{"id":3330,"date":"2024-01-31T00:09:15","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T00:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/?page_id=3330"},"modified":"2024-01-31T00:09:15","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T00:09:15","slug":"reduce-work-in-progress-application","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/?page_id=3330","title":{"rendered":"Reduce Work-in-Progress Application"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Albion Palace was a textile manufacturing company. It manufactured textiles using low-impact natural fibres and was one of the most sustainable manufacturing companies in the industry. Of course, as someone wise once said, \u201cWith great power must also come great responsibility.\u201d So, Shannon wasn\u2019t really surprised when she found a familiar curly-haired man locked inside the smallest meeting room in their office that people rarely used, scribbling furiously away at the whiteboard. Shannon paused in her steps, and after some thought, decided to knock on the door, gaining the attention of her best friend and colleague, Niko, head of the quality control department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUhm\u2026 Niko?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a soft \u2018chink\u2019 sound as the meeting room door was pulled open roughly. Shannon blinked in surprise, slightly flinching away from the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy are you locked inside the meeting room looking like you\u2019re planning a heist?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko seemed to think for a moment, eyeing Shannon critically, before nodding to himself and pulling her into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need your help!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon should have been used to her best friend\u2019s antics by now, but it\u2019s been a while since Niko was frazzled enough to pull her into a confined space to work on whatever scheme he was currently trying to untangle. It used to be Niko showing up unannounced at her house to crawl into her tent, which became a haven for the both of them whenever something serious had to be planned, or (more often) fixed. Shannon smiled softly at the memory before focusing her attention on Niko with a sigh. She had to admit, this was a huge leap from her childhood tent, and she couldn\u2019t help but feel proud of their progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHelp as in best friend Shannon\u2019s help or design department head Shannon\u2019s help?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe both?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right then, hit me with it!\u201d Shannon squared her shoulders as she waited to hear what Niko had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard the rumours already since your department is not really in sync with mine, but the quality control department has been missing a lot of deadlines recently and this has slowed down the overall production and delivery of textile orders. Our regular customers had been understanding at first, but it\u2019s all gone to hell, and some are threatening to move to our competitors. As a company that sells textiles to other clothing companies in bulk, you can tell why this is horrid for business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh\u2026\u201d Shannon nodded, understanding what this might be about. \u201cIs this why the CEO called for a meeting with all the department heads in a week?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I asked him for some time to resolve this situation and he gave me a week\u2026 A WEEK! Shannon, I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to get anything done in that time!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon immediately grabbed hold of Niko\u2019s shoulders and shook him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet a hold of yourself! We\u2019re not fresh graduates trying to swim against the current anymore. We\u2019re established managers of our own right with years of experience, and we can get through this!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko felt embarrassed but nodded along. Such an outburst wasn\u2019t going to help, so he took a few calming breaths to settle his nerves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right, as always.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStart from the beginning, what\u2019s happened?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been behind on our quality testing for some new textiles we\u2019ve received and at first, I brushed it off because it\u2019s not the first time we\u2019ve received a surge of finished textiles all at once, overwhelming our capacity. It\u2019s a slow process as we clear them, but it usually evens out. It\u2019s worse when we\u2019re closer to the holidays and with Christmas a few months away, there\u2019s been a surge in production, as you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon nodded along, understanding the situation far too well because her department has been busy with seasonal designs at the moment as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, it\u2019s been slower than the usual holiday buzz calls for, so I decided to check what\u2019s causing the hold-up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd?\u201d Shannon prompted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u201cA lot of my operators are also working on the jobs from the fabric testing lab! We\u2019re supposed to be signing off on completed textiles, so they are approved and ready for delivery, but the fabric testing lab has run out of manpower and needs us to help with looking over the flow of materials they\u2019ve been receiving. Since we regularly work together, due to our departments being closely linked, my operators have been focusing more on their jobs, but that means progressing the production orders has slowed and the customers are getting impatient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow, I don\u2019t envy your position at all\u2026 I imagine this is only the beginning?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, we are expediting but our costs are rising, and despite the expediting, some jobs seem to drag on and on. It\u2019s damn hard to tell what is progressing and how progressed it is, and it\u2019s a constant fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHmm\u2026 let me guess, operations have waves of inventory moving through it which means everyone is always busy, team leaders are asking for more resources, and few jobs have actually been completed?\u201d Shannon noted helpfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko nodded, his eyes looking blank with despair for a moment before regaining some strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the timeline the CEO gave me hanging over my head, I stopped all releases of jobs related to the fabric testing lab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon blinked, not expecting that last bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2026 what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe immediate necessity is to quality test the finished textiles and ensure they are delivered to our customers. I am personally monitoring the jobs assigned to my operators and rejecting any new requests that come from the fabric testing lab. Considering how the fabric testing operators have been reaching out to my operators directly, I will be keeping a close eye on what my department is working on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI only implemented this yesterday and already found a few of my operators working on projects unapproved by me. While maybe one had a good reason for bypassing the approved jobs list, the rest were really bad excuses and I\u2019ve already deferred them all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNiko, it seems like you\u2019ve already solved your problem.\u201d Shannon held up a hand as Niko opened his mouth as if to argue her statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I mean is, usually when we\u2019re holed up in tiny, cramped spaces, we\u2019re brainstorming solutions. This is way better than a supply closet, but we\u2019re still locked in a room so\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko thought about her words for a moment, before nodding slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI suppose you\u2019re right, but this is where I actually need your help!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy department is used to doing a lot of jobs in tandem with the fabric testing lab, so stopping the job releases related to them has left some of my operators idle. I told them that this is a good thing as they can focus on whatever is causing the hold-up of their next task and help with that instead. It makes them anxious and there\u2019s no end of arguments in sight!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow are they idle exactly? Since you\u2019re already behind on customer orders?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWe gather up and assign the jobs in batches and to specific operators which is another reason for why we are so slow currently. This is something I need to look into, and I am thinking of halving the processing runs batch sizes we use and assigning them to more operators. It will be easier to manage and more streamlined, but I haven\u2019t gotten to this part yet. Since I cancelled the fabric testing lab jobs so suddenly everyone\u2019s been complaining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHmm, I get what you\u2019re saying but there\u2019s no other option than to be firm about this decision. To further reinforce it, you could withdraw jobs from operations that have been started but are not due anytime soon. This would free up even more time and resources for your department.\u201d Shannon supplied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Niko paused, his expression turning grim for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not only the operators I have to keep a close eye on, but also the managers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon was even more worried now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up with the managers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of the operators approached me to say that their managers are setting job priorities only to come back and change them a few days later. They don\u2019t trust the schedules they are getting. I need to make sure everyone involved understands that the tasks we are releasing, and the expectations I\u2019m setting for each of them, are absolute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon\u2019s expression was solemn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best you can do at the moment is to instruct the supervisors to reject any attempt to push more work in and establish the expectation that only jobs that have been approved for release, using the formal release process, are to be processed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko knew Shannon was right, but the road ahead was anything but easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m telling you, doing this halves and halves again the jobs that you\u2019re expediting which reduces disruptions to your lead time. Like a well-oiled machine, it allows the jobs to clear themselves sooner and within our quoted lead time.\u201d Shannon continued to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko nodded, not having doubted his decisions from the beginning, but because the stress of the situation had caused him to spiral and he needed someone he trusted, both on a personal and professional level, to validate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a small suggestion that might also help the situation, if you\u2019re interested. I had a similar issue in my department a while ago and this helped things run smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know I\u2019m always interested in everything you have to say, Shannon!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon smiled, allowing herself to relax knowing the situation was not at its worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, bow down to the Almighty Shannon!\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Niko tried to mock bow but the sounds of things crashing to the floor having accidentally knocked a chair against the small meeting room table made them both stop. Niko hurriedly righted the stationery and his mouse, all of which had fallen to the ground, and stood further away from the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight, what were you about to say?\u201d Niko asked with an innocent, wide-eyed expression aimed at Shannon. Shannon rolled her eyes and sighed again, this time in resignation at their situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was going to suggest splitting the jobs that your operators are working on into smaller tasks. This can get more of them working on different tasks in parallel and will also speed up the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko\u2019s expression brightened as he smiled widely at Shannon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes! That could definitely work!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike we said earlier, scheduling your jobs with smaller processing runs and reducing the number of jobs in people\u2019s queues, will produce a faster flow. That should be one of the main things on your agenda. Just make sure scheduling is also sharing the order-quantity demand information, and not scheduling efficiency-optimised processing batches! That would slow down the flow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Niko nodded along. When Shannon saw that he was thinking it over, she continued on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cAs long as you\u2019re monitoring the situation and making sure the demand information for the orders is available to supervisors, I really think you\u2019ll be fine. You just need some time for the operators to get used to this way of doing things. You won\u2019t need to micromanage them so much at that point either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, but as work-in-progress falls, there will be a burning desire to release a surge of work, for fear that there is not enough work or because of due date pressure\u2026\u201d Niko trailed off, doubting himself again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd this burning desire of yours is influenced by\u2026 what?\u201d Shannon questioned. \u201cIs it because you\u2019re afraid the operators will be uneasy or because you think this will make you late on other deliveries?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA bit of both? I cert ainly don\u2019t want my operators to feel scared seeing their number of assigned tasks reducing, but after talking with you and making certain necessary decisions like controlling who releases jobs to my department. It does seem like this is the best way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because it is!\u201d Shannon insisted with a smile. \u201cIt is not without its challenges but as far as your operators go, it is purely psychological. Their fear is valid, but for the department to move forward, these changes are necessary. I suggest you hold a meeting with everyone and make your upcoming decisions very clear. This is not the time for negotiations and pandering.\u201d Shannon said strictly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko\u2019s ears were taking in Shannon\u2019s words, but his brain refused to process them as more issues surged up in his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing back to cutting the batches, the switching costs of some jobs may rise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a \u2018may rise,\u2019 it\u2019s a \u2018will rise\u2019 at this point. Since you\u2019ve freed up resources, these can be used to support your new operations for the time being. It is unavoidable but it\u2019s a cost you already pay, and it\u2019s way less of a problem than the damage being done now.\u201d Shannon\u2019s overflowing confidence settled Nick\u2019s mind yet again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, you\u2019re right, as always. It\u2019s not just money we will be losing but also time and other resources as we switch between tasks\u2026, but as you said, it\u2019s a necessary evil, and it will show results like those the CEO is demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko paused before exclaiming excitedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith this way of doing things, I can also improve the inventory and cash flow of my department! It\u2019ll take time and we will experience some issues along the way. But, if we don\u2019t do this, our losses will leave us worse off.\u201d Niko felt way calmer than when he first pulled Shannon into the tiny space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, was this an issue for you too?\u201d Shannon had been surprised that this was something Niko was also struggling with but after some thought, she nodded her head. Everything was interconnected and dependent on each other, so it is no big surprise that the issues Niko\u2019s department were facing had snowballed into a large network of errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, the meeting room visit makes more sense to Shannon. She turned to look at the whiteboard in front of her for the first time since she walked into this meeting room. It was filled with the ideas that they had already discussed. However, there was also a section filled with questions and lists of all the other issues Niko still wanted to find solutions for. Shannon couldn\u2019t help but look at Niko with a sad smile on her face. The serious situation that Niko is in seemed to hit her all at once and she vowed silently to help him get through this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cYeah, with so many tasks being delayed, the cash invested in them has been rising, but by restricting the jobs we get, the cash will finally be freed up. The work-in-progress that my department is handling will also reduce as a result. This way, we will more and more deliver our customers\u2019 orders on time instead of being stuck helping the fabric testing lab with their jobs.\u201d Niko slowly nodded as he reviewed his situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs someone who has gone through this same issue before, let me tell you something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko looked at Shannon seriously and nodded, indicating that he was all ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou will be tempted to release more work or inflate your run quantities because you feel as if this is the best way to maintain the efficient use of your resources. This is a trap!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko laughed lightly, albeit a little guiltily, as he was already planning on releasing more work once the current missed due dates were met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou will need to sustain these changes or the headache you have now will turn into a migraine.\u201d Shannon looked at Niko meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He couldn\u2019t help but let out another soft chuckle. This is the phrase they always used to persevere in the face of challenges that cannot be solved immediately. It has become their personal motto: headache to migraine to relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niko let out a loud sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, what I\u2019m hearing is I need to become an authoritarian in order to bring my department back into control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, looks like you need to set and enforce some clear expectations to get this sorted! Overall, these changes will make a difference. It\u2019s looking good, Niko! Highlight all these changes in your report for our meeting next week with the CEO, and he see that you\u2019re on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not going to be solved right away and there will be more issues to tackle as we go on, but hopefully the CEO can see that this is the best way to streamline our work at the moment. I\u2019ll need to come up with a better process in the future, so we don\u2019t end up with the same issues again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou got this! Reach out to me if you need any more help and I\u2019ll see if I can lend you some manpower too if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, Shannon. I\u2019ll definitely need some help in the future as this is going to be as far from smooth sailing as it can get at present.\u201d Niko hugged, or tried to hug, Shannon as the same chair he bumped into earlier crashed into the table, knocking his things off the table for the second time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have another suggestion\u2026\u201d Shannon trailed off as she carefully unwound Niko\u2019s arms from around her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah?\u201d Niko had the wherewithal to smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe next time we can pick a more spacious meeting room? We need a bigger upgrade from my childhood tent and while this is <\/em>an upgrade, we could do better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I think that is a great idea!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Albion Palace was a textile manufacturing company. It manufactured textiles using low-impact natural fibres and was one of the most sustainable manufacturing companies in the industry. Of course, as someone wise once said, \u201cWith great power must also come great responsibility.\u201d So, Shannon wasn\u2019t really surprised when she found a familiar curly-haired man locked inside …<\/p>\n

Reduce Work-in-Progress Application<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3330"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3351,"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3330\/revisions\/3351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keypractices.viagointernational.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}