In my
experience with the Senior Design Project through the university, there were
many organizational problems present. In the company, documentation systems,
route layouts, and responsibility allocation was not consistent throughout the
entire system. Parts were not delivered to the correct place at the right time
or at all and certain aspects of the system were breaking down. It was clear
that the previous processes were outdated and no longer helping the situation
they were intended to. These obsolete processes for documenting parts and
deliveries were hampering the employees from doing a good job. It was clear
that the people were not purposefully breaking down the system but the lack of
communication between “upstairs” and the floor workers was impeding success and
ultimately profit. Because no one was communicating well, things were not
coordinated and parts were missing and some orders needed to be rushed to be
completed, leaving great room for error.
The
mistakes that my team observed boiled down to issues that spiraled from these
poor communication practices and outdated processes. It was not easy to
pinpoint single issues with a clear-cut answer because there were so many side
effects taking place that it was more comparable to putting out a series of
small fires rather than an entire burning building. Through analyzing the waste
and monetary loss from the inadequate processes and organization, my team was
able to make a list of solutions for the company to start working through. The
company found that they were able to save lots of money but fixing
documentation system and the paths of coordination for the routes and
employees.
Organization
is vital in any company that wants to succeed and make money. By making sure
that the entire employee network is coordinated and looking at consistent
documentation has proved to save the company from my senior project money that
would otherwise be spent on labor, reworking, travel time and other forms of
waste.
It's great your senior project was able to make recommendations that helped this organization see through the forest to get down to the root cause of many areas in need of improvement. This is a great example of how IE's can make things better! Good job. Sandy
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