Holiday Greetings!

Holiday Greetings!

I hope your holiday season has been a quality one so far. It's a great time of year - other than the snow storm that just created mayhem for thousands of folks a few days ago in the Northeast to Mid-Atlantic areas of the USA. Whether you were traveling by plane, train or automobile, you were at the mercy of Nature and man's limited ability at times to traverse through it.

I come bearing the gift of a slide preso for this article - rather than by just written word alone ... thought it would fun for a change. I recently gave a short speech on Quality at a local chapter of Toastmasters International that I am a member of. The name of the presentation was called 'What is Quality - anyway??' I used this slide deck to support my speech. And speaking of quality organizations, TMI is a great one. In fact, my next article will be to herald the merits of this fine quality driven organization .... remember what my mantra is: 'Quality is everywhere'.

So, enjoy the slide deck, and remember, if you have comments or questions, please let me know. Happy New Year everyone!!

Fran

Company Road Trip: It's ALL About The Beer!

Greetings!

I just attended a meeting set up by the local chapter of American Society for Quality (ASQ). The meeting was a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery facility in Merrimack, NH(now part of AB InBev). Suffice to say, there was very little that was going to keep me from this gathering. After all, quality IS everywhere - and what better place to do research on the topic. Yes, they do serve fresh and very tasty grain beverages at the conclusion of the tour, which was a draw for me ..... a really big draw; however, I did want to see their assembly line in action as well. Although AB claims that this is the smallest of their US breweries, I have heard it can pump out a prodigious amount of beer per day. I felt compelled to get to the bottom of this rumor ....

I arrived early that evening - just to make sure I didn't miss a moment of the tour. We started late - surprisingly because some folks didn't show up on time. The delay made me even more thirsty for ... err ... information about that famous assembly line.

I was very surprised to learn that AB focuses very heavily on water conservation. Not only is water the main ingredient in beer, it is also used heavily in early phases of the brewing process in the making of wort (an ingredient for brewing beer) and is then drained off, filtered, and used again in the the massive containers for fermenting the beer that have to be washed between each usage. There were 15 vats used just for the fermentation process alone and are cleaned every 21 days. To give you an idea of just how large these vats are, it would take one person drinking 1 case of beer every day for 45 years to empty the vat. Talk about a metric with meaning!

AB is known for their beechwood aging process, and they actually take pieces of the wood, sterilize them 6 times, then lay them in the vat to be part of the fermentation process. And, they re-use the wood 6 times before grinding them up and sending it off to local landscapers to be used as mulch. Is that why I see so many folks on their hands and knees spreading mulch with a smile on their faces?? See what I mean about the eco-friendly brewing process - and not one mention on the tour of how this is part of their ISO 14000 compliance efforts.

The beer is quality checked 32 times in the 30 days it takes to make a beer. And, it isn't done by a couple of guys sticking ladles into the top of the keg for a taste either - but rather through a lab based approach to determine alcohol content, consistently, temperature and a host of other elements being measured that we unfortunately were not able to view - I suspect it's too close to their 'special sauce' information.

When we arrived at the assembly line, I was fascinated by a number of things. First, the sheer speed of the line. Bottles are being washed, sterilized, labeled, filled with beer, capped and pasteurized before being boxed and trucked off the property. The current output rate the evening we were there was 62,000 cases of beer/ day!! Fellow quality members and I almost came to tears when we saw full bottles of beer falling off the line and breaking on the floor. It just seemed wrong on so many levels. They said not to worry, they do measure waste, but to achieve their optimal output rates, they will break a few bottles now and again. It's true, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs .... but seeing bottles of beer encountering an early demise on the floor was hard to watch. To minimize breakage, they send a constant steam of soap and water on the conveyor belts that allows for easier bottle movement with less breakage - again, with recycled and filtered water from upstream processes. The floor is washed (more water usage) very 2 hours to insure safety of employees and to keep the place from smelling like Sunday morning at your local college dorm.

Not only was it mesmerizing to watch the bottles whirl and swirl along the line, it also made us all incredibly thirsty. I was fully prepared to chew through steel to have a sip of the beverage if , for some reason, they concluded the tour without a whiff of the grain beverage. Thankfully, the great folks at AB concluded the tour in their 'lounge' where folks could partake in 2 beers of their choice.

The folks at AB are geniuses. The tour showed the brewery to be very clean and organized, the smell of hops in the air intoxicating, and the sight of thousands upon thousands of gallons of beer being loaded into bottles and cans a feast for the eyes. You leave the brewery thinking that AB is just about the best place in the world.

At the conclusion of one of the happiest ASQ meetings I have been to in a while, friends were made, quality issues that were thrown out on the table next to the pretzels for discussion were (seemly) resolved, and a new appreciation for what it takes to build a world class brewery and distribution center was gained. Thank you AB - and cheers!



Next article: Methods to The Madness

Methods to The Madness: A Quality tool for Risky business

Greetings!

Grab a Red Bull, or a double latte, because today, as promised, we're going to talk turkey about FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis) - which should never be confused with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Although, as you know, this agency has no shortage of quality issues of their own that need to be addressed (it might help too if that agency was funded appropriately - IMHO).

I attended a seminar recently and listened to a speaker from the Quality Support Group, Inc who spoke about FMEA. His lead-in regarding how the tool is used to prevent loss of life caught my attention pronto - as he was not talking about a missed delivery date, but rather in terms of human casualties.

The focus of this tool is determining Risk. And, to level set the definition bar here, let's revisit what Risk is. Risk is 'a potential future event that could result in adverse and unplanned consequences'. Risk is NOT 'a problem, issue or crisis'. Risk IS 'a measurement of the potential inability to achieve objectives*'.

In many quality and project management circles, the idea of Risk Management is bandied about with a whole lot of fervor (yes Virginia, there are geeks in every profession), but much of that hoopla might be over such areas as the Risk to insurance premiums when some insurance company book worm makes an error on an actuary table. However, FMEA is used when real Risk is involved, you know the kind where if the product doesn't work right, you're pushing up daisies and your hard earned assets are being redistributed to next of kin who, hopefully, have better luck with that product in the future.

The FMEA tool is really quite remarkable. It has no less than 14 prime categories and multiple sub-categories for determining and tracking Risk entities. But in keeping with my 2010 credo of 'just-get-to-the-point' brevity for Quality Sphere articles, I will touch upon a few key areas of the tool, then I promise to attempt to make sense of it all by the end of the dirge.

Ok .... time to get into the weeds for just for a moment. Key areas:

#1: Potential Failure Mode (types of failures):
When manufacturing anything from medical devices to baby car seats, a great deal of resource energy and time is expended on determining every type of failure for every component or material used and every step in its construction for that product. This evaluation is critical, cannot be done in a vacuum, and it depends on experts who know what the heck they are talking about for every part of the end-to-end development of the product.

#2: Potential Effects of Failure (how bad can it be?):
Again, a critical step that must be done with experts involved. Along with this analysis is listing reasons for why it could fail (proactive root cause review (RCA)). Only through this step can you determine the probability of detection controls that may successfully deter the failure from occurring.

Next, the quantitative portion of the tool takes over to determine severity, probability and occurrence for each potential failure. Based on the collection of data gathered, a Risk Priority Number (RPN) can be assigned and then plotted in a probability/severity matrix chart called an ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Possible). Catchy name ... Huh.

Why did I take you for a quick walk on the wild side of esoteric quality measurements - it's not like most of us deal in the development of products that, if improperly built, can punch your ticket to The Farm? The point is that wouldn't it be interesting if on any project or initiative, we spent some time in the planning stage with SMEs that represent the end-to-end process brainstorming for potential risks - then, build a mitigation plan around the input provided?

Classic project management says that a Risk Management Plan should always be just one of several plans for any project. In real life, project needs are moving too fast, tend to be not very large in scope or size, and frankly, no one wants to talk Risk - as they are seen as 'speed bumps' on the way to an end result. Risk is usually given an obligatory nod - then we move on thinking everything will be .... 'fine'. Risk only seems to count when there are large amounts of cash or causalities on the line (Toyota pushed the envelop big time and are now trying to find their way back to the promised land).

Please let me know your experiences with attempting to develop Risk Management Plans.


Next article: Quality is Everywhere
* Reference: Risk Mgt Guide - DoD Acquisition,4th Edition

Methods to The Madness: What every manager should know

Greetings!


I've made no secret that my articles are not so much about the tools and mechanics of quality, which are very important (although I do plan on writing an article on FMEA next month - and I hope that we all don't become deer in the headlights in the process), but I really do like to explore the underlying, and in many cases root cause of problems that stem from an organization's culture, teams, or just the plain ol' everyday rut that creates such a funk from the executive team right on down to the really important people.

I read a fascinating article recently in the September edition of the Harvard Business Review written by Robert Schaffer. And, before you snicker at my reading material, try it - you may like it. Great writers, current topics and they are usually frank in their assessments. Good stuff.

His article is entitled ' Mistakes Leaders Keep Making'. He discusses what he calls the '7 Deadly Sins of Setting Demands'. I love that he creates that analogy in the title - alluding to the fact that these mistakes can be as harmful to the corporate body as the original 7 deadly sins can be to the human body - and mind.

These 'sins' are:
1. Establishing to0 many goals
2. Not establishing a plan on how/when these goals will be achieved
3. Failing to push (I prefer coach) for improvement for fear folks are overwhelmed
4. Not assigning 1-person accountability for goal achievement
5. Ask ' if you possibly can' at the end of a statement of expectation
6. Accepting reverse assignments (trading one task for another)
7. Stating goals that may not be definable or achievable

The bulk of Mr. Schaffer's article is around behavioral 'traps' that managers consistently get caught in - and just can't seem to break the cycle of repeating over and over and over again.

Where do I begin ........ so much to say and so little time .....

I had made a promise to shorten my articles but write more often, so I'll select a couple of points he made in the article to make my point.

Mr. Schaffer's point #1: Establishing too many goals (paraphrased below):
Managers are afraid to set specifics goals - so they think quantity is better. It requires considerable thought and planning and is much more difficult that issuing a general order. And, if they set specific goals and they are not achieved, THEY look like failures.

My take: Can you say S.M.A.R.T goal setting. Nice tool. And management, as a team, and with input from employees (amazing what employees can offer) can actually develop goals that have been thought through and in all likelihood can be accomplished. Remember, these goals reside in a living document and must be cared for and watched over like a beloved pet if it is to survive.

When managers walk the talk on teamwork, surprising things can happen!

Mr. Schaffer's point #2: Failing to push for improvement for fear folks are overwhelmed already (paraphrased below):

Managers, when striving for improvements in processes, products, services or any area deemed to have value to the organization seem to be under the opinion that the way to improve performance is by finding new programs to produce these gains. They almost never think about improving a current program. Why? To say that they would like to improve a current process or program means that they weren't doing a good job already on current programs.

My take: P-L-E-A-S-E ..... set the egos aside. I have found managers, on whole, to be an intelligent lot that want the best for the company - and are working hard to achieve it After all, they work there too. They need to obtain a mindset of continuous improvement. And, I can't let the Quality profession off the hook on this one. If a manager is thinking of a new project to 'improve' something, this is ideal - a willing sponsor that needs help. The challenge in quality (me included) is helping the manager determine an ROI on the new program (to support the manager's vision), and/or to determine efficiencies yet to be achieved in the current program via use of quality tools in practice today (DMAIC, fishbone diagrams, team brainstorming, various evaluation metric tools, etc.). The point here is to think (and sell) continuous improvement as an option rather than a default reaction to reinvent the wheel. Exploring CI initiatives may prove to be less costly and with better gains than getting the organization sidetracked on another program with a dubious payoff.

Thank you Mr. Schaffer for bringing these issues to light. They can provide an 'opportunity launch pad' for a company's quality organization.

Next article: Method to The Madness

Quality is Everywhere: Electricians

Greetings!


I recently spotted quality happening when no one was looking .....

One of the reasons I enjoy writing this article is to help attempt to define the concept of quality and identify its occurrences. Well, recently a random act of quality occurred in my very own home.

I had a potentially dangerous situation where a wire in my circuit breaker box at my house decided to barbecue itself. The result - a strange situation where some lights and appliances work, and some didn't. Not strange you say?? .... probably all on the same circuit?? .... just reset the breaker?? That's what I thought. Funny thing was, none of the circuits were thrown, and outages had occurred on more than one circuit.

It was rather late by the time I spotted the wire and realized this must be the issue, and I knew sleep was out of the question until I had an electrician give it the once-over. The electrician soon showed up, scoped out the situation and declared; 'Yup, it's the wire .... needs to be replaced'. Thankfully, it was a quick and easy fix ..... or so we thought.

He tested the wired first to determine that this was, in fact, the root cause of the problem. Having passed the test, he permanently replaced the wire - and wha-lah! .... The problem remained. The electrician then said; 'I just tested the fix, it should have worked'.

You probably now see where I'm heading with this story ...

It was late, the electrician had already worked a full day and was tired, and he was messing around with a boat load of live wires .....what could go wrong. To pleasant surprise, the electrician did the following :

1. He kept his cool. Very understated quality value when determining root cause. Doing so helps you think more clearly, and in my electrician's case, kept him from getting injured.

2. He logically started asking 'why' questions to help him track the flow of this issue to ultimately find its source. For each question, he attempted to prove or dis-prove it before moving on to the next - thereby building an objective analysis of the outage. In reality, be was building a decision tree to the root cause based on outcomes of his why questions.

3. He tracked his decision tree to ensure he didn't repeat the same steps again. Great idea given both he and I wanted to call it a day.

End result, he was unhurt (real nice to see), and solved a problem that looked like it could have taken hours to resolve (without ranting and and cursing) in 45 minutes. It turns out it was a circuit breaker that sometimes worked, and sometimes didn't.

I went to sleep that night comfortable in the knowledge that I wouldn't have dreams of my house not going up in flames, and having just witnessed a simple yet effective method of RCA and correction is action.

Kudos to my electrician for the quality refresher course!



Next article: Methods to The Madness

Methods to The Madness: The Project Portfolio - part deux

Greetings!


I know.... I know .... I've lapsed in keeping a commitment to this article blog - in part because I have been very busy - as I'm sure most other folks have been as well. However, the proverbial light bulb did go off over my head on how best to keep up with this forum .... just write less .... but do it more often. I need to incorporate it into my lifestyle - rather than do it in 'fits' of activity. Kind of like with dieting, the activity does not usually drive long term quality results - as it seldom addresses the fundamental (root cause) issue - it's the life style - not the food!


Now, back to the fun stuff ....


In part 1 of my article entitled 'Methods to the Madness - The Project Portfolio', I was mentioning how many companies seem to conduct project portfolio planning by ... well ... not planning. They do often employ the 'spinning-the-plates-on-a-stick' methodology - or put another way, all projects have an equal right to 'spin'. This is a great circus trick to catch sometime, but is probably not an optimum business process. Why, oh why don't more companies use an objective decision model to determine priority??


I had been waiting on a contact of mine to report back on his company's efforts (no cop out as to why I am so late with this article though) to conduct a meaningful portfolio management exercise. His report back, although not surprising, was nonetheless disappointing. I was expecting to hear that the company decided on a tool (ie: Priorities Matrix or just a good ol' fashion checklist to see how the project matches up against company objectives) to determine the relative level of impact to support the overall company strategy. Turns out that the company (a rather large company that's been around for a while )could not determine which projects were deemed to be 'core' to the company. So, when in doubt (remember, uncertainty can and does breed fear - a whole separate dissertation) .... cover your basis. I have heard this story repeated in a number of different forums. The tools work when utilized, but it looks like human nature is doing what it does in times of economic distress too. I'll keep searching on a successful project portfolio story, and will report once I find one.


Just a quick thought regarding Toyota (and it's - until recently - hailed production system (TPS)). Reams of columns have been written about what happened, what may have happened, what should have happened and what they should do now. All I know is that I own a Toyota, and it's a pretty darn good vehicle. Their recent actions appear to be panic/fear driven (see above) - such as reducing the reliance on 'outsourced' vendors staff. These folks, many engineers, worked in Toyota facilities right along side Toyota engineers. This is not where the problem lies - especially if they are true to the TPS and believe in this quality system. Toyota said it correctly when they commented; ' As we look at this past generation of vehicles, it did seem to be all about the growth of the company, and there were lapses' (WSJ: 7/6/10). A healthy dose of RCA is in order. Oh, and to the execs at Toyota, it does start at the top. So, let's get it right and get back to producing those wonderful vehicles I have enjoyed driving!


Just one more quick comment, Sweetwater Music has THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE that I have seen . I get nothing for this statement, but do love to announce a true service winner when I see one. All you music affectionados, check them out sometime!

Next article: Quality is Everywhere: Electricians