

Thanks for the info. on systematic problem solving. After reading the article, i have realized the importance of follow-up- as prescribed in the P-D-C-A cycle. Many of our problem solving attempts have been aborting simply because we have never gone past the Do part in the cycle! Thanks once more.

Regards,

Cyrus Karanja,

Process Improvement Leader,
Nampak (K) Limited,
Thika,
Kenya, East Africa.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:51:34 +0000

The group in the story had the same problem. As they started assigning problems, they realized that even the “professional problem solvers” lacked a systematic approach to go about it.

Their response was really cool. They applied PDCA – maybe without realizing it. Since the leadership and a couple of key managers were very committed to making the morning market concept work as a matter of principle, they took a look at what was keeping it from working (lack of problem solving skills), and addressed it. They organized a problem solving / troubleshooting course for the manufacturing engineers and key managers and supervisors.

But beyond taking the class, since they had done it more or less as a group, everyone was grounded at the same time. They challenged each other to follow the process. When someone wasn’t, they asked the questions posed by the method in the course, and got each other on track. The morning market sessions were powerful for this because they were a public, and daily, “CHECK” on following the agreed-upon method.

This clearly doesn’t work everywhere, but in this case it did, and it made a huge difference in the organization’s overall performance.

By: Richard Abercrombie

Richard Abercrombie — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:31:26 +0000

I have had the morning market approach fail completely. The root cause is a lack of systematic problem solving skill. Just as you shouldn’t implement an andon until after you design the system to respond, don’t create a morning market until people know, understand and are able to actually do systematic problem solving.

What is systematic problem solving? If there is no standard work for problem solving it will not be systematic. With no standard work, it will depend on individual abilities and motivation, and it will vary significantly. With high variation it can’t be managed and it can’t be iimproved.

Start of with PDCA and 5Whys. And get started soon because it will take a long time.