Year after year, too many companies suffer needlessly with the same common problems. Even after making new equipment investments and receiving assurances that things will be different, the old issues keep rearing their heads.
! Even with the additional equipment investment, production cannot ramp up to meet the demands.
! The production schedule is far too many weeks out and is unreliable.
! The design department capacity is sorely dependent on more personnel.
! The design department’s schedule is unreliable or non-existing and is frustrating for the sales staff.
! Salespeople are wasting too much time having to contact someone within the company to find status information for every project.
No matter the equipment investment, production cannot keep the new order schedule at a reasonable level, such as two weeks. A few things, in particular, cause these repeated scheduling problems, but most companies are unwilling to seriously address these issues because they do not want to change current methods.
The number one reason that too many companies do not have a reliable schedule is they are still using board foot (BF) or sales dollars for units of measurement. Ask any production foreman if they believe BF or sales dollars units are a reliable unit of measure, and every single one will tell you it is not. Every production foreman has to make mental adjustments to all of the orders when using these unreliable units, even though far more reliable units to measure and schedule production exist. For those trying to use sales dollars, can the shop produce the order quicker when the order has a lower margin rate? The answer is “no.” Maybe it is time to update your company’s scheduling units to something far more reliable, and that also can be used for an effective incentive program to enhance the total output. (See also Reliable and accurate man-minutes)
Hopefully, if your company invested in equipment upgrades, your company got a bump in overall production output. But that is not happening with everyone. There are companies spending millions on new equipment and getting less total output. How can this possibly happen? When you focus on the wrong units of measurement, such as BF per man-minutes, your company can be misled into investing in the wrong equipment. It is truly shameful how much money is being wasted on the wrong equipment by many companies. TDC has the numbers to prove this statement, and your company can easily confirm it. Besides new equipment, too many are blind to simple practices that can significantly enhance the total output of the manufacturing. However, that type of information is propriety.
All design departments should have a reliable schedule on which salespeople and customers can rely to know when the work will be completed. Just like the capacity schedules for any other department, such as truss manufacturing or delivery, the design department should have a reliable capacity schedule. A salesperson being told they will get an answer “sometime next week” should not be acceptable. Every single project can and should be logged, time estimated, and assigned to align with the capacities within the design group. In other words, the design department should be treated like any other department. It should be appropriately managed with a reliable method of measuring and scheduling capacity on which your sales and customers can rely.
There are different process methods that most design departments can adopt that would enhance total output without negatively affecting the accuracy of the work. Too often, designers will only use the same tools, such as their current design program, and dismiss other methods without proper vetting. The biggest obstacle stated by many is the lack of time to test and adopt new practices. Most will say they will evaluate and review other methods during the slow winter months, but, year after year, nothing changes. Every manager, design mangers included, must never allow the “we are too busy” excuse to stop them from implementing better processes. Whether it is adopting an easy to use application like Sum+It to greatly enhance the speed of truss quoting or adopting other tools within the current design software, design managers need to be open to improvements. Just imagine how unacceptable it would be if the production foreman tried to explain how they cannot take the time to install a new automated component saw because there isn’t time to go offline and replace the current manual saw. Just like planning new equipment installation, new methods and processes should be evaluated, planned, and executed in the design department.
It is truly difficult to understand how some companies can still operate effectively by using cellphones and emails as their primary means of communication. If your salespeople must call the different department managers or admin assistance to find out any project information or the status of the project, they are wasting seemingly countless hours for themselves and others every week. Often lumberyards try repeatedly to implement their expensive POS system to communicate and manage all departments, such as installed sales, delivery, and component plants. Still, in the end, the salespeople must rely on phone calls and emails to manage their projects. No matter the size of your company, large multi-location, or a single small location, all project information and status should be instantly available via the web-browser on their cellphone in their pocket without having to contact anyone else. No matter the department, such as delivery, component plant, doors, and specialty, all project information should be at the salesperson’s fingertips using any web-browser. (See also AppWright)
Here are the two critical points for solving all of the headaches. First: admit that what worked in the past was a good thing, but now it is time to evolve to a higher level. In other words, you need to change and improve your current practices in every department. Besides protecting one’s pride and ego, the next obstacle is knowing how to make the change. The second critical point: admit it is okay to ask for help. Having someone show you how to improve your processes is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of confidence. So, if your company is repeating these same issues every summer, maybe it is time for your company to take that step and ask for assistance.
When you want more than hype, TDC is your best source for learning about the very best and latest practices to keep your company competitive. Change that usually takes months and years can be accomplished in weeks and months with TDC’s assistance. The implementation of the suggestions produces an average gain of three to six points in net profits. TDC has proven real-world expertise that goes far beyond what many expect and has provided consulting services for well over one hundred clients—using proven and practical lean manufacturing best practices combined with industrial engineering principles that include refined time standard man-minutes for truss manufacturing. So, before you buy equipment, get TDC’s advice! TDC does not receive referral fees from any equipment or plate vendors, and you can trust TDC for unbiased vendor and equipment recommendations shaped only by customer experiences. Please don’t take my word about TDC’s services, though. Read the public testimonials many current and past clients with decades of expertise and experience have been willing to give: https://todd-drummond.com/testimonials/.
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