2010/

Rapid Plant Assessment Rating Considerations

[This is a simple tool to evaluate a plant or manufacturing unit under 11 critical areas typical in a lean and productive organization. Using the tool and checklists you will be able to identify the areas needing improvement and boost productivity using powerful lean management techniques. It is quick and takes only a couple of hours to complete.]

Skanda Kumarasingam

Introduction
This worksheet was developed by me when I had to improve many production facilities and factories. 2 This integrates the key elements any manager needs to look at before deciding on a method to improve the manufacturing or operating unit. Once you have an overall feel and based on your rating and analysis you will be able to pin-point the key areas for quick and rapid improvement. Using my worksheet you will be able to tour a plant or manufacturing unit, enquire on important and relevant areas from the workers and management and have a report and action plan in no time. Then you can use any of the Japanese or Western operations management techniques to improve the facility. I have used this in my consulting work and as a member of the management teams in many large organizations. They need not be only manufacturing- any operation can benefit when analyzed using this holistic method. The results have been tremendous boost to productivity and profitability. This assessment is the stepping stone to a leaner more efficient organization. This effective worksheet and assessment tool is the result of my 15 years of work in multiple operating units. It is one of the easiest tool any manger or supervisor can lay their hands onto. Please pass it forward to all those who will benefit out of it. I have! Its my gift to you. Skanda Kumarasingam 1st May 2010

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Rapid Plant Assessment Rating Considerations

Name of Factory Location/Area Visited

Factory Address

Report Compiled By /Date and Signature

Customer Satisfaction
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Did you see evidence of customer satisfaction ratings and quality certifications & ratings? Did you see records and charts of warranty & product liability costs? Do you think that employee knowledge of external and internal customer requirements was high? Did you see visitor materials and were you and other visitors welcomed? Did employees have knowledge of the market share? Speaking to the employees or management do you think that the rate of new product introduction & acceptance is high? Would you buy the products this operation produces?

Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Safety, Environment, Cleanliness and Order

1. Did you see evidence of safety & environment records? 2. Do you think that there was a place for everything & everything in its place? 3. Do you think that the cleanliness of operations--exterior & interior was high (Please comment on the following)? floors equipment spills leaks noise lighting paint dust air quality employee dress restroom conditions 4. Do you think that desks & workbench order & cleanliness were high? 5. Do you think that inventory order, material flow order & cleanliness were up to acceptable levels? 6. Do you think that color & other coding for safety & order was used? 7. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Visual Management Deployment

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Were operations mission & performance objectives visible? Were visibility of labeling & coding of product lines, inventory, equipment, & tooling seen? Was there color coding & differentiation? Was there visibility of customer identification & ratings? Did you see visibility of charts tracking? Operations & teams' safety Quality, & productivity 6. Did you see a control room showing status of total operation (global view)? 7. Is there high customer order & order fulfillment visibility? 8. Was there Kanban deployment? 9. Do you think inventory count can be made visually? 10. Did you see stenciled or marks on machines regarding machines & tool labelingcosts? 11. Did you see evidence for preventive maintenance visibility? 12. Did you see product displays? 13. Did you see visibly the results of various audits? 14. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Scheduling Systems
1. Was there high degree of scheduling to customer order? 2. Is order process efficiency high? 3. Is product line scheduling originating at single point? 4. Do they use scheduling buckets (each order, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly)? 5. Is there a supplier scheduling & delivery system in place/seen? 6. Does the operation produce for order fulfillment versus replenishment? 7. Does the operation use Kanban versus computer scheduling? 8. Does the operation use a push versus pull system? 9. Do you think flow time efficiencies were high? 10. Do you think backroom costs of scheduling are low or not evident? 11. Do you think MRP costs are low? 12. Do you think data entry costs are low? 13. Would you buy the products this operation produces?

Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Product and Material Flows and Space Use

1. Did you see operations managed as a product line (assembly) versus shop layout? 2. Were rolling carts pulled by hand or by tractors or by conveyers versus forklifts? 3. Were travel distances between processes low? 4. Were material movement responsibility process owned rather than by separate material staff? 5. Were container sizes (forklift requirement) small and helpful towards reaching a batch size of one? 6. Were containers designed for parts families? 7. Were single versus multiple docks erected to minimize material travel? 8. Did you see evidence of good/high space utilization? 9. Were there goals for space use reduction? 10. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Inventory and Work in Process Levels

1. Were WIP levels at each process low or not seen? 2. Were WIP in transit in plant low or unseen? 3. Does the operations store inventory by line side or has separate stores? 4. Is the number of inventory storage areas low or unseen? 5. Were the finished product levels low? 6. Was the total inventory to sales ratio very low? 7. Was the process cycle time to flow time ratios very low? 8. Was the countability of inventory easy? 9. Was the WIP movement triggered by the next process rather than by computers or material department? 10. Was the theoretical versus actual flow times low? 11. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

People Teamwork, Skill Levels and Motivation

1. Was there evidence of team problem solving capability & history? 2. Did you note employee willingness to talk about customers, products, & operation? 3. Was there uniformity of dress? 4. Would you rate the communications & recognition environment as high? 5. Are the sales per employee high? 6. Did you note team meeting areas & performance charts? 7. Were training investments high and visible? 8. Is there educational support? 9. Is the benefit package & costs high/competitive? 10. Is unionization activity low? 11. Is the workforce-management relationship good? 12. Does the operation provide community support? 13. Did you observe company -supported activities (picnics, open houses, sports teams, local involvement)? 14. Is the employee knowledge of & support of customers & business high? 15. Would you rate work instructions standards as high? 16. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Equipment Tooling State and Maintenance

1. Is there a preventive maintenance system? 2. Are the setup change times low? 3. Does the systems /processes have integrated go-no go quality checks? 4. Is there machine performance data available? 5. Does the operation have good knowledge & utilization of bottleneck processes? 6. Is the process control capability very high? 7. Is the total asset utilization high? 8. Is there evidence of operator routine maintenance? 9. Is there small maintenance staff & teams? 10. Is the MRO replenishment efficiency high? 11. Are the tool & fixture orderliness and cleanliness and storage location well maintained? 12. Is there an equipment improvement policy? 13. Does the operation have an equipment technology strategy? 14. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

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Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Ability to Manage Complexity and Variability

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Is the use of common parts, processes, & procedures prototype process high? Is the use of paper transactions required on floor low? Are keyboard entries avoided and bar coding/simple systems used? Are the backroom paperwork & computer transactions costs low? Is there a system to see matching of data collected with data needed? Is the simplicity & clarity of operations layout evident? Are the following low? indirect to direct labor ratio support staff to total workforce ratio overhead cost ratios 8. Is there high commonality of tooling & fixturing? 9. Is there high commonality of equipment & tools? 10. Is there high commonality of support software & applications programs across the operation & among sister plants? 11. Are equipment efficiencies high? 12. Is there evidence of ability to handle variable demand? 13. Is there evidence of ability to eliminate controllable variations? 14. Is there evidence of ability to smooth demand? 15. Is there evidence of ability to handle supply chain? 16. Is there evidence to manage the number of suppliers? 17. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

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Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Supply Chain Integration

1. Is the number of suppliers low? 2. Is the supplier release system commencing from levels or customer order and not from inventory? 3. Is there a supplier certification system in place? 4. Does the company have sourcing policies for short-term and long-term? 5. Are the evidence of supplier quality ratings, delivery, & productivity objectives & history? 6. Does the supplier become involved in new product development? 7. Does the company collect data on supplier material scrap & rework? 8. Is there evidence of supplier cost-saving ideas being implemented? 9. Is supplier knowledge of lean operations high? 10. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

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Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

Quality Systems Deployment

1. Does the company have recognized Quality certifications? 2. Is there quality process & measurement at each process & for each product, scrap & rework? 3. Is there many problem solving processes? 4. Does the company collect product & customer quality data? 5. Do customers give the company quality ratings? 6. Is there many new product startup processes? 7. Is there a very visible continuous improvement environment? 8. Is the degree of focus on customer satisfaction high? 9. Is there evidence to show implementation of best practices amongst employees and management? 10. Is the degree operational strategies linked to corporate strategy high? 11. Is the total quality system well-developed & deployed? 12. Would you buy the products this operation produces? Grading is based on the % of Yeses from all the questions asked under this measure Poor Below Average Above Excellent Best in class average average 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-99% 100%

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Skanda Kumarasingam 2010

RPA Rating Sheet- Rating Leanness of Operations

No Description Poor 1 Below Average 3 Average 5 Ratings Above Excellent Average 7 9 Best in Class 11 Score

14

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Customer Satisfaction Safety, Environment, cleanliness and Order Visual Management Deployment Scheduling Systems Product and Material Flows and Space Use

Inventory and Work in Process Levels People Teamwork, Skill Levels and Motivation 8 Equipment Tooling State and Maintenance 9 Ability to Manage Complexity and Variability 10 Supply Chain Integration 11 Quality Systems Deployment Total (Maximum for Best in Class in All categories =121)

Skanda Kumarasingam 2010