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Benchmarking Knowledge

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12 views

Benchmarking Knowledge

Uploaded by

Mustafa Ghaleiw
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BACK TO BASICS BY JOE MITCHELL

Benchmarking Knowledge
Standard operating procedures can ease loss of experience
A RECENT SURVEY found that loss of
experience is one of the top 10 concerns
in the automotive industry.1 The pri-
mary issues relate to “the ability to avoid
repeating past mistakes, the ability to
implement operational efficiencies, and
the ability to develop new talent.”2
The study also stated: “[More than]
three-quarters of respondents rate their
organizations as, at best, moderately
capable of preserving and transferring
knowledge.”3 While, “[more than] one-
third of [original equipment manufacturer] governmental requirements. methods, but the introduction of an SOP
respondents describe themselves as some- Additionally, SOPs help avoid the resulted in a “standard work” practice.6
what capable or having no capability in pitfalls of inexperience by reducing the Following implementation, we experi-
preserving and transferring knowledge.” 4
likelihood of errors during onboarding. enced negligible variation in test results
This survey is alarming for the auto- Hiring new employees requires hours of and a more efficient business operation.
motive field, but loss of experience in the on-the-job training and is a significant Due to system changes necessitated
workforce is a concern for all industries business investment. So when you’re by technology advances or customer
and organizations. One technique that training new employees, don’t just show demand, it may be necessary to periodi-
can help organizations minimize the ef- them how to do the job. Review the SOP cally review SOPs to promote continu-
fects of loss of experience is a standard with them and make certain they know ous improvement and drive operational
operating procedure (SOP). SOPs are an where to find this document for future efficiency.
integral part of a quality management reference. That way, when more experi- While organizations cannot stop the re-
system (QMS), and a properly construct- enced personnel are unavailable, a new tirement of a good employee, a good SOP
ed SOP will minimize the loss of critical employee can refer to SOPs for guidance can mitigate the loss of critical business
business knowledge due to personnel on a specific task. knowledge and benefit any organization
changes. competing in today’s global market. QP
Operational efficiency
REFERENCES
Avoid repeating mistakes SOPs are critical for efficiently producing 1. Deloitte Consulting and Automative Industry Action Group,
“Automotive Quality 2020 Report,” April 19, 2016, http://
Also known as work or operator instruc- high-quality products or services at the
tinyurl.com/autoquality2020.
tions, SOPs serve as reference guides for lowest-possible cost. According to the 2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
employees by providing work instruc- Certified Quality Engineer’s Handbook, 4. Ibid.
tions to facilitate consistent results and SOPs, “reduce variation in cycle time 5. Connie M. Borror, Certified Quality Engineer Handbook,
third edition, ASQ Quality Press, 2009.
data quality throughout an organization. and produce a better, more consistent 6. Ibid.
Personnel working in a lab, for product or service and can also simplify
example, apply industry standards to downstream activities.”5
JOE MITCHELL is director of opera-
every test. An organization-specific SOP, I observed, for example, a 30% reduc- tions and technology at Miller Co.:
however, can be used in conjunction tion in rejected product after an SOP was Diehl Metall in Meriden, CT. He
earned an MBA at Lawrence Tech-
with industry standards to ensure com- implemented for a metallurgical test. nological University in Southfield, MI.
pliance to manufacturing or procedural Previously, operators had used different Mitchell is an ASQ member and an
ASQ-certified quality engineer.
specifications, and organizational or hardness scales and sample preparation

64 QP • www.qualityprogress.com

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