There's no stopping us now! What we can learn from the Toyota Production System
This session looks at what we can learn from Lean Manufacturing and apply to documentation processes to improve overall efficiency and costs. As well as looking at potential areas for potential productivity gains, it introduces the language of Lean Manufacturing – helping documentation managers to align their projects with wider corporate startegies and to help secure executive management support and budget. Attendees to this session will come away with some new and innovative ideas about how to sell the vision and importance of global content management and processes to executive management by using the right language. They will understand what their global content is really costing them and how they can cut this down considerably with reuse and removal of wastage.
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and pains
TCUK10 Graham Wignall - Lean Docs
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2. There’s No Stopping Us Now! What we can learn from the Toyota Production System, or Lean Documentation 101 Graham WignallBusiness Development Director
4. Topics For Today Why learn about lean? TPS, Lean techniques and documentation Types of waste in documentation Building the business case Conclusions Q&A Managing content A time and a place Re-use of content Conclusions Lean techniques Types of waste Q&A
5. Why Learn About Lean? “A good catchword can obscure analysis for fifty years...” Wendell L Willkie Conclusions Learning About Lean Types of waste A time and a place Managing content Re-use of content Q&A
6. Why Learn About Lean? Too many projects, not enough funds What’s hot? (and what’s not...) Don’t speak Geek (or if you must...)
7. Lean Techniques & Documentation “He that idly loses 5s. worth of time, loses 5s., and might as prudently throw 5s. into the river.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste A time and a place Managing content Re-use of content Q&A
8. Publishing – How ExpensiveIs It? Typical figures for technical documentation show Technical illustration costs per page $200 Authoring/proofing costs per page $200 Translation costs per page (20 languages) $800 Total cost per page $1,200 If you have a range of 50 products, each with a 200 page manual, you could be spending $12,000,000 per year! It MUST be possible to do this more efficiently…
9. Types Of Waste “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” Peter F. Drucker Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste A time and a place Managing content Re-use of content Q&A
10. Types Of Waste In Lean Manufacturing Lean Manufacturing focuses on seven kinds of waste (or Muda, Mura and Muri in TPS terminology): Overproduction Motion Waiting Conveyance Processing Inventory Correction
11. Types Of Waste In Documentation There are five main areas in documentation where waste occurs: Publishing ‘over-complete’ documentation that caters for multiple configurations, variants or audiences Lack of integration between engineering and technical documentation departments Multiple authors writing the same thing in different ways introducing inconsistency and lowering quality Process or control deficiencies allowing out of date information to be used or published Unnecessary review cycles
12. Re-use Of Content “All we are doing is looking at the time line, from the moment the customer gives us an order to the point when we collect the cash. And we are reducing the time line by reducing the non-value adding wastes.” TaiichiOhno, Toyota Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste A time and a place Managing content Re-use of content Q&A 無駄 Muda: activity that adds no value
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14. Never expose lifting equipment to loads exceeding the specified safe working load (SWL) value.
16. Check that all dowels are secured with locking pins before lifting.
17. When replacing parts, only use original parts authorized by ACME Inc.a. Install jack adapters (1) on brackets (2). (1) Place adapters (1) on brackets (2). (2) Insert pins (3) in holes of adapter (1) and brackets (2). b. Position two 5-ton tripod jacks (4) under adapters (1). Use jacks. (1) Turn two pressure valve screws (5) clockwise to close. Use jack handle (6). (2) Pump handle (6) until ram (7) contacts adapter (1). c. Position 3-ton tripod jack (8) under tail boom jack pad (9). (1) Turn pressure valve screw (10) clockwise to close. Use jack handle (11). (2) Pump handle (11) until ram (12) contacts pad (9). d. Release parking brake (para 1.61).
18. Re-use Of Content The same content appears in more than one document Product data sheets User guides Maintenance manuals FAQs
19. Re-use Of Content The same content relates to more than one product Components and subassemblies Procedures Boilerplate BMW 120d BMW 520d BMW 320d
20. ‘Accidental’ Content “How do I write thee? Let me count the ways...” with apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste A time and a place Managing content Re-use of content Q&A 無駄 Muda: activity that adds no value
21. ‘Accidental’ Content WARNING: Switch power off only when the fan has stopped WARNING: Switch power off once the fan has stopped WARNING: Disconnect power only when the fan has stopped WARNING: Never switch the power off until the fan has stopped WARNING: Do not power down until the fan has stopped WARNING: Do not power down before the fan has stopped WARNING: You must wait until the fan has stopped before switching off the power WARNING: Wait until the fan has stopped running before switching off the power WARNING: Do not disconnect power if fan is running WARNING: Fan must be stopped before disconnecting power
22. ‘Accidental’ Content Accidental content is very expensive It has to be proofed It has to be reviewed It may have to be translated It has to be published It reduces consistency It reduces clarity It reduces quality It reduces usability
23. Driving Efficiency “Time waste differs from material waste in that there can be no salvage. The easiest of all wastes and the hardest to correct is the waste of time, because wasted time does not litter the floor like wasted material.” Henry Ford Re-use of content Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste Managing content A time and a place Q&A 斑 Mura: unevenness, inconsistency
24. Feast And Famine Write Review Publish Translate Write Translate Review Publish Write Translate Review Write Translate Review Write Translate Review Modules can be written, reviewed and translated in parallel: Reduced time to market More effective use of resources
25. Driving Efficiency “When you buy bananas all you want is the fruit not the skin, but you have to pay for the skin also. It is a waste. And you the customer should not have to pay for the waste.” Shigeo Shingo, Toyota Re-use of content Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste Managing content A time and a place Q&A 斑 Mura: unevenness, inconsistency
26. Customer Centric Documentation Everywhere you look, customers are paying for banana skins The glove-box manual that tells them all about the optional Sat Nav they don’t have The handbook in 20 languages, 19 of which they can’t read The 400 pages of documentation when all they need to know is where to find the power switch
27. Customer Centric Documentation Move to “mass customisation” in documentation Deliver the right material in the right quantity to the right person Deliver only what is needed Assemble documentation from components Assemble and publish on demand Publish “Just In Time”
28. Managing Content “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” Bill Gates, Microsoft Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste A time and a place Managing content Re-use of content Q&A 無理 Muri: overburden, lack of standardisation
29. The Challenge Of Re-Use Any new method that reduces Muda or Mura but produces more work downstream for people or equipment eventually produces a new type of inefficiency Moving from tens or hundreds of documents to thousands or tens of thousands of components represents a major challenge for people and systems Identifying, versioning, managing and assembling output requires new tools and skills As the number of ‘moving parts’ increases, so does the management overhead, particularly when dealing with an extended supply chain
30. Component Content Management To get maximum value from your documentation resources, you should be able to do a number of things: Write once, use many. Re-purpose. Manage translations where appropriate. Publish to multiple outputs.
31. Building The Business Case “The most efficient way to produce anything is to bring together under one management as many as possible of the activities needed to turn out the product.” Peter Drucker, Management Consultant Managing content A time and a place Re-use of content Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste Q&A
32. Re-use Of Content – The Opportunity? Typical figures for technical documentation show Technical illustration costs per page $200 Authoring/proofing costs per page $200 Translation costs per page (20 languages) $800 Total cost per page $1,200 Total cost for 10,000 pages $12,000,000 Industry case studies show typical figures for re-use of 20-30% or more If re-use allows you reduce the amount of content you produce, that amounts to 3,000 pages per year $3,600,000 per year
33. ‘Accidental’ Content – How Expensive? Typical figures for technical documentation show Technical illustration costs per page $200 Authoring/proofing costs per page $200 Translation costs per page (20 languages) $800 Total cost per page $1,200 Total cost for 10,000 pages $12,000,000 If you reduce the ‘accidental’ new content by just 10% you save: $20 per page authoring $80 per page translating $1,000,000 per year
34. Automation – The Opportunity? Typical figures for technical documentation show Technical illustration costs per page $200 Authoring/proofing costs per page $200 Translation costs per page (20 languages) $800 Total cost per page $1,200 Total cost for 10,000 pages $12,000,000 SDL’s experience indicates that human ‘transaction’ costs account for 50% of document production Automation typically reduces these transactions by 30% saving: $30 per page authoring $120 per page translating $1,500,000 per year
35. Conclusions “If you need a new process and don't install it, you pay for it without getting it.” Ken Stork, past president, Association for Manufacturing Excellence Managing content A time and a place Re-use of content Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste Q&A
36. Conclusions Many organisations have invested heavily in Lean Manufacturing tools and methodologies, but their documentation lags far behind. Authoring Management tools to enforce terminology and reduce ‘accidental’ content creation Component Content Management to support modular content and re-use Dynamic Publishing tools to build customer centric documentation on demand Align the requirements of Technical Communications with wider corporate initiatives. Learn the language of those who have access to funding!
37. Questions & Answers Managing content A time and a place Re-use of content Conclusions Learning about Lean Types of waste Q&A
