Common Undesirable Effects in a Job Shop

Here is a list of undesirable effects that are common to many job shops.  You may not have each of these, but you probably have some of them:

  • Promised lead-times are long and on-time delivery performance is poor.
  • Product quality is variable.
  • Customer satisfaction is low.
  • We have trouble with delivery on new customers.
  • We are chronically short of engineering time.
  • The level of firefighting throughout the shop is high.
  • We compete mainly on price.
  • We have many domestic competitors as well as competition from imports.
  • We are vulnerable to imports and better performing domestics.
  • Customers bid out our work occasionally.
  • Senior management is bogged down in details leaving little time for planning.
  • We don’t attract many new customers.
  • The business lacks direction, focus.
  • We lose some customers every year.
  • We grow slowly and profits are low.
  • We work significant overtime each week and our employees are dependent on overtime pay.
  • Base pay levels and bonuses are low.
  • We have trouble attracting and retaining quality employees.
  • We have little surge capacity.
  • Investor ROI is low.
  • We have trouble building capital.
  • Our investors are impatient.
  • We don’t reinvest much in new equipment or engineering.
  • Management turnover is high.
  • We have trouble keeping up with speed, quality and capacity.
  • Disruption in the plant and office is high.

Sound familiar?  I hope not, but if so keep going.  Click on the graphic to see how these undesirable effects can be related to each other through cause and effect.

Read from the bottom to the top. If (we have the item at the base of the arrow)…then (we have item at the tip of the arrow.  Read through each box to the top.  Common UDEs Graphic

The causes and effects in your plant might be somewhat different, but this is probably pretty close.

They next page lays out a possible solution.