Convert Daily Management to a Center of Gravity

Daily Management is a powerful methodology that helps run a business by identifying Concerns alang with Disturbances to Flow so they can be quickly resolved. Natural work groups congregate for Daily Report-Outs to discuss Health & Safety, Quality, Production and Continuous Improvement. During the Report-Out they reflect on yesterday's actual performance and today's objective, and they do this in less than 5 minutes ... sweet !!!

The Report-Out areas should be situated inside a Technology Island or Technology Process Step. Each Island or Process Step has their own unique attributes, challenges and opportunities. The reality is that each Report-Out area is a Center of Gravity.

Before going further let us refresh our brains with a quick review of the definition of the Center of Gravity ....

The center of gravity (COG) is acting as the balance point where the entire gravitational force appears to act. It is crucial for determining stability, as an object will tip if its COG moves outside its base of support.

Examples:

• Humans: Standing upright, the COG is generally just below the belly button, slightly different between men and women.

• Irregular Objects: The COG of a broom is closer to the heavy head, not the middle of the handle. Whereas when you balance a straight ruler the COG is exactly in the middle.

Applications:

• Engineering/Construction: Crucial for designing stable structures like bridges and cranes, and for balancing machinery.

• Sports: Athletes manipulate their COG to enhance performance and improve stability.

  
  

In specific contexts, the center of gravity is also used metaphorically to describe a, "source of strength" in military or strategic contexts, often termed as a, "Center of Gravity in Strategic Thought".

So how do we make this work? You just completed an "Enterprise Value Stream Map" from "Quote to Cash" during which you have identified several opportunities. A key opportunity is if all processes can reduce their specific set-ups by 50% you can absorb the forecasted increase in business without adding people or an additional shift. You announce and quantify the opportunity organization wide, you then create an engaging training program extolling the virtues of SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies) and train everyone. You are excited, the Team is excited . You fire the starter pistol and tell everyone to start executing.

The enthusiasm is high, but the actual execution seems to stall, except for the team in Shipping. They manage to reduce the loading of a truck from 26 minutes to 12 minutes including the creation of all the paperwork ... WOW !! a 54% improvement. All it took was painting some lines on the floor and driveway, creating some premeditated computer scripts. So far, it only happened in Shipping and did little to improve the overall process.

This because each area has its own unique challenges to master. If we start in Stamping, we need to address the exchange of the stamping die, where we most likely need a die transfer cart, add some hydraulic clamping and we need to change our raw material whether it is in a roll or sheets. To add speed to the set-up the team decides to utilize a "Pit-Stop" approach recruiting members from outside the department to help whenever a set-up is required. To make all of this happen they probably require some CAPEX ... The Team Members in Stamping are Subject Matter Experts in Stamping so they have their own Center of Gravity and it is important that changes made keep the department balanced.

In the Paint Shop they have to go through a colour change which creates many more questions an business decisions. How do they purge the existing color? sweep the powder paint or push a "pig" through the lines to clean the lines. It is all about making sure there will be no cross contamination. They may actually have multiple color heads so doing a color switch is fast, but still you need to purge the idle line without creating an cross contamination. Again, we have a group of Subject Matter Experts and the Paint Shop is its own Center of Gravity.

All of the departments are working diligently on a common theme (Reduce Set-Up Time) or "Consistency of Purpose", however, each Technology Island does have its own Center Of Gravity so the execution and implementation will all be different. Keeping them connected is through Daily Management and Daily Report-Outs to show and monitor progress.

Often the application of methodologies varies between Technology Islands so it may be SMED in one, Chaku-Chaku in another or the implementation of Hyjunkia ties to Kanbans in a third.

Allow your Daily Report-Out areas to morph into Centers of Gravity. Each Center of Gravity will have their own unique Action Plan. The use of Action Teams managed with Project A3's allows everyone to get involved as they become very powerful and advance your organization on multiple fronts instead of a potential unbalanced singular thrust.

Daily Management with Daily Report-Outs is not a technology addition it relies on basic Human to Human communication. Remember, each Center of Gravity is unique but you can stack these COG Strengths to create your overall business differentiator faste. Your role as a Leader is to be that daily coach and mentor during Daily Report-Outs keeping each COG balanced while keeping an eye on the overall Business Cadence.