The Standard

"What have you done to my machine!?"

The production manager was furious about the breakage of a degas rotor.  It is a piece of ceramic rudder that rotates in molten metal to purge impurities before the metal is used for casting.  My team member was called to the machine to troubleshoot why the degas rotor was not turning when auto cycle started.  What he found was there was a parameter that was different than the Standard posted.  After changing the parameter back to Standard, he wanted to test the rotor in manual outside of the molten metal.  He did not want to test it inside the molten metal because 1) he could not see it in operation, 2) if something happened, the splashing of the molten metal would dangerous.

When he started the rotor in manual, the rotor began rotating immediately at a very high speed, and within several seconds, the rotor shaft vibrated violently, and snapped.

The production manager, without fully knowing the reasoning behind this, immediately told my team member, "you should have tested the rotor INSIDE the molten metal, so that the metal will prevent the rotor from spinning too fast and breaking!"

After talking to my team member to find out about the background information, I went to talk to the production manager.  I told him, the key is this: regardless of whether he should have tested it inside or outside of the molten metal, the fact is, there is NO STANDARD to do the test.  Without such a Standard, it is unfair to the team member doing the troubleshooting to be blamed for breaking the rotor. It is management's problem to not provide the Standard to allow the team member to perform their work in confidence -- a basic requirement for JKK.

This case study shows that a Standard is not only important in allowing the team member to perform consistent work, but also as a way to handle any conflict at work in the fairest, most objective way.