Apart from ideologies and political positions on the part of the current rulers, the efficient administration of resources by the State and its distributions is fundamental for the achievement of the objectives that they have in their reason for being.
Thus, as in any other type of organization, it is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve excellence without strategic plans that involve, in the first instance, the setting of values, missions, visions and long-term objectives. Although this may vary depending on the party in power, certain long-term state policies, products of consensus, are essential in order to make a harmonious operation of the state feasible and a continuous improvement in the quality of life of its inhabitants.
Leaving the administration of the resources and services of the State and its various agencies in the hands of career specialists is the first point to consider in order to make effective use of them. Having a good planning, budgeting and control system (both internal and management) is another aspect to take into account when it comes to improving the functioning of government agencies.
As the fundamental objective of the State must be to improve its operation day by day to achieve with the least possible use of resources, constantly increase the satisfaction levels of its citizens, it is necessary to implement a system that, applying continuous improvement to its decision-making processes and services make possible better levels of productivity, quality, costs, flexibility and delivery.
Just as a private company cannot produce goods that are not required or desired by consumers, neither must the State produce services or carry out activities not required by the population. For this, an opinion polling system or even more a consultation system is of fundamental importance, without neglecting the proactive functions that the State must develop, anticipating and creating the conditions for achieving changes in the social, economic and cultural framework..
Entering the 21st century, the State must take on the challenge of better managing all its resources, making possible the economic growth that enables the human development of its citizens. Achieving this requires improving the knowledge of its members through continuous training, applying and improving systems for: decision-making, planning and budgeting, control of both collections and expenses, and the application of all those tools and instruments. that management science and techniques make available to organizations today.
This monograph aims to present the application of various management tools within the framework of Kaizen in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public administration. Its application or not will respond to political and sectoral interests, and ultimately to the prevailing values in society and to the ethical concept of both the rulers and the bureaucrats responsible for the management of the State.
2. Planning as a fundamental basis
Clearly determining the values is essential as a prior step to any decision-making, since these must be adopted considering those values. They are generally set out in the Magna Carta or Constitution of each State. The importance assigned to full employment, education, health, old age, ecology, freedom and security, among others, will be the central elements around which State administrators must make their decisions for the purposes of make them feasible, at the lowest cost, with the highest quality and highest citizen satisfaction.
This same constitution also sets out the fundamental vision of the supreme objectives that a society must achieve in the long term. For this reason, the Constitution as a living element must adapt to the needs of the times.
But in addition to those values and visions, there are those of the current governments, values and visions of their ideologies and political expressions, which must be adapted to those of the Constitution, in such a way as to achieve sufficient consensus among the entire population in those fundamental aspects, those that make up the shared vision of all its members and that allow to fill its members and society as a whole with life and achievements.
Thinking about the mission of the State is something fundamentally remarked within the Supreme Charter, but there will be other aspects that each government in turn may adopt and adapt to the prevailing circumstances. An analysis of the environment, an understanding of the evolution of economic and social indicators in recent years and in the coming years, a projection of where you are going to be and where you want to go will determine the policies and decisions necessary to cover this gap.
The most important resource that the State manages is time. Yes time as you just read it. It is the time of its citizens, the time they lose due to incorrect policies, erroneous measures and / or out of time, and the lack of will to improve day-to-day compliance with State obligations.
Planning must include both strategic, tactical and operational aspects, the latter serving as the basis for the preparation of the respective budgets. Within this framework, the implementation of the Zero Base Budget is of special importance, a fundamental tool in order to continuously achieve the most efficient use of resources. Instead of taking the items from the previous financial or fiscal year and expanding it (based on projected inflation, and future works and services, those responsible for the different areas should analyze the needs of the various expenses, the objectives and benefits derived from them). obtain, and the most productive and economical way to achieve it, having to justify each of the budgeted amounts before the higher entities of the organization.
An effective way of control is to inform all citizens via the internet of the conformation of the budgets before and after their approval.
Of course, the existence of budgets that are not respected will be of no use, for this it is necessary the existence of Courts with Judges and Prosecutors specially designed to control and judge the legality of expenses. These prosecutors will have specialists in charge of the investigation and controls. Among its fundamental tasks will be those of verifying the correct operation of the internal and opposition control principles.
In the same way that there are courts specialized in civil, commercial or criminal matters, there should be courts specially designed to control and judge compliance with both legal regulations and budgetary regulations. Although there are courts of accounts, their ways of acting protect the politicians of the day. It is necessary to provide these courts with the independence and security that an entity of such importance and scope has for society.
3. Benchmarking
The application of this tool is of utmost importance within the continuous improvement process. Although in private matters it is a tool with restrictions due to fear on the part of potential partners, the same does not happen at the public level where different countries are willing to show their activities and processes in order to be later applied by the makers of the benchmarking.
In this way, and taking into account cultural, historical and psychosocial patterns, it is possible to adopt and adapt processes of those countries that are considered leaders in different areas, be these education, security, prison services, health (services of first aid, hospital, disaster relief, vaccination and prevention plans, among others), sports development, social security and employment systems, among many others, including administrative and bureaucratic processes typical of official bodies.
To this end, it is necessary for a better coordination and follow-up in the achievement of the objectives, the existence of a Benchmarking Office. It should be noted that not only should other states or state entities be the object of benchmarking (be it the municipality of one country in relation to another, but also between municipalities of the same country), but also with other private organizations (such as a public hospital in relation to a private one).
4. Outsourcing
In this search for the fundamental missions of the State, those services must be detected that, although the State must guarantee, the same can be performed more efficiently by private companies. Such can be the cases of garbage collection and treatment, computer services, and a large number of services of which government offices are users or consumers.
This would allow a significant release of resources, not only monetary, but also time that instead of being used for planning these services, they can be used to cover more urgent tasks and objectives.
5. Training
If at the private level many managers and employees are completely unaware of what tools and instruments such as Quality Circles, Total Quality Management, Statistical Process Control, Problem Solving and Decision Making systems are and how they work, the Total Productive Maintenance, the suggestion system, the Balanced Scorecard and the Just in Time among many others, which can be said or limited about what happens in this regard at the state level.
A total lack of training and improvement prevails among officials and employees of Latin American organizations, with a few exceptions. This gives rise to terrible standards in terms of quality, control, planning, prevention and citizen satisfaction.
If at the private level it is considered that in private organizations in central countries, four times more space is used than necessary, twice as much labor as necessary and ten times more time than required to complete the cycles, which can be said of organizations for non-core countries.
An impressive number of contributing employees, who consume scarce resources in these countries, only reinforce the vicious cycle of poverty. Political patronage, added to the high unemployment rates, accumulate huge masses of individuals in official offices with very poor salaries, and hindering the activities of private companies with their useless rules and in many cases corrupt decisions. Of course, within these Kafkaesque organizations, which organizationally resemble gigantic pyramids, there are bureaucrats and politicians who amass huge fortunes from corruption and disorder. In addition, these extensive and heavy bureaucracies prevent or slow down the decisions made by the highest powers of the State from the top of the list.
It is necessary to train state officials and employees both in Quality Circles, as in suggestion systems, use of computers, basic statistics and Statistical Process Control, continuous improvement, teamwork, quality, productivity and change management between many other necessary questions for people who have entered the twenty-first century and want better standards of living.
In addition, these trainings will serve to achieve, within a medium-term plan, transferring personnel from public to private activity, a clear change in both the cultural and motivational levels being fundamental for this.
6. Organizational structure
Government organizational structures respond to the philosophies, paradigms, management systems, and environments typical of what Alvin Tofler defines as the Second Wave. Thus, structures with very numerous levels, a high level of formalism, high centralization in decision-making, high division of labor and departmentalization lead to slow organizations, with multiple duplication of missions and activities, lack of efficient communication and information, workforce underused and poorly motivated.
The events of September 11 in the United States clearly marked, and in the first world power, the high degrees of structural inefficiency. Multiple organizations that fulfilled similar or equal functions and objectives, with very high budgets, that did not share their information, nor did they effectively carry out the tasks for which they had been created.
The new times marked by communication and computing, which make up what is called the Third Wave, are not compatible with this type of organizational structure. A staff with more training and higher expectations requires more enriched and comprehensive tasks, with greater autonomy. The classic stereotype of the bureaucrat who is in charge of sealing forms, does not know her reason for being and the rest of the process, is typical of organizations that underuse their resources, also causing long waiting times and long periods of time in their processes..
Flat structures, with wider control spans, will significantly improve efficiency, reducing costs and providing higher levels of satisfaction to society.
Bureaucrats and politicians tend to preserve the organizational structures of the past as a result of their personal interests and / or their outdated paradigms. Failure to correct such a situation will condemn not only public bodies, but also the entire nation to failure. In a globalized and increasingly competitive world, Soviet-style structures have fallen as a result of their own weight and inefficiency. Weberian structures tend to be revamped. The Anglo-Saxon countries like Japan and other Southeast Asian countries tend to profound changes and a process of continuous improvement that leads to lower levels of waste of resources.
Latin American countries, especially those that speak Spanish, have a strong bureaucratic and formalistic culture characteristic of their cultural heritage. Mental restructuring is essential for these countries, so as not to see the State as if it were the sun or the stars, the State is the product of man and the objective is to organize it in such a way that it provides the best possible reason for be.
The rapid evolution of the world no longer resists organisms that do not strategically and functionally accompany these changes. In Marxist terms, the State as a superstructure is opposing or slowing down the evolution of the economic infrastructure.
- Applying kaizen
Applying kaizen in any organization requires strong cultural changes, and much more if it is the State. The need to be more effective and efficient, the search for greater satisfaction on the part of the user or citizen, faster response times, and higher levels of quality in services require a deepening of work ethics.
In a private company, an important motivation for the change in the mentality of managers and workers is simple survival. In a market economy, only the most competitive companies survive in the medium and long term. Not surviving means the loss of jobs. Now, as in the public administrations of many countries, jobs are guaranteed and they have a monopoly on services, it does not matter whether or not to improve officials and workers. To achieve greater motivation, it must be necessary to end the securing of jobs, making many of them compete via outsourcing of services. On the other hand, the payment of supplements based on savings should be a way of motivating the optimization of resources.For this to be achieved, high levels of internal control are essential. An official or employee should not be interested in not charging supplements, if he achieves significant income from corruption.
Kaizen works around three aspects: elimination of waste (mudas), standardization, and the 5 “S”. Allowing the development of these objectives requires the implementation of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) systems, Total Quality Management (TQM), Just in Time (JIT), the deployment of policies, the activity of small groups and the suggestion system.
- Thinking and working on the issue of waste
The seven big wastes defined from the JIT analyzes are:
- Overproduction Inventories Processes Waits Repairs, reprocesses and discarded products Movements Transport
For each of these points, an indefinite number of examples can be given that are given day by day in public organizations. Files that move slowly from office to office and many times require repetition of tours (waiting times); large inventories of inputs (drugs, stationery, construction) that consume physical space, labor, costly and inefficient control processes, material handling, custody, degradation and financial resources, are the cause of wastage in inventories; designs of duplicated and inefficient procedures, excess of specialization among others originate waste from processing; Lack of planning and training, as well as evaluation, motivated by low levels of prevention, cause high costs in repairs, reprocessing,discarded products and even lawsuits for poor performance; absence of ergonomic studies originate low levels of productivity in the workforce; the overproduction of unnecessary items and products or services cause high levels of waste.
The excessive and unproductive use of resources, be they financial, material, human and the most expensive of all time, originate levels of multimillion-dollar waste that largely explain the high state deficits.
The implementation of suggestion systems and workgroups, aimed at improving quality and productivity, reducing costs and cycle times, concentrating attention on doffing (waste in Japanese) is an everyday task. Not a single day should go by without concrete analysis and improvements. Failure to do so leads to continuous degradation of the procedures, people and organisms of which they are a part.
In a society that does not accept inflation as the methodology to cover the deficits of the State, only a more efficient use of resources will allow it to effectively fulfill its mission. The waste or squandering of resources sooner or later ends up paying off via higher indebtedness and lower economic growth.
The slowness of government decisions and practices does not match the speed of the information age. In a time when quick decisions must be made regarding safety and protection of the environment, any decision out of time causes significant damage to the environment.
- The 5 "S"
The 5 "S" is a great tool or procedure consisting of:
- Separate the necessary from the unnecessary. This allows for numerous positive results, the following being possible to mention: a) Saving of physical space; b) Detect lost items, tools or documentation; c) Detect seedlings (waste) and classify them; d) Recycle items for various uses; and e) It generates a larger workspace for the development of tasks. In relation to what is necessary, locate and order it in such a way as to achieve its easier detection. A place for everything and everything in its place is a clear way of defining this second point. In this way, the loss of elements is avoided, their detection easier, reducing search times. Cleanliness of the workplace, including machines and equipment. It creates a more pleasant, motivating and safe place to carry out activities.Also contributing to better maintenance of facilities and machines. Personal hygiene and use of necessary items (eg: gloves, protective glasses, helmets). It produces greater motivation in employees, reducing the levels of accidents and illnesses; produces a better image both internally and externally. Discipline, repeating the previous steps over and over again. Consisting of maintaining and improving the levels of order, care, cleanliness and security, thus contributing to improve the self-esteem of the staff.Discipline, repeating the previous steps over and over again. Consisting of maintaining and improving the levels of order, care, cleanliness and security, thus contributing to improve the self-esteem of the staff.Discipline, repeating the previous steps over and over again. Consisting of maintaining and improving the levels of order, care, cleanliness and security, thus contributing to improve the self-esteem of the staff.
- Standardization
It involves the documentation of the best practices in carrying out the productive and administrative processes. In public administrations, without a doubt, there is an excess of standardization, but they do not represent the best practices in themselves, in addition to not being subjected to a continuous process of improvement. Standardization within the kaizen philosophy implies a level that must be exceeded in order to achieve new standards. In this continuous process of improvement, what is known as the Deming Circle is used, consisting of Plan - Perform - Evaluate - Act (PREA). This process should not be carried out by different areas of the organizations, but each one of them must carry them out in its entirety.
Before proceeding with the improvement of the processes, it is necessary to standardize them. This is done through the process called EREA (Standardize - Perform - Evaluate - Act). Once the process is under control, one can think of improving it in order to reduce its completion or response times or periods, reduce its levels of failures and dissatisfactions, and improve productivity and cost levels.
- Applying Statistical Process Control
The application of Statistical Process Control is essential for the purposes of both improving quality levels, achieving better productivity and lower costs, and monitoring satisfaction levels. Ignoring the difference between variations due to random or natural causes and those motivated by special or attributable causes leads to gross errors in decision-making. The analyzes to be carried out and the actions to be applied are not the same if the variations depend on one cause or another.
The use of this management tool, coordinated through the use of the Balanced Scorecard, is at this time of fundamental importance to achieve better performance. While these tools did not exist, only Management and Budgetary Controls were used. Now that they can be used, not making use of them constitutes nonsense. It implies, among other things, not knowing where you are standing, or where your efforts are heading.
- The 80/20 Rule
This Rule, discovered by the Italian sociologist and economist Vilfredo Pareto, and rediscovered and expanded in its applications by the quality specialist J. Juran, implies the existence of a more or less approximate relationship, which assigns importance to a few factors or causes. transcendent, and to many or numerous causes or motives a trivial or inconsequential importance. It should be noted that the fact that a few are less important should not imply not making them the object of treatment, it is simply a matter of achieving faster and cheaper results by attacking those causes that generate the majority of failures, dissatisfactions, diseconomies and unproductiveness.
The application of the 80/20 Rule should not only be used for the purposes of improving quality, reducing costs, reducing accidents and response times, and increasing productivity levels, through what is called The Pareto Diagram, but is also of crucial importance when setting strategies and policies for action that will allow a more efficient use of resources.
Thus, in the field of education, it is proven that after the teaching process, whether in private life or at work, people make use of 80% of 20% of the subjects studied. This leads to: a) Allotting more hours to matters of greater specific weight; and b) Specialize teaching in such a way that students receive more training in those aspects that, according to their future specialization, require more time for learning and dedication.
In the field of tax collection and controls, it implies concentrating the collection and monitoring systems on those taxpayers that concentrate the income capacity. 20% of taxpayers generate approximately 80% of the collection, and an equal percentage also generate most of the evasion. Controlling small taxpayers is a waste of resources, inspecting and managing a large taxpayer base that generate scarce resources and are not the cause of most of the evasion.
The same form of reasoning can and should be applied in matters of safety, health, accidents and transport among many others.
Thus, if the main health problems and the most important causes that motivate them are statistically identified, resources can be allocated to prevention, which will drastically reduce the subsequent costs of reactive corrections. This not only reduces health care costs, but also improves the quality of life of the population. Thus, if in a given area the main disease is Chagas disease, and the fundamental cause is the houses in which the inhabitants who contract this disease live, the policy to apply apart from the fumigation of the vinchuca must consist of improving the quality of the houses. Acting in this way will reduce the main cause of diseases, having to proceed with the prevention of other diseases in a systematic way.
Applying this rule implies concentrating energy, time and resources in a more efficient way, achieving results in a faster and more forceful way.
- Activity analysis
Analyzing the activities implies in matters of public bodies, distinguishing between the activities that generate added value for taxpayers or citizens, those that generate added value for the administration, and those that do not generate any added value.
The analysis should be concentrated in such a way as to accumulate most of the resources in those activities and processes that are useful for society, reducing support activities to a minimum, and systematically eliminating those that do not generate any added value.
The services of consultants and specialists in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, and Organization and Methods, is of great importance in order to properly analyze activities and processes, evaluating their levels of effectiveness, as well as efficiency, and comparing them with the benchmarks of other civil or private organizations.
- Conclusion. The search for absolute zeros.
While achieving absolute zeros is impossible, achieving fewer and fewer failures per million opportunities, getting shorter and shorter waiting times or responses, using less paper every day and minimizing repairs and accidents is not a utopia, and it must be a clearly stated objective as state policy.
In the public administration, the objective of zero paper implies faster procedures, papers that are not lost, minimizing the times of: handling, transfer, copying, filing, space and searching for different documentation. This clearly produces less: time, personnel, space, energy and inputs; Ultimately it leads to a significant reduction in costs or expenses. These released resources can and should be used in the most necessary and priority uses.
- Annex - The main Kaizen systems
The following are the main systems that must be established properly, in order to achieve the success of a Kaizen strategy.
- Total Quality Control / Total Quality Management A just-in-time production system Total productive maintenance Policy deployment A suggestion system Small group activities
Total Quality Management (TQM)
The objective pursued by Total Quality Management is to achieve a process of continuous quality improvement through better knowledge and control of the entire system (product or service design, suppliers, materials, distribution, information, etc.) so that the product received by consumers is constantly in correct condition for use (zero defects in quality), in addition to improving all internal processes in such a way as to produce goods without defects the first time, involving the elimination of waste to reduce costs, improve all internal processes and procedures, customer and supplier service, delivery times and after-sales services.
Quality Management involves all sectors, it is so important to produce the article that consumers want, and to produce them without failures and at the lowest cost, as to deliver them in a timely manner, properly serve customers, invoice without errors, and not produce contamination. Just as the quality of the inputs is important and for this purpose the aim is to reduce the number of suppliers (reach one per line of supplies) in order to ensure quality (avoiding the costs of verifying quantity and quality), fair delivery on time and the amount requested; thus, the quality of the workforce is also important (a workforce without sufficient knowledge or not suitable for the task will imply costs due to lack of productivity, high turnover, and training costs).This quality of labor as well as the quality of inputs or materials affects both the quality of the products, as well as costs and productivity levels.
Quality is no less important in areas such as Credits and Collections. The quality of this is essential for the continuity of the company. It is of little use to produce good products and sell them if later there are difficulties in the collection or these are made at a high cost.
Quality and productivity are two sides of the same coin. Everything that contributes to enhancing quality has a positive impact on the productivity of the company. The moment quality is improved, the cost of the warranty to the customer decreases, as does the cost of revision and maintenance. If you start by doing things right, the costs of technological studies and the arrangement of machines and tools also decrease, while the company increases the trust and loyalty of customers.
There are two factors that tend to reduce costs with quality control:
- The part of the production that was previously scrapped is salable. Production can be increased using the same equipment.
Let's think about what happens when we drive a car on a bad road. Obviously, we have to slow down, whereas on a well paved highway it is possible to move faster. This is how it is; but you have to experience improvement to truly understand it. Quality control can do wonders for a business, and the success of many Japanese products attests to this fact.
Mechanization takes care of things, while specialization takes care of human resources. The effective combination of people and things is the responsibility of management. We may have similar facilities and similar people, but depending on how we address these two factors, the results can be quite different. Two companies can manufacture the same type of products, with almost identical facilities and equipment and with a similar number of workers. According to the company, however, the finished products can be quite different in terms of quality, cost and productivity.
John Heldt, consultant for companies in Quality Cost systems said: "Reducing the cost of poor quality will increase your overall profit more than if you doubled sales." And he added: “Most companies spend more than three times their profit on poor quality. Cut your cost of poor quality in half, and you'll at least double your profits. "
The Just-in-Time Production System
The just-in-time production system is aimed at eliminating activities of all kinds that do not add value, and at achieving an agile production system that is flexible enough to accommodate fluctuations in customer orders.
The main objectives of Just in Time are:
- Attack the causes of major problems Eliminate waste Seek simplicity Design systems to identify problems
JIT techniques are applicable not only to manufacturing but to service industries. Take, for example, a bank. Let's focus on the issue of forms, traditional entities produce them in batches with the costs of: stock of supplies, stock of forms printed in the Central Houses and Branches, destruction due to humidity and handling, to this must be added loss caused by regulatory changes or marketing that invalidate the existing ones and the transportation costs. To this must be added the costs of orders consisting of carrying out counts, integration of order forms, accounting for expenses by branch, preparation of orders, and the physical and shelf space necessary in Warehouse and Branches. Applying the concept of JIT there are several alternatives,from a CD with the models of forms sent from the Headquarters to the Branches so that they can print them as their use is necessary, or the printing of forms via Intranet. And in the last case, if there are no suitable computer systems, use the Kanban system (each block of forms or spare parts is accompanied by a transport Kanban which is sent to Central House once the block or ream is finished, Casa Upon receiving the same, the Central sends a new block to the Branch with the transport Kanban and sends the production Kanban of the block sent to the printer so that they can print the replacement block, this is feasible by reducing the preparation times in the rotaprim.
Among the waste incurred in the production process we have:
- Overproduction Waste of time spent on the machine Waste involved in transporting units Waste in processing Waste in taking inventory Waste of movements Waste in the form of defective units
"Overproduction is the central enemy that leads to waste in other areas"
On the other hand, it is necessary to mention the waste produced by the additional work due to:
- Poor product design, Poor manufacturing methods, Poor management, and Incompetence of workers.
Among the advantages of Just in Time we have:
- Shorter lead time Reduced time spent on non-processing jobs Reduced inventory Better balance between different processes Clarification of problems
In order to increase productivity levels and reduce waste levels, Just in Time promotes:
- The combination of sections in UV versatility of the workers (through worker rotation, the control of the effectiveness of the rotations is carried out by calculating the polyvalence rate) Versatility of the machines (through the SMED system, which allows to reduce preparation times).
Although in Japan the JIT system was and is an urgent need due to its scarcity of physical spaces and raw materials, in Argentina the scarcity of capital and high financial costs make its use imperative. The physical space must also be taken care of, especially in areas with high land prices, high rental costs or the cost of construction and maintenance of large warehouses, as well as the high cost of administration, handling, transportation, control and inventory security of inputs and finished products. Storage is an activity that does not add value, it only consumes resources.
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Meanwhile, the TQM emphasizes the improvement of general managerial performance and quality. TPM focuses on improving the quality of equipment. TPM tries to maximize the efficiency of the equipment through a total system of preventive maintenance that covers the life of the equipment.
Through the TPM, the aim is to rationalize the management of the equipment that make up the production processes, so that their performance and the productivity of such systems can be optimized. To do this, it focuses on objectives and applies the appropriate means.
The objectives are what is called the six big losses. All of them are directly or indirectly related to the equipment, and of course lead to reductions in the efficiency of the production system, in three fundamental aspects:
- Downtime or downtime of the production system Operation at a speed lower than the capacity of the equipment Defective products or malfunction of operations in a team
The means used by the TPM are the different management systems that have allowed the implementation of adequate maintenance, both at the design and operational level of the equipment, to alleviate as much as possible the losses of the production systems that may be related with them. These are basically the fundamental aspects:
- Basic maintenance and prevention of breakdowns carried out from the workplace and therefore by the operator himself Optimized preventive and corrective maintenance management Complete and continuous maintenance of equipment and consequent increase in its life Beyond conservation, The aim will be to improve the equipment, its operation and its performance. Adequate training for production and maintenance personnel about the equipment, its operation and its maintenance.
The TPM is a new concept of maintenance management, which tries to ensure that it is carried out by all employees and at all levels through activities in small groups. This implies:
- Participation of all staff, from senior management to plant operators. Include each and every one of them to successfully achieve the objective. Creation of a corporate culture aimed at obtaining maximum efficiency in the production system and equipment management. This is what is disclosed as the objective: GLOBAL EFFICIENCY: Production + Equipment Management Implementation of a management system for production plants such that the elimination of losses before they occur and the objectives of: Zero Defects are achieved - Zero Faults - Zero Accidents Implementation of preventive maintenance as a basic means to achieve the goal of zero losses through activities integrated in small work groups and supported by the support provided by autonomous maintenance.Application of management systems to all aspects of production, including design and development, sales and management.
The six great team losses
- Equipment set-up and adjustment times
- Low speed operation Idle time and short stops
- Quality defects and repeat work Start-up
All these aspects are not only typical of industrial companies, but also of service providers, call them transport, banks, sanatoriums, energy distributors, among others.
Let's think about simpler cases: the cost of stationery and ink (or toner) due to malfunction of photocopiers or printers, added to the cost that these supplies have today.
So we have that the TPM implies:
- That the operators participate in preventive maintenance, that they are trained in the internal operation of their machine and that they take responsibility for there are no stoppages due to breakdowns Diagnosing the malfunction in advance, before a stoppage occurs That all maintenance stoppages and all purchase of spare parts is anticipated and scheduled. Zero stoppages due to breakdown and minimal spare parts inventory.
The TPM requires the following:
- An adequate computer program to capture figures, trends and comments about the maintenance history of each machine. That the operating personnel are trained in the internal functioning of the machines they operate, and are able to diagnose their problems while in operation, by symptoms perceptible by hearing, sight, touch and smell Procedures are available so that the operator can request and receive immediate help when he needs consultation about a new symptom of the machine There are agenda lists, generated by the computer or manually, that indicate in advance when the wear parts should be replaced. That the operator has a "SEIKETSU Team", with everything necessary to fix small details that allow the machine to always be kept in perfect condition.
The main thing that the TPM commands is that there be no maintenance engineer or technician who considers it impossible to schedule maintenance work to the degree of achieving zero unexpected downtime. We must banish the attitude of living in expectation of breakdown. The TPM technique orders to be in continuous vigilance of any symptoms to be able to diagnose early; This is knowing that the machine is in trouble before it stops. For this, the operators must be perfectly trained in the internal operation of the machines.
Policy deployment
Management must set clear goals to guide each person and ensure that they provide leadership for all kaizen activities directed toward achieving the goals. Senior management must devise a long-term strategy, detailed in medium-term strategies and annual strategies. Top management must have a plan to roll out the strategy, running it down through subsequent levels of management until it reaches the production zone.
The Suggestion System
The suggestion system works as an integral part of individual-oriented kaizen, emphasizing the benefits of elevating mood through positive employee engagement. This is not expected to reap great economic benefits from each suggestion. The primary goal is to develop kaizen-minded and self-disciplined employees.
Small Group Activities
A Kaizen strategy includes small group activities that are organized within the company to carry out specific tasks in a work environment. They not only deal with issues related to quality, but also related to costs, productivity, and safety, among others. In any company, leaving aside its size and activity, it is possible and necessary to promote this type of activity aimed at achieving better teamwork and obtaining interaction between its components to improve the organization's standards. It should always be borne in mind that “there is no commitment without participation”.
16. Annex II - STATISTICAL CONTROL OF PROCESSES
Statistical process control (CEP) is a widely used statistical technique to ensure that processes comply with standards. All processes are subject to certain degrees of variability, for this reason it is necessary to distinguish between variations due to natural causes and due to imputable causes, developing a simple but effective tool to separate them: the control chart.
Statistical process control is used to measure the performance of a process. A process is said to be operating under statistical control when the only causes of variation are common (natural) causes. The process, in the first place, must be statistically controlled, detecting and eliminating the special (attributable) causes of variation. Subsequently, its performance can be predicted and its ability to satisfy consumer expectations can be determined. The objective of a process control system is to provide a statistical signal when attributable causes of variation appear. A signal of this type can advance the taking of an adequate measure to eliminate these attributable causes.
Natural variations affect all production processes, and they are always to be expected. Natural variations are the different sources of variation in a process that is under statistical control. They behave like a constant system of random causes. Although their individual values are all different, as a group they form a sample that can be described through a distribution. When these distributions are normal, they are characterized by two parameters. These parameters are:
- The mean of the central tendency The standard deviation
As long as the distribution (output precision) stays within the specified limits, the process is said to be "in control", and small variations are tolerated.
The attributable variations of a process are usually due to specific causes. Factors such as wear and tear on machinery, poorly adjusted equipment, fatigued or insufficiently trained workers, as well as new batches of raw materials, are potential sources of attributable variations.
Natural and attributable variations pose two different tasks for the COO. The first is to ensure that the process will have only natural variations, thereby operating under control. The second is, of course, to identify and eliminate attributable variations so that the process can remain under control.
Statistical process control is a means by which an operator or manager can determine if a process generates outputs that conform to specifications and if it is likely to continue generating them. It achieves this by measuring key parameters of a small sample of the outputs generated at intervals, while the process is running.
This information can be used as a basis for making adjustments to the inputs to the process or to the process itself if necessary, to avoid producing non-specification outputs.
Producing narrow-to-specification items may be acceptable today, but any target value variation can lead to scraps and rework throughout the work chain. Variations in face value can also cause significant problems because of the interdependence of components in complex products. The CEP allows companies to constantly improve the performance of the process to reduce variations in outputs. This ability to reduce fluctuations from face value can provide clear competitive advantages, and may allow you to charge higher prices for products.
Bibliography
- IMAI, Masaaki. How to Implement Kaizen in the Workplace - McGraw Hill - 1998 IMAI, Masaaki. Kaizen. The key to Japanese competitive advantage - CECSA - 1999 DEMING, W. Edwards. The New Economy - Díaz de Santos - 1997 LEFCOVICH, Mauricio. Kaizen. Continuous improvement applied to quality, productivity and cost reduction - www.monografias.com - 2003 LEFCOVICH, Mauricio. Kaizen applied to administrative processes and activities - bureaucratic - www.monografias.com - 2003 LEFCOVICH, Mauricio. Kaizen. Philosophy - Culture and Ethics of Continuous Improvement - www.monografiass.com - 2003
