 |
 |
Ken Friedman wrote: > The Deming management model and the Toyota Way explicitly require human solidarity. I agree with that and would go a little further in relating it to designing. Implementing these kinds of cultural and organisational schemes is a design task as much as designing the products they produce. A few years ago I took part in a "Teaching Company Scheme" with a local Manufacturer, Kingkraft, who make baths for disabled people, technically quite complex electro-mechanical products. The Teaching Company Scheme (now called Knowledge Transfer Partnership) is funded by the UK government to allow small businesses to take advantage of university expertise by employing a graduate, supervised by the university, to work in the company on strategic developments for two years. It's a great scheme and everybody involved learns a lot and gains new experience. The design graduate involved, Marcus Crossley, was brought in to develop new products, which he did, but the company had some quite serious problems which the new owners had inherited from the previous management. The factory was dysfunctional based on chaotic systems creating overwork, delays and poor quality and the staff had all worked in this system for years so could not see a way out (and maybe lacked the motivation) As we introduced a new product we took the opportunity to introduce a cellular system (previously new products being built, components and tools were scattered randomly around the factory depending on what had happened the week before). Marcus became intrigued by the problems and the kind of thinking represented by the Toyota system and, since the existing team did not have any grasp of the problem, took the initiative to do a thorough overhaul of the whole factory. As well as a rational method of organising the flow of materials and tasks, in consultation with the workers, he produced well-designed graphical information to explain how each production task (complex assemblies) should be done, allowing workers to develop their understanding and take responsibility rather than depend on verbal instruction and an incomplete understanding of their work. Six years later Marcus is the Technical Director of the company, responsible for managing and developing a new bigger factory, he is still a designer, it's just a different kind of designing concerned with community and technique rather than product. So anybody who implements this kind of change has to be a designer by instinct, if not training, and knowledgeable designers may be very good at taking a lead in these situations. best wishes from Sheffield Chris