SISTEMA DE ENTRENAMIENTO JL AVR TRAINER
27. MOTOR DC / PAP BIPOLAR 28 VDIP-USB.
3.1.2 DISEÑO DEL HARDWARE
A commitment to a strategically chosen, systematically and continuously applied process of incremental improvement is essential to the attainment and maintenance of a state of control in a dynamic environment.
Schonberger (1986) coined the expression 'WorldClass Competitor' to describe companies with outstanding levels o f manufacturing performance. He found a common characteristic of these companies was a dedication to improvement, which he likened to that of Olympic athletes, contending that they w ere committ ed to i
"...continual improvement in quality, cost, lead time, and customer ser vic e " and that they believed that such improvements were: "possible, re a lis tic and necessary".
Such improvements in performance have come from both increased competence w ithin production and from learning to control the conversion process, at a much higher level than was previously considered re alistic . The control and improve ment o f the conversion process comes from making it less variable and its systems and / or technology less complex. However, the size of improvements sought and their strategic nature makes it essential th a t there is a formal system to support the improvement efforts. Such a system has to provide direction, training and support as well as create a new clim ate within the organisation.
170
6.221 Corporate methodologies of improvement
Sumitomo Electrical Industries have used a formal system for promoting small scale improvements in manufacturing since a t least 1978. A number of these groups' papers have subsequently been published in English. The Sumitomo system is based on small voluntary teams, similar in form to Q uality Circles. They meet regularly to produce improved methods of manufacturing or of organis ing production. The study papers produced by these groups cover a wide range of topics and are of considerable rigour, one such paper being awarded the Nikkei prize for Quality Control by the Deming P rize committee.
Improvement programmes are also adopted by some companies in the U. K. The Ford programme tends to concentrate on improvements in quality, but is not exclusively limited to such efforts. Harrison (1987) has shown tha t Mullard has an improvement programme which integrates strategic goals and small mprove- ment teams into a coherent attack on enhancing their manufacturing systems.
6.222 Improving competence to exercise control, through training
The traditional paradigm relies on interm ittent staff led changes to the production process, to restore declining competitiveness. This requires little training of the workforce and limited training of supervision. The 1987 NEDO report discusses comparative expenditures on training, showing that British firms spend one sixth of their American, one tenth of the ir West German and one twentieth of their Japanese counterparts on training. The Kaishas, (Japanese Corporations), generally place a very heavy emphasis on training. This is consistent with their goal of growth and policy of life-tim e employment for key workers. Growth leads not simply to new tasks, but to the elim ination of old tasks. When this is combined w ith life -tim e employment, it is necessary to re tra in the workforce. In addition, the policy of life-tim e employment means
I71
that the firms can reap the benefits of their training expenditure.
Daly e b a l. (1985) afford a number of important insights into the significance of technical competence and its link with training. They contend that German production management exhibits greater technical competence, in its lower echelons, than does its British counterparts. Hayes
Sc
Wheelwright (19S<0, noted some differences between North American and German production management. They referred to this as low level technical competence, the low level being in the hierarchy not the competence. Daly e t.al. highlight the diffe re nt roles of foremen in the U.K. and Germany. They claim that the British foreman is pre dominantly appointed for his management / human skills, while German foremen are primarily technically skilled personnel, who receive some managerial training. In both Daly's and Hayes & Wheelwright's accounts, there is an emphasis on good practices that reduce the risk of undesirable behaviour occurring within the processes of production. Machine maintenance, worker training, machine running speeds etc. all a ffe c t the e xten t to which the system is, or is not, in control. Other issues, such as greater emphasis on mechanical handling, clearly received more attention in the German plants. These have an immediate impact on the control of the number of production indirects in the plant. Many of the items outlined above are essentially process skills, rather than control system skills. Control in this oontext stems from doing the right things well, not from correcting what should not have occurred. The emphasis on developing the skills of low level members of the organization helps to bring about this diffe re nt type of control. In a number of British companies the priorities appear to be reversed. The shop floor skills are seen as less important and the s ta ff skills as more important. Nevertheless, as I have shown e arlier, even the 'more' valued manag erial skills receive scant attention. It can be argued that this only creates a self fu lfillin g requirement. It can be seen from the above that British manufacturing industry places a re la tiv ely low p rio rity on improving the competence of its production workforce and management. Without such competence firms will not172
be able to take on the more diffic u lt manufacturing tasks which enable them to create the comparative advantage that leads to their out performing rivals in the market place.
6.23 A Strategic Approach to Reducing Complexity / Uncertainty in Production