Improving communication between shifts

Communication log

An important factor in increasing productivity and reducing errors is effective communication between operators during the shift change over. A smooth transition between shifts through the transfer of quality information can make machining up-time numbers remain high and reduce the chance of errors greatly. Implement tools to improve communication and you will continue to exceed manufacturing metrics and goals set forth by your organization.

Nothing works better than face-to-face verbal communication to pass pertinent and important information. The only way to implement this effectively is to overlap shift begin and end times. How much time you allocate depends proportionally on the complexity of your processes. Require operators from each shift to come in 10 minutes early and be at their assigned work center for a transfer of information. Even though this could cost your company overtime pay for almost an hour a week it is well worth the additional financial burden for each employee. Remember the cost of errors is twice the calculated cost due to the fact that the machining center is not producing profit while rework is being run and that time is lost never to be regained.

Written communication cannot be supplemented for because numbers and technical data are sometimes hard for humans to remember. Numbers get crossed and sometimes forgotten. Design a communication log for data transfer of this type. Include pre-thought out fields that are important to the type of operation being done and check boxes for operations done so they are not repeated. Compile a booklet or 3 ring binders and contain all shifts in an orderly manner. This is a very effective tool not only for the operators but in the event of an error it serves as a great root cause analysis data bank for machining operations and when they took place.  

Proper implementation of both concepts, written and verbal, make for the best transfer of information. Use both of these in conjunction with the proper time frame and written down data for your machining processes and errors due to communication have no choice but to go down.