VELOCITY - DEE JACOB [137]
“That, ma’am, is a lot better than it used to be, let me tell you,” said Murphy. “We have a good, healthy buffer of clearances at this point.”
“And it’s done wonders from an operations standpoint,” said Wayne, “to have more flexibility in production planning and scheduling, as well as purchasing and just about everything else. So thank you.”
“You’re welcome. On the other hand,” she said, “there is that twenty percent that do not get cleared in forty-eight hours. Whenever we have to do some kind of involved verification of the design in order to grant the clearance – destructive testing, extended computer modeling, that kind of thing – then the process can become protracted.”
“I can second that,” said Garth. “We have customers who can get huffy over what they see as unnecessary delay. They say things like, ‘Why are you challenging the professionalism of our engineers? We’ve already verified this design!’ ”
“I can see how that would get under their skin,” said Wayne. “And to me, as a Lean guy, it does seem wastefully excessive. So assuming it’s really necessary–”
“It is,” said Amy. “According to our lawyers we have to observe due diligence.”
“So the question becomes, how can we do it faster?” Wayne finished.
“I think I may have at least a partial solution,” said Sarah. “Just before Murphy left Rockville, we were talking about, for the lack of a better term, single tasking. These days everyone seems to take such pride in multitasking – having a zillion things going on and trying to do half a dozen of them simultaneously. But the more I’ve thought about it and looked into it, single tasking is the better way to go in terms of system output – and throughput.”
“Why is that?” asked Amy.
“Because of dependency. If I’m trying to do six things at once, and I’m switching back and forth, doing a little on this one and a little on that one, I’m holding up at least one of them from being passed on to someone else who has to do the next step. Whereas if I focus and finish whatever I’ve started, then it can move on. And if everyone abides by single tasking, there should be an increase in speed.”
“But if you’re truly multitasking,” said Garth, “aren’t you opening two or three channels so you can do that many more things? I mean, if I’m driving, I can still carry on a conversation with a customer.”
“Everyone uses that example,” said Sarah. “Okay, so you can drive and talk at the same time. But can you write a report while you’re driving?”
“I hope you don’t try!” said Amy.
“And anyway, I object to multitasking in the office or in the lab for the same reason that driving with a cell phone pressed to your ear isn’t a great idea – because it can lead to mistakes. Which is the last thing that F&D can afford right now.”
“That’s a good point,” said Wayne.
“I’ve figured out, though, that people are not just multitasking; they’re accumulating and pacing their work. Some of them actually hoard their work. They’re afraid of looking like they don’t have enough to do. Or they’re perfectionists and don’t want to let go. Or they want to feel like they’re ultra-important because they have so much going on.”
Amy rubbed her chin and said, “I’d never thought about it, but I can see this being a significant problem, especially in an office setting.”
“Well, I’ve found a remedy – if I can get people to do it,” said Sarah. “There is a technique called Relay Runner. It’s a single-tasking work policy – or work ethic, really – and it has just a few simple rules.”
“You mean someone like me can understand it?” Murphy joked.
“Actually, it’s very similar to what you already are doing at Oakton,” Sarah said. “Once you’re handed a task, you take it and run with it. And you keep running fast as you can – consistent with requirements for safety and quality – until one of three things happens.