Author: mcalisterts

Yoda was Right

mcalisterts 0 Comment Collaboration, Expert Advice, Management Skills, Uncategorized , , ,

Yoda figure and moss. Ecology Concept

Do or do not. There is no try. Yoda – The Empire Strikes Back

In the spring of 1977 I waited in line with hundreds of other fans for Star Wars tickets at a movie theater in Omaha. What was going to be so special about a wayward kid, a scoundrel, two robots, and a damsel in distress? I had heard this movie was ground-breaking, and that George Lucas worked hard to convince the Hollywood establishment that an audience existed for high quality science fiction.

Lucas and his team may have used Yoda’s words as their battle cry to drive their vision and plans to change how people experienced movies. Star Wars was a game changer and it took a huge commitment to pull it off. As a science fiction fan, I am very glad they were successful.

To bring Yoda’s message back to Earth, driving change in an organization can be very challenging. For change to take place, there is no ‘try’. For change to take place successfully, everyone involved in driving the change must be committed to ‘do’, especially if the majority of the people in organization are satisfied with the status quo.

Several years ago, I was asked to manage a corporate Quality group that was very good at putting out fires. Unfortunately little work had been done to address the root cause of these fires. To improve this situation, it was clear this would require a major change in how everyone worked. I was convinced a ‘collaborative’ approach between the Quality experts in my group and the Manufacturing group was essential.

If we were to improve the quality of our products, and reduce the number of fires, a great deal of dedication on my team’s part would be essential to achieving a successful transition.

Before I explain how it all worked out, here are the three basic principles we followed to drive this major change.

  1. Establish the vision and expected benefits.

Management is more likely to get behind the proposed changes if they have substantial, detailed goals. In my example above, I presented the idea of converting the Quality group into a resource and moving the majority of the on-line product quality to the people making the product. The expected benefit of this change was the improvement of product quality and better external audit results. This was a major shift in responsibility, but my manager understood the advantages and felt confident the rest of the supply chain would agree to this change in the ways of working.

  1. Develop and communicate plans that will clearly show how the change will take place.

A blueprint showed how the goal was going to be achieved and who was involved in the change. For example, I showed Management our plan to use the Quality group as a training resource and subject matter experts. One of the ways we planned to improve the current situation was for the Quality group to work with the plants to perform root cause analyses and then eliminate the source of the issues. This type of collaboration had not been attempted before, but when the plants were presented with the concept, they felt it was a step in the right direction.

  1. Generate interest and acceptance from the ground up.

The people involved in implementing the change must be fully committed to their mission. In my situation, the people in the Quality group were somewhat skeptical of the change at first. Enforcing the rules and regulations had always been a Corporate responsibility. However, once they could see their role was to become the instructors and subject-matter experts instead of the policemen and firefighters, they were extremely dedicated to the change process.

One of the primary tactics for driving the change was to demonstrate that the Quality group was truly available and would be present to help, not criticize. The Quality group was also committed to success at the plants. In the past, the Quality group would perform internal audits to point out issues/violations and tell the plant to fix them. In the proposed arrangement, it was made clear to the Quality group that if the plant failed an external audit, the Quality group also failed.

After a year of consistent support from the Quality group, and positive results, we were getting calls from the plants asking for help. Everyone could see that working together to solve issues benefited the business and reduced stress levels. By the second year of this new arrangement, we progressed to a place where the plants and Quality professionals were sharing their experiences and collaborating on a regular basis to improve the entire business. It was a great use of limited resources, and also allowed for the experts in the plants to be utilized for the greater good of the entire business.

Making a significant change in an organization requires a combination of vision and planning. It is also a matter of commitment. It is clear that George Lucas, with a little help from Yoda, had a clear vision of their goal and the determination to make it happen. As was once said ‘A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,’ when it’s time to make a change, there is no try. Only do.

 

Photo credit: Depositphotos, image ID 56376641, by IlianaMihaleva

 

Is There an App for Supply Chains?

mcalisterts 0 Comment Business Forecast, Expert Advice, Management Skills , , ,

Tablet PC and Smart Phone with navigation system

When in unfamiliar territory in this day and age, we automatically reach for our smart devices to map out directions to our destination. We conduct a search for the place we want to go, tap the map icon and head off in the right direction. Mapping out directions for a supply chain is not so simple.

Several years ago I was involved in a situation where the senior business team decided to reallocate advertising and promotional dollars from my team’s brand to another brand in an attempt to increase earnings. Those of us at Headquarters knew this maneuver signaled a significant reduction in the amount of product needed over the next few months.

Since the resulting change was a ‘system-driven’ exercise, it was a few weeks before the new production forecast was available and published. By that time the new plan was in the system, my team had moved on to other battles and the impact of the funding strategy change was a distant memory. A month later I got a call from the Plant manager who was directly affected by this change. It was not a pleasant call… and rightly so. His staffing was based on the ‘old’ forecast and now he had to lay off people that he had hired recently.

Using colorful language not suitable for publication, he let me know that I made a big mistake. We called these discussions ‘leadership moments’. I vowed from that day forward to keep the plant and the rest of the supply chain ‘in the loop’ when it came to changes in the business strategy. To do this, I needed a mechanism to clearly communicate the impact of changing business conditions to the rest of the supply chain. In today’s lingo, I needed an ‘App’ to point supply chain operations in the right direction.

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction. John F. Kennedy

There was never any doubt the plant would do whatever it took to achieve the production targets we established months before. Unfortunately making product based on an outdated production plan, was not what the business needed. As a result of my ‘leadership moment’, we developed a very effective way to communicate the state of the business, along with specific information to the supply chain by using a process called the ‘Operational Review’.

Most organizations have a way to show Management their production capacity plan, however multi-colored charts are only part of the story. A good operational review process has several elements that will encourage greater understanding between the business team at Headquarters, and the supply chain.

Here are the basic elements of the Operational Review:

1.    Production Capacity Review

  • Periodically updated visual depictions (charts or graphs) of each manufacturing line showing the production capacity and the volume currently planned for the line: These charts will identify production capacity concerns in the near future and whether there is capacity to grow the business.
  • Updated charts showing inventory projections that take into account sales forecasts: These charts are usually expressed in a ‘days of supply’ format. The purpose of these charts is to give an indication of current and potential customer service concerns.

2.    Performance Metrics Review

  • Updated summaries of the inventory value (working capital) versus targets: These summaries will show how well the production plan is performing against the forecast. For example, higher than expected inventory value may indicate the sales forecast is not meeting expectations. However, if lower than expected sales are not the root cause of the increased inventory, then further investigation will be needed to find the source of the issue.
  • Information regarding customer service: Customer Service problems should be discussed to determine how and when they would be resolved. For example, if customers say they are running short on product, yet the overall inventory is above the agreed target levels, then the supply chain will need to determine what is creating this imbalance, and report back to the business team.
  • Production performance metrics presented by the plant showing the actual production results versus the production schedule: This is sometimes called ‘output reliability’ or ‘schedule reliability’.

3.    Discussion of Events Impacting the Business

  • The Sales Forecast and Promotional Sales calendar is shared with the plant: This information will help the plant determine the amount of resources needed to meet the expected demand.
  • Future projects, such as packaging or graphics changes should be discussed well in advance: This discussion will help with production planning and minimize material write-offs.
  • Plans for future innovation projects, such as line extensions and new products should be discussed with the plant as soon as possible: Innovation projects should result in incremental business, and the plant will need to plan for the additional resources.

A key consideration when establishing the Operational Review process is deciding who is to be involved in the discussion. One of the purposes of the Review is to provide purpose and direction to the troops in the field. It was my experience that the person at Headquarters who has responsibility for providing the tactical direction to the plant is a key member of the Headquarters team, and the Production team, and is in the best position to be the facilitator of the discussion.

The majority of the information at the meeting will be intended for the Plant Manager and their production staff. However, the plant staff will also be asked to provide information for the review. A very important function of the meeting is for Headquarters and Production to gain a mutual understanding of the current and future challenges the business faces. It may be helpful to include other support functions on the team, such as Procurement and Quality.

Another factor to consider is the frequency of the meetings. We found that a monthly meeting was appropriate, however this could vary depending on the industry. Having pertinent and timely information to share is important, and most companies utilize a monthly business cycle.

Sometimes the path you’re on is not as important as the direction you’re heading. Kevin Smith

It was always my experience that when Management at the plant was well informed regarding the direction of the company, the trickle-down effect of this knowledge was always positive, even if the news was not always good. When plant management, supervision, and the line workers had a clear understanding of the direction of their business, they were more likely to make good business decisions. In the bigger picture, everyone wants to feel that they are contributing to the success of their company, and not coincidentally, their own success.

A steady and honest flow of information between Headquarters and Production regarding the direction of the business is always a good thing. Implementing an Operational Review process is an ‘app’ that can ensure everyone is going in the right direction.

 

Photo credit: Depositphotos.com 33866531 monicaodo

Water Chestnuts Only Come from China? Really?

mcalisterts 0 Comment Case Studies, Expert Advice, Management Skills, Preparedness , , , , ,

Depositphotos_53476899_xs

“There’s no harm in hoping for the best as long as you’re prepared for the worst.” Stephen King, Different Seasons

Although Mr. King is not known for his supply chain expertise, he could have written a thriller based on a situation that took place in our supply chain a number of years ago.

About a month after our company had launched a new product line using water chestnuts, we immediately saw signs of sales exceeding the forecast. After confirming this with Sales, I performed analysis on the raw material inventory to determine if we were at risk. It had already been a long day when my spreadsheet revealed that we would run out of water chestnuts in less than 6 weeks. I gave Procurement a quick call to let them know we would need to move up a shipment or two.

After a few minutes of discussion with Procurement, what I learned was a little shocking: the supplier was in China and they didn’t have any ‘safety stock’ in the US. This meant that there wasn’t any extra material readily available and we were likely to run out of material before the next shipment.

Unfortunately, it got worse. Digging further, we determined that the amount ordered and in-transit was not going to be enough to cover the rapidly rising requirements. We needed to ship incremental material quickly or we would jeopardize the product launch. This situation emphasized one of the unwritten rules of planning: If you are about to run out of a material, demand for the product will invariably increase.

My next question for Procurement was about an alternative supplier that could cover the potential shortage. After an uncomfortable pause on the phone, my contact said, “Water chestnuts are only sourced out of China, and because of our unique specifications, the supplier is the sole source of supply for the material we need for our product.” Really?

Rosemary Coates’ ‘The Risk of Failure.’  addresses rising supply chain risk due to materials being routinely sourced from far-reaching geographies. Speaking from experience, the risk is very real.

If we had to do it over again, we would certainly do things differently. It is the business team’s prerogative to ‘assemble’ the best product they can with the materials at their disposal. It can always be debated whether a unique material is ‘necessary’ to make a desirable product, but this discussion will focus on a proactive approach to managing long lead-time materials.

“Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.” Gen. George S. Patton

There were a few days that felt like we were in the Battle of Bulge along with General Patton. In other circumstances it would be good news that sales of the product line were exceeding the forecast, but in this case, the supply chain was raising flags saying we may experience a shortage of water chestnuts (among other ingredients) making it difficult to produce some of the items. Putting it mildly, this is not what the business team wanted to hear.

Based on the trials and tribulations we experienced as we worked out the situation, here are three broad areas to consider when sourcing unique materials from distant geographies:

  1. Carefully estimate the transit time and the time it takes to move items through Customs. What is the typical shipping time? Does it take 3 weeks or more to get across the ocean? How long does it take to get through Customs. Does your company have experience clearing materials through Customs. How long does it take to transport the material from the entry port to your location? Hiring an experienced import resource to manage the paperwork at the port and subsequent transactions can be very helpful. For this particular item, we allowed 6 weeks from the time the boat left the port in China until the material was in our facility ready for use.
  2. Understand the vendor’s options if their primary source is depleted or the demand outpaces the rate of supply. Does the vendor have an alternative supplier or additional production capacity? If the demand for the material unexpectedly doubles or triples, can the vendor keep up? If not, what are the alternatives? Will a slightly different material work for short periods of time? Knowing the answers to these questions prior to being in a panic situation can be very helpful.
  3. Develop a conservative inventory policy for high-risk materials. A conservative policy in this context means ‘extra’ inventory. Obviously it is necessary to be fiscally responsible, however the risk of suffering customer service issues (no product available) must be weighed against making sure 3-4 months of inventory is always available in a local warehouse. A key to making this plan work is requiring the vendor to have ‘safety stock’ readily available at all times. It is extremely important to ensure this agreement is being upheld and the inventory confirmed on a frequent basis. Having this stock locally available (in country) on short notice can greatly improve the chances for success of a product launch.

Perhaps you are wondering how our ‘thrilling’ situation worked out. We had to air-freight some of the material from China to the US. Suffice it to say this was very costly. From the beginning of the product launch, our customers were extremely excited to have the product on their shelves. The initial success of the product line led the business team to justify the expense.

After this incident, one of the activities that proved to be helpful was setting aside a day to conduct what we called ‘War Games’. The idea behind this activity was to get all of the key players (Sales, Marketing, Procurement, Planning, Quality, etc.) in one room for a day to go through all of the possible issues that could jeopardize the launch of a product. This brainstorming session would take place soon after Management decided to launch a new product and everyone had a chance to discuss possible upcoming challenges to the new business. All aspects are discussed, including competitive market challenges, distribution problems, supply chain concerns (such as the one discussed here) and any other concerns the team may uncover.

Planning conservative raw material inventories can make a significant difference in ensuring product is available during the critical stages of a product launch. Turning Mr. King’s quote around, “Preparing for the worst will let us hope for the best.”

 

Photo credit: Depositphotos.com 53476899 thinglass

You Either Know or You Don’t

mcalisterts 0 Comment Expert Advice, Management Skills, Uncategorized , , ,

Depositphotos_53306307_xs

Creating a problem for customers is never a good thing. But as Forrest Gump said, “It happens.” Over the years I found that the manner in which we deal with adversity is as important as solving the problem itself. If we learn from the situation and improve future performance, then there is no failure.

I was involved in a major crisis several years ago and it forced me to re-evaluate many of my assumptions. We gained tremendous insights as we worked through the situation and when it was finally resolved, we defined three general actions that needed to take place to manage future major customer service crises. I will summarize this a little later. First, I would like to explain how my assumptions caused a problem:

An ingredient problem created a recall situation resulting in 50% of my 1 million case inventory being unavailable to ship to customers. It was clear that the out-of-specification product would not be shipped anytime soon, if ever. Also, the production network was running at 90% capacity at the time of the recall, therefore we knew recovery was going to take a while and most of our customers would run out of product within the next few weeks. It was going to get very uncomfortable very quickly.

Since I was the supply chain manager for the affected product line, I was responsible for the operational aspect of the recovery plan, and point person for all communications to Management regarding the timeline for the inventory recovery.

For the purposes of this entry, I won’t discuss the technical aspect of recall, only the business and operational aspects. Rest assured that the recalled product did not injure consumers.

With half of the inventory unavailable, we knew that providing replacement product to our customers was going to be a big problem. I had to determine how we were going to quickly replace the ‘bad’ inventory. It should have been a mathematical exercise. Unfortunately, the next few weeks of the journey were fraught with surprising discoveries, most of them unpleasant.

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” ― Isaac Asimov

Within the first few days of the crisis, I used a phrase that I now live by: “You either know, or you don’t.” I quickly learned that making assumptions is a risky business.

The most upsetting discoveries were around the planning system and the ability to generate a clear recovery plan. We discovered the planner was not diligent in keeping the plan up-to-date. In a nutshell, we really didn’t know how much product was in the inventory. Then we found a discrepancy in the production run rates, so we didn’t know with certainty how many cases of product we could make in a day. It became clear that we had been flying blind before the crisis occurred. My first bad assumption was since our customer service targets were being achieved, the systems were working and all of the parameters were correct.

Suffice it to say we corrected the planning issues very quickly. That was the good news. The bad news was we determined it was going to take 2-3 months get the inventory back to normal due to the size of the problem. For our customers being out of stock for a day is a problem. This was a bitter pill to swallow.

A second misguided assumption was that a protocol existed for clear internal communication. None of my colleagues could provide a good template for this, so we wasted no time and created and a straight-forward way to accurately ‘depict’ the inventory position while estimating the recovery date of each item. My team devised a color-coded chart that showed when inventory would be available to customers in future weeks based on the current production plan. The charts greatly assisted Management’s understanding of the situation and greatly assisted company decision making.

The last unfortunate assumption was the existence of a standard protocol for communicating information to our customers. A problem of this scale hadn’t occurred in the past and a protocol didn’t exist. In a matter of days, Sales and the supply chain developed a method for communicating the inventory status to the customers so they understood when they would get the stock they needed for their stores. As the communication with customers took place, it was not always an easy discussion between the sales force and the customer. In the end, the customers stated that it was better to get accurate information, even if it was bad news.

After reassessing all of the assumptions, here are three practices to consider:

  1. Work diligently to understand all of the circumstances behind the issues. If there are operational assumptions, question them and correct all errors. For example, scrutinizing the planning systems allowed us to determine that the production rates were not accurate. Correcting this issue made it possible to develop an accurate recovery timeline. Success came when we clearly understood the capabilities and capacity of the system.
  2. Develop a visual system to show critical information to the decision-makers. Visuals can be easier to understand than words. It’s important to quickly and crisply explain the situation to Management. In my example, developing a color-coded system for showing the recovery plan timeline for each item was critical for gaining the support and trust of the business team. Once this trust was established, communication was clear and decisions were much easier to make.
  3. Execute a simple protocol for keeping customers informed. With accurate inventory information being readily available, the timing and method of delivering the information to the customers will be simple. As discussed above, using the color-coded charts allowed the sales team to explain when the customer should expect the product to be back on their shelves.

Although the situation discussed in this entry was painful for the business, the changes made to the business processes substantially improved our ability to address issues and improve customer service going forward. It’s worth noting that many of the practices developed during this particular situation became company-wide practices. We were able to turn a negative situation into a positive result.

At the end of the day it’s important for the decision-makers and operations managers to have a crystal clear view of their operations. I would highly suggest that when looking at your own operation, you question assumptions associated with systems and communication protocols. Either you know or you don’t.

 

Photo credit: depositphotos.com 53306307 Ai825

Collaboration or Else

mcalisterts 0 Comment Collaboration, Expert Advice, Management Skills ,

People team up technology solution gears

In today’s business world, the functional business teams can no longer work in isolation or in ‘silos’. I have always felt the need for collaboration. I’ve enjoyed numerous opportunities to collaborate at a personal level and I have successfully influenced collaboration amongst functional groups. My journey toward understanding that it was collaboration or else began over 30 years ago.

A lot has changed since my wife and I moved into our first apartment in Woodridge, Illinois during the summer of 1981. That was the summer I started my career in the food industry. Back then most manufacturers followed many of the same practices used since the post-WWII years.  ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ was a common theme. Most of us in the Baby Boom generation were more than happy to benefit from the foundation laid by the hard working men and women of Tom Brokaw’s ‘Greatest Generation’.

One of the advantages of being in the business for the past 30 years is having the honor of seeing huge changes in how food manufacturing has adapted to the constantly changing world. Looking back it’s easy to understand why we wanted to maintain the status quo. Unemployment was relatively low and energy was cheap. There wasn’t a huge amount of pressure in 1981 to change the paradigm.

But as escalating energy prices and inflation drove down profitability, the business environment evolved rapidly. Private equity firms completed leveraged buyout transactions that rocked the food industry. Companies were bought and restructured resulting in huge layoffs, signaling the end of the ‘fat and happy’ style of business. As a young man learning his way around the business world, it was clear I would need to adapt in order to survive.

Around this time we found ourselves asking what would it take to survive a leveraged buyout? It quickly became clear that if the new owner asked, ‘who gets the job done around here?’, the names that come up the most would survive.

With the environment changing dramatically, I knew I had to look at my work differently. If I wanted to ‘be in the conversation’ my instinct told me that a collaborative approach to my job would go a long way toward being productive as well as being recognized by co-workers as an excellent team member.

When I moved into management roles, I took this concept to the next level; I knew that collaboration between functional groups in a manufacturing company would be crucial to success in the business world.

Current business practices and collaboration

In Top Food Entrepreneurs Dish on How the Business Has Changed , INC on-line magazine, several key food industry executives discuss how consumer behavior has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. They emphasize that consumers are savvy and information is available very quickly through the use of social media.

Smart companies use the ability to ‘hear’ their consumers through social media to their advantage. However, to be in a position to rapidly respond to consumer demands, food manufacturers must be flexible from a manufacturing perspective.

Even if a company has the physical assets to rapidly react to changes in consumer taste, they must be able to harmonize the business and operations teams. It is imperative that the supply chain be fully synchronized with the business team. In other words, success depends upon a true collaboration between Marketing, Sales, Finance, and the Supply Chain.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” – Henry Ford (link to reference) 

To facilitate collaboration I have used a ‘Core Team’ approach. Here is the basic process for making this happen:

  • Assemble the ‘Core Team’ – The supply chain manager responsible for the day-to-day planning and operations will work with business counterparts to determine who would be a member of the ‘Core Team’. The business functions must be represented; i.e., Marketing, Sales, and Finance. Production planning, Manufacturing, and Procurement would also be members of the core team.
  • Establish a team charter – It is very important to ensure everyone on the core team understands the purpose of the meetings and how each member will contribute. The goal of the Core Team is to create and maintain a platform for the business team to understand how the Operational function impacts the success of the business and vice versa. For example, the Supply Chain representative will provide explanations to the team regarding customer service issues. Since the Sales manager is at the table, they will be able to talk about demand, e.g. under-forecasting. If manufacturing issues are creating the problem, Operations explains the actions taken to correct the issues.
  • Ensure transparency – The core team will be successful when current data is made available to the entire team. This data must include information and insights into current issues as well as potential issues facing the supply chain in the future. For example, the business team shares sales projections for the next few years on a regular basis. This is critical for ensuring that production capacity is available for future growth. The more transparent the information is between the functional groups, the more efficiently and effectively the core team will operate. An effective core team will result in a successful business.

You may be thinking this core team concept sounds very similar to the S&OP (Sales & Operating Plan) process. The primary difference between the core team and an S&OP process team is the core team agenda is more holistic as opposed to the financial focus of S&OP. In other words, S&OP is more about the ‘what’ and hitting the financial numbers; the core team will determine how the business team will reach their targets. The purpose of the core team meeting is to form a true collaboration between functional groups and ensure everyone understands how the business is going to succeed.

When I think back to those days in the 80’s and the looming threat of being purchased and potentially unemployed, fear was the driving force behind becoming more collaborative. Not being able to respond to the customer and consumer is the modern ‘fear’ driving change in today’s business world. As the paradigm shifts, collaboration at all levels in the organization is the key to being successful in today’s constantly changing environment.

As it turns out, for most of us collaboration or else will keep our companies successful and ourselves in the conversation.

Photo credit: Depositphotos 9959012 michaeldb

How Many Jars Do You Buy at a Time?

mcalisterts 0 Comment Expert Advice, Food Safety, Management Skills , ,

Glass bottles on the conveyor belt

Excellent food safety is a lifestyle choice. It’s a cultural thing… it’s a way of life. Having a good quality program in your plant or at your company is similar to a production facility having a good employee safety culture. A safety culture helps to ensure that everyone gets to go home to their family at the end of the day. I look at food safety at the plant or corporate QA level in the same way. As everyone does their jobs every day, their attitude and behaviors toward quality, contribute to the ‘culture of quality’ and keeping our consumers safe.

Food quality has many facets, but the most important aspect is food safety. Quality programs protect the people we love and there are very few issues as emotional as those around food safety and security. I recently read about a little girl dying from E. coli O157 food poisoning. Her friend was very sick because he ate the other half of her turkey sandwich. For more information, click here: E. coli kills Oregon girl.

It’s very difficult to say where the source of the contamination occurred, but rest assured each and every ingredient in the sandwich will be scrutinized. As a parent, our hearts go out to the families. As a Quality professional, I want to ensure everyone in my sphere of influence is doing everything possible to keep this from happening to our consumers. We are often encouraged not to let emotions affect our work, however when it comes to food safety, my emotional response clearly motivates me to do my best to prevent contamination whenever possible.

When it comes down to it, food companies are selling trust. Consumers don’t want to think about food as a source of risk. Most of us ‘trust’ our food supply and don’t think about getting sick when we eat something.

“All I ask of food is that it doesn’t harm me.”
Michael Palin (Monty Python’s Flying Circus) link to quote Michael Palin is a comedian, and he makes a serious point. Our food supply should not cause harm. Unfortunately, things happen and quality professionals must be extremely vigilant when it comes to food safety in their production facilities.

Identifying and eliminating potential sources of contamination is a difficult task. Having personally spent countless hours performing inspections and developing food safety programs, I believe it is possible to prevent the vast majority of quality incidents before they turn in to major problems.

Several years ago, I was the Quality Manager at a plant making a ready-to-eat product. One day I had a great discussion about food safety with the line operators. I asked them how many jars of our product do we think our consumers buy at a time. Everyone said they most likely buy one jar at a time. I said to them, “Then as consumers, our ‘experience’ with most food products is one jar at a time.”

I sensed that they were getting my drift when they rolled their eyes. I understood why my audience was a little skeptical because their particular production line could make over 300,000 jars of product every day. I’m sure they were thinking, ‘How could they possibly watch every jar on the line?’ I said to them, “We may produce thousands of jars a day here, but it is our job to make sure that every single jar is right. When it comes down to it, we sell one jar at a time.”

This insight hit home. Instead of being focused on how many jars we could make every day, the operators realized they needed to see the world from the consumer’s perspective; one jar at a time. If there was something happening on the line or in the production process that potentially compromised the quality of the product, it had to be addressed immediately. As we now say: “if you see something, say something.

“Food safety involves everybody in the food chain.” – Mike Johanns, US Senator link to quote

How do we help the workers in the plant understand they are the most important link in the supply chain with regards to food safety?

I knew there was a tendency to let ‘management’ be responsible for quality at that facility. I also knew the best defense was on the front lines of the battle. To change this mindset, we conducted a plant-wide education effort and made it clear that everyone was responsible for quality and food safety. Here are some of the principles we enacted to change the culture and truly improve food safety:

  1. Everyone working on the line was given the authority to stop the line if they saw something that could create a situation where foreign material contaminated the product. This sounds like common sense, but in many plant cultures, stopping the line is frowned upon. We made it clear that anytime foreign material was visible on or near the equipment, the line must be stopped immediately and the material removed as quickly and cleanly as possible. No questions asked. Enabling the operators and line workers to stop the line anytime they saw the potential for contamination was very empowering and sent the right message to everyone in the plant.
  1. Quick inspections or mini-audits were performed on a frequent basis to ensure conditions compromising food safety were rapidly identified and addressed. We found that a daily checklist performed by a line operator was the most effective way to stay on top of the situation. Thorough audits are helpful, but if they are performed once a month, a problem can manifest and create an unsafe condition for several days or weeks before being corrected. A combination of daily inspections and thorough audits enabled us to correct any potential issues quickly.
  1. Enlisting the sanitation teams to help identify possible environmental sources of contamination was a key to controlling the situation. ‘Environmental’ exposure is very difficult to detect and it usually requires a different approach to identify the source of contamination. We asked the sanitation team to think about the environment from a worst-case scenario perspective. For example, what if the source of contamination was the mop buckets and contaminants were being brought into the production environment during the cleaning process? There may be assumptions about the mop buckets being clean because they hold the sanitizer, but is it possible the wheels of the mop bucket are not fully sanitized? Involving the sanitation crew and supervisors in a thorough review of the practices was a key to uncovering these ‘environmental’ risks.

Those of us working in the food industry have the daunting responsibility of preventing our consumers from having a bad experience on all levels, especially with regards to food safety. The line operators are the last ones to ‘touch’ or see the product before it is shipped out. When they are empowered and encouraged to act upon any potential source of contamination, the vast majority of the potential issues are corrected before they become problems. Instilling a ‘culture of quality’ is the best defense against a food safety problem.

 

Photo credit: Depositphotos Weat 44731215

Can I Trust That Character?

mcalisterts 0 Comment Expert Advice, Management Skills, Uncategorized , , , ,

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Over the years I’ve had the honor of leading many groups of people who depended on my character to support them and help them become successful. In my world, I only considered myself successful if the people around me were successful. To make my organization successful, there had to be mutual trust and it was of paramount importance that everyone one around me trusted me as their leader.

In the professional environment, to gain the trust of our co-workers we must demonstrate our character. Our character will shine through in many ways, including but not limited to, how we speak to others, how we talk about people who are not in our presence, and how well we perform our jobs day in and day out. The way we conduct ourselves builds trust. The same is true for our business partners.

Trust has many facets, and one of my favorite books is, “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything,” by Steven M.R. Covey. A great quote from this book is, “Trust is equal parts character and competence… You can look at any leadership failure, and it’s always a failure of one or the other.” More from Covey later.

In the supply chain world, I see a very strong connection between operational success and the level of trust in the vendors. In other words, if a vendor is trustworthy and reliable, product can be made on time and in full. When this happens, the business will make progress. Without trust, it’s a very tough road.

Consider this example of what happens when trust doesn’t exist between the company and its vendors: A manufacturing company makes a variety of Widgets containing anywhere from 10 to 15 parts in each widget. There is at least one vendor for each part, depending on the volume of parts needed for production. Since the assembly process is continuous from beginning to end for each variety of widget, all parts must be available at the beginning of the assembly process. If even one part is not available, the finished product cannot be assembled.

Most producers carry low inventories of raw materials, and deliveries of new raw materials are usually ‘just in time’. More than likely, if the vendor does not deliver the supply of parts on time, production will not occur. The repercussions of this scenario are always negative and costly… downtime, unplanned schedule changes, inventory imbalance, over-time, etc.

In my experience the best way to approach this situation is to find a reliable vendor with the technical resources to meet the demand, and an ‘organizational character’ you can trust. Perhaps this sounds a little far-fetched but things go well when both organizations truly embrace how they mutually benefit each other.

“Good teams are committed to the team mission and to each other personally. Good leaders inspire and build this commitment and trust.”  Lee Ellis (Leading With Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton)

From my perspective there are ways to assess whether a new vendor will be trustworthy. Steven M.R. Covey, identifies four basic components of the trustworthy relationship: Integrity and Intent (Character) along with Capability and Results (Competency). Covey describes the process for building trust, and if the producer can answer yes to all of these questions, then the relationship will move forward quickly and efficiently. When evaluating your current vendors or considering a partnership with a new vendor, ask yourself the following questions proposed by Covey (paraphrased):

  1. Does the vendor have Integrity? –Does the vendor do what they say they will do? Do they act with humility or do they ‘brag’ about their accomplishments? Do they show the courage necessary to do what needs to be done?
  1. What is the vendor’s Intent? – Do they want to make one big sale, or do they want a long-term relationship? What is their agenda? Are they interested in what will make your company and your products better?
  1. Does the vendor have the necessary Capabilities? – Do they have the talents, skills, and knowledge you will need to move forward? Does the vendor have the resources, intellectual capacity and capabilities needed to make a difference for your business?
  1. Will the vendor get Results? – Do they consistently deliver the expected results? Will they continue to deliver in the future? Does the vendor take responsibility for their results or do they find reasons/excuses for their failures?

I have been in situations where a good vendor will answer all of the questions without hesitation and have data to back up their claims. I’ve also been involved with vendors who over-stated their capabilities… which is failure of both character and competency.

There is no simple way to get through the process of evaluating vendors. However, if time allows, the best way is to meet face-to-face with the technical representatives to ask the difficult questions and get a true understanding of their capabilities. When both parties can look each other in the eye, there is going to be a much stronger connection and subsequently, a higher level of trust.

When it comes down to it, we are all in business to be successful… you can measure success any way you like. Vendors are your partners or ‘team members’ in the enterprise and when they are successful, your business has a much better chance of being successful. If you can build a trusting relationship with ALL of your vendors you will be amazed at how much time you can then dedicate moving your business forward. Trusting those ‘characters’ will make all of the difference.

 

Picture credit:

ID 17981211 © Andrey Popov | Dreamstime.com

 

 

 

 

Problem-Solving in the “Short Attention Span Theater”

mcalisterts 0 Comment Expert Advice, Management Skills, Uncategorized , , , ,

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In my 33 years of corporate experience I’ve learned that above all else, being a good listener is the true secret to success. I’ve always followed the adage that since we have two ears and one mouth, we should listen twice as much (at least) as we talk. Listening to understand is critical to finding solutions.

Time is money, and though eliminating the problem quickly and effectively is always good for business, it may not always seem feasible or efficient to take the time and make the space to listen.

What gets in our way? Information is coming from multiple media sources and there are always additional mitigating circumstances, e.g., e-mail, texts, and phone calls, contributing to the inability to listen and focus. In other words, there is a lot of noise. This constant barrage of ‘noise’ divides our attention, therefore, I refer to the current workplace as the ‘short attention span theater’.

A casualty of this situation is the ability to listen for understanding and I fear it is becoming a lost art. Being a good listener is a matter of common sense. But as a good friend of mine likes to say: “Common sense ain’t so common.”

The manufacturing environment can be visually and audibly distracting and this can interfere with problem solving. If a Supervisor is trying to ask their Manager for help in improving the efficiency of the widget machine, it’s imperative the Manager hears and understands exactly what the Supervisor is saying. Otherwise, the Manager may address the wrong issue and inadvertently waste valuable time and resources while not correcting the problem.

Here are three key factors to keep in mind when listening to understand:

  1. Be Present. A lot of non-verbal communication takes place during a discussion and one of the biggest ‘turn-offs’ is when the story-teller feels like they don’t have the complete attention of their audience. Good listeners show they are 100% engaged in the discussion. In the example above, the Manager could move to a quieter, distraction-free area for the discussion. They could also turn off walkie-talkies and not use their cell phones to ensure there are no interruptions. Focus is key.
  2. Be Empathetic. It’s important to show that you ‘can feel their pain’ when being told about an uncomfortable or difficult situation. Being sincerely empathetic shows that you truly understand what they are going through and how it is affecting them. In our example, the Manager could relate to their experience with the widget machine and the Supervisor, to let them know they have faced similar issues and had the same frustrations. Making a connection improves communication.
  3. Have an open mind. Good listeners show their audience that they are not making any judgments or jumping to conclusions in the middle of the discussion. The story-teller will not be inclined to disclose all of the details if they feel they are going to be cut off before they finish telling their side of the story. Using the example, the Manager could refrain from blurting out how to fix the problem at the beginning of the discussion. The Manager could listen to everything the Supervisor had to say and then together they come to agreement on the best course of action. An open mind creates an open dialogue.

The words of Dale Carnegie can be very helpful when starting a discussion, “And so I had him thinking of me as a good conversationalist when, in reality, I had been merely a good listener and had encouraged him to talk.” From the book, ‘How to Make Friends and Influence People’.

For more pointers on how to be a good listener, check out ‘9 Things Good Listeners Do Differently’ by Lindsay Holmes (posted on Huffingtonpost.com 8/14/2014).

Problem-solvers in the organization will be much more effective if they have good listening skills. Being able to evaluate a situation accurately is a skillset needed by everyone in the business world.

I’ve had the honor of seeing many changes in how things work (or don’t work) over the years and I don’t see the world getting any less complicated in the near future. Technology will increase the flow of information (creating more noise) and this will contribute to shortened attention spans. Knowing how to listen will become an increasingly valuable skill in the short attention span theater.

 

Photo credit: ID 3429895 © Nikolai Sorokin | Dreamstime.com