The problem
An engineering plant we work with had material in the plant and still had jobs waiting for it. The work itself took minutes. The waiting took days.
When we followed the material, we found it waiting in several places:
- Waiting for a name. Raw materials had no fixed names or codes, so the same material could appear in two ways and the stock could not be trusted.
- Waiting for a check. A lot had arrived, but quality had not inspected it. Production needed it, but nobody told quality which lot to check first.
- Waiting for an entry. Issues were written in two places by two people, and some came from a verbal request. The stock never tallied.
- Waiting for information. Purchase did not know the order quantity until sales made the work order and passed it on. So some material was bought by feel, a few bags at a time.
- Waiting at the gate. Invoices were made in the evening, a few at a time, so finished goods and the truck waited too.
Every department held one piece of the picture. The owner held all of them, by phone.
What we built
We did not add a big system. We linked the departments that already existed, in a fixed order.
- Stores in three steps. Step one, the raw material master: every material listed with one proper name and one code. Step two, the GRN made in that code. Step three, material issued to production only against a written request. Planning from stock comes only after these three. Each material class has one issue entry point, so stock is simply receipts minus issues, in one sheet.
- The work order goes to purchase. A copy of each work order goes to purchase on the day it is released, with the planned use of each material. Purchase buys to the order, not by feel.
- The planner as the link. The planner knows what material arrived yesterday and whether quality has cleared it. If the shop needs a lot that is not yet cleared, the planner asks quality to inspect that lot first, and tells production when it can start.
- One chaser. A junior in planning is named as the chaser. Wherever material or an order is lying, he asks why, follows up again, and goes to his head only after three tries. Owners usually do this chasing themselves.
- Stage-wise quantities. Daily production is entered by machine, with the work order number on every line. The quantity at each stage then shows on its own, so everyone can see where it is waiting.
- A clear "ready". A lot is ready only when production is done, quality has cleared it and it is packed. Invoices for ready lots are made in the first hour of the day, so the papers are complete before the vehicle comes.
Material rarely waits for work. It waits for a name, a check, a signature or a phone call.
What changed
- Stores, quality and planning work to one order of steps, and each link has a named person.
- Purchase sees the work order on the day it is released.
- "Ready" means the same thing to production, quality and dispatch.
What other plants can take from this
- Follow one lot from the gate to dispatch and write down every wait, with who it waited for.
- Fix the material master before any stores report.
- Issue only against a written request, through one entry point.
- Make one person the link between stores, quality and production.
- Agree in writing what "ready" means, and make the documents early in the day.
Key points
- In most plants, material waits between departments, not inside the work.
- Each wait has a simple cause: no code, no check, no entry, no information, or no owner.
- The fix is a fixed order of steps and one named person for each link.
- Waiting is one of the eight Lean wastes, and it hides best between departments.
