Jo Richoux and Liz Murphy build and test three-inch cockpit displays and sub-assemblies. The Meggitt Production System has put problem solving in their hands but for them it’s only the beginning.
‘We are impatient for change,’ they say. Once you see what’s possible you get hungry for more.
Eleven years ago when I joined Meggitt Avionics (MAV), shopfloor problem solving wasn’t easy. If your supervisor couldn’t sort something out for you, it could drag on for ages. Work-arounds and make-dos were common.
Looking back, I realise that we just accepted it. You didn’t think that people would listen to your ideas so you just kept quiet and got on with it.
It’s much, much better now. We have a new system of morning meetings which pipe information up and down the business, making it much easier to solve problems. It’s called daily layered accountability. If something can’t be worked out in our 20-minute meeting, it’s noted down on a big board which sits on the shopfloor all day for everyone to see. The problem can’t be ignored or forgotten. It gets escalated and it stays on the board and on the daily meeting agenda until it’s solved.
That’s made a big difference. I remember it being very hard when I couldn’t seem to get my point across. Now, once it’s written on the DLA board, I know that someone has to try and understand what it is I’m getting at.
In a way, that’s the essence of the Meggitt Production System (MPS). Working through a problem in a group, talking it out, guiding each other to a good answer. That philosophy is one of the key reasons MPS has been so well received right across the organisation. Even the sceptics have been won over quickly by the reality.
I’ve found that as soon as people put the principles of MPS into action, they see the rewards pretty quickly: your day gets easier and you get more out of your life at work
But we can still do more.
Absolutely. DLA can be hard at first. It requires a certain mind-set. You have to enjoy being more involved and you have to accept that it means more effort. Once you buy into it, you can’t be lazy. You’ve got to get yourself moving. That’s why it’s so important that top people in every factory get involved in workshops on the ground level. It gives us all a chance to learn from and inspire each other. When our Managing Director came to our meetings, I really respected her for it.
I agree. All the strands of the business are interlinked so for MPS to deliver its full potential, we all have to keep pushing. The more we contribute individually, the more we can improve. Of course it helps that it’s not change for change’s sake. It’s responsive change we make the things we sell here on the shopfloor so we’ve got to have what we need to do it right. That’s what sells it to me.
I’ve found that as soon as people put the principles of MPS into action, they see the rewards pretty quickly: your day gets easier and you get more out of your life at work. I’s common sense, isn’t it? We;re at work for most of the day so we really should try to get as much satisfaction out of it as we can. If you can solve things yourself, there’s a lot more motivation to get on and do it.
It;s a tragedy if your ideas get stuck at the bottom simply because of where you work. That;s still what happens in so many places but we do this job hour after hour, week in, week out. We can see what;ll help to us do it better. We get some good ideas.
It;s been very refreshing seeing them implemented. Now the only frustration comes from wanting more change. Once you see what;s possible you get hungry for more.