Practical Approach, Powerful Results 

Presenters at Enterprise Minnesota's March 20 business event reveal how training in Practical Problem Solving has bettered their businesses.

Practical Problem Solving is a three-day, business problem-solving training program in which key employees learn a structured method for identifying and responding to problems effectively and efficiently. Company employees study real-life problems in their plants, and then learn how to analyze their root causes and pinpoint the best solutions. Like Training Within Industry (TWI), Practical Problem Solving uses a four-step process: define the problem, find the root causes, identify and implement countermeasures, and confirm and follow up.

On March 20, two graduates of Practical Problem Solving training - Jeremy Guhlke of Alexandria Pro-Fab Co., Inc. and Jane Schlagel of Fiserv, Inc. - discussed how the program has changed their businesses, from improved processes to renewed philosophies.

Gulhke, who works as a machine operator and trainer for Alexandria Pro-Fab, says Practical Problem Solving helped his team define a communication problem between shifts. The company had a form for each operator to complete at end of their shift listing any problems they encountered and how they were addressed. But because only 25 percent of the forms were filled out, only 25 percent of information was being properly communicated, resulting in recurring problems.

The company's six Practical Problem Solving training participants determined that the form's complexity, paired with lack of time during the day, posed major barriers to its completion. The team worked to design a simpler version and asked management to grant workers the last few minutes of their shifts to complete it. They also received permission to conduct daily audits to ensure forms were being filled out.

In a matter of weeks, Guhlke says plant communication increased from 25 percent to 90 percent, and has remained consistently above 90 percent. Better communication has also eased frustration and reduced scrap. "It has been a really good process for our company. And the six of us are a team now. It empowered us," Guhlke says.

For Fiserv, Inc., the problem was an application that pushed data files for personalizing secure cards such as credit cards to the machines too slowly, causing missed rush orders, incorrect order dates and broken Service Level Agreements. The slow processing also required one employee to spend five hours per day, spread throughout a 24-hour period, manually monitoring client data file processing to ensure correct order dates.

Fiserv Inc. set a short-term goal to find someone to monitor the processing in the evening and overnight and to modify the application to run a bit faster, with a long-term goal of completely rewriting it with speed in mind. The application now runs 30 percent faster, and the employee who had been manually monitoring the processing isn't on call 24 hours per day.

Though Fiserv is still working towards its ultimate goal, Schlagel is pleased with the progress to date. "It's about incremental improvements, and that speaks to continuous improvement," she says.

For companies just beginning in Practical Problem Solving, Enterprise Minnesota Business Growth Advisor Mike Braml recommends focusing first on the small, daily problems, then working up to the larger, strategic ones.

"The smaller scope problems are the place to start because they help you to understand and internalize the [Practical Problem Solving] process," Braml says. "Remember, Toyota's model is 'A little up every day.' Their focus is small-scale improvements. Chip away at the daily things in small pieces. The more routine this practice becomes, the more it will become part of your culture rather than an event."

To learn more about Practical Problem Solving training, visit here

GreenLean™ - Eliminating Time and Energy Wastes to Grow Business

April 19, 2012
8:00am-11:00am
Medtronic (Brooklyn Park, MN)
Cost: $79 Early Bird (before April 6) or $110 Regular

What to Expect?
Learn how and why Green and Lean practices will drive growth and innovation inside your company. By sharing the sustainability experiences of their own companies our expert presenters will make the business case for reducing or eliminating time and energy wastes. See how it can become a productive business strategy for your organization.

Speakers:

Ryan Bruers, Field Sales Engineer, Xcel Energy

Brian Kopas, Director of Supply Chain Management, Foldcraft Company

Janice Tobin, Sr. Operations Manager, Environmental Health and Safety, Medtronic

Samuel S. Gould, Business Growth Consultant, Enterprise Minnesota

Moderator:

Bob Kill, President & CEO, Enterprise Minnesota
 
Register Online 

For questions or more information email events@enterpriseminnesota.org or call our events line at 612.455.4239.

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