Ducks
Barbara Kanegsberg
BFK Solutions LLC
You fully intend to update or automate your cleaning process, select
new equipment, or improve the yield, but first, you have to get your
ducks in
a row. We’re in favor of making informed decisions about critical
or industrial cleaning. However, getting all your ducks in a row is nearly
as
productive and as likely to happen as herding cats. Most of us have too
many ducks. To avoid situations where chronic planning becomes a substitute
for
action, many of our clients find it cost-effective to have us start consulting
early on. Here are some thoughts to get you started.
Planning a cleaning process modification is in itself a process, one
with numerous variables. At BFK Solutions, we like to get involved
at the “ducks” stage,
because this is the best stage to determine what really needs to happen.
Here are a few wandering ducks:
What are the current cleaning processes?
Have we identified all the current processes?
What is our current product line? Our future product line?
Do we have a cleaning problem, a contamination control problem, or both?
Are safety or environmental drivers pushing the process change? If so, have we identified all of our options?
Do we have the major players involved in the process change?
How much can we invest in capital equipment?
How labor intensive should the process be?
What is the true value of our product?
What are the consequences of cleaning? Of not cleaning?
You may notice that these points and concerns are not listed in any
particular order. I did this on purpose. Eventually, you have to
get organized; but
you do not have to be totally organized to begin new process development.
Linear thinking and linear action, while seemingly organized, are
often not a good fit with current lean manufacturing requirements.
At the
start, we
find that it is more productive to simply sit back and list all
of the issues, problems, concerns, and provisos in whatever order
comes
to mind.
Even seeing
steps listed, even verbalizing concerns can help put the problems
into perspective.
In pursuing the various issues, working linearly one step at a time may not get the most “bang for the buck.” You may want to check a regulatory agency website, call a few equipment vendors, and schedule a brainstorming session with your workers all as parallel activities.
In our experience, in the real world of industrial and critical
cleaning processes, ducks are unlikely to re-enact the main
number from “Chorus
Line” and cats will never be completely herded. You don’t have
to plan forever and you don’t have to buy the first piece of equipment
your local sales rep suggests. By considering the points of concern and
then acting on them, progress can actually happen.
