The exceptionally tidy and clean factory

I have walked through many factories in my life.

I love factories.

When a factory is neat and tidy, it often is reflected in the performance of the business. There are fewer safety incidents, less time spent looking for things, and a general atmosphere that increases people's propensity to produce quality. There are a host of positive, bottom-line, and work-experience-enhancing benefits to a neat factory.

One of my clients had an unusually spotless factory. It was a factory that manufactured relatively large metal structures. These are often hard to keep looking tidy and clean. I remember noticing small things – like wherever someone had laid pieces of metal aside to work on later, they would be lying in parallel, or neatly stacked. If there were two piles of metal close to each other, they were far enough from each other that someone could easily walk through between them.

Not by design

When I asked the founder about this, he had no idea how it had gotten that way. He just said he liked things to be tidy.

I asked him if he had any metrics on the shopfloor being clean and tidy. He didn't, and he was not aware of any of his people having that. I asked him if he did regular inspections. He didn't.

However, after a few visits that included the beginning and the end of the day, it became clear to me what had been happening here.

He had the simple habit of walking through the factory from the parking lot to his office. There was a shorter way, but he chose to walk through the factory every day when he arrived, and when he left. Whenever he would find something not quite in place, he would simply move it into the position he wanted it to be. I once saw him grab a broom and a scoop to clean up some shavings.

The only time I ever saw him ask someone else to do the cleaning or tidying was when a specific structure was too big for him to move himself, and he asked a rigger to use the overhead crane to move it so it would be parallel to an identical structure next to it.

Whether or not this level of tidiness added any value to the operation can be debated. I loved being in that factory, and I think the people working there were very proud of their work.

But the point I really want to make is not about the benefits of a neat factory.

The unspoken KPI

It is about the fact that sometimes we measure things without even realising it, and people adjust their behaviour accordingly. Notice that he never asked people to tidy up the factory. He didn't measure tidiness in any obvious manner. But every morning and every afternoon he walked through the factory, and often he would tidy up something.

No one verbalized it, but here was a clear Key Performance Indicator. The standards were clear—demonstrated regularly. The performance was clearly visible. If it was not up to standard, there was a response within the same workday.

If something is important to you, create a routine of regularly observing, and responding to it.

It doesn't have to be a formal metric.

It doesn't have to be elaborate.

It must be consistent, and visible.

The results will follow.

To your success

Ashton

Grow Your Business

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