The schedule allowed Jane 20 minutes. The work regularly took closer to 35.
I have written about this job before, but I keep coming back to Jane's side of it.
The job the schedule did not see
At a truck body factory in Brampton, Ontario, most rear frames were welded on the standard fixture setup. One rear door configuration was different. The locator stops had to be repositioned, the clamps reset, and the door opening and diagonals checked before welding.
Planning allowed 20 minutes for the changeover. On the floor it regularly took closer to 35.
Jane had put it on the Kaizen board months earlier. Nothing had happened. So she kept doing the extra work, and planning kept allowing 20 minutes.
Slow on paper, doing the job on the floor
Imagine explaining why a job takes longer, then coming in the next day to find the same time against your name.
On paper, you look slow. On the floor, you are doing work the schedule has not allowed for.
When a new planning tool arrived, it built tomorrow's schedule around the same old assumption. Better software does not fix a number nobody has gone back to check.
What we changed
We brought Jane, Elaine the supervisor and the planner together for the next changeover. They watched the job, worked out which setups needed the extra adjustment, and corrected the work instruction and the planning allowance.
Then another operator tried the revised method and was able to follow it. Only then did the suggestion move to Implemented on the board.
At the morning meeting, Elaine gave Jane credit for raising it.
We should have followed up when she first raised it.
What owners and supervisors can take from this
People need to know that if they tell us something is wrong with the job, we will take the time to look. A Kaizen board only works when someone reviews each idea, supports a test on the floor and closes the loop with the person who raised it.
Time standards drift. Product mix changes, fixtures get modified and variations creep in. If planning allowances are never checked against the floor, the people doing the extra work end up looking like the problem.
Before telling someone they need to work faster, spend a changeover beside them. See what they are having to do that never made it into the schedule.
Want a second set of eyes on your floor?
OpsAlign works with owner-led factories on the floor, with supervisors, planners and operators, so what people know turns into how the plant runs.
Explore servicesCommon questions
Why do changeovers take longer than the schedule allows?
Often the planning allowance was set for the standard setup and never updated for variations. Operators absorb the extra work every day while the schedule keeps showing the old time.
How do you set accurate changeover time standards?
Watch the real changeover with the operator, the supervisor and the planner together. Record where the time goes, note which setups need extra steps, then update both the work instruction and the planning data.
What should happen when an operator raises an issue on the Kaizen board?
Someone should review it, support a test on the floor and close the loop with the person who raised it. When ideas sit untouched, people stop raising them and the plant loses what they know.
Names have been changed. Case details are Nash Krishnan's firsthand account. This story first appeared on LinkedIn.
About the author: Nash Krishnan is the founder of OpsAlign and a manufacturing turnaround specialist. He helps owner-led manufacturers strengthen daily execution, leadership routines and problem-solving capability so the operation depends less on the owner.