Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Manufacturing Nightmares....

Lately my wife and I have been watching a lot of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Even if you are not a foody or into reality TV, it's still a good watch. Well, one episode Ramsay goes into this one restaurant that is dying a slow death. The menu is overly complicated, the kitchen is filthy, the order process is completely screwed up, and to top it all off, there's to much middle management and the top brass hasn't the balls (or bollox like Gordon says) to keep them in line. So, does any of this sound familiar? Ramsay has his head in his hands and is saying, "where do I begin?".

At this point my wife turns to me and says, "My god Steve, isn't that what you do?". In all honesty, it's exactly what I do. So, now my morbid curiosity has me glued to this TV show picking up "pointers" on how he handles leaders who aren't leading, managers who run around like chickens sans their heads, and workers who are complacent, unmotivated, or completely incompetent.

Tip #1 - Cleanliness

Gordan rails about this topic on almost every episode. Any one who works for a company that has embraced Lean Six Sigma practices, knows what 5S is all about. If things aren't clean and tidy, how on earth our you going to get things done efficiently. The five S's are:
Sort: Going through all the tools, etc., in a work area and keeping only essential items.

Set In Order (or Simplify): Keep the needed things in the correct place. (I can still hear my Dad saying, PUT IT BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT! Ah, I miss him....)

Shine: Clean it until it shines....

Standardize: This is the hard one for most companies. Procedures need to be put in place so the first three get done.

Sustain: Make it a habit to get it done.

Well, that's all for my ranting. I'm sure there will be more.

Cheers,

Steve

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