Why do reports change nothing in many plants?
Reports change nothing when the chain stops after the first step. Someone prepares the report, but nobody reviews it, or the review ends with talk and no action. We call the full chain Report-Review-Action. A report is useful only when someone reviews it, and a review counts only when it ends in an action.
Most owners we meet have reports. There is a daily production sheet, a rejection register, a pending orders list and a monthly sales statement. The files are neat. The data is filled in. Yet the same delays and the same rejections return every month.
The owner then asks for one more report. That does not help. The problem was never the number of reports. The problem is what happens after the report is made.
What are the three steps?
Report. Someone collects the data and puts it on one page. The shop floor gives the facts, and a supervisor or coordinator prepares the report.
Review. Someone with the right to decide reads the report with the people who own the numbers. The question is "what is different from the plan, and why?" It is never "who made the mistake?"
Action. The review ends with a clear action, one owner and one date. The next review begins by checking that action.
If there is no report, there is nothing to review. If there is no review, the report is only paper. If there is no action, the review is only a talk.
Who does what at each level?
In a small plant the chain runs through every level:
| Level | Their part in the chain |
|---|---|
| Shop floor | Gives the facts: quantities, stops, rejections, on time |
| Supervisor or coordinator | Prepares the report, and takes first action on small things |
| Department head | Reviews the report, takes action in his own area, and escalates the rest |
| Owner | Reviews the department heads, and takes the final action on the bigger decisions |
Each level reviews the level below it. When one level is missing, the chain breaks at that point.
Four situations we see in plants
We use a simple teaching model to show how this works. The percentages are an illustration of the idea. They are not a measured result.
- Nobody reports, nobody reviews, nobody acts. Nothing is achieved.
- Only the lower levels work. The shop floor and supervisors report and act, but the managers above do not review. The effort is not seen, so nothing improves.
- Everyone works except the top. Data is collected, reports are made and reviews are done. But no long-term decision is taken, because the owner is not in the process. From outside it looks fine. Meetings happen and reports come. Yet little moves.
- Every level does its own part. Each level reports, reviews and acts in its own zone. This is the only situation that gives full results.
The third situation is the most dangerous, because it looks healthy. The owner's time in the review is not a loss. It is the part that turns reports into decisions.
A report is not finished when it is printed. It is finished when someone has acted on it.
How do we know our chain is broken?
Ask these questions in your plant:
- Which report did the owner read fully last week?
- Which action came out of it?
- Who owned that action, and by which date?
- Was it checked at the next review?
If you cannot answer, the chain is broken somewhere. Most often the break is at the review, because nobody has fixed a day and time for it.
How to start in your plant
- List the reports you have today. Next to each, write who prepares it, who reviews it, and how often.
- Cross out the reports that nobody reviews. If nobody needs them, stop making them.
- For each remaining report, fix a review day and time. Put it in the diary, not "when there is time."
- Keep the review short. Look only at the red items, the ones that are off plan. Green items are not discussed.
- End every review with an action list: what, who, by when.
- Begin the next review by reading the last action list.
- Make sure the owner joins at least the weekly and monthly reviews.
Do not start with a new tool. Process first, tool second. A paper report that is reviewed every week is better than a colourful dashboard that no one opens.
What about the people who prepare the reports?
They notice quickly whether their report is read. If no one asks about it, the quality of the data falls within weeks. If a manager says "this number looks wrong, please check", the data improves in days.
So the review is also the best way to fix data entry. Do not blame the person who made a mistake. Find out why the mistake was easy to make, and fix that.
Key points
- A report changes nothing unless someone reviews it and the review ends in an action.
- Report-Review-Action must run through every level, from the shop floor to the owner.
- The most dangerous case is when everyone works except top management, because it looks fine from outside.
- Fix a review day and time for every report. Cross out reports that nobody reviews.
- End every review with what, who and by when, and begin the next one with that list.
