Shift Reports that get Results

Are you happy with your shift report? Does it make it easy to achieve the results you need?

If not – this email is for you. Let’s explore how to create the ideal shift report. One that is accurate, actionable, simple, and beautiful.  Accurate   Every strong structure needs a firm foundation, and this concept extends to reporting. Your shift report needs a foundation of highly accurate data.

Accurate

The secret to establishing accurate data is to eliminate human error and bias - and instead rely on indisputable facts. How? By eliminating manual data capture.

The biggest mistake people make when automating data capture is to assume they need to integrate with a PLC. Most PLC's have been programmed, patched, and updated over multiple years by multiple people. The data is usually there - but it is very hard to capture in a way that works effectively for reporting. As a result, PLC integration projects usually cost more and deliver less than expected. Focus your energy on using existing sensors to capture the state of the process, without ever touching a PLC.

With just two sensors you can capture the state of your manufacturing process with amazing precision – providing you with a highly accurate data foundation.

 Actionable   

Shift reports should drive action - not just be read in a meeting and filed on a share-drive (or in a dusty corner of your office).

The secret to actionable shift reporting is to focus on losses. A great way to focus on losses is with the Six Big Losses or a Top Losses Report.

The biggest mistake we see people make in this area is placing too much focus on what was made (parts) and not enough focus on what was lost (time). Focus your energy on reclaiming lost time, and manufacturing throughput will naturally increase.

Actionable shift reports should focus on loss. This Top Losses report shows the top 5 losses in terms of lost time. It’s a simple roadmap – focus on one of your top losses to improve production today.

Simple   

Less is more.

The secret to a simple shift report is to strip it down to the bare essentials. This will ensure that your team focuses on what matters most. The bare essentials usually includes a handful of key metrics, a breakdown of all lost time by reason, and a simple summary of each part run.

The biggest mistake people make that leads to complex reports is capturing every imaginable piece of data. Too much information makes it harder to find insights. We call it the "data trap". While it’s great to have the underlying data available when you truly need it, on most days the extra data gets in the way.

Here is an example of leading the shift report with simple but impactful information: OEE plus the three underlying losses in easy-to-understand terms - lost time. Trend information instantly shows whether the loss is getting better or worse.

Beautiful   

A little bit of design goes a long way towards conveying information effectively.

The secret to a beautiful shift report is selecting the best way to convey each piece of information. In other words, ask yourself how your team will use each piece of information - then select the best way to present it.

The biggest mistake people make is spending too little time designing their shift reports. We have a saying at our company – "hard writing makes for easy reading". Invest time to craft a report that's beautiful and easy to understand. One of our favorite books on this topic is Information Dashboard Design: Displaying Data for At-a-Glance Monitoring, by Stephen Few.

Here is an example where effective design conveys a lot of information in a compact form. It’s a digital take on the classic hour-by-hour board. Each hour is colored based on Efficiency - which is also presented in bold. The count metrics (good count and target count) are presented but de-emphasized.

Can We Help? 

We have deployed our flagship XL Productivity Appliance on over 25,000 manufacturing processes across 45 countries. We are experts on manufacturing improvement, and passionate about helping companies to achieve results.