Good day. We are facing a challenge regarding planning and scheduling that has been ongoing since June 06. Previously, all our work involved reactive fire-fighting, but now we are allocating 10% to 16% of work for planning and scheduling. Our team comprises the Maintenance Supervisor, Plant Engineer, Plant Process Engineer, General Manager, Operations Manager, and a planner & scheduler. We convene twice a week to address issues. Currently, we are experiencing a backlog as more work falls behind schedule due to old habits of fire-fighting. Initially, we attempted to catch up by moving past work forward in time, but this strategy has not resolved the issue. The backlog is becoming unmanageable, and we are unsure of the best approach to address it. Should we continue to prioritize moving past work forward, or is there a better solution to tackle this issue efficiently? Any advice or insights on how to handle this backlog would be greatly appreciated.
Paul, transitioning from reactive firefighting to a proactive work management approach can be challenging. Often, the issue stems from a culture of instant gratification where work is prioritized based on who is the loudest. To address this, it is essential to establish a clear work prioritization system with defined levels of high, medium, and low priorities. If high priority tasks make up more than 5-8% of the total workload or medium priority tasks exceed 25%, it may be necessary to reassess the priority definitions. Effective rescheduling requires a balance, with 60-70% of tasks categorized as low priority to allow for flexibility. It is crucial to enforce these priorities consistently and ensure there is enough capacity to handle the average workload. Planned work should take precedence, unless overridden by a prior agreement, critical breakdown, or other high priority tasks. Additionally, implementing a defect elimination process gradually can help improve workflow efficiency. For more in-depth insights and practical examples, refer to chapters 25 and 27 of the book "100 Years in Maintenance & Reliability." These chapters delve into workload management and workflow organization, offering valuable stories to guide you in optimizing your work management practices.
Paul, it is essential to have an efficient system in place to manage your workload effectively. Without a proper system, you may find yourself reacting to tasks on the fly and disrupting your already scheduled work. To avoid this, consider implementing a prioritization system like the one we use with SAP. In our system, we utilize the Revision field to rank jobs for scheduling. The Revision codes in our system are structured as follows: - W00: Standing orders for every schedule - W01 to W52: Corresponding to each calendar week - WR1 to WR5: Must-do jobs ranked from 'Really like to do' to 'Do if you have nothing better to do' It is crucial to identify which jobs are categorized as "MUST DO," as these are tasks with potential consequences if not completed in the allocated week. If a job does not fall into this category, it is likely a lower priority task. Once jobs are ranked and prioritized, we use the SAP Capacity Planning transaction to schedule them accordingly. We start by dispatching the standing orders and Must Do jobs, ensuring not to exceed the set limit for Must Do jobs based on labor allocation. If the schedule becomes overloaded, we follow a three-step process to reassess and adjust accordingly. This includes reviewing the necessity of all Must Do jobs, considering overtime, and potentially engaging additional labor. Once the Must Do jobs are under control, we dispatch the remaining ranked jobs up to 100% of available labor. It is crucial to regularly measure performance by tracking total hours worked, hours on scheduled jobs, break-in work, and other tasks. This data is then visualized in a stacked column chart to monitor progress and identify areas for improvement.
Paul, not long ago, we found ourselves in a similar situation. The concept of "Urgent Work" provided immediate satisfaction to Production and the Techs, similar to receiving recognition like a Cowboy/Superhero. Currently, we are averaging less than 20% Urgent work completion, and this isn't just on paper. It required a significant cultural shift to reach this point. Some key factors that contributed to our success were: 1) Emphasizing the importance of operators acting as operators, rather than just button pushers. This led to fewer operator calls for adjustments and empowered our mechanics as "superoperators". Implementing procedures, machine centerlining, and training sessions, often led by mechanics, helped rectify this issue over time. 2) The implementation of a formal work order request system allowed Production a means to have their needs addressed. Approved work orders were planned, scheduled, and completed. We also provided requesters with weekly updates on the status of their work orders. 3) During the transitional period, we rotated techs to act as troubleshooters to address floor calls and urgent work. This allowed the remaining techs to focus on planned work. 4) Efficient planned jobs made the techs more productive. Once planners became proficient at it, kitted parts and clear work orders reduced non-productive "research" time and increased hands-on work time. 5) I suggest displaying the weekly schedule for transparency. This keeps the crew informed about upcoming tasks and helps Production understand what they are diverting techs from. 6) Lengthy tasks suffered the most when we were reactive. Breaking them into smaller, manageable jobs, ideally less than 2 hours each, helped ensure their completion. One area we overlooked was building a library of planned jobs. Instead of refining each job as it recurs, we now plan out the same job repeatedly (including steps, parts, and time estimates). As mentioned earlier, our labor is based on our backlog. We aim to maintain a "Ready Work" backlog of 2-4 weeks, exceeding this calls for overtime, while a too small backlog isn't ideal either. We utilize a priority system to move work orders forward, recently prioritizing older low-priority tasks to ensure completion. Best of luck!
It sounds like you've got a challenging situation on your hands, but there's certainly a way out! One strategy I'd suggest is exploring the option of breaking down that backlog. Instead of categorizing tasks as either 'reactive' or 'planned', you could divide them based on their sizes - small, medium, and large. Small tasks could be dealt with immediately, while medium and large tasks could be further divided into planned tasks and backlog tasks. Regular meetings could include dedicated time for specifically addressing these medium and large backlog tasks. This way you're able to handle the daily work, whilst chipping away at the backlog. You may also want to examine the root causes of these backlogs to prevent them from piling up in the future. Remember, it's not just about fire-fighting, but also fire prevention. Hope this helps!
It sounds like your team is stuck in a cycle of reactive work due to old habits. Sometimes it's hard to modify our behaviors even when we understand that proactive planning is more efficient. Based on your explanation, piling past work onto the future might create a perpetually overwhelming workload. Instead, have you considered dedicating a certain portion of your team's time to urgently address the backlog while the rest of the team continues with the regularly scheduled tasks? This clear task division could help break old habits while ensuring that your current tasks are on schedule and your backlog is systematically reduced. Also, make sure to reinforce the benefits of proactive planning in every meeting, from time efficiency to work quality, to help shift your team's mindset in the long run. Stay strong and remember that transitioning to a new work style takes time and patience.
It seems like your team is stuck between trying to balance proactive planning and dealing with immediate reactive work, which can indeed be challenging. One approach you might consider is the prioritization matrix or Eisenhower Box, which categorizes tasks based on their urgency and importance. Critical issues would still get immediate attention (the firefighting you mentioned), but non-critical but important tasks would get scheduled for attention in the near future (this is your proactive planning part). Tasks that are not urgent and not important might need to be taken off your plate altogether. Additionally, it may be beneficial to look into employing project management techniques such as Agile or Kanban. Both systems allow for flexibility and quick response times while keeping focus on the tasks at hand. Lastly, from a more macro perspective, you might find value in scrutinizing your processes to see where efficiencies can be gained and waste can be eliminated. Remember it's not just about working harder but working smarter! Good luck with your challenge.
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Answer: Answer: The team involved in addressing the backlog includes the Maintenance Supervisor, Plant Engineer, Plant Process Engineer, General Manager, Operations Manager, and a planner & scheduler.
Answer: Answer: The team convenes twice a week to address issues related to planning and scheduling.
Answer: Answer: One strategy that has been tried is moving past work forward in time, but it has not resolved the backlog issue effectively.
Answer: Answer: Currently, 10% to 16% of work is allocated to planning and scheduling, which marks a shift from the previous practice of solely reactive fire-fighting.
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