Skip to main content

Show Me The Data

I was giving a potted history of my working life to an undergraduate Engineer yesterday. After a few minutes I noticed the haunting theme that was running through my stories, about the need for good data to make informed decisions.

Like many things that become second nature, the use of good data is vital in most cases to determine how to approach an improvement opportunity within a business. It's where I try to start, although in many cases it is a case of gathering the data in the first place, rather than just tapping into a rich vein currently sitting there.

I should also state, at this point, that some businesses do have data for data's sake. Time wasted on recording information that will never be used is just that - a waste that the business could most likely do without.

Reflecting further on the need for good data I thought about a number of recent projects where data was vital:
  • The new factory layout that needed throughput data in order to calculate floor space requirements.
  • The 'time lost' information that informed us on how to change the shop floor support approach.
  • The justification for a new piece of equipment that (initially) no-one thought needed to be purchased.
  • Production volumes, allowing focus to be created on which products to streamline first.
  • Sales information, helping us choose which parts MRPII could manage for us automatically.
I'm sure you get the point. Good data is central to solid decision making and a lack of data can certainly stall the decision making process. That seems pretty obvious to most of us, if we don't know what to review and compare how can we be expected to make rational and well informed decisions.

Be economical with your data gathering though, good data is usually just a few steps away. Be clear about what you need and don't end up making a whole new job for yourself (or your team!) as data gatherers.

The summary of my talk with my Engineering friend, and the point of this blog post, is that good data is vital to decision making. If you don't have it, and need to make a decision soon, then it is worth investing the time to go and find it. 


Giles Johnston
...optimising MRP systems and re-engineering business processes
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

What do you think?

Popular posts from this blog

The Kaizen Checklist is here!

Do you want to get better results from your Kaizen programme? Improve your business results quickly with my downloadable kit (including guidebook, workbook and templates) for only $39. Are you looking for a sustainable way to identify and implement improvements across your business? Practical improvement strategies The Kaizen Checklist is a downloadable kit that you can use with your management team to develop a system that suits your business and allow you to quickly implement Kaizen effectively at your place of work. This works great if you use it as the centre piece of your own internal workshop. The kit includes a 40 page guidebook, a workbook, four appendices and three templates. All parts of this kit are designed to get you up and running as fast as possible. If you are unfamiliar with Kaizen, let me stress that this is a simple improvement philosophy that is so much more than just  ‘a Japanese word for continuous improvement’. I’ll cover what it...
Read more

How to get started with continuous improvement

We all know that continuous improvement is a strategy that is essential for business. It involves constantly seeking ways to improve processes, products, or services in order to achieve better results and outcomes. However, for many people, the thought of starting on the path of continuous improvement can be daunting. The fear of doing it incorrectly or not knowing where to start can be overwhelming.    The key to successful continuous improvement is to start small and gradually build upon your successes. Here are some tips to help you get started if you are unsure of how to begin:   1. Identify areas for improvement: The first step in continuous improvement is to identify the areas that need improvement. This can be done by looking at the processes, products, or services that are not performing as well as they could be. It is important to involve all stakeholders in this process to gain a comprehensive understanding of the areas that need attention.   2. Set specifi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nail the number one improvement project

Over the past few weeks I have intervened in my client's continuous improvement programmes . I did this for one good reason: They weren't getting results. They caught the improvement bug, like so many organisations do. They got caught in the trap of wanting to change everything now! As I said, this happens to most of us from time to time. You start with some small improvements and you then identify more improvements you could get your teeth into. The next thing you know, you are trying to run ten improvement projects as well as deliver your day job. I know from bitter experience that this usually leads to having lots of loose ends rather than tangible increases in performance. So, what can you do about this? I know that with careful experimenting and resource management, you could find your sweet spot and figure out how many projects you can handle at once. Or, you can take the quick route and pare back your list until you have one priority. The one project that will give you t...
Post a Comment
Read more