Shop Floor

1. Shopfloor Management Defintion
Now that we have clarified the initial problem, the definition of Shopfloor
Management (SFM) follows. Synonyms for shop floor are “workshop” or
“factory floor”. It is the place where value is created. Shopfloor management is
clearly based on lean management. Managers go directly to the site where
value creation takes place. Permanent improvements and optimization of
processes directly at the point where employees are working are the main
goals of Shopfloor Management. But there is more to store floor management.
The processes around the production should be optimized, and the
management and leadership tasks of production. There are four essential
components of store floor management to achieve these goals. In the
following section, they will be discussed in more detail.
In Shopfloor Management, the manager should act more as a coach and
motivator with authority for the employees and apply less of an authoritarian
management style. Like a coach, the manager should motivate, qualify and
inform the employees. Through the role of a coach, which the manager should
take, a continuous improvement process should be created in the daily work
routine. The long-term goals of the company vision and the short- and
medium-term goals should be distributed to all areas or departments of the
teams.
In short, the purpose of shop floor management is that management is located
much more employees, and the process improvement happens directly on the
spot. The employees’ focus in the supporting areas, such as development, IT,
logistics, sales, etc., should be on ensuring that production functions efficiently
and without errors. However, the process improvements made by SFM also
serve to meet customer requirements daily. After all, it is essential to have a
satisfied clientele.
Shop Floor Management: These four essential
components exist
SFM consists of four core components and, when you get right down to it, an
additional fifth component, which we will discuss individually below:
 Leading (on-site)
 Communicating with each other
 Presenting key figures in visual form
 Solving problems sustainably
 Continuous improvement process (CIP)

2. Leading (on-site)
Leading on-site is an essential part of SFM. The Lean approach is
recognizable here and, in turn includes three requirements that are placed on
leadership:
 Hansei
 Genchi Genbutsu & Gemba
 Hoshin Kanri
 Hansei
Hansei is about self-reflection and living an open error culture. However, the
aim is to clearly refrain from blaming others and instead create a positive error
culture. Mistakes are therefore considered valuable. This, in turn, should
provide the opportunity to improve and develop constantly.
Genchi Genbutsu & Gemba means that employees are guided directly at
where they work or where things happen. The word Gemba means
production. So the managers should be in the direction of the place of
production. As already mentioned above, the problem with many managers
nowadays is that they are too far away from the employees. They are often in
meetings and conferences with customers and other managers all day long
and get little of the actual day-to-day activities of their employees. The
purpose of communicating closely with their employees is to help managers
better empathize with and understand their employees on the one hand and to
develop a better understanding of the root cause of a problem and how to
solve it on the other.

3. Hoshin Kanri is a leadership method that sets directionally defined goals from
the highest level. The long, medium and short-term goals are to be broken
down to all areas, departments, and teams. This is achieved by defining
smaller breakthrough goals. These are derived from the corporate vision. The
entire company is then aligned with these transparent and uniform goals. A
further step is to concretize the goals in terms of time and content at the
lowest level. The Hoshin approach the cohesion and communication among
each other. Hoshin Karan is also divided into three components: Daily
Management, Cross-functional Management, and Hoshin Management. Daily
Management ensures that employees are given clearly defined goals.
Crossfunctional Management is responsible for ensuring that the goals of
each area are aligned and aligned with each other. Finally, Hoshin
Management aligns all areas and activities with corporate goals. Interface
representatives ensure that key performance indicators are coordinated
beyond their scope. There is also coordination with middle management.
Communication with each other
Communication is indispensable in today’s world. Whether in private or in
business, nothing works without communication. Communication is an
essential requirement for a manager. Only good communication prevents
misunderstandings. Communication takes place directly at the place of action
and not far away. The manager should promote the self-management skills of
the employees. As mentioned elsewhere, the manager should act as a coach
and not in an authoritarian manner. Communication with employees should
take place at eye level. The manager asks the employees questions that are
intended to make them think. This type of questioning is intended to give
employees a sense of claiming success for solving a problem for themselves.
This, in turn, leads to employees being motivated to come up with their
solutions. Likewise, this should generate new ideas from the employees. In
addition, the manager receives information first hand and not via numerous
detours. As a result, the decisions that need to be made take place directly at
the point of action. Communication between the manager and the employees
is essential, and communication to the individual interfaces. This is the only
way to ensure that any problems that may arise can be addressed and
resolved as early as possible through the presence of the interface
representatives. Only with functioning and well-regulated communication is it
possible to ensure that information can be provided at the right time with the
necessary quality and low expenditure of resources.
Present key figures in visual form
The employees involved in the process must be able to answer the following
questions:
 What are the team’s mission and goal?

4.  What metrics are being used to measure this?
 How much does the ACTUAL state deviate from the TARGET state?
 What exactly are the processes, and what are the problems related to
these processes?
 What measures are planned to solve these problems, or what
improvements can be introduced?
Various key figures serve as a basis through which the whole should and can
be visualized. Care must be taken to limit the key figures to be visualized to
what is absolutely necessary. The key figures serve both for controlling and as
information for further planning. Suppose the corporate goals are consistently
broken down to the various process levels. In that case, they have a high
value for SFM since the processes are aligned with the customer, and the
individual processes for achieving the goals are clearly in focus. Those key
performance indicators must be made visible on the management board that
aligns the respective business unit with its objectives, which are of decisive
importance for the customer that follows its process. The key performance
indicators highlight potential problems and obstacles in the process. The so-
called SMART principle plays a significant role in the orientation of the key
figures. The key figures must meet the following requirements:
 They must be specific (s = specific).
 They must be measurable (m = measurable).
 They must be accepted by the employees (a = accepted).
 The target and limit values must be selected in such a way that they are
realistic (r = realistic).
 There must be a timeframe for implementation (t = timely).
The key figures can be presented in different ways, such as quality, costs,
deadlines, and people.
Solving problems sustainably
It is essential to proceed in a systematic way when solving problems
sustainably. Here it is vital to use methods that are not complicated. The
procedures must be appropriate to the level of education of all employees. It is
not enough to teach employees approaches to problem-solving in the form of
(just one) training session(s). Solving a problem is a learning process for
employees that develops gradually. For the process of problem-solving, one

5. should use the PDCA cycle brought out by W. E. Deming. This is a continuous
improvement process with four recurring steps:
 Step 1: Planning phase (plan).
 Step 2: Apply or try out the solution (do).
 Step 3: The improvement measures must be checked and evaluated
(check).
 Step 4: The learning successes are evaluated, and action is taken (act).
Continuous Improvement Process (CIP)
CIP is a fundamental prerequisite for store floor management to live a lean
culture in the company. Initially, the CIP comes from the Japanese. There it is
known under the term Kaizen. Kaizen is made up of the words kai=change
and zen=the good. Everything is to be changed for the better, which is
ultimately reflected in the processes.
Ultimately, lean thinking should lead to a change in thinking among employees
and managers because lean culture is an entirely different way of thinking
than our Western culture. Ultimately, the company should constantly be
learning through continuous improvement while at the same time measuring
the methods used.
What are the advantages of shop floor management for
companies?
Since continuous process improvement takes place, the following advantages
arise for companies:
 If something deviates from the actual process, it is possible to react
more quickly.
 Resources are used optimally
 Sustainable planning and control
 Optimization potentials and results are recognized and presented much
better.
 Significantly more transparency of target/actual states and trends
 Better communication within the team and higher self-discipline
What problems can occur with shop floor management?
Where is a lot of light, there is naturally also shadow, which is also the case
with Shopfloor Management. At the same time, the continuous improvement
process creates new challenges for companies to which they must adapt. For
example, management and employees must work together optimally.
However, since this is often not the case, this remains a major challenge for
employees and management. Shopfloor management must not be used for

6. control purposes. Instead, communication between management and
employees should be promoted or improved. Another danger is that divisional
thinking can occur. A too-tight schedule can also be an obstacle to Shopfloor
Management.
What does Lean Management mean?
Lean management is about the continuous improvement of operational
processes. Various lean methods thought patterns, and procedures are
applied to harmonize processes with each other and create a production
system that eliminates waste. All of this extends throughout the company’s
operations and beyond.
The core theme of lean management is to focus on the customer and reduce
costs. This involves looking at where there is potential for waste to eliminate it
subsequently. All types of waste along the value chain are to be eliminated by
lean management. The advantage for the businesses and customers is that
by eliminating waste, the products or goods can be offered to the customer at
a lower price. Lean management can be applied to various areas in a
company. These include the office (lean administration), production, and
logistics.
Conclusion: Only if a precise definition of processes, the description of
interfaces, and the early reaction to errors are applied in Lean Management,
high-quality products can be produced.