By: Rob Loughridge, Principal, Synchronous Solutions
Some of you may have seen the blog and video “What do Pizza Shops and Countertop Manufacturers Have in Common?” They are about templating jobs before you have all the information you need to complete a project. The blog and video have been posted on our website, and our pages on LinkedIn and Facebook if you’d like to read the original blog and be entertained by how much of a goof I am in the video! The video was done off the cuff so, I want to circle back to a couple important points.
First is a common misconception that a job isn’t in WIP if it isn’t in the shop. This is not true! Work In Process begins at template. If you have received an order and measured it, it is in fact WIP. If you think about it, I’d wager a fair amount that your customer believes it is “in process.” We like to joke, “The customer is always right, unless they’re not.” But what matters here is the customer’s perception. They perceive that the job is “moving.” If we choose to measure a job early, we must make it crystal clear to the customer that no progress will be made until all information is received. The level of clarity you provide when measuring a job early will affect the customer’s perception and help to avoid future disputes.
Another pitfall of measuring early is changes to the jobsite after template. Have you ever heard, “It was like that when you measured. How did you miss that?” The longer the stretch between measure and installation, the greater the chance of changes being made that you would not be aware of.
I clearly remember a job that I templated where I got an angry phone call from the installers on the installation date about the job not fitting. The contractor was onsite and not happy. It was a “J” shaped kitchen with a peninsula. The installer said that the overhangs on the peninsula were all screwed up. The worst part was on the end of the peninsula where the overhang went from a ¼” to 2”. The edgework was full bullnose so, not good! I frantically pulled up the job on my laptop, looked at the pictures that had been taken at template, compared them to the CAD drawing and couldn’t figure out where I went wrong. The installers sent me some pictures and to my surprise, the installer’s pictures didn’t match mine, at all. ALL of the cabinets had been replaced after template.
We were able to show the contractor the pictures and release ourselves of all liability but by doing so, we had pushed the K&B in front of the bus. We were working for the K&B, not the contractor. The K&B had pushed us to measure the job. There were angry phone calls, finger pointing, we had to pull the job out so the K&B could make changes, and we had to go back a second time to reinstall. All this could have been avoided!
This mishap was before our Synchronous Flow implementation at the fabricator I worked for. Nothing major like this never happened again after we had put our Manufacturing Engine in place. We did our best to ensure that nothing got past the gate in front of our Synchronous Flow Manufacturing Engine thereby converting the job to WIP, unless: 1) All information is known: all sinks, faucets, edgework, material type, etc. that is required to complete the job. 2) The jobsite is ready for installation; all cabinets are onsite and permanently installed, customer provided sinks and faucets are onsite, etc. 3) Material is available. There will always be some exceptions. Just make sure there aren’t too many of them!
For more information about how we can help you design a Manufacturing Engine for your shop along with a whole bunch of other great practices and tools, reach out to us! We will help you gain control of your operation and make it a great place to work at the same time!
