VELOCITY - DEE JACOB [121]
Injection: Our turnaround strategy gives Oakton first priority.
Injection: We unbalance the production line at Oakton, and have all personnel complete their work quickly, but consistent with quality & safety requirements.
Injection: Autoclave (aka Godzilla) is recognized as the production system constraint (the Drum).
A fourth injection came out of the team’s general discussion:
Injection: Professional incentives at F&D are linked to overall performance (not hourly billings).
What flowed from these injections were desired outcomes, stated in concise wording and connected by arrow-tipped lines. The injections were written on green-colored notes; the outcomes on canary yellow notes, to differentiate the changes from the effects. And the arrow-tipped line implied a qualifying phrase such as:
“With the foregoing accomplished …”
Or, “Because of this …”
Or, “As a result …”
Or, “Therefore …”
Or any other appropriate wording.
So by that afternoon, with the tree complete, it could be read from bottom to top essentially this way:
Injection: Our turnaround strategy gives Oakton first priority.
And …
Injection: Professional incentives at F&D are linked to overall performance (not hourly billings).
Therefore …
F&D policies give production design reviews top priority.
Therefore …
F&D analysts and tech staff clear most designs very quickly.
As a result …
Design clearances flow smoothly to Oakton at predictable time intervals.
Because of this …
Oakton has an ample supply of orders to produce and production planning/scheduling is simplified.
Then, as a separate, though related progression, starting at the bottom of the board:
Injection: We unbalance the production line at Oakton and have all personnel complete their work quickly, but consistent with quality and safety requirements.
And …
Injection: Autoclave (aka Godzilla) is recognized as the production system constraint (the Drum).
With these in place …
Godzilla is staffed and scheduled to maximize its capacity.
And …
All non-Drum resources have protective capacity and are synchronized to the Drum’s schedule.
As a result …
Protective capacity downstream from Godzilla assures finished product quickly reaches Shipping.
And …
Protective capacity upstream and the synchronized release of materials assures fast processing so that a timely buffer of material is always ready for Godzilla.
Here, the chain was connected to the F&D design-clearance subchain, and continued:
With this in place …
New materials enter production at the rate Godzilla processes them.
Because of this …
Production flow time decreases.
Therefore …
Our lead times are competitive.
And …
Finished product ships and reaches customers as promised.
With these in place …
Operating expenses are stabilized due to less overtime and fewer expedited deliveries.
And …
Our customers feel confident dealing with Hi-T.
Because of this …
Our sales force is re-energized.
Therefore …
Our sales increase.
And …
Increased revenues means that cash flow is secure.
With the foregoing accomplished …
We are making money.
And …
Winner management is pleased.
And …
We, as managers, have accomplished the first phase of the turnaround, enabling us to form strategies to meet objectives for annual growth and other valid KPIs.
Amy finished reading aloud the logical chain of conditions.
“All right, I think we have the essential strategy in place,” she said to everyone. Then she joked, “So why are all of you just sitting here? Get out there and make it happen!”
Amy overslept – perhaps deliberately – on the morning of Winner’s fourth quarter earnings release. When Amy finally made herself open her eyes, the time was 6:39 a.m. For a second she debated whether to turn on the small television in her bedroom. On most weekday mornings, she would listen to one of the business channels while she was getting ready for work so as