The “Big Four” of lean manufacturing in Corrugated carton plants

Nowadays more and more corrugated carton manufacturers are now starting to develop a lean production model, with safety, quality, efficiency, cost and team building as the basic KPI's for detailed decomposition, allowing the concept of lean production to penetrate into the heart of every worker, helping the company to improve its soft power, in order to seek new breakthroughs in management capabilities, to further improve quality, reduce costs and improve the overall core competitiveness of the enterprise. The aim is to further improve quality, reduce costs and enhance the core competitiveness of the company.

In order to maximise the functions of each member, reduce shifting of responsibilities between them, solve abnormal problems quickly and integrate the concept of "JIT" (Just In Time) into production, we need to give full play to the role of the "Big Four".

1、What are the “Big Four” of the carton plant?

The "Big Four" of lean production in the carton box factory, who need to play their full part, are the following.

Production section: production manager/supervisor.

(1)Manage production on site and assign people to do it according to standards;

(2)propose, cooperate and arrange things to be promoted by other functional teams;

(3)Focus on implementation and identifying problems and reflecting the problem them.

Process section: process engineers.

(1)Identification of causes of process quality abnormalities and proposal of countermeasures;

(2)Establishment and training of standardisation and process capability enhancement;

Quality section: Quality Manager / Supervisor

(1)?Analysis, stratification and data collection of defective phenomena;

(2)?Monitor the performance and results of site personnel working to standards;

(3)?Focus on auditing, prevention before anomalies occur, and data analysis after anomalies occur.

Equipment section: engineering maintenance staff

(1)Responsible for the care, maintenance and improvement of equipment.

The "Big Four" consist of four parts: production, process, quality and equipment. They are most directly responsible for maintaining the normal operation of the production site and achieving the important mission of quality, output, delivery and cost control assigned by the company, as well as playing an important role in process maintenance and improvement.

2、The formation of a mature "Big Four" team is generally divided into four stages

Stage 1: The initial formation of the team.?

Features and points to note in this stage of development: this stage must be characterized by a clear definition of the team's core mission, goals, and milestones, the roles to be played and involved, the size of the team, the rules of the game, the operating environment, and also the team's mentor, all of which need to be discussed thoroughly.

Stage 2: The conflict and bonding phase of the team.

Characteristics and points to note at this stage of development: the team's performance is unstable, there is more conflict, everyone encounters frustration in different areas and interpersonal relationships are greatly challenged. At this stage, the team needs someone who is good at leading and coordinating, who constantly leads the team to review and amend the rules of the system, otherwise the team will end up disbanding. This is the time when communication is most needed. Apart from working hours, communication should also be strengthened during non-working hours to help ease tension.?

Stage 3: The normal operation and execution phase of the team.

Characteristics and points to note at this stage of development: the team is performing more consistently, the team structure is gradually improving and consensus has been strengthened. The members show active concern and communication with each other, focus on the team's cooperation and mission, and develop some new styles and systems. The team leader at this stage needs to constantly guide the group to review their working methods and identify gaps in their goals and mission. It is still necessary to maintain the relationships between the team members at this stage, as they have developed to a certain point and may be afraid of damaging the existing relationships and of affecting the mood of the others, thus fearing to raise their opinions, which many times happens.?

Stage 4:The phase of efficient team functioning.

The characteristics and points to note at this stage of development: a real team has been formed and efficiency is unprecedented. However, the team's effectiveness is bound to decline over time, so this stage requires constant criticism and self-criticism, with everyone acting as a "doctor", learning from each other, reviewing each other, and adding new "blood", including new skills, new members, new systems, new methods, new ideas, etc.

If you like my article, Please like, share, and subscribe to my channel, Thank you for your support!^^