(Resource Sharing) A Brief Discussion on On-site Management in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
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Note: 1. This is an article offering guidance to small and medium-sized enterprises on how to overcome difficulties; it can also be regarded as suggestions and advice, and is not suitable for \"large\" enterprises. 2. This article is mainly about on-site management. 3. This article is written based on the author’s experiences and insights gained over many years of work; its quality is limited, and it may contain biases. I welcome guidance from professionals. Throughout my career of over a decade, I have seen many small businesses, and without exception, all of them had chaotic on-site management. Many people simply don’t pay attention to the site, or they don’t know how to manage it. I thought that by securing clients and making money, I could set up a factory and earn profits. Sorry, but that was in the past; nowadays, having just clients and capital simply isn’t enough. Without good on-site management, your money is doomed to be wasted. Due to the overall environment, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the manufacturing industry. In this difficult phase, you need to have stronger internal strength than others in order to survive. For example, for parts with the same selling price, Company A’s cost is 10 yuan; if you can reduce that cost to 8 yuan, your profit will be higher than Company A’s. Moreover, your product quality can be more stable and delivery times can be more reliable. So can Company A compete with you? I don’t think so. How to do it? That depends on on-site management. I. 5S——the foundation of on-site management. What is the foundation of on-site management? It is 5S! What is 5S? Organization, tidying, cleaning, sweeping, and discipline. It’s unlikely that a company that can’t even implement 5S can manage its workplace properly. So what is the core of 5S? It’s a matter of personal integrity. Personal integrity is the driving force behind the continuous implementation of 5S. Without a group of well-trained on-site employees, 5S is like a car with its engine off – it can only move forward a few meters at a time. 5S is only meaningful when it is carried out continuously. 5S is considered the foundation of on-site management because it affects quality, costs, and delivery times. More importantly, 5S affects the mood of everyone involved on site! Humans are products of their environment; they can change the environment, and the environment also affects humans. In a clean and tidy environment, people are more inclined to maintain its cleanliness, and they also feel happier and more focused while working. Otherwise, people will feel irritable, spit everywhere, litter, work carelessly, lack concentration, and so on. Without a good environment, it’s impossible to produce products of high quality. To maintain a good working environment, 5S is essential. A factory with a good working environment is also better able to attract workers with high standards to join it. And good qualities enable on-site workers to proactively promote 5S. This creates a positive cycle. In many cases, regulations alone are not sufficient to manage the work site effectively; for many more important detailed issues, it depends on the competence of the workers. Therefore, if you plan to establish a business, it is essential to create a good working environment; there is no need for something extravagant, but cleanliness and order are necessary. The so-called “building a nest to attract phoenixes”: the site itself is your nest, and talents are the phoenixes! Doing 5S is simple, yet also difficult. If you have a high-quality team of employees, then it’s simple; otherwise, it becomes complicated, and a site that requires constant supervision by managers is not a good site. As is common practice, let’s take a brief look at 5S: 1) 1S – Seiri: Distinguish between items that are needed and those that are not; keep only the necessary items in the workspace. 2) 2S – Seiton: Place the necessary items in their proper locations in an organized manner, with clear markings indicating quantities, models, and other details. 3) 3S Cleaning (Seiso): Remove unnecessary clutter and waste from the area. 4) 4S Cleaning (Seiketsu): Institutionalizes and standardizes the above 3S to maintain the results. 5) 5S discipline (Shitsuke): Follow rules in all actions, develop good habits, and become a well-mannered person! It is easy to see that the focus lies on the fifth S – personal competence is the core of the entire 5S! 5S may seem simple at first, and it’s not difficult to implement; the challenge lies in doing it consistently over time. It’s easy to keep things tidy for one day, but it’s hard to do so every day! II. QCD Management: Achieving 5S means that the foundation has been laid. Next, let’s take a look at how to manage QCD well. 1. Q (Quality) – Quality management: First and foremost is quality management; why is it so important? Because if the quantity is 0, the quality is 1–9; without quality, no matter how large the quantity, it’s useless. No matter how many 0s there are, if there’s no 1–9 in front, it’s still 0. Therefore, companies should ensure that everyone, from the managers to the operators, has a quality-first mindset. This red line must never be crossed; it is one of the cornerstones for the company’s survival. 1) It is clear that quality management personnel must be involved in verifying all intermediate processes, from the arrival of raw materials at the factory to the delivery of finished products. 2) Implement measures for self-inspection within the production process. Quality is created, not inspected by inspectors. Quality management can be improved only by involving operators in it as well. 3) Establish an inspector position. It is granted the authority to use the imperial sword; it has the right to halt production in case any quality issues are detected during inspections. The only way to succeed is to ensure the quality of products throughout the production process. The approach of taking the finished products to a testing laboratory for inspection does not guarantee the quality of those products; it merely provides data on which ones are qualified and which ones are not. This model is long outdated. 4) Pay attention to first-article inspection. Not only the first unit produced after debugging, but also the first unit produced after certain factors have been changed must have its quality verified; for example: a) change of operator, b) equipment failure, c) a shutdown period lasting for some time, such as after meal times. d) Changes in the manufacturing process (fixtures, cutting tools, programs, etc.) e) Other factors that can affect product quality. 5) Equipment and tools related to product quality must be regularly maintained and calibrated, from large production equipment to small measuring instruments. Attention should be paid to daily maintenance and regular calibration. In the industrial age, people rely more on machines to produce goods than in the artisanal era. Therefore, if equipment is not properly maintained, the quality of the products will inevitably suffer. Moreover, equipment is one of the largest investments in any factory, and the losses resulting from failures are immeasurable, not to mention the impact on the delivery deadlines of work-in-progress items. Therefore, no matter from what perspective, it is necessary to take good care of the equipment and measuring instruments. 6) Conduct quality statistics and related tasks, and hold regular quality meetings. The meeting must include the operators of the production line (all or representatives) to analyze the reasons based on quality statistics, discuss countermeasures, and make improvements. This way, they can also feel that they have contributed to the excellent quality of the product. Frontline operators have a significant say in the production of products, so their opinions and suggestions are of great value as a reference. 2. C (Cost) – Cost management: Competition in the market and greater transparency of information have caused the profit model for businesses to shift from \"Price = Cost + Profit\" to \"Profit = Price – Cost.\" If you charge a higher price for products of the same quality as those offered by others, it’s essentially equivalent to seeking your own downfall. Therefore, at the same (or similar) selling price, those with lower cost control will have higher profits and be better able to survive. Before reducing costs, there is one thing we need to do first, and that is—reduce waste! It’s like a ship at sea that, without intention, hits some rocks; as a result, many small holes appear in the hull and water fills the cabin. At this point, we should first seal the hole before pumping water out, rather than pumping water frantically without addressing the leak (of course, in reality the two actions can be carried out simultaneously; here, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that only one action can be done at a time). Let’s take a look at the wastes that occur on site: 1) Waste of equipment – Due to process and technical limitations, it is not possible to make optimal use of various processing equipment; as a result, some equipment is underutilized. When equipment that could meet the quality requirements is available, additional processing steps are added or work is outsourced, which prolongs the processing time, reduces production efficiency, increases costs, and also poses challenges for management. For example, current CNC machining can achieve a surface roughness of around 1.6, but many factories still rely on grinding to achieve this level of roughness. 2) Waste of personnel a) Value is generated only when people are taking action. Due to unreasonable production line arrangements, it often leads to excessive idle time for employees. At this time, it is a very common form of waste. For example, if a person operates a machine whose C/T time is 5 minutes, and the self-check time for each part is on average 1 minute, then the idle time for that person is approximately 4 minutes. At this point, we should change the layout of the production line, break away from the pattern of one machine per worker, and allow one worker to operate multiple machines; this way, labor costs can be significantly reduced. Of course, it is possible to increase employees’ salaries or performance-based pay, which will benefit both the employees and the company. Employees can also benefit from the improvements, and they will then support them. b) In another scenario, an excessive number of production line devices or inadequate implementation of 5S practices result in operators having to take more steps. For example, if the devices are arranged in a straight line, operators will have to cover more distance throughout a single processing cycle compared to when the devices are arranged in a U-shaped pattern, which leads to a waste of the employees’ physical energy. As a result, during the second half of the shift, production efficiency is affected by employee fatigue, causing a loss in efficiency. Therefore, when there are three or more devices making up a production line, they must be arranged in a U-shape to save employees’ walking distance. 3) Waste of working hours: Due to process and technical issues, production efficiency is low, resulting in significant waste of working hours. For example, when using CNC equipment to perform rough machining of outer circles, the feed rate could theoretically be set at F500; yet due to limitations in capability, it is only set at F200. This not only results in wasted time but also increases the cost of cutting tools, as a lower feed rate for a given tool geometry actually reduces the tool’s lifespan. 4) Waste resulting from an excessive focus on quality: When it comes to quality, it’s not the case that the better the better; an excessive emphasis on quality often leads to low efficiency, with the most direct consequence being an intentional extension of the C/T time. For example, for an outer circle with a roughness requirement of 1.6, S2000F200 is supposed to be used, but S2000F80 is employed due to an excessive focus on quality. At this point, although the roughness can reach 0.8 or even 0.6, what is lost is efficiency and tool costs. The reason is that the specific tool groove shape results in too low feed, which causes severe wear of the tool and reduces its lifespan. *Regarding the waste associated with 3) and 4), the CPK process capability index can be used as a reference: a CPK value of >=1.67 indicates no defects, but it is necessary to take into account cost reduction (in this case, the waste comes from unnecessary working hours and the excessive focus on quality). The optimal CPK value should be between 1.33 and 1.67. This is the most stable and economical operating condition. 1.0
(Resource sharing) Later, some netizens felt that many of my views were not realistic and lacked practicality in small businesses. That’s incorrect; does strengthening management mean hiring many people to oversee it? Many people probably hold this view, but unfortunately, it is a narrow one. Because strengthening management does not mean hiring more people; it means changing mindsets! Every enterprise, large or small, has managers, as long as the conditions are in place. What’s needed is simply a change in the mindset of managers – they need to have the ability to identify problems and a sense of responsibility to keep an eye on them, without being careless or neglectful. It’s like 5S: unless the people doing the work are of very poor quality, many people will be willing to implement 5S properly if there is someone to guide them. After all, it’s always more comfortable to work in a clean and tidy environment. The key is for managers to have an awareness of engaging in a long-term effort; once the operators are able to carry out 5S on their own, then the goal will have been achieved. If managers themselves lack awareness and understanding of 5S, then, following their lead, operators will naturally be too lazy to bother doing anything about it. Managers should be on site and use a critical eye to identify problems. This is one of the reasons why managers exist. It makes no difference whether you’re there or not; why would the boss spend money to hire you? To identify problems, one needs a paranoid drive for perfection and the perseverance to see things through to the end. For example, if the output of a certain production line never reaches the planned level, and management fails to take action, inefficiency will persist indefinitely. Let’s switch to a paranoid person who keeps pestering: Q: Why can’t the production target be met? Possible answers are: 1) The workpiece is too heavy to clamp properly. 2) This equipment isn’t any better than others; it only has this speed. 3) There are too many areas that need to be measured, leaving no time to handle everything. 4) Certain important dimensions are unstable, requiring frequent adjustments. 5) This is my maximum efficiency; I can’t improve any further. Well, in response to these answers, we will address them one by one: 1) Modify the tooling and add auxiliary equipment to assist workers with loading and unloading, thereby improving any related issues. 2) Have the person responsible for equipment maintenance (or the manufacturer) check the condition of the equipment; repair it if necessary, and be sure to pay attention to regular maintenance once the repair is complete. 3) Analyze the dimensions that need to be measured to determine which ones are necessary and which ones are measured repeatedly. Remove the parts with duplicate measurements. For example, when it comes to several outer diameters processed with the same cutting tool, we generally only need to verify the value corresponding to the smallest tolerance. Additionally, try to use gauges to facilitate inspection. In online self-inspection, what is important is not to record a certain dimension, but to verify whether that dimension is acceptable. So rather than measuring the dimensions with tools every time, it’s better to use a gauge to quickly check whether the dimensions are within the acceptable range, and only measure them with tools at regular intervals. This saves operators’ time and reduces the workload. 4) Assess process capability for unstable dimensions; if process capability is indeed insufficient, make adjustments as appropriate—either switch to another production line or reduce output. (Priority should be given to using production lines that can meet the process requirements.) 5) This is the most important point: if operators give such reasons to management, it indicates that there are serious problems in the factory – at least it shows that there is not enough appeal for the frontline staff. Because unless someone is mentally ill, a normal person would not use such an excuse as an answer. At this time, managers need to have strong communication skills in order to understand the true thoughts of their employees. Of course, in most cases this is a problem that managers cannot solve. Because most of these are issues that only the boss can resolve, such as salary and benefits. However, managers can assess whether this employee is valuable enough for the company to invest in improving their situation (as for how to increase their salary, that can be dealt with directly or indirectly; it’s something the boss needs to decide). Then, report the evaluation results to the BOSS. What to do next will depend on the BOSS’s overall consideration; he might decide to change the company’s salary structure, or he might just try to calm things down by offering empty promises. Therefore, managers themselves must have a strong awareness of not being satisfied with the status quo. Being content with the status quo is not a quality that managers should possess. If managers are content with the status quo, then no matter how many more are hired, it won’t change things on the ground. It is then easy to understand that having more people does not necessarily mean better management; in other words, to manage a site effectively, it is not always necessary to have many managers. What is more important are the qualities of those managers and their awareness of the need for improvement.
There are many notable and worth-learning aspects.
With over a decade of management experience, I agree with the above points. Management is a discipline; it is necessary to adapt approaches to the specific stage of a company’s development and cannot be treated in a one-size-fits-all manner. The biggest challenge lies in managing people, and investment in training in this area often yields significant results.
Real useful content here: lol