Developing & Selling the Improvement
This is where the method becomes practice — turning the answers from the questioning step into a real improved method, and then getting that method adopted on the floor.
Sections 3 and 4 gave you a broken-down job and a column of answers to the six questions. This section turns those answers into a real, improved method — and then gets that method adopted on the floor. Developing the improvement means applying ECRS in order and using the simplify principles to make the necessary work easier and safer. Applying it means Sell · Approvals · Use · Credit — selling the proposal to the boss and the operators, getting approvals, putting it to work fast, and giving credit so the ideas keep coming.
By the end of this section, you should understand:
- why Eliminate, Combine, Rearrange, and Simplify are worked in that order;
- the simplify principles — pre-position, proper work area, gravity feed, drop delivery, both hands, jigs, and fixtures — and what each one means;
- why ideas are worked out with the boss, peers, and especially the operators, and then written up;
- the four parts of applying the new method — Sell, Approvals, Use, Credit — and what each requires;
- and why waiting kills more improvements than a lack of ideas, and why credit is what keeps them coming.
1Developing the new method
The questions in Step 2 produce answers; the answers produce leads; and the leads are worked, in a fixed order, into a new method. That order is Eliminate, Combine, Rearrange, Simplify — ECRS — and it matters as much as the order of the six questions.
Develop the new method by working the answers in order: eliminate unnecessary details, combine and rearrange the necessary ones, and simplify what remains.
The order is not a matter of taste. You eliminate first because there is no point improving a detail you are about to remove — to simplify a step and then eliminate it would waste the effort spent simplifying it. So the answers to Why? and What? come first, to strike out the unnecessary details. Then the answers to Where?, When?, and Who? are used to combine and rearrange what is left — packing at the bench instead of carrying boxes to a scale, reordering pick-ups now that the supply has moved. Only then, on the details that survive, do the answers to How? lead you to simplify.
On the shield job this is exactly what happened. The walking details were eliminated once the supply boxes were found room on the bench; the laying-out and stacking were eliminated once the sheets no longer had to be laid out; the stamping was eliminated after a check with engineering; the carrying and weighing were eliminated because the shields were sold by count. Packing was combined onto the bench. Pick-ups and inspections were rearranged to suit the new layout. What remained — picking up, assembling, riveting — was then made easier and safer to do.
2The simplify principles
Eliminate, combine, and rearrange remove waste. Simplify is different in kind: it does not remove a detail, it makes a necessary detail easier and safer to do. This is where most of the hands-on craft of Job Methods lives, and the card lists a short, concrete set of principles for it.
We simplify to make the necessary details safer and easier to do — never to make anyone work faster.
| Simplify principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pre-position materials & tools | Put parts and tools back, ahead of time, into the best position for the easiest pick-up — in racks or holders. |
| A proper work area | Keep everything within a convenient reaching area, so the work comes to the hands. |
| Gravity-feed hoppers | Use gravity to bring parts down to the best place in the work area. |
| Drop-delivery chutes | Dispose of a finished part by dropping it through a chute into a container. |
| Let both hands do useful work | Arrange the job so the two hands work together, rather than one holding while the other works. |
| Jigs | Movable mechanical holding devices that hold and locate the work, freeing the hands. |
| Fixtures | Fixed mechanical holding devices, usually used with a machine, that position the work and free both hands. |
The seven simplify principles from the Job Methods card, each with what it means in practice. They are the toolkit for the Simplify step — the answers to "How?" turned into concrete ways of making necessary work easier.
What to notice: every principle works on the necessary part of the job — the part you have decided to keep. None of them ask the operator to move faster. They arrange the work, the materials, and the tools so that the easy way and the right way become the same way.
The principles, with what each means:
- Pre-position materials and tools. Put parts and tools back, ahead of time, into the best position for the easiest pick-up — in racks or holders — so the hand finds them without searching or fumbling.
- A proper work area. Keep everything within a convenient reaching area, so the work comes to the hands rather than the operator reaching, twisting, or walking for it.
- Gravity-feed hoppers. Use gravity to bring parts down to the best place in the work area, instead of lifting or carrying them there.
- Drop-delivery chutes. Dispose of a finished part by dropping it through a chute into a container, so the hand is free the instant the work is done.
- Let both hands do useful work. Arrange the job so the two hands do useful work together, rather than one hand holding while the other works.
- Jigs. Use jigs — movable mechanical holding devices — to hold and locate the work, freeing the hands that would otherwise hold it.
- Fixtures. Use fixtures — fixed mechanical holding devices, usually used with a machine — to position the work for the machine and free both hands.
On the shield job the principles did the work plainly. The sheets were pre-positioned within a proper work area. Jigs were made to hold and locate the sheets, so both hands could pick them up. A fixture was designed to position two riveters with guides to line the sheets up, so both hands could rivet instead of one holding and one working. Scrap slots were cut in the bench with bins under it — drop delivery — and the cases were placed within easy reach. Of the seven, only gravity feed was not used on this particular job. Nothing else was invented; only the principles on the card were applied.
The point of the demonstration is that these few principles were all the foreman used. He did not bring in a clever new machine or a consultant's scheme — he pre-positioned, held the work in jigs and a fixture, freed both hands, and dropped the scrap away. The improvement looks obvious in hindsight, which is exactly the sign that the principles did their job.
Reaching for the simplify principles first — designing a jig or a fixture for a detail before asking whether the detail is even necessary. A jig that holds a part you should have eliminated is wasted effort, and worse, it makes the unnecessary detail look permanent. Work the order: eliminate, combine, rearrange — then simplify what is left.
Work out your ideas with others
A method developed alone, in a supervisor's head, is fragile. It misses things the developer cannot see, and — just as important — it arrives on the floor as someone else's idea. Working ideas out with others fixes both problems at once.
- The boss often knows what changes are coming and where more production will be needed. That makes the boss a source of practical leads, not just an approver to be won over later.
- Fellow supervisors have solved similar problems on their own jobs and can offer ideas and warn of pitfalls.
- The operators know the job better than anyone, and their leads are the most practical of all. Their involvement does something a good idea alone cannot: it earns acceptance. An interested, satisfied operator is as important to the improvement as the idea itself — remember that Bill Brown developed the shield improvement with one of his operators.
Then write the proposal up. Many ideas die before they are put into effect simply because they were never written down. The written proposal — covered in detail in Section 4 — is the complete summary of what the new method will do and how it can be done. It is what carries the improvement from a demonstration at the bench into a decision the boss can act on.
3Selling and applying the improvement
An improvement is worth nothing until it is put to work. The whole of Step 4 exists for one reason: in the past, the lack of it has kept many good improvements from ever being used. Applying the new method has four parts, and the card lists them in order — Sell · Approvals · Use · Credit.
Apply the new method in four moves: Sell it, get Approvals, Use it, and give Credit. Skip any one and good improvements stall.
A short, facts-only story to the boss; then sell it to the operators and instruct them with Job Instruction.
Final approval on safety, quality, quantity, and cost, through the regular lines of communication.
Put the new method to work fast and keep operators from slipping back to the old way.
Recognize everyone who made or helped with the improvement — the more credit you give, the more ideas come back.
The Apply step of Job Methods runs in four moves — sell the proposal, get the approvals, put it to use, and give credit. The same four words appear on the pocket card.
What to notice: the chain does not end at "Use." Giving credit is the fourth move, not a courtesy tacked on afterward — it is what keeps the next improvement coming, which is why it earns a place on the card.
Sell
First, sell the proposal to the boss to get approval for a trial. Give a short, complete story — facts only — in the written proposal, backed by the present and proposed breakdown sheets, sketches, and samples. The two breakdowns side by side tell the story better than any speech. And watch your timing: put it to the boss when the boss can give it a fair hearing, not in the middle of a crisis.
Then sell it to the operators. Often only one operator helped develop the method, but several will have to use it, so explain to everyone concerned why the trial is being run and what it is meant to do. Get their cooperation and their ideas. And when the new method goes in, instruct the operators in it carefully, using Job Instruction — break the new job down and teach it with the four steps, so the improvement is learned correctly rather than guessed at.
Approvals
Before the new method is locked in, get final approval from everyone concerned — and getting those approvals first is what prevents trouble later. Get the immediate supervisor's approval, and where the change touches them, get approval on the four factors:
Follow the regular organization lines of communication. An improvement pushed through without the right approvals invites exactly the resistance that kills it.
Use
Put the new method to work as fast as you can, and use it until a better way is found. Avoid waiting; get action quickly.
Waiting kills more ideas than lack of brains.
An improvement working today is worth far more than the same improvement working next year. And once it is in, check that the operators do not slip back to the old, more familiar method — the pull of habit is strong, and a new method abandoned quietly is no improvement at all. Keep using it, and keep searching, because there is always a better way.
Credit
Finally, give credit where credit is due. Make sure the people who made or helped with the improvement are recognized — ask the boss to say a word of appreciation to them.
One stolen idea will stop all others. The more credit you give, the more ideas you get back.
This is not sentiment; it is how the supply of ideas is kept open. Take credit for an operator's idea once and you will not be offered a second. Give credit freely and the floor keeps bringing you improvements. Stopping ideas, by taking the credit for them, does as much damage as sabotage.
4There is always a better way
The new method, once developed, sold, approved, in use, and credited, is not the end. It is the current best way — today's one best way — and no more than that.
Remember there will always be a better way. Keep searching for further improvements.
The supervisor who makes one improvement a week finds the whole job easier: fewer bottlenecks, fewer trouble jobs, less firefighting. Skill at this comes only from doing it — from breaking down real jobs, questioning them, developing and applying improvements — not from knowing the card. The plan works on any job that is some mix of material handling, machine work, or hand work. So put it to work, and then keep searching: the method that looks finished today is only the starting point for the next improvement.
Section summary
This section turns the four-step method into practice. Developing the new method means working the answers from Step 2 in order — Eliminate the unnecessary, Combine and Rearrange the necessary, then Simplify what remains — and the order matters because simplifying a detail you are about to eliminate is wasted effort. Simplifying uses the card's principles to make necessary work easier and safer, never faster: pre-position materials and tools, keep a proper work area, use gravity-feed hoppers and drop-delivery chutes, let both hands do useful work, and hold the work in jigs (movable) and fixtures (fixed, usually with a machine). Ideas are worked out with the boss, peers, and especially the operators — whose involvement earns acceptance — and then written up so they do not die.
Applying the method runs in four moves — Sell · Approvals · Use · Credit. Sell the proposal to the boss with a short, facts-only story and good timing, sell it to the operators and instruct them with Job Instruction; get approvals on safety, quality, quantity, and cost through regular channels; put it to work fast — waiting kills more ideas than lack of brains — and keep operators from slipping back; and give credit, because one stolen idea will stop all others, while the more credit you give, the more ideas come back. And then keep searching: there is always a better way.