Introduction
Diagnosing the state of a company and its processes is certainly very important. Whether we want to invest in it, or if we intend to evaluate it for the purposes of its improvement to make it more competitive, or if we want to know how well our competitors are performing, we must have a guide to carry out the diagnosis effectively.
At a minimum we must have a series of questions and parameters to follow, within a framework of simplicity, harmony and without ever losing sensitivity, to be able to detect the critical points of an organization, discovering its capacity to survive and generate added value, satisfying its owners and investors, managers and operators, creditors and suppliers, and customers and consumers.
Thus, with an open and sufficiently trained mind, we can systematically see the structures, capacities and operations of a company, always remembering that even the diagnostic system must be capable of continuous improvement.
We must visit the plant and speak with its members, whatever their position and place they occupy both in the hierarchy and in the stages of the various processes, be they administrative, productive or commercial.
We should not limit ourselves to touring the plant, and especially the gemba (place where the action takes place), but also asking, consulting and requesting information in order to have a complete picture of the state of affairs.
The diagnosis must aim to be carried out quickly, effectively and efficiently. This does not imply that more extensive diagnoses can and should be made afterwards for planning change and implementing new and better processes.
Making the diagnosis
So we started touring the plant, in each and every one of its sectors, from the commercial, through to production, warehouses, purchasing and finance, as well as human resources and research and development, among others. We must go through all the sectors, and with an open, inquisitive and sensitive mind, proceed to detect and observe aspects and issues such as:
1. Begin by learning about the history of the company, both from its managers and employees, and from third parties outside the company, such as investors, investment analysts, bankers, suppliers, customers and distributors, and even competitors.
2. Ask managers about the different activities undertaken by the company, as well as its mission. We will thus have knowledge of both the strategies that are specific to it, as well as the level of focus or blur.
3. Be aware of the level of positioning of your brands and products in the market.
4. Quantity of stock and inventories. Analyzing their location, quantity, space they occupy, how many days of sales they represent, state of antiquity, and degree of obsolescence.
5. Order of instruments and tools. State in which they are found, and their age.
6. Internal movements and transfers. Pay attention to the excess movements of workers that end up generating unproductivities.
7. Something very simple to observe, the cleanliness of the place, its machines and the workers, and in the same way and together the degree of healthiness of the place, the quantity and quality of the lighting, the level of noise and vibrations, the temperature, humidity, smoke, aeration and contamination levels. See staff clothing, cleanliness and quality of the same, and adaptation to the functions they perform.
8. Pay close attention to the visit of managers from various sectors to warehouses and sales and production areas.
9. Pay attention to setup times and tool change times. Observe, as well as consult and request time sheets.
10. Verify the levels of breakdowns, and the way maintenance is carried out. When we talk about levels of breakdowns, we include both the quantity and the variety, the time of stoppage and repair, the cost of repairs and breakdowns, and how these affect the internal processes of the company and its relationships with customers..
11. See the security measures that are adopted in the company, both to avoid internal accidents and to prevent the commission of crimes.
12. Ask employees and workers about their roles and objectives within the organization. Do the employees know what is expected of them?
13. Observe the mood of the workers, paying special attention to their comments, as well as to the comments of managers and officials.
14. Verify the quality of customer service both personally and by phone.
15. Condition of the machines and facilities. Absolute and relative antiquity.
16. Arrangement of machinery and offices. Layout.
17. Level of bureaucracy and centralization of decisions and problem solving.
18. Degree of standardization of work.
19. Verify the existence or not of Command Boards, Statistical Process Control, visual management elements.
20. Ask and ask for statistics of operations.
21. Is there a website? How is it the same? Both in quality and in strategic and operational purposes.
22. Consult and observe the behavior and opinion of customers and consumers about the company, its products and services.
23. Consult about the existence of market studies.
24. Do employees know what are the specifications and requirements of the processes and products or services that they generate?
25. Who are the clients of the company? And who are not?
26. What business are you operating in? And what business are they not operating in?
27. Consult and request data on the turnover levels of your customers and employees.
28. Ask about their costing systems, pricing policy and distribution systems.
29. Evaluate the evolution of your costs, productivity levels and response times.
30. Paretian analysis corresponding to income and expenses.
31. See the level of training of its employees, operators and managers.
32. Verify the level or levels of satisfaction of your customers and employees. Ask if they have systems to measure it.
33. Have prevention systems and contingency plans been implemented?
34. What is the Economic-financial Balance Point?
35. Do you have information on historical budgets and their degrees of compliance?
36. Do you have information about the previous, current and future cash flows?
37. What are the degrees of bad debts and debtor compliance?
38. How well are you doing with the banks, the treasury, the suppliers of supplies and services, and the employees?
39. Evaluation and analysis of the evolution of both equity and results.
40. How good are the communication and information systems?
41. What kind of leadership exists?
42. Are they really based on teamwork?
43. What are the levels of waste? Do they keep track of it? How are they composed? What preventive or corrective measures have been adopted or are planned to be adopted around it?
44. How polluting is the plant and its products?
45. Do you have an employee suggestion system in place? What are the observable results over time?
46. Are there improvements in products and processes?
47. How many new products or processes have been incorporated in recent years?
48. How long does it take from starting to design a product or service, until it reaches the hands of customers?
49. Where appropriate, verify the location of the company's products on the supermarket shelves.
50. Do you know or calculate defect levels per million opportunities? Sigma level.
51. Are there bottlenecks? Which are? How do they affect the capacity of the processes and the profitability of the company?
52. Analyze the company's commitment to the community.
53. Always pay close attention to the state of mind of the members of the company, and to the possible types and degrees of internal conflict.
The secret is to review these points, analyzing the interrelationship between them, and the consequences of the response that each one has.
Meditate on each point, to then analyze the sectors, products, strategies and policies of the company with fluency and simplicity.
Never keep the external ornaments or shells, verifying the consistency of the internal processes, the philosophy and the state of mind of the members of the firm.
Pay close attention to comments from community members, customers and consumers, their distributors, their suppliers, union members, employees and workers, managers and owners, and neighbors of the company (or factory). Always place a high value on both spoken and unspoken messages.
Always keep in mind that if there are one or more contradictions, or something is wrong or certain information received is incorrect.
Remember and always keep in mind that a company without order or plans is not only a poorly organized company, but also poorly managed and less well controlled.
Do not stick with the rules, check their compliance, or stick with the statistics, check that they are real and consistent. Avoid drawing a picture that is not such.
Thus, if a company claims to care about its workers, but the air is unbreathable, it means it is lying. If they claim to be efficient but lack liquidity, solvency and profitability in a systematic way, it is worth asking where they lose their efficiency?
If your products are of quality, but are the ones that rotate the least in the gondolas, what is happening? They are expensive, they are not well promoted, what is really happening?
Always keep in mind that the numbers can be drawn, while the majority opinion of the public about the company, its products, services and image, no.
Another great secret is to get to handle all the points previously described in the same way that a martial arts master harmoniously and fluently combines the different movements that have been taught to him.
Ask, look for answers, analyze and you will be able to know the real value of a company and its ability to compete.
Conclusions
Perhaps the first thing to ask is why? of kaizen in the diagnostic methodology. The raison d'être is the continuous search for a better diagnostic system, which allows more effectively and efficiently not only to know the company and its processes, but also to discover its problems and be able to find truly valid solutions.
Many diagnostic systems or methods are totally removed from both finding and finding the solution.
It is also about analyzing the company from the point of view of its capacity for continuous improvement and competitiveness, as well as clearly and precisely observing the management of the company's new management tools.
The developed is not a magic formula, nor something to develop in a Check List, but something to think about and meditate on, a series of ideas and concepts to develop dialectically confronting them with the experiences already lived and with the surrounding reality.
The diagnosis is not for newcomers. Diagnosing the life of a company requires both experience and study and research. It is very important not only to handle statistical or mathematical questions, but also and above all to have knowledge of applied psychology and sociology, and a great sensitivity to grasp everything that is externalized through gestures and not through the spoken or written word. It is also necessary to have the virtue and ability to understand and understand the messages of the subconscious.
Human reality is richer to analyze than mere material questions, although they should not fail to give all the necessary attention to these aspects. In new times, human and intellectual capital are as important as or more important than material capital. Companies based on technological and marketing knowledge have more market value than gigantic companies in heavy industry.
The evaluation of human capital and its work habits, as well as the capacity for management and leadership are essential in this new representative age of knowledge, speed and consumer satisfaction.
Bibliography
Kaizen Strategy - Mauricio Lefcovich - www.gestiopolis.com - 2003
Kaizen - Mauricio Lefcovich - www.monografia.com - 2003
