A Different Set of Metrics

In all the years I worked in manufacturing, specifically with the various lean initiatives that were rolled out, one phrase I heard as often as any other was “What gets measured gets done.” At one point, I worked closely with one particular production supervisor to fabricate and assemble a few dozen rolling bulletin boards. These contraptions were made from 2” square tubing, welded together and painted blue (to match the equipment), with a 4’ x 8’ sheet of plexiglass mounted inside that frame. Once mounted, we fastened 20 or so clipboard clips to each. These were not-so-affectionately called “Glass Walls.” Once placed in a given work area, the glass wall was to be the place where all the important metrics were recorded. When kept up to date (that’s a whole different story), anyone walking through a given work cell would be able to walk to the Glass Wall and know the productivity, scrap, overall efficiency, safety rates, and a dozen or so other things in real time - or at least to the last hour.

The Glass Wall idea was outstanding for tour groups because we could provide a quick rundown of the majority of a process in one spot before walking through the area. When a manager walked through, they would be able to get a quick snapshot of how things were going for the day. And in times where corporate executives visited the facility, those same Glass Walls held daily, weekly, and monthly data that served to show trends or identify issues that needed attention. In concept, a tool as simple as the Glass Wall can provide tremendous insight on productivity and profitability - if it’s kept up with and the things being measured and recorded are indeed important. Sustaining any initiative ties back to consistency and discipline. The challenge I saw with those Glass Walls came from trying to keep track of too many things, some of which only mattered to a few people (who rarely came near the work area).

Even with the flaws in the process, I believe we saw measurable improvement in many of the metrics we tracked on those Glass Walls. Quite honestly, some of the improvement likely tied back to the idea that the things being measured tend to get more attention. But why am I sharing all that with you now?

For every organization I’ve seen track numbers like those (productivity, efficiency, up-time, down-time, scrap, safety, etc.), I’ve seen dozens that have had absolutely nothing in place to measure or track what have ended up being their top profitability killers; those things that so many executives brush off as being soft or intangible… Moving forward, I fully intend to give you tools that can break that mold. Step by step, item by item, I’m going to provide you with a process for identifying your top profitability killers and outline how building more effective leadership into your organizational culture is the solution! Understand me here though, making this change will require us to look at a different set of metrics than most of us ever have…