Dockside Sandal Company, a manufacturer of women's sandals, recently implemented a quality improvement program aimed at streamlining the manufacturing process. Bo Mattison, industrial engineer and a resident expert on process improvement, was assigned the task of implementing the program.Mattison's first task was to educate all the employees involved with the production process. He sent a memo to representatives in product design and development, materials management (including purchasing), marketing, distribution, customer service and accounting, in addition to those in the production department, inviting them to attend an information session on the improvement program.He began the meeting by thanking all those who were present (over 35 in number) and spent the first hour explaining the

Question

need for such a program. Soon after, the attendees were engaged in a discussion. Several questions were raised during the discussion. Among these, three questions stood out.1. What is the need for including members from design, marketing, and other functional areas when the improvement program's focus is on streamlining the manufacturing process?2. What is the role of the cost management expert in this program?3. Finally, why should the machine operators be involved, as they are not engineers?Consider the three questions that stood out in the discussion. Assume the role of Bo Mattison and prepare a response addressing the questions.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

1. A process improvement program typically cuts across departmental boundaries by extending through most of the components of the value chain of a company. It is important to recognize that decisions made in the upstream activities such as product design and development affect downstream activities (i.e., manufacturing, distribution and customer service). Individuals from these downstream functions can make design engineers aware of the implications of design decisions on their respective activities. For example, the production engineer can inform the design engineer that certain designs are more compatible with the existing assembly line than others (the latter will cost more to produce). Therefore, the inclusion of individuals from different functional areas is to educate and inform each other.

2. The cost management expert assumes a very significant role in a process improvement program by providing cost-benefit information pertaining to different improvement initiatives. Once again, this activity adds value to the process improvement program because the cost manager can identify the cost implications of upstream activities on the downstream activities. For example, a product designed with common parts simplifies the purchasing activity, production activity and customer service activity (if and when required, e.g., repairs are easy).

3. The involvement of machine operators in such an improvement initiative is critical because the operator is closest to the process and therefore is likely to be very knowledgeable about how the process works. Consequently, the operator can visualize problems and point them out to other individuals in the team. Many operators might also be in a position to offer suggestions for improvements. The involvement of operators in improvement teams is becoming more common in the modern business environment.