Runs on PeopleManufacturing and operations
Shifts, handovers, safety and kit only one person can fix. The shop floor shows the model most clearly.
The nine dimensions, in your world
What weak looks like here. Each one links to its playbooks.
Product and Operations
OutcomesOutput is up and the customer complaint rate is too.ReliabilityLine 3 stops whenever the one fitter who knows it is off.MeasuresNear-miss reports fall and nobody asks whether people stopped reporting.Playbooks, in your terms
Shift leads rarely get a 1:1 at all. Ten minutes at shift change and one good question still count.The 1:1 playbookPeople · Trust→One fitter can fix line 3, and they retire in March.People debtPeople · Capability→A safety procedure people shortcut because it was written for a different machine.Process is an agreementProcess · Agreements→A rush order hits a fully loaded line. Show which orders it pushes back, and let sales choose.How to say noProcess · Clarity→The engineer called in every night shift because only they know the old press.Stability without heroesProduct and Operations · Reliability→Challenging a respected operator who keeps skipping a safety step.Runbooks for humansPeople · Trust→Ranking improvement ideas from the shop floor against the plant manager's.Prioritisation that survives the loudest voiceProduct and Operations · Outcomes→Production wants output; maintenance wants downtime. Planned maintenance windows are the capacity split.Ending the engineering vs product tug of warProcess · Cadence→"Zero defects to the customer" reaches the new operator as one thing: why this check, at this station, matters.From vision to the graduate's first dayProcess · Clarity→Fewer reported near misses can mean a safer floor, or a floor that stopped reporting. Ask before celebrating.Using data to make decisionsProduct and Operations · Measures→The best shift lead is the one whose shift runs fine when they're on leave.Good manager, good leader: how to know you're bothProduct and Operations · Measures→The best operator becomes shift lead and spends the shift fixing machines instead of running the shift.You've been promoted. You're a beginner again.People · Capability→The shift lead who fixes every stoppage personally has operators who stand back and watch.Multiply, don't diminishPeople · Capability→The operator who cut changeover time should present it at the shift review, not just mention it to their lead.Getting noticed, without the networking malarkeyPeople · Capability→a monthly shift pulse that includes "I feel safe to stop the line" tells you more than near-miss counts.Surveys that change somethingProduct and Operations · Measures→good lines hit their targets. Excellent lines stop to fix the cause, and the target rises.Good vs excellentProduct and Operations · Outcomes→a shift reset after a safety near miss, starting with the people on the line.How to reset a teamProcess · Cadence→the same line, the same shift. Asking operators to improve one step, and making the change, restores ownership.Groundhog Day: when every week feels the samePeople · Energy→
Industry notes written with people who work in manufacturing and operations are coming. Want to contribute? Get in touch.