An environment of continuous improvement is essential for preventing or minimizing production losses. However, that calls for constant analysis of data, which can be challenging (especially in terms of time) when production is in full swing. Fortunately, short-interval control (SIC) can help.
This structured factory-floor process helps review performance data in a swift, focused manner during every shift (broken down into 2-4 hour short intervals). This enables small-scale resolutions and mid-course fixes, which snowball into major performance improvements over time.
In this article we delve deeper into SIC in manufacturing, the nitty-gritty of review meetings, implementation of the process, and more.
What is Short-Interval Control or SIC?
A Kaizen process, short-interval control aids in continuously spotting opportunities and acting on them to enhance production efficiency and effectiveness. So, within a shift, team members review real-time production data multiple times to figure out where they should concentrate their efforts for incremental, regular improvements.
The short-interval control process is about instant, front-line decision-making in which teams collect data from the factory floor, conduct analysis, and work together to identify and take improvement-oriented actions. SIC is the key to lean production, where senior managers, supervisors, and floor workers strive to improve performance constantly.
For SIC to work, these elements are non-negotiable:
- A skilled team that wants to improve the production process
- Leaders who use words and actions to drive and support the SIC process
- Top-quality data that accurately identifies significant losses
- Forms that capture the previous interval’s outcomes and the next one’s actions
The chief benefits of successfully implementing short-interval control include:
- Increased overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
- Better decision-making
- Faster improvement
- Enhanced employee engagement
Short-Interval Control Meetings: Structure and Best Practices
An integral part of performance management on the factory floor, SIC review meetings revolve around identifying and developing improvement actions that boost production efficiency quickly. They are time-bound and extremely focused.
These meetings allow operator performance tracking, as workers share how they are progressing against original task-related expectations and relay issues to managers in real time. Hence, during SIC meetings, improvement ideas are devised to tackle relevant bottlenecks and set more realistic performance goals for the immediate future.
The structure of short-interval control meetings features four key parts:
- Review Past Losses
Study data from the SIC interval just completed. Conduct a comparison between the overall performance and the last SIC meeting’s target. Since the previous meeting, identify the three major losses. For each, figure out if action taken in the next interval is likely to benefit it.
- Assess Past Actions
Review the last SIC huddle meeting’s actions. For each action, identify the extent of its effectiveness in terms of performance improvement. Determine if the next interval needs to see further action or you should escalate the same beyond the team.
- Identify Upcoming Risks
For the upcoming SIC interval, appraise the production plan. Spot changes that might impact performance adversely. Zero in on actions that will likely reduce each change’s impact.
- Decide Upcoming Actions
Make the issues detected in the above three parts a priority. For the next interval, choose two or three issues to handle. Finalize the specific actions to be completed during the upcoming SIC interval and allocate resources for each. Also set a performance goal.
During SIC daily huddles, follow these best practices to attain desired outcomes:
- Set up a focused team comprising the lead operator, engineer, maintenance individual, and line supervisor.
- Empower all participants to take direct action on the production process directly
- Keep meetings 5-10 minutes long
- Conduct stand-up meetings near the production process
- Focus on enhancing the bottleneck or process constraint’s performance
- Set attainable goals for the upcoming SIC interval
- Put actions meant for the next interval in writing and clarify everyone’s accountability
Short-Interval Control Boards: Physical and Digital
A visual management tool like a physical or digital board is essential for succeeding at SIC implementation. During daily huddles, such a board displays performance data (real-time) in an easily comprehensible manner.
Now, physical boards are usually printed charts or whiteboards that are installed in production zones. They have multiple sections for KPIs like safety incidents, downtime, output, etc. The visual cues used for assessing performance against targets are also simple.
With digital or software-based boards though, implementing short-interval control is easier and more effective. Advantages include:
- Automatic capture of data
- Analytics
- Updates in real time
- Remote visibility
- Interactive charts
- Performance deviation alerts
- Easy integration with other manufacturing and resource planning solutions
Overall, digital short-interval control boards are ideal for complex processes, large-scale operations, remote tracking, and minimization of human error.
How to Implement Short-Interval Control in Your Factory
The key steps for implementing short-interval control are detailed here:
- Select Pilot Area
To implement SIC in manufacturing as a pilot program, pick the target area with these characteristics:
- Performance
The selected area must exhibit performance deficiencies or have scope for improvement.
- Openness
Potential team members must be open to ideation, ready to collaborate, and keen to improve.
- Leader
The leader must keep the team focused and execute the process actively.
- Infrastructure
Suitable infrastructure must be present for churning out accurate data on loss and real-time performance.
After identifying the pilot area, select an SIC interval in collaboration with the team. Consider the time you will need to obtain relevant data. Initially, a 4-hour interval should suffice. Later, you can transition to a 2-hour interval, with more scope for frequent course corrections.
- Identify Loss Metrics
This step requires you to zero in on the main metrics that will help identify losses. While most organizations measure overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) in this regard, you can pick other metrics too for efficient decision-making:
- Labor
For labor-intensive processes, the loss metric might involve something like labor for every unit produced.
- Yield
If a process gets impacted by significant yield losses, the metric might be something like yield by area.
- Validate the Quality and Accuracy of Data
It’s crucial to ensure the accuracy of the performance data based on which you will devise actions for improvement. So, validate that data independently for four SIC intervals at least, to make sure the system for data collection is effective. Ideally, the verification should happen across various products and shifts.
Verifying these data points is especially important:
- Total quantity produced
- Quantity rejected after production
- Minutes of downtime and causes
- Overall equipment effectiveness (based on ideal cycle time and the above)
Also, try and make the collection method automatic so you have high-quality data for the short-interval control process.
- Create Tracking Tool
During review meetings, you need a simple yet efficient way of collecting data and actions. And while a spreadsheet, flip chart, printed form, or whiteboard might work, consider digital solutions to save time and effort.
Ensure every team member tests the tool through multiple SIC intervals before introducing the same formally. This way, they will know if the tool is easy to use. Feel free to tweak the tracking tool until you arrive at a layout that is most suitable.
- Start Review Meetings after Training Team
For a short-interval control process to truly work, the team must be familiar with the mechanics of the same as well its objective. An ideal approach for SIC implementation requires focus on the following items:
- Goals
Educate the team about the SIC process’s objectives and how they can get better results. Explain how SIC can enhance the organizational competitiveness.
- Demonstration
Besides demonstrating the short-interval control process personally to the team, lead the same for the first week. This way, the team will know how the process should flow later.
- Observation
Once the first week is over, get the process led by the line supervisor and simply observe. Avoid interrupting the supervisor as they run reviews. After every review, hold one-on-one sessions to share helpful coaching tips. Keep repeating till the supervisor is all set to operate without supervision.
- Reviews
Schedule weekly (move on to monthly later) reviews to provide extended coaching. Also encourage the team to share feedback on the execution of the SIC process.
- Conduct Audits to Sustain Progress
Sustaining a short-interval control process requires regular audits that detect and emphasize ideal behaviors:
- Middle Management
Every week, they should audit three or more review meetings. Investing even less than an hour weekly can boost the effectiveness of the SIC process, leading to noticeably better production.
- Upper Management
After a month of its running, the SIC program should be audited by the upper management. And then, audits should be conducted every month or quarter. This will help refine different aspects of the short-interval control process, like data collection, recording, action reviews, etc. Upper management should also coach the middle management continuously.
The Value of Short-Interval Control for Operational Excellence
SIC in manufacturing is the bedrock of a performance management system that enables you to meet long-term production goals regularly, incrementally. Through rapid problem-solving, increased output, better delivery, reduced costs, and enhanced safety and quality, SIC ensures operational excellence in multiple ways.
There are intangible benefits too – empowered employees, a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, and better teamwork. And by choosing fabriq’s digital solutions over conventional whiteboards, you can implement SIC effortlessly.
Besides accessing important data in real time, you can gain visibility and ensure consistent practices across multiple sites and escalate problems fast. Teams can also participate in daily huddles remotely. So, what you get is a resilient, agile, and lean production environment.
Learn how you can use fabriq for short-interval control to cut downtime, improve collaboration, and drive performance.
