In my previous career, I was responsible for auditing and strengthening the QMS of a Fortune 500 Company with over 30 manufacturing and distribution locations. In almost all of these locations, the processes were based on reaction to customer demands, or mitigating . There was always a level of stress and dare i say hopelessness in trying to accomplish long term goals, satisfy current customer needs, mitigate supply and upstream production issues, and react to short term executive decisions, which were usually based on customer demands.
I used to say to the managers at these sites, “Imagine what we could accomplish if we didn’t have customers getting in the way of our work.” A ridiculous thing to say I know, since all manufacturing is based on customers. My point wasn’t that we should disregard the customer, it was more of a statement to get the wheels turning, of, What would you get done if you didn’t have to react constantly? What would it be like if you were ahead of all of the rush, and your Quality Management System and your crew were prepared for outliers, non conformance, and the “Great” executive leadership decisions that randomly get tossed in your lap for immediate response.
Now of course, some of these managers would explain to me why customers were important to our business. Oh really, if we didn’t have customers, we wouldn’t have jobs. Hmmmm. But others would actually get it, and they would start thinking of prevention and preparedness. The next time I would come back to audit, the location would be completely different. They would have the whole crew invested in their own solutions, they had developed cultures of change and innovation rather than daily stress and strife.
If you are experiencing a lull, or slow down in your production, or you do have reduced customer demands during this unprecedented time in our country, start thinking to yourself, What could we accomplish without customers? What can you be solidifying or revamping to mistake proof, to mitigate the outliers, to develop a process, or your crew?
More than likely when the world gets back to normal, you will experience an immediate boost to production. Are you prepared for it? Or will it be more of the same, working from behind, never catching up on what needs caught up?
If your not sure where to start, make a list. Start With:
What are the negatives that had the biggest impact on you in the last 6 months to a year.
Frequency
Magnitude
Internal
External
How skilled is your crew? Do you feel they all should be more trained and developed? Do you have the training and development material available?
If you are a sole location, meet with your leadership/ownership team. Is there one strategic goal for the company? Do all of the objectives and measurable goals relate to this goal, or is every department and manager doing what they think is right?
If you are a location of a bigger company, or division, is there a cohesive vision for your location or division? Does the corporate strategy even make sense for the company? Do all of the objectives and measurable goals relate to the strategy?
Is there too much change within the company? How often does the strategy change?
Take a look at whatever factors and areas that you feel have the most impact, not just to your customers and your ability to serve them as a reaction, but on a consistent regular basis, without going outside of your regular process.
Take a moment, while you might be in a down cycle, to imagine what you could accomplish if you didn’t have customers, so you when this is over and you are booming, you can be better than before. Your customers will notice the improvement.