Tomorrow will be better than Today

In 1988, when I was working as a (quite young) management consultant with the National Productivity Board (NPB), I was assigned to Tat Seng Paper Containers Pte Ltd as a part-time productivity manager. At that time, NPB had a scheme called Promis. Promis stood for Productivity Manager in SME, a term coined by our then chairman, Mr Mah Bow Tan. The idea was to let promising SMEs engage the services of a productivity manager even though they were too small to afford such a full-time staff. I think I spent two days a week there for about a year.

Anyway, when I was there, the first thing I did was to organize a series of productivity talks for all the employees. The four topics that I chose were:

a) What is Productivity?
b) The importance of Good Housekeeping
c) Cost Reduction through Reduction of Waste
d) Quality Awareness

Together with the productivity committee, we then launched a company-wide productivity movement called 3Ps. 3Ps stood for Productivity Promotion Through Participation. (通过参于活动提高生产力)

(By now you must be quite amused at how fond we government officials were of using acronyms. Sorry, you’ll have to bear with it because there’s more to come.

Haha.)

From the April 1988 edition of Productivity Digest

The 3Ps programme I introduced was further made up of 3 initiatives (each beginning with the letter S).

These were:

a) The 5S programme
b) Safety promotion
c) Staff Suggestion Scheme (SSS)

To cut a long story short, we decided to launch our 3Ps programme with a Big Clean Up. We chose a Saturday which was just before the Chinese New Year to do this. The GM, Mr S M Loh, myself and our Japanese advisor, Mr Suzuki made short speeches. This was followed by some refreshments and the Big Clean Up. Everybody, including the GM rolled up their sleeves to clean up the factory.

Whilst the cleaning action was going on, we played a song over the public address system that I had specially chosen for that occasion.

Yes, you’ve guessed it. The song was 明天会更好 (Tomorrow will be better)

Now here is a quiz question for you. Why did I choose this song?

Answer.

Productivity is, above all, an attitude of mind. It seeks to continually improve what already exists. It is based on a conviction that one can do things better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today.

(From the report of the Rome Conference - European Productivity Agency, 1958).

Bring 5S with you wherever you go

When I conduct 5S training, I like to end my session by reminding my trainees that they should bring 5S wherever they go. This is another way of saying that they should not apply 5S only in their workplace but other places as well; such as in public places, roads, car parks and of course the home.

Let’s take public places for example. If you take a good look around, you will find many examples of inconsiderate behaviour such as littering, inconsiderate parking of vehicles as so on. In fact, a number of blogs have surfaced highlighting such “Bad 5S” as I like to call them. Here are 2 such blogs by Stompoli that I read frequently:

1) Be heard, be seen
2) Irresponsible motorists in Singapore

Recently, I too came across a couple of such situations that I would like to share with you here:

This photo was taken along Pandan Loop sometime in November last year.

This one was taken just last week in Tagore Lane.

What a waste (1) – Lost in car park

Last night I visited a friend who lived in Edgefield Plains. I had a rather frustrating experience trying to park my car in the multi-storey car park at Block 107.

When I first turned into the car park, I proceeded to drive to the upper floors to look for the visitors’ lots. The car park was very long, and when I finally reached the end of the 4th level, I discovered that there was no ramp to go up to the next level; and thus far all the parking lots were marked red, meaning they were reserved for residents. Thinking that I must have overshot the ramp, I went down to the 3rd level (it was a ‘one-way street’ type car park), and then went up to the 4th level again. As it turned out, the 4th level was the uppermost level. But still I did not see any white parking lots.

By that time, I was getting quite agitated and panicky as I was going to be late. Thinking that perhaps the visitors’ car park was in another building, or in some open area, I impatiently descended; round and round, floor after floor – did I mention that it was a very long car park?

I went out to the main road, drove around the block and found another entrance with a sign pointing to a multi-storey car park. When I finally found the car park, I realized that it was the same car park, but this was different entrance. Not knowing what else to do, I drove in and then I finally saw it - a sign saying that the visitors’ car park is in Level B1 in the basement. When I finally arrived at my friend’s home, I found out that practically every other visitor had the same frustrating encounter; and to my relief that, several guests arrived even later than me.

This is a classic example of poor design which did not take into consideration the basic principle of population stereotypes. In brief, Population Stereotype is “A seemingly arbitrary choice, or particular option, that is chosen by a large proportion of a given population” (full definition here). For example; look at the tap in this photo. In Singapore, when we want to turn the tap off, or reduce the flow, we would push the lever down. However, in Jakarta, I discovered that their taps are designed to work in the opposite direction. On a number of occasions, I wet my shirt when I tried to turn off the tap in a hurry. It took me a few days to get accustomed to their taps; but by then it was time to return to Singapore.

When you design a system that does not conform to the population stereotype of your intended users, the chance of human errors and accidents will increase.

Coming back to our car park; in Singapore, the vast majority of multi-storey car parks in HDB estates are designed with the visitors’ lots in the upper levels and painted with white paint, whereas the residents’ lots are in the lower levels and painted red in colour. In this particular case, the situation was made worse by the poor signage. My friends and I all did not see the sign telling us to go to Level B1.

This brings me to a subject related to 5S which is Visual Control. Visual controls have a few basic functions; such as:

1) To provide information (e.g. Male/Female toilet signs, warning signs etc)
2) To give instructions especially operating instructions
3) To simplify the task
4) To alert the user to an abnormal situation; e.g. the Empty warning light in your car’s fuel gauge.

Still on the subject of car parks, have you ever been in a car park where you had to go round and round to look for an empty lot? Often you, the driver, would ask your passengers to help you to look out for them. Sometimes, after going 1 full round, you realize that that level is full and you had to go to the next level and repeat the whole exercise. This, you will recall from my previous post, is called Muda or waste.

The good news is that, many car parks in Singapore have introduced a very user-friendly system of visual control. I have seen it in operation at Vivocity and Funan Centre. At the entrance to the car park, there is a prominent sign board indicating how many lots are available on each level. It helps you to decide immediately which level you should go to. At the car park itself, there are green and red lights to indicate if the parking lot is empty or taken. This is really helpful and saves time. In fact the relevant authorities have gone one step further. At strategic locations in the city, they have displays telling motorists the number of parking lots available in the major buildings.

I hope this article has helped you to appreciate the importance of 5S visual control systems. If you think of, or come across good examples of the creative use of visual controls, do share them with readers of this blog. Here’s another example from my friend Mr Peh’s blog.

Thank you.

5S and 3Mu (Waste)

Like blogger Stomponli, I get quite put off by thick catalogues, brochures and other junk mail which I have absolutely no need for. For example, I recently received 2 brochures together with the notification from LTA (Land Transport Authority) to renew my car road tax. They were about the new seat belt requirements for school buses. As my children are all fairly grown-up, the youngest being in junior college, I really had no use for the information in these booklets; and so I did what any 5S-minded individual would do; I promptly ‘Seiri-ed’ (discarded) them. Thankfully they weren’t as thick as those beautiful, glossy magazines from Ikea and Sony.

It then occurred to me that my action incurred considerable waste. Just think of the resources that went into producing and delivering the brochures to me. And more resources will be needed to dispose off or recycle them. Now multiply that by the thousands who are like me.

One reason why 5S is so popular is that it can be used to reduce or eliminate waste in many situations. But the waste we deal with in 5S is a bit different from that for the LTA booklets. In our case, the waste is not in the form of physical waste of energy or materials. Rather, it refers to wasteful activities that do not add value to the final product or service. This video clip illustrates what I am talking about.

With proper 5S, the person in this video would not need to waste time searching for and accessing the item he wanted. Yes, it’s only a few seconds but it is still waste. Furthermore, it causes some frustration to the workers.

The Japanese have an interesting way of classifying this type of waste. They call it Muri, Mura and Muda; or 3 Mu for short.

1) Muri means Irrationality or Strain. It means; “Doing that which cannot be done”. It usually refers to tasks that are very difficult or impossible to do; such as maintaining prolonged periods of vigilance, or having to remember a lot of things, or straining to read small words or symbols in dim lighting conditions?

2) Mura means Inconsistency. It means; “Not doing that which should be done”. It usually refers to situations where things that are not running as they should; such as when there are systems but people do not follow. One example is the yellow boxes at road junctions where cars are not supposed to stop in. Another example is the people who rush into MRT trains the moment the doors open and not giving the passengers a chance to alight. Their actions slow down the entire process and results in waste.

3) Muda simply means Waste. It refers to activities that do not help or add value, e.g. waiting/delay, rework, repair, etc. Muda is often the result of Muri and Mura.

I have read a Chinese 5S book which translates the 3 Mu’s as, 三不 or, 不合理，不均衡，and 不精简。

The 3 Mu’s are all around us; in our workplaces, homes, roads, public places etc. In any place where there is human activity, you will find them. I believe that if more people are conscious of, and are able to spot these wastes and then apply the simple techniques of 5S to eliminate or reduce them, this world could be a slightly better place to live in.

One technique in 5S which is widely used to reduce waste of the sort I have discussed here is Visual Control. I will explain the next time.

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In my other blog, I once posted an essay about a very different type of waste. Do check it out here.

“Death is only a sadness. Tragedy lies in waste.” – Herman Wouk

Seiso your computer keyboard

In the Sunday Times, Life Section, there was an article about dirty computer keyboards. Often they are much dirtier than they look. According to a British study, our computer keyboards can have five times more germs than a toilet seat. And in Singapore, the report says that many people like to snack at their work station and at the same time never clean them. Such dirty workstations become the breeding ground of disease-causing bacteria that can cause stomach upsets and diarrhoea or worse.

It looks like this is one good place to implement 5S; especially the 3rd S, Seiso. Let’s begin with a question. Do you clean the keyboard regularly? And how do you do it? (Seiso)
As me, I use this duster once a week or so. I find it very effective because the bristles can reach in the places where a cloth cannot reach. Previously I occasionally use a cotton bud. However, it is always better to practice prevention (Seiketsu). Don’t eat when you are at the keyboard!

Besides the keyboard, I also used this duster to ‘wipe’ my LCD monitor. As for those areas behind the computer which is difficult to reach, and where dust tends to accumulate I use this mini-vacuum which I bought at Best Electromart for only $18. But I find that the suction power is a bit weak; which means I need to clean more often when the dust is still easy to remove.

TQM Training for Asean participants

Last month, I was engaged by the Singapore Productivity Association to conduct a TQM Course for a group of participants from the neighbouring Asean countries. Sponsored by the Association of Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS) in Japan, this 10-day course had a long title: Improving the Competitiveness of SMEs through more effective implementation of TQM.

Back in the eighties and nineties, TQM was extremely popular. At that time, I was working in the National Productivity Board, and we had regular attachments of Japanese short-term experts coming to Singapore for periods of two to three weeks. I was assigned as a counterpart to an expert in TQC by the name of Motomu Baba. I learned a lot from him. I was also sent for a one-month TQC course in Japan in 1989. However, in recent years, TQM has become less popular. Many companies that implement TQM ran into difficulties.

Hence, in this course, we devoted a significant amount of time to looking at the pitfalls that companies will face when they implement TQM. In preparing for this assignment, I realized that there are very few books and resources that deal with the so-called ‘failures’. Most books discuss only the success stories and prescribed steps on how to carry out TQM. As such, I had to develop quite a bit of my own materials; including some case studies; but it was a great learning experience for me as well.

As the main objective was to train consultants and trainers who can help SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) with what they learned in this course, I taught them a very simple model of TQM which the participants liked a lot. My model comprised a few key elements:

1) Six core quality concepts
2) Quality Management
3) Quality Improvement
4) Employee Involvement (including 5S and Quality Circles)

As part of the curriculum, the trainees were divided into groups and sent to companies to carry out what we called Field Practice; i.e. to apply what they learned in the actual company environment. I was not involved in this part of the training.

Another interesting segment of the course was a lesson conducted via video-conference by a Japanese TQM expert in Japan. I participated in that session and learnt quite a bit from the Japanese expert by the name of Noboru Machida. Some insights I gained include:

1) In Japan, they do not adopt a common model or concept of TQM. Many organizations develop their own unique approach and gave it a name of their own. In Singapore, our civil service called their’s PS21.

2) One mistake that companies made was to try to implement everything in one go which is too ambitious. Mr Machida likened TQM to a big banquet or buffet. It is not possible to sample every dish. Depending on the company’s own situation, they should choose those relevant aspects and embark on that first; and then slowly build up their own TQM from there.

3) It is wrong to use the words like ‘failure’ or ‘success’ in TQM implementation. Rather, we should adopt a PDCA approach of continuous improvement. After each cycle, we review where we have gone wrong and then we improve on the next cycle.

4) He also shared an interesting feature of the Toyota culture of “People can speak Failure” and “Learn from trouble”. It encourages staff to give honest reports so that they can see what went wrong and then proceed to improve by prevent recurrence of past mistakes.

I took the opportunity to ask some questions about the practical aspects of implementing Hoshin Kanri in a small organisation. Incidentally, he found the name of my firm very meaningful and wished that he had thought of it when he first started out on his own.

I feel a bit sad that many organizations have abandoned TQM just because there has been many ‘failures’. I believe at that time, many of us, including the consultants were still new to the subject; and there was a shortage of good training materials and case studies. Today that has changed; but unfortunately, many organizations have become wary of the name TQM and prefer to move on to newer methodologies like Six Sigma. Maybe, it would be more productive if they had stuck to one system. Anyway, that is only my opinion, and I certainly do not want to go into a debate of TQM vs 6 Sigma.

As always, I found great pleasure in teaching participants from the less developed countries. They are very keen to learn and show great respect to the teacher. I hope I can find the opportunity to go these countries, just like the time I went to Myanmar in 2005 to share my expertise with them.

Why are the Japanese so disciplined?

In 1985, I was sent to Japan for three-and-a-half months of training in Productivity management and promotion. Whilst traveling in their crowded subway and trains, I noticed some people wearing face masks; like the little girl in this photo. I told myself; why are these people are so fearful of catching germs from the crowds. Later, I found out that people wear face masks in public when they themselves are unwell. They do not want to pass their germs to others. I really salute them for their civic-consciousness.

Have you ever wondered why the Japanese are so disciplined? I guess there must be many reasons. But I think one of the main reasons is that they are taught from young to be disciplined and considerate to others.

It starts in the home. In Japan, most women stop working when they are married and become full-time housewives. They devote a lot of time to rearing up their kids and do not employ domestic maids like we do in Singapore. In Singapore, usually both husband and wife have full time jobs and they will employ foreign domestic maids from countries like Indonesia and Philippines to take care for their home and kids in their absence. As such, Singapore children seldom have to do household chores like washing dishes, cleaning their rooms or even make their own beds. Most of the time, they have someone to clean up after them. So of course when they grow up, doing 5S does not naturally to them.

Recently, I learned that at school, Japanese school children are also taught to keep things clean and tidy. Once a week, they have to do what we call ‘area cleaning’ in the army.

Last year my youngest daughter, who studies Japanese language as a third language, was sent to Hamamatsu in Japan on an exchange programme. I asked her to take some photos of Japanese students doing such ‘area cleaning’ (souji wo suru). I share them with you here.

Each student keeps 2 pairs of shoes – one pair for use inside the school, and another pair which they wear home. These racks are for them to keep their extra pair of shoes. Every morning when they get to school, they will change over to their school shoes. At the end of the day, they will change back to their other pair.

Besides cleaning their own class room, they have to clean common places like the gym and the corridors. This is done once a week.