> > A toothpaste factory had a > > problem. They sometimes shipped empty boxes without the tube of > > toothpaste inside. This challenged their perceived quality with the > > buyers and distributors. > > > > Understanding how important the > > relationship with them was, the CEO of the company assembled all of > > his top people. They decided to hire an external engineering company > > to solve their empty boxes problem. The project followed the usual > > process: > > budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP and third-parties selected. > > > > Six months (and $8 million) later > > they had a fantastic solution - on time, on budget and high quality. > > Everyone in the project was pleased. > > > > They solved the problem by using a > > high-tech precision scale that would sound a bell and flash lights > > whenever a toothpaste box weighed less than it should. The line would > > stop, someone would walk over, remove the defective box and then press > > another button to re-start the line. As a result of the new package > > monitoring process, no empty boxes were being shipped out of the > > factory. > > > > With no more customer complaints, > > the CEO felt the $8 million was well spent. At the end of the first > > month, he reviewed the line statistics report and discovered the > > number of empty boxes picked up by the scale in the first week was > > consistent with projections. However, the next three weeks were zero! > > The estimated rate should have been at least a dozen boxes a day. He > > had the engineers check the equipment, and they verified the report as > > accurate. > > > > Puzzled, the CEO traveled down to > > the factory, viewed the part of the line where the precision scale was > > installed, and observed that just ahead of the new > > $8 million dollar solution sat a $20 desk fan blowing the empty boxes > > off the belt and into a bin. He asked the line supervisor what that > > was about. > > > > Oh, that, the > > supervisor replied, Bert, the kid from maintenance, put it there > > because he was tired of walking over, removing the box and re-starting > > the line every time the bloody bell rang.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 17:04:39 +0000
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