1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,430 The following content is provided under a Creative 2 00:00:02,430 --> 00:00:03,730 Commons license. 3 00:00:03,730 --> 00:00:06,060 Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare 4 00:00:06,060 --> 00:00:10,090 continue to offer high-quality educational resources for free. 5 00:00:10,090 --> 00:00:12,690 To make a donation, or to view additional materials 6 00:00:12,690 --> 00:00:16,560 from hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare 7 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:17,744 at ocw.mit.edu. 8 00:00:27,865 --> 00:00:30,490 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: I know we've had a very exciting morning so 9 00:00:30,490 --> 00:00:30,910 far. 10 00:00:30,910 --> 00:00:32,993 We've been talking about the accounts payable case 11 00:00:32,993 --> 00:00:34,660 study at Rockwell Collins. 12 00:00:34,660 --> 00:00:36,970 Our next module on A3 thinking is 13 00:00:36,970 --> 00:00:39,610 going to take that setting of the case study that we used, 14 00:00:39,610 --> 00:00:43,438 and we'll launch an A3 planning exercise from that scenario. 15 00:00:43,438 --> 00:00:45,730 Before we do that, I just want to give you a little bit 16 00:00:45,730 --> 00:00:48,320 of background on A3 as a tool. 17 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,050 So in this module, we expect you to be 18 00:00:50,050 --> 00:00:52,220 able to do two things at the end. 19 00:00:52,220 --> 00:00:55,780 First is to recognize that A3 is not just a tool 20 00:00:55,780 --> 00:00:57,820 but really is a way of thinking, a way 21 00:00:57,820 --> 00:01:01,043 of trying to solve a problem in a very structured way. 22 00:01:01,043 --> 00:01:03,460 And secondly, we want you to gain a little bit of practice 23 00:01:03,460 --> 00:01:06,940 with using the tool of an A3 chart as a standard tool 24 00:01:06,940 --> 00:01:08,840 for implementing lean projects. 25 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:09,340 All right. 26 00:01:09,340 --> 00:01:11,650 So first of all, A3 is really a tool 27 00:01:11,650 --> 00:01:15,760 for enabling our whole PDSA or PDCA cycle. 28 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,390 And this is a snapshot of one particular version 29 00:01:19,390 --> 00:01:22,210 of an A3 tool up in the corner. 30 00:01:22,210 --> 00:01:25,840 So as we said in the goals for our module here, 31 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,460 A3 is not just a tool, but it is also a way of thinking. 32 00:01:30,460 --> 00:01:34,400 It originally evolved as a management process from Toyota. 33 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,400 And it's named for the A3 size sheet of paper, 34 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,210 which is roughly 11 by 17. 35 00:01:40,210 --> 00:01:45,232 And it was chosen as the form for this particular exercise, 36 00:01:45,232 --> 00:01:47,440 because it is the largest piece of paper that can fit 37 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,660 through a fax machine in Japan. 38 00:01:49,660 --> 00:01:51,400 So you could contain all the information 39 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,275 you needed on that one page, and it was still 40 00:01:53,275 --> 00:01:55,302 easily translatable to anywhere else, 41 00:01:55,302 --> 00:01:57,010 because you could put it in a fax machine 42 00:01:57,010 --> 00:01:59,010 and someone at the other end would get it and be 43 00:01:59,010 --> 00:02:01,630 able to see the whole description of your problem 44 00:02:01,630 --> 00:02:03,220 and your courses of action presented 45 00:02:03,220 --> 00:02:04,510 on that one piece of paper. 46 00:02:07,850 --> 00:02:10,090 So here is in more detail an example 47 00:02:10,090 --> 00:02:13,120 of an A3 sheet that was developed at Toyota. 48 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,370 You can see on your tables we have 49 00:02:15,370 --> 00:02:19,070 some starts of an A3 sheet for the Rockwell Collins case 50 00:02:19,070 --> 00:02:19,570 study. 51 00:02:19,570 --> 00:02:21,700 And they're also blown up here very 52 00:02:21,700 --> 00:02:25,300 largely on the butcher paper that's around the room. 53 00:02:25,300 --> 00:02:27,430 And they're broken down into several sections. 54 00:02:27,430 --> 00:02:29,980 And I just want to spend the next couple of slides 55 00:02:29,980 --> 00:02:32,355 walking you through the basic purpose of an A3 56 00:02:32,355 --> 00:02:33,730 and the different sections of it. 57 00:02:33,730 --> 00:02:36,190 And I really have to thank Susan for giving us 58 00:02:36,190 --> 00:02:39,113 this great introduction to A3 as a tool in her talk 59 00:02:39,113 --> 00:02:40,030 that happened earlier. 60 00:02:40,030 --> 00:02:41,830 And she showed you some excellent examples 61 00:02:41,830 --> 00:02:45,410 of what these actually look like when they're created. 62 00:02:45,410 --> 00:02:47,710 So first, at the top you want to start with a title. 63 00:02:47,710 --> 00:02:49,310 What is it that you're talking about? 64 00:02:49,310 --> 00:02:52,600 What is the focus of your problem investigation? 65 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,250 Then there's some background on why 66 00:02:54,250 --> 00:02:56,860 you're talking about it and the particular business context 67 00:02:56,860 --> 00:02:58,780 for the problem you're examining. 68 00:02:58,780 --> 00:03:00,660 Then more detail on the current situation. 69 00:03:00,660 --> 00:03:02,540 And you saw in Susan's representation 70 00:03:02,540 --> 00:03:04,570 some great pictures and diagrams. 71 00:03:04,570 --> 00:03:06,280 Pictures can be worth a thousand words. 72 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,140 They're very helpful in communicating that. 73 00:03:08,140 --> 00:03:12,280 Sometimes a picture and some couple of phrases of text 74 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,110 may be all that you need. 75 00:03:14,110 --> 00:03:15,942 Then there's some analysis usually done, 76 00:03:15,942 --> 00:03:17,650 trying to get at, really, what's the root 77 00:03:17,650 --> 00:03:19,750 cause of the problem you're seeing, 78 00:03:19,750 --> 00:03:21,700 requirements, constraints, or alternatives 79 00:03:21,700 --> 00:03:22,863 that have to be considered. 80 00:03:22,863 --> 00:03:25,030 And then lastly down here, although it's sliding off 81 00:03:25,030 --> 00:03:26,900 the page, is the goal. 82 00:03:26,900 --> 00:03:28,840 So what's the specific change that you 83 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,510 want to accomplish now? 84 00:03:31,510 --> 00:03:34,060 So this is called the left-hand side of the A3. 85 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:36,280 And then over here on the right-hand side 86 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:37,870 starts up with your recommendations. 87 00:03:37,870 --> 00:03:40,390 So what's your proposed countermeasures 88 00:03:40,390 --> 00:03:44,560 to remedy the root causes that you've identified over here 89 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,180 and get to your goal? 90 00:03:46,180 --> 00:03:49,240 Then a plan for how you're going to implement 91 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,850 those recommendations, and who's going to do what and when, 92 00:03:51,850 --> 00:03:52,982 and then some follow-up. 93 00:03:52,982 --> 00:03:54,940 So how will you know if the actions that you're 94 00:03:54,940 --> 00:03:58,160 planning really have the impact that you expected they do? 95 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,630 And this not only lets you know that your actions have been 96 00:04:01,630 --> 00:04:04,150 successful, but it also confirms that your understanding 97 00:04:04,150 --> 00:04:05,470 of the problem was right. 98 00:04:05,470 --> 00:04:07,990 Because of what you thought was going to happen happened, 99 00:04:07,990 --> 00:04:09,520 that's a good reinforcement for it. 100 00:04:12,810 --> 00:04:13,310 All right. 101 00:04:13,310 --> 00:04:16,519 So we just want to stress again that the thought process used 102 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:19,160 in A3 thinking-- thinking about the context, 103 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,589 analyzing the problem, figuring out root causes, 104 00:04:21,589 --> 00:04:25,160 setting a goal, thinking about your steps to then remedy it-- 105 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,590 it really is a thought process, it's not just a tool. 106 00:04:27,590 --> 00:04:30,600 And sometimes you hear people talking about A3, 107 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,080 and sometimes it feels like they get lost in the tool 108 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,210 and they've somewhat forgotten about the process. 109 00:04:36,210 --> 00:04:37,910 Another important attribute of this, 110 00:04:37,910 --> 00:04:39,890 it really is collaborative. 111 00:04:39,890 --> 00:04:42,020 Everybody should get around an A3 sheet. 112 00:04:42,020 --> 00:04:45,270 It's small enough so you can all see what's going on, 113 00:04:45,270 --> 00:04:48,020 and it lets people who are all part of the solutions 114 00:04:48,020 --> 00:04:51,740 get together to figure out how to solve the problem. 115 00:04:51,740 --> 00:04:54,920 It promotes very logical and objective thinking. 116 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,740 We stress having data on your A3 sheet 117 00:04:57,740 --> 00:05:01,490 in your description of the situation and in the analysis. 118 00:05:01,490 --> 00:05:04,160 It lets you think about the results and the process 119 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,160 that you might take to try to meet some of your objectives. 120 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,340 It forces you to be synthetic about the problem you're 121 00:05:10,340 --> 00:05:13,440 thinking about, because you only have one A3 page to write it 122 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:13,940 on. 123 00:05:13,940 --> 00:05:16,273 So you've got to be able to understand your problem well 124 00:05:16,273 --> 00:05:18,920 enough, distill it well enough, that you can convey it 125 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,850 in a nice, contained space. 126 00:05:21,850 --> 00:05:25,820 It forces alignment between the context of the situation, 127 00:05:25,820 --> 00:05:28,160 the problems you're seeing, the root causes of those, 128 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:29,720 the goals that you want to achieve, 129 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,095 and the actions that you're going 130 00:05:31,095 --> 00:05:32,420 to take to make that happen. 131 00:05:32,420 --> 00:05:33,950 Those all have to be aligned. 132 00:05:33,950 --> 00:05:37,100 And you can see that in the A3 sheet. 133 00:05:37,100 --> 00:05:39,890 Then as a result, you have some coherence, both within 134 00:05:39,890 --> 00:05:42,860 and consistency across all these elements in your A3 sheet. 135 00:05:42,860 --> 00:05:46,010 And it really makes sure that you take a systems perspective 136 00:05:46,010 --> 00:05:49,100 on the problem to get out of those silos. 137 00:05:51,718 --> 00:05:53,260 So just a little bit more information 138 00:05:53,260 --> 00:05:55,060 about each section of the A3. 139 00:05:55,060 --> 00:05:57,520 So we'll start with what's typically on the left-hand 140 00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:58,240 side-- 141 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,080 the background, the current situation, analysis, and goals. 142 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,720 Diagrams are very useful and efficient 143 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,210 for communicating in small spaces like that. 144 00:06:07,210 --> 00:06:11,500 And on Susan's examples of A3, you saw a lot of diagrams. 145 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:14,950 Value stream maps were shown up in the current situation, which 146 00:06:14,950 --> 00:06:19,000 showed the items of interest, the process flow between them. 147 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,970 It showed you some data on that, and then identified 148 00:06:21,970 --> 00:06:26,350 those cloudbursts of areas where there were problems. 149 00:06:26,350 --> 00:06:29,550 So some useful questions to ask as you start to put together 150 00:06:29,550 --> 00:06:31,350 the left side of the sheet. 151 00:06:31,350 --> 00:06:34,860 Are the activities clearly specified with regards 152 00:06:34,860 --> 00:06:37,890 to the content, in order, and intended outcomes 153 00:06:37,890 --> 00:06:41,280 as you work through the current situation analysis and goals? 154 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:43,680 And are the connections between all the entities 155 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,170 that are involved in your A3 problem very 156 00:06:46,170 --> 00:06:49,410 clear and explicit? 157 00:06:49,410 --> 00:06:52,860 So now, moving over to the right-hand side of the A3 158 00:06:52,860 --> 00:06:53,700 sheet-- 159 00:06:53,700 --> 00:06:56,168 thinking about recommendations and plans. 160 00:06:56,168 --> 00:06:57,960 When you're thinking about recommendations, 161 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,043 you really want to make sure that they're directly 162 00:07:00,043 --> 00:07:01,330 addressing the root cause. 163 00:07:01,330 --> 00:07:03,630 So there has to be consistency between that part 164 00:07:03,630 --> 00:07:05,340 of your A3 sheet and where you describe 165 00:07:05,340 --> 00:07:07,860 the root causes taking place. 166 00:07:07,860 --> 00:07:11,250 And they really should help you evolve your process 167 00:07:11,250 --> 00:07:12,930 from the current state towards something 168 00:07:12,930 --> 00:07:15,600 that you see as an ideal state by eliminating 169 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,130 some of the root causes. 170 00:07:17,130 --> 00:07:18,778 And then in the plan section, that's 171 00:07:18,778 --> 00:07:20,820 where you're going to define the steps to correct 172 00:07:20,820 --> 00:07:21,960 each of the root causes-- 173 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,140 so, again, traceability and connectivity, back to that. 174 00:07:25,140 --> 00:07:26,760 And in the process of doing so, you 175 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,270 have to identify who exactly is responsible for what, and when, 176 00:07:30,270 --> 00:07:34,800 and exactly what it is that they're going to do. 177 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:36,710 And then the last part of the A3 sheet 178 00:07:36,710 --> 00:07:38,940 is really the continuous improvement part of it. 179 00:07:38,940 --> 00:07:41,040 This is your follow-up activities. 180 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,600 So how do you know that what you wanted to happen, happened? 181 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,240 And make sure that when you're thinking about what you're 182 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,130 going to look at in the follow-up section, 183 00:07:49,130 --> 00:07:52,070 that links back to your original goals for this, 184 00:07:52,070 --> 00:07:56,190 and the criteria and metrics that you set up for that. 185 00:07:56,190 --> 00:07:58,970 So we have an example here in the module. 186 00:07:58,970 --> 00:08:01,213 Susan has already teed up a lot of great examples. 187 00:08:01,213 --> 00:08:03,630 And you're going to be going through one in your exercise. 188 00:08:03,630 --> 00:08:06,050 So I don't think I want to spend much time 189 00:08:06,050 --> 00:08:07,560 on this particular example. 190 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,210 This happens to be from Acme stamping steering bracket value 191 00:08:11,210 --> 00:08:14,330 stream improvement exercise. 192 00:08:14,330 --> 00:08:17,210 And just to show you the breadth of situations across which 193 00:08:17,210 --> 00:08:20,120 A3 thinking can apply, you see one here 194 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:21,560 for manufacturing process. 195 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,050 We saw lots for health care from Susan. 196 00:08:24,050 --> 00:08:26,810 And now we're going to go and do one in the office area 197 00:08:26,810 --> 00:08:28,110 and accounts payable. 198 00:08:28,110 --> 00:08:31,220 So really, there's no limit to the context in which you 199 00:08:31,220 --> 00:08:33,049 can apply A3 thinking, because it's really 200 00:08:33,049 --> 00:08:36,409 all about structured problem solving. 201 00:08:36,409 --> 00:08:38,600 What I will note before leaving this example 202 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,570 is the prevalence of the visual types of information. 203 00:08:42,570 --> 00:08:45,260 So they have their current state map, a future state 204 00:08:45,260 --> 00:08:47,630 map on here, a Gantt chart that they 205 00:08:47,630 --> 00:08:49,805 have used to describe their plan, which 206 00:08:49,805 --> 00:08:51,680 are all the deliverables that have to happen, 207 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,050 and who is going to do them, who's responsible for them, 208 00:08:54,050 --> 00:08:55,040 and when. 209 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:57,440 So you can see how these visual representations 210 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,430 pack a lot of information into a nice, tight space. 211 00:09:01,430 --> 00:09:05,900 Further examples-- we may have come across this 212 00:09:05,900 --> 00:09:07,160 in our New Balance video. 213 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:08,390 I can't recall exactly. 214 00:09:08,390 --> 00:09:11,510 But when you go into the New Balance plant for sure, 215 00:09:11,510 --> 00:09:13,093 you see these-- 216 00:09:13,093 --> 00:09:14,510 they're actually whiteboard-sized, 217 00:09:14,510 --> 00:09:15,560 so a little bit large. 218 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:18,230 So you can actually have people with markers writing on them. 219 00:09:18,230 --> 00:09:19,640 This is an A3 chart. 220 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,170 And it's up around the factory floor. 221 00:09:22,170 --> 00:09:25,880 So that's an incredibly powerful boundary-spanning object. 222 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:27,590 And all the workers in a cell can 223 00:09:27,590 --> 00:09:29,630 get together around their A3 board 224 00:09:29,630 --> 00:09:32,612 and strategize about problem solving. 225 00:09:32,612 --> 00:09:34,070 And here's an example where they've 226 00:09:34,070 --> 00:09:36,680 written up in this section their root cause analysis. 227 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:39,860 And they chose to do a five whys to get down 228 00:09:39,860 --> 00:09:41,540 to their root cause. 229 00:09:41,540 --> 00:09:44,715 And it's just wonderful to see this being used right 230 00:09:44,715 --> 00:09:45,590 on the factory floor. 231 00:09:45,590 --> 00:09:47,510 And it's quite powerful to have that 232 00:09:47,510 --> 00:09:49,400 there right in front of the station 233 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:50,950 where everybody is doing their work. 234 00:09:50,950 --> 00:09:53,070 So it's not kept by somebody else in a desk drawer 235 00:09:53,070 --> 00:09:53,570 somewhere. 236 00:09:53,570 --> 00:09:54,820 It's just up front and visual. 237 00:09:57,480 --> 00:09:57,980 All right. 238 00:09:57,980 --> 00:10:01,100 So now let's move into our exercise for this module, which 239 00:10:01,100 --> 00:10:05,390 is taking the Rockwell Collins accounts payable case study. 240 00:10:05,390 --> 00:10:10,730 And we're going to use that to create an A3 sheet on what 241 00:10:10,730 --> 00:10:13,040 we should do to try to solve some of the problems 242 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:14,840 that Rockwell is encountering. 243 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,840 So on your table, you'll each have a small size of these 244 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:19,910 so you can refer to it. 245 00:10:19,910 --> 00:10:22,250 And then each of the groups has a larger version 246 00:10:22,250 --> 00:10:24,740 up on the easel charts. 247 00:10:24,740 --> 00:10:27,860 So each of the tables is going to be working with a group. 248 00:10:27,860 --> 00:10:30,230 And you're going to develop an A3 plan which 249 00:10:30,230 --> 00:10:33,650 responds to question 8 in the case study, which 250 00:10:33,650 --> 00:10:36,350 is, "Suppose you are the RPI team leader 251 00:10:36,350 --> 00:10:38,930 and have to report back to Joanie. 252 00:10:38,930 --> 00:10:41,380 What will you recommend?" 253 00:10:41,380 --> 00:10:43,960 So we'd like you to spend about 20 minutes preparing 254 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,690 with your team at the table an A3 plan. 255 00:10:46,690 --> 00:10:47,200 All right. 256 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:48,908 And we've given you the template that you 257 00:10:48,908 --> 00:10:50,300 can use to fill that out. 258 00:10:50,300 --> 00:10:52,720 So first, we have to remember what the constraints are. 259 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,160 I'll detail those in the next slide. 260 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,480 You should also consider what Rockwell Collins groups should 261 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,770 participate in this rapid process improvement team. 262 00:11:02,770 --> 00:11:05,890 So make sure you think about all stakeholders. 263 00:11:05,890 --> 00:11:08,350 Then you'll want to verify that the information we've 264 00:11:08,350 --> 00:11:11,440 provided to you on those sheets is correct. 265 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,060 Complete the additional information 266 00:11:13,060 --> 00:11:15,640 blocks that are in the template. 267 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,490 And you can use some of the Post-It notes on the large A3 268 00:11:18,490 --> 00:11:21,430 to draft the different elements that you want. 269 00:11:21,430 --> 00:11:24,460 And then you can record your final recommendations 270 00:11:24,460 --> 00:11:25,930 on the large A3 sheet. 271 00:11:25,930 --> 00:11:27,790 And at the end of the class, we'll 272 00:11:27,790 --> 00:11:31,030 have some table tours where you can walk around and see 273 00:11:31,030 --> 00:11:33,070 what your different colleague teams have 274 00:11:33,070 --> 00:11:34,360 produced for their plans. 275 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:36,940 And then we'll have a discussion and compare and contrast 276 00:11:36,940 --> 00:11:41,240 some of the strategies that you thought about in this context. 277 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,660 So just very briefly, the management constraints 278 00:11:43,660 --> 00:11:45,620 as we pulled from the case study are these. 279 00:11:45,620 --> 00:11:49,300 So remember, your main objective is to reduce cycle time, 280 00:11:49,300 --> 00:11:52,370 going for a goal of invoice resolution in less 281 00:11:52,370 --> 00:11:53,110 than 10 days. 282 00:11:53,110 --> 00:11:54,760 But shorter than that is even better. 283 00:11:57,750 --> 00:12:00,540 Management wants to establish a training program for everyone 284 00:12:00,540 --> 00:12:03,020 that's affected by the change. 285 00:12:03,020 --> 00:12:06,020 They'd like to formalize communication requirements 286 00:12:06,020 --> 00:12:09,140 for invoice payments with suppliers. 287 00:12:09,140 --> 00:12:11,640 Changes have to be accomplished within the current system. 288 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,720 So there's no purchasing new IT systems to actually solve 289 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:15,770 the problem. 290 00:12:15,770 --> 00:12:18,860 And also, to use already available in-house software 291 00:12:18,860 --> 00:12:20,100 or IT technology. 292 00:12:20,100 --> 00:12:22,880 Those sort of go hand in hand. 293 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,090 Any action items that might be addressed in your A3 plan 294 00:12:26,090 --> 00:12:28,010 have to be completed within 30 days. 295 00:12:28,010 --> 00:12:30,410 And there can't be any additional staff. 296 00:12:30,410 --> 00:12:32,240 So an outcome of your A3 can't be, 297 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:33,860 "let's hire five new people." 298 00:12:33,860 --> 00:12:35,940 That wouldn't be acceptable. 299 00:12:35,940 --> 00:12:36,440 All right. 300 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,440 So I'm going to leave the management constraints 301 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,353 up here on the projector so you can see them 302 00:12:40,353 --> 00:12:42,770 as you're working through your problem solving activities. 303 00:12:42,770 --> 00:12:44,870 And we'll ask each table to get started. 304 00:12:44,870 --> 00:12:47,120 We'll have the instructors in the class walking around 305 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,750 to answer questions and help you through the process. 306 00:12:50,750 --> 00:12:52,370 So take about 20-- 307 00:12:52,370 --> 00:12:53,570 yeah, 20 minutes. 308 00:12:53,570 --> 00:12:57,168 So I'll give you a 3-minute warning when we get 309 00:12:57,168 --> 00:12:58,460 to the end of that time period. 310 00:13:01,268 --> 00:13:02,810 PROFESSOR: Could someone suggest what 311 00:13:02,810 --> 00:13:03,770 might be one of the things you're 312 00:13:03,770 --> 00:13:05,810 going to have to do to implement these recommendations? 313 00:13:05,810 --> 00:13:06,628 Just one thing. 314 00:13:06,628 --> 00:13:07,670 AUDIENCE: Cross-training. 315 00:13:07,670 --> 00:13:08,920 PROFESSOR: Cross-training, OK. 316 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:10,455 Let's just take cross-training, OK? 317 00:13:10,455 --> 00:13:12,580 So you're going to have some kind of recommendation 318 00:13:12,580 --> 00:13:13,720 on training. 319 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:15,870 How's that going to-- who's going to do that? 320 00:13:15,870 --> 00:13:19,790 When's it going to get done in the sequence of things? 321 00:13:19,790 --> 00:13:21,620 I find a useful way to think about this 322 00:13:21,620 --> 00:13:23,120 is that maybe think of each of you 323 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,580 as one of the stakeholders in the organization. 324 00:13:25,580 --> 00:13:29,270 Maybe you're the mailroom guy, and Celeste, maybe you're 325 00:13:29,270 --> 00:13:31,363 the accounts payable person. 326 00:13:31,363 --> 00:13:32,780 And think about what would be done 327 00:13:32,780 --> 00:13:34,590 in your area to implement this. 328 00:13:34,590 --> 00:13:37,010 Maybe you're a vendor. 329 00:13:37,010 --> 00:13:38,640 So you've got to change your mind now. 330 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:40,470 Don't go back and redo the whole problem. 331 00:13:40,470 --> 00:13:41,965 We spent all morning doing that. 332 00:13:41,965 --> 00:13:43,590 Think about, we've got to implement it. 333 00:13:43,590 --> 00:13:45,173 And you've got to come back to Joanie. 334 00:13:45,173 --> 00:13:46,330 And [INAUDIBLE]? 335 00:13:46,330 --> 00:13:47,330 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: Yes. 336 00:13:47,330 --> 00:13:49,406 PROFESSOR: OK. 337 00:13:49,406 --> 00:13:53,600 So focus on this task. 338 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,565 AUDIENCE: This is change billing address. 339 00:13:55,565 --> 00:13:56,190 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 340 00:13:56,190 --> 00:13:58,326 And the next thing we need to do is we need to-- 341 00:13:58,326 --> 00:13:59,326 AUDIENCE: Who does that? 342 00:13:59,326 --> 00:13:59,730 Who does that? 343 00:13:59,730 --> 00:14:00,320 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 344 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:01,000 AUDIENCE: Who does it? 345 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,770 AUDIENCE: Who changes the billing address? 346 00:14:02,770 --> 00:14:04,030 AUDIENCE: Purchasing. 347 00:14:04,030 --> 00:14:05,325 Because [INAUDIBLE]. 348 00:14:05,325 --> 00:14:06,200 AUDIENCE: Purchasing. 349 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:06,825 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 350 00:14:06,825 --> 00:14:07,890 Purchasing, yep. 351 00:14:07,890 --> 00:14:09,640 AUDIENCE: Simply from the sheer magnitude, 352 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:15,540 I would say to get the five Xs on the end of the invoices 353 00:14:15,540 --> 00:14:18,820 on the outside of the company would 354 00:14:18,820 --> 00:14:23,920 reduce a massive amount of letters coming in, number one. 355 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:25,810 And while that's being done, it allows 356 00:14:25,810 --> 00:14:30,100 us to train some of the people inside the company to implement 357 00:14:30,100 --> 00:14:31,440 the next few steps. 358 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:39,910 AUDIENCE: So use local companies for faster turnaround. 359 00:14:39,910 --> 00:14:44,008 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 360 00:14:44,008 --> 00:14:46,390 AUDIENCE: They just do-- they just throw out the Xs. 361 00:14:46,390 --> 00:14:47,230 We got that. 362 00:14:47,230 --> 00:14:48,520 AUDIENCE: The call center needs to be trained. 363 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:49,030 AUDIENCE: In what? 364 00:14:49,030 --> 00:14:50,090 AUDIENCE: How to use-- 365 00:14:50,090 --> 00:14:51,340 AUDIENCE: IT has to be aware-- 366 00:14:51,340 --> 00:14:52,726 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 367 00:14:52,726 --> 00:14:54,788 AUDIENCE: IT needs to-- yeah. 368 00:14:54,788 --> 00:14:57,380 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 369 00:14:57,380 --> 00:14:58,630 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: All right. 370 00:14:58,630 --> 00:15:00,213 So what we'd like to do at this point, 371 00:15:00,213 --> 00:15:02,170 recognizing that not all the implementation 372 00:15:02,170 --> 00:15:04,120 plans are finished and that's OK, 373 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,700 is we'd like to go around the room around the tables 374 00:15:06,700 --> 00:15:09,340 and have you share with us where you are in your implementation 375 00:15:09,340 --> 00:15:12,100 plan and what you've come up with so far. 376 00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:16,300 Try to limit your summary for us to 60 seconds or less. 377 00:15:16,300 --> 00:15:18,550 I'm going to ask to start with the table in the front, 378 00:15:18,550 --> 00:15:21,444 and we'll go around the room. 379 00:15:21,444 --> 00:15:23,348 AUDIENCE: OK. 380 00:15:23,348 --> 00:15:25,420 So thinking about the three different decisions, 381 00:15:25,420 --> 00:15:28,506 we have purchasing, the mailroom, and accounts payable. 382 00:15:28,506 --> 00:15:31,740 So the one who will be doing the training, probably 383 00:15:31,740 --> 00:15:36,090 the senior management, talk to the main leaders in each group. 384 00:15:36,090 --> 00:15:39,210 And we want to train at the same time, 385 00:15:39,210 --> 00:15:42,630 because [INAUDIBLE] scheduling issues have the purchasing 386 00:15:42,630 --> 00:15:44,500 group trainers have to add the Xs. 387 00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:47,340 But now we're going to train them to recognize the Xs. 388 00:15:47,340 --> 00:15:52,310 And then they have to be able to train them in document imaging. 389 00:15:52,310 --> 00:15:55,720 And then after the simpler steps, and then in the future, 390 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:57,640 create a call center within the mailroom 391 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:02,050 to train the staff [INAUDIBLE]. 392 00:16:02,050 --> 00:16:03,768 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: Very good, thank you. 393 00:16:03,768 --> 00:16:05,310 So let's go around to the next group. 394 00:16:05,310 --> 00:16:08,370 And you can tell us what you thought about. 395 00:16:08,370 --> 00:16:12,320 AUDIENCE: We focused on the implementation of the labeling 396 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:13,000 of-- 397 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,190 the first one we had five Xs to the [INAUDIBLE] 398 00:16:15,190 --> 00:16:16,552 of our invoices. 399 00:16:16,552 --> 00:16:18,010 And the way we're going to do this, 400 00:16:18,010 --> 00:16:21,790 we're going to have a small meeting where 401 00:16:21,790 --> 00:16:24,370 we have a representative from the mailroom, 402 00:16:24,370 --> 00:16:27,220 and a representative from purchasing, 403 00:16:27,220 --> 00:16:30,530 as well as one of us who came up with all these ideas, 404 00:16:30,530 --> 00:16:33,040 sit down together and decide what the format needs 405 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:34,580 to be of this addition. 406 00:16:34,580 --> 00:16:38,745 It could be that some suppliers' names or some, whatever 407 00:16:38,745 --> 00:16:40,370 in the address block, would be too big, 408 00:16:40,370 --> 00:16:42,537 and you would never actually see the Xs because they 409 00:16:42,537 --> 00:16:44,512 would move off-- 410 00:16:44,512 --> 00:16:45,970 the little window in the envelopes. 411 00:16:45,970 --> 00:16:48,560 So we just have to decide what exactly the format, the best 412 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:50,860 lettering would be to add on. 413 00:16:50,860 --> 00:16:52,990 Five Xs may not be the best. 414 00:16:52,990 --> 00:16:57,520 Once we know what we want to put on, we pick one 415 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,070 of our medium-sized suppliers-- 416 00:17:00,070 --> 00:17:02,320 we picked Ben & Jerry's for obvious reasons-- 417 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:06,220 and set up a meeting with them. 418 00:17:06,220 --> 00:17:07,810 Again, we would have a purchasing rep, 419 00:17:07,810 --> 00:17:09,560 we'd have the mailroom rep there, but also 420 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,069 the supplier rep to hopefully bring the ice cream. 421 00:17:12,069 --> 00:17:15,190 And then we would talk to-- 422 00:17:15,190 --> 00:17:17,829 just talk them through the whole process 423 00:17:17,829 --> 00:17:21,060 and just make them aware of the whole situation. 424 00:17:21,060 --> 00:17:22,609 They don't really have to do anything 425 00:17:22,609 --> 00:17:25,823 if we have purchasing implement the whole solution. 426 00:17:25,823 --> 00:17:27,740 But they need to be aware [INAUDIBLE] are also 427 00:17:27,740 --> 00:17:32,385 the random letters on the orders. 428 00:17:32,385 --> 00:17:33,760 Actually, I never mentioned this. 429 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,790 We were thinking about purchasing when the order gets 430 00:17:36,790 --> 00:17:39,040 sent initially, that purchasing actually, 431 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:43,660 when they type in the order, that they would add the tag as 432 00:17:43,660 --> 00:17:45,100 opposed to the supplier. 433 00:17:45,100 --> 00:17:47,392 They would add the tag and then the supplier would just 434 00:17:47,392 --> 00:17:50,410 see the letters, wouldn't have to add them. 435 00:17:50,410 --> 00:17:54,160 And then just watch how well it goes. 436 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:55,330 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: OK. 437 00:17:55,330 --> 00:17:56,050 All right. 438 00:17:56,050 --> 00:17:58,520 Let's go around to the next table. 439 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:04,450 AUDIENCE: So we tried to introduce a vendor pilot for-- 440 00:18:04,450 --> 00:18:06,610 using a vendor pilot for our suppliers, 441 00:18:06,610 --> 00:18:09,400 so add a XXX and a PFR. 442 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,790 We started with a pilot model, maybe one or two suppliers, 443 00:18:12,790 --> 00:18:16,000 and then scale up if, depending on the success, 444 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,230 or introduce some little modifications as need be, 445 00:18:20,230 --> 00:18:22,810 before we expand for the PFR. 446 00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:25,480 And then much of our-- 447 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,120 we talked about the IT work on the scanners. 448 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:33,680 And then we'd also have to train staff on the document imaging, 449 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,010 so be able to use the scanners. 450 00:18:36,010 --> 00:18:38,290 And then we also talked about training. 451 00:18:38,290 --> 00:18:42,070 But the Lotus Notes, we realized that that was the point where 452 00:18:42,070 --> 00:18:47,140 when one staff member is away, others cannot do her function, 453 00:18:47,140 --> 00:18:48,760 his/her function, take her place. 454 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,220 So we thought of training our analysts 455 00:18:51,220 --> 00:18:54,190 to be able to use the Lotus Notes so that even when 456 00:18:54,190 --> 00:18:55,810 one person is away, other people can 457 00:18:55,810 --> 00:18:58,090 fill in the space and work-- 458 00:18:58,090 --> 00:18:59,870 could go on that way. 459 00:18:59,870 --> 00:19:01,839 So that's what we came up with. 460 00:19:01,839 --> 00:19:02,922 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: Great. 461 00:19:02,922 --> 00:19:04,210 Thank you. 462 00:19:04,210 --> 00:19:05,787 So all very three different ideas. 463 00:19:05,787 --> 00:19:06,370 This is great. 464 00:19:06,370 --> 00:19:07,402 Go ahead, next table. 465 00:19:07,402 --> 00:19:08,860 AUDIENCE: We spent most of the time 466 00:19:08,860 --> 00:19:12,370 talking about the process of scanning documents 467 00:19:12,370 --> 00:19:15,430 into the system, and who would be doing it. 468 00:19:15,430 --> 00:19:18,670 We talked about whether we could have a rotating 469 00:19:18,670 --> 00:19:21,325 analyst, in which case-- 470 00:19:21,325 --> 00:19:23,230 because they would have knowledge 471 00:19:23,230 --> 00:19:29,950 of what the different needs are, or whether we would do someone 472 00:19:29,950 --> 00:19:33,660 from purchasing or from [INAUDIBLE],, 473 00:19:33,660 --> 00:19:36,040 and probably having a meeting to talk 474 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,730 about that within the group would be the best way. 475 00:19:39,730 --> 00:19:43,750 And then when you would have to train people to use the Lotus 476 00:19:43,750 --> 00:19:47,560 Notes, and also doing the scanner, 477 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:52,490 and the outcome would be that all the documents are scanned, 478 00:19:52,490 --> 00:19:55,410 and you would have some cross-training ability 479 00:19:55,410 --> 00:19:58,710 so that, kind of as mentioned previously, 480 00:19:58,710 --> 00:20:03,230 if one person's out, you still would have the work done. 481 00:20:03,230 --> 00:20:04,610 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: OK. 482 00:20:04,610 --> 00:20:06,260 Last table. 483 00:20:06,260 --> 00:20:08,660 AUDIENCE: We talked a lot about the process 484 00:20:08,660 --> 00:20:11,150 of putting the tags onto the addresses 485 00:20:11,150 --> 00:20:15,685 and used a similar idea to that table of the pilot. 486 00:20:15,685 --> 00:20:17,310 We wanted to start with like one person 487 00:20:17,310 --> 00:20:19,727 from purchasing, and training them and adding to the tags. 488 00:20:19,727 --> 00:20:22,352 And [INAUDIBLE] local company or a couple of local companies to 489 00:20:22,352 --> 00:20:24,080 add it to, just so that we could be sure 490 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,390 that we actually got the invoices before the end 491 00:20:26,390 --> 00:20:28,250 of our 30-day period. 492 00:20:28,250 --> 00:20:30,020 And then also, train all the mailroom 493 00:20:30,020 --> 00:20:32,185 on that first day about what to expect, 494 00:20:32,185 --> 00:20:34,310 because they'd start seeing those Xs [INAUDIBLE] we 495 00:20:34,310 --> 00:20:37,790 can't guarantee that one versus another person would see them. 496 00:20:37,790 --> 00:20:40,920 And then we also talked a bit about what the analysts had 497 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,840 to do regarding what exactly they 498 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,910 need to know to no longer check for PFRs, 499 00:20:46,910 --> 00:20:48,700 because that's going to be a bit tough-- 500 00:20:48,700 --> 00:20:53,990 it's not very clear-cut time when those will stop coming in. 501 00:20:53,990 --> 00:20:56,990 Also, we discussed how to find the new images 502 00:20:56,990 --> 00:21:00,566 after the document is scanned, instead of on the microfilm. 503 00:21:00,566 --> 00:21:02,996 So that was the [INAUDIBLE]. 504 00:21:02,996 --> 00:21:05,772 Anything else I'm missing? 505 00:21:05,772 --> 00:21:06,730 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: OK. 506 00:21:06,730 --> 00:21:07,210 Excellent. 507 00:21:07,210 --> 00:21:09,220 Well, these are all very good starts to the implementation 508 00:21:09,220 --> 00:21:09,900 plan. 509 00:21:09,900 --> 00:21:11,650 It's fascinating to see the different ways 510 00:21:11,650 --> 00:21:14,233 that your groups approached them and which aspects you thought 511 00:21:14,233 --> 00:21:16,870 you wanted to start on, as well as level of details that some 512 00:21:16,870 --> 00:21:18,190 of your groups thought about. 513 00:21:18,190 --> 00:21:20,650 A lot of great transition issues are raised 514 00:21:20,650 --> 00:21:26,395 and how you implement lean kinds of new programs 515 00:21:26,395 --> 00:21:27,520 that you're thinking about. 516 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:29,050 So this group talked about training. 517 00:21:29,050 --> 00:21:30,633 A number of you talked about training, 518 00:21:30,633 --> 00:21:32,050 the importance of that. 519 00:21:32,050 --> 00:21:33,570 And if you don't provide training, 520 00:21:33,570 --> 00:21:36,330 efforts can fail before you even begin. 521 00:21:36,330 --> 00:21:39,480 And this group talked about some staged rollout, 522 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:40,760 as did other groups. 523 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:42,600 So let's do pilots-- 524 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,058 test a little bit, see if it works. 525 00:21:44,058 --> 00:21:45,433 And then if it does work, then we 526 00:21:45,433 --> 00:21:47,740 can deploy it on a larger scale, and if it doesn't we 527 00:21:47,740 --> 00:21:50,370 will find that and test a little bit more before we get success 528 00:21:50,370 --> 00:21:51,240 and then go out. 529 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,290 Also an excellent attribute of trying to implement 530 00:21:55,290 --> 00:21:58,380 a big change like that. 531 00:21:58,380 --> 00:22:01,410 What really happened in Rockwell Collins? 532 00:22:01,410 --> 00:22:02,630 Are you curious? 533 00:22:02,630 --> 00:22:03,580 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 534 00:22:03,580 --> 00:22:03,750 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: Right. 535 00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:04,530 OK. 536 00:22:04,530 --> 00:22:06,540 So they implemented the recommendations. 537 00:22:06,540 --> 00:22:09,600 And it didn't work. 538 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,980 They weren't seeing any change in their performance metrics. 539 00:22:13,980 --> 00:22:17,870 What do you think was happening? 540 00:22:17,870 --> 00:22:18,470 Any guesses? 541 00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:19,595 I don't expect you to know. 542 00:22:19,595 --> 00:22:22,690 I don't expect you to have a right guess, but. 543 00:22:22,690 --> 00:22:24,107 AUDIENCE: Too much change at once? 544 00:22:24,107 --> 00:22:25,607 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: Too much change? 545 00:22:25,607 --> 00:22:26,470 Yeah, what else? 546 00:22:26,470 --> 00:22:27,960 AUDIENCE: They just didn't understand what was going on. 547 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:28,735 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: They didn't know-- 548 00:22:28,735 --> 00:22:30,250 that's pretty much accurate. 549 00:22:30,250 --> 00:22:32,810 So what happened was the analyst said, 550 00:22:32,810 --> 00:22:34,010 oh, you've got a new system? 551 00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:36,032 Well, I don't like this new system. 552 00:22:36,032 --> 00:22:37,240 I don't know this new system. 553 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:39,160 I'm not going to follow this new system. 554 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,590 And they started calling all their contacts and saying, 555 00:22:41,590 --> 00:22:43,450 look, you know, they've implemented this new system, 556 00:22:43,450 --> 00:22:44,290 but forget about it. 557 00:22:44,290 --> 00:22:46,832 If you have a problem, just give me a call directly. 558 00:22:46,832 --> 00:22:48,790 And they just totally subverted all the systems 559 00:22:48,790 --> 00:22:51,970 that were put in place, largely because they didn't understand 560 00:22:51,970 --> 00:22:53,920 that the document imaging and Lotus Notes 561 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:55,723 was going to be useful for them. 562 00:22:55,723 --> 00:22:56,890 So Rockwell said, all right. 563 00:22:56,890 --> 00:22:59,140 You know what, we'll just-- we'll back away from this, 564 00:22:59,140 --> 00:23:02,640 and we'll do this sort of in a staged deployment method. 565 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:04,420 So they just got the analysts trained up 566 00:23:04,420 --> 00:23:07,850 and comfortable on the document imaging to see that was useful. 567 00:23:07,850 --> 00:23:09,460 And then when that happened, then they 568 00:23:09,460 --> 00:23:12,130 went to their pooled queue calling center 569 00:23:12,130 --> 00:23:13,430 and then initiated that. 570 00:23:13,430 --> 00:23:16,150 So it took a little while, but they eventually got it. 571 00:23:16,150 --> 00:23:18,940 But the implementation was challenging because 572 00:23:18,940 --> 00:23:22,240 of these issues that very perceptively were raised 573 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,910 just about, human nature and organizational natures 574 00:23:24,910 --> 00:23:27,190 when we come into big change problems. 575 00:23:27,190 --> 00:23:27,830 Yes. 576 00:23:27,830 --> 00:23:30,310 AUDIENCE: So how does the culture of organization 577 00:23:30,310 --> 00:23:34,000 play a role in implementation of recommendations? 578 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,682 ANNALISA L. WEIGEL: It plays a huge role, right? 579 00:23:36,682 --> 00:23:38,140 I mean, we've kind of been alluding 580 00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:41,800 to this over the course the last couple of days. 581 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,410 And some cultures and the way that they operate 582 00:23:44,410 --> 00:23:46,330 are going to be more amenable to change-- 583 00:23:46,330 --> 00:23:48,663 that may be part of their culture-- and accepting of it. 584 00:23:48,663 --> 00:23:50,890 And others are not going to accept change so much. 585 00:23:50,890 --> 00:23:53,320 And you have to really recognize which one you're in so 586 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,510 that you can approach any kind of change effort 587 00:23:55,510 --> 00:23:58,540 in a way that's going to make sense to the organization 588 00:23:58,540 --> 00:24:02,045 that you're in and be productive as a result. 589 00:24:02,045 --> 00:24:03,670 But it's a really big topic, and longer 590 00:24:03,670 --> 00:24:06,010 than we have time to address in a quick question here. 591 00:24:06,010 --> 00:24:08,670 But we can talk about it during the break.