Change is a big deal in manufacturing. A new automation system can either make your life easier or it can complicate processes even further. The same goes for a market shift, which could mess up your supply chain in a heartbeat.
The stakes are high, and without a solid plan, you could end up with more than just a few headaches along the way. Jaime Townsend, Director of Resident Systems Support at Daifuku Intralogistics America, recently talked about managing change in manufacturing at our recent Empower 2024 conference.
Jaime shared important tips on handling change like a pro. The discussion focused on keeping things efficient, improving communication, and optimizing performance.
These insights are designed to help you turn challenges into opportunities and keep your operations on track.
The Risks of Poor Change Management
Change is hard. And when you don't plan it well, it can be even harder. It can mess up your workflow, slow down your production, and make your employees unhappy.
But that's not all. Poor change management can also increase your costs. You might end up wasting money on fixing errors, throwing away materials, and repairing equipment. You may also lose customers who are not satisfied with your quality or delivery.
Poor change management can keep you from meeting customer demands and staying ahead of your competitors. It can block your creativity and make you miss out on new opportunities. Even worse, it can put your employees and customers at risk.
Changes that are not well thought out can lead to equipment failures, hazardous situations, or human errors, causing injuries or harm. Research from McKinsey shows that 72 percent of transformation initiatives fail due to unsupportive management behavior (33 percent) and employee resistance (39 percent).
So, how can you avoid these pitfalls and seize opportunities? You need a smart way to manage change that helps you plan, implement, and evaluate changes effectively and safely.
What is Change Management?
Change management is a structured way of moving people and organizations from where they are now to where they want to be. In manufacturing, this means helping your employees, processes, and systems adapt to the changes that come from new technologies, market shifts, or operational changes.
Tools like Quickbase can streamline the change management process by centralizing information and automating workflows. By planning and preparing for change, you reduce disruptions, save costs, and improve your performance.
A key part of change management is knowing the different kinds of changes that can affect your manufacturing operation. These can include:
- New Technologies: Adding new automation, robotics, or software systems.
- Process Improvements: Making your production processes faster, simpler, or better. This could include optimizing your supply chain or quality control.
- Organizational Restructuring: Changing the way your business is organized. This could include mergers, acquisitions, or reorganizing departments.
- Market Shifts: Adapting to changes in customer demands, product lines, or competitive landscapes.
- Regulatory Compliance: Following new environmental, safety, or quality standards.
By knowing what kind of change you're dealing with, you can adjust your change management strategy accordingly.
Key Strategies for Effective Change Management
Change is unavoidable, and the goal is not to stop it, but to manage it well. Here’s how you can make change work for you, not against you.
Increase Visibility and Transparency: Ensure everyone involved in the change knows what is happening and why. Use clear and consistent documentation to minimize confusion and errors. Regular updates through emails, meetings, and dashboards help track and monitor changes efficiently.
Improve Collaboration and Coordination: Encourage interaction and feedback among team members. Foster integration and alignment across different departments to ensure that changes are consistent and well-coordinated. Plan, schedule, and implement changes in a controlled manner to minimize disruptions and improve efficiency.
Enhance Quality and Customer Satisfaction: Ensure changes are justified and evaluated based on clear criteria. Align changes with customer needs and feedback, keeping them informed throughout the process. Test changes thoroughly and have a rollback plan if needed. Measure and review the impact of changes to capture lessons learned and share best practices.
Real-World Examples and Best Practices
Jaime provides a practical example of how Daifuku executes change management using a Quickbase Change Control Document (CCD). This document is critical in outlining the specifics of a change, including its purpose, stakeholders involved, timeline, and how the change is verified and rolled back if necessary.
Using Quickbase’s CCD as a tool, Daifuku ensures a thorough approach to managing changes, providing a clear framework that guides the process and helps mitigate risks. The platform's live collaboration options, including joint dashboards and comments on tasks, ensure that Daifuku's teams are up to date, can monitor developments, and resolve problems quickly.
Quickbase also enables the creation of reports that offer key insights into change history and performance metrics, supporting future change management efforts.
To build on this approach, here are some best practices for executing change management effectively:
1. Make a Plan: Outline the steps involved in the change, including a rollback plan in case things don't work out. Utilizing project management tools can help create and track these plans systematically.
2. Identify Decision-Makers: Identify who will make go/no-go decisions and ensure they are available during the change implementation.
3. Keep It Simple: Decision-making during the change should be straightforward and quick. Avoid complex processes that could delay critical actions. Tools with intuitive interfaces and customizable workflows can ensure simplicity and clarity.
4. Encourage Collaboration: Use formal change management to promote communication across different disciplines. This helps identify potential impacts and ensure all aspects of the change are considered. Collaboration features, such as shared dashboards and real-time updates, can effectively facilitate this cross-functional communication.
Wrapping Up
Change management in manufacturing is not just about implementing new processes; it's about making sure everyone is on board, prepared, and aligned.
Daifuku’s use of the Change Control Document shows how detailed planning, and communication can make a difference in managing transitions. Using powerful tools like Quickbase that enhance visibility, collaboration, and coordination, you can turn challenges into opportunities, keeping your operations resilient and adaptable.
With the right gear and game plan, you can master change like a pro, setting your production up for more wins.
