This section is a major part of the first chapter. It explains the manufacturing worker's role in improving quality and productivity, since manufacturing workers are among the book's intended audiences. This introductory material teaches frontline workers that they have an important role, and encourages them to learn the quality improvement and problem solving techniques that appear later.

The section discusses self-directed work teams (SDWT's) at Harris Semiconductor, and explains the advantages of autonomous work groups. Harris Semiconductor has extended the self directed work team concept to customer relations, in the form of the customer contact team (CCT).

The frontline worker often develops informal techniques that can improve quality or productivity. Frank Gryna defines a knack as "a small difference in method which accounts for a large difference in results" (Juran & Gryna, 1988, 22.57). Knacks come only from hands-on experience with the job. (Gryna is coeditor of Juran's Quality Control Handbook, which is among today's foremost references on quality.)

However, workers should not deviate from approved practices, because changing the method can damage the product. Instead, workers who think they can improve on the procedures should seek approval through the proper channels. This often means involving the process engineer, technicians, and other workers. The engineer or technician may help by designing a controlled experiment to test the new technique. The experiment can show whether the change improves quality or productivity, or causes harm. Often, however, the engineer may simply approve the change because there is no potential for harm. The change then becomes part of the official procedure. Harris Semiconductor calls this procedure an operating instruction (OI). Other companies may call it a process specification, process instruction, work instruction, or similar name. When the change becomes part of the official procedure, everyone is aware of it and can benefit from it.

Harris Semiconductor's self-directed work teams (SDWTs) have no foremen or supervisors. At the Mountaintop plant, six or more SDWTs of 6-12 employees report to a manufacturing leader. The manufacturing leaders report to the manufacturing manager, who reports to the plant manager.

Teams start and carry out projects to improve productivity and quality. At Mountaintop, each team has a bulletin board that shows team projects, training, and other team activities. Each team selects its own leader, who coordinates team activities like quality improvement projects. Unlike a foreman, the leader does not have formal authority. He or she is like the leader of a small professional, civic, or volunteer organization. The leader usually contacts engineers and other technical support people for help. The leadership position often rotates among team members.

Initiatives by frontline workers at Mountaintop have improved Harris' profitability and productivity. These projects have reduced scrap and rework, and improved product yields. One initiative changed a rinse process to reduce stains on semiconductor wafers, and this increased the product yield. Another initiative equipped automatic wafer coaters with photoresist supply sensors. This allowed the equipment to use all of the costly material in each bottle (Murphy and Levinson, 1996).

SDWTs have been successful at other Harris locations, including the large plant in Palm Bay, Florida. Their successful introduction depended on skillful management of organizational change. That is, a company cannot merely say, "We now have self-directed work teams." It must put the organizational and social structures in place to support the change, and it must build trust between all organizational participants (Rose, Odom, and Pankey, 1996).

The Mountaintop plant recently introduced the star organization for SDWTs. The star organization is like a professional, civic, or fraternal organization. This team structure helps assure performance of critical tasks, although the organization has no formal authority structure. It avoids saddling the team leader with all the administrative tasks. Although no one can tell anyone to do anything, the informal authority of the situation promotes mutual acceptance of responsibilities.

How can a system without an authority figure, like a foreman or supervisor, be effective? Juran (1988, 22.60) cites the "law of the situation" as follows. "One person should not give orders to another person. Both should take their orders from the 'law of the situation'…" The task, or situation, is the authority figure that tells everyone what to do.

A typical professional, civic, or fraternal organization usually has a President (team leader), secretary, treasurer, newsletter editor, program director, and so on. This arrangement associates a specific person with each critical task. The Star organization does the same in a SDWT. This avoids the problem of, "If everyone is responsible, no one is responsible." The industrial folk tale about "Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody" explains this problem. In the story, a group had to do a simple task. It was Everybody's job, Anybody could have done it, Everybody thought that Somebody would do it, but Nobody did it. The Star arrangement prevents the story from ending this way. Typical Star assignments appear in Figure 1-4. However, a star can have any number of points, and it can include other activities.

Figure 1-4 "Star" Organization for a Self-Directed Work Team

Figure 1-5. Traditional Customer-Supplier Communications

The CCT extends Deming's advice by removing barriers between the customer and the supplier. Tom Peters refers to a barrier-free organization as porous. Porosity makes organizations flexible, and responsive to diverse customer needs. He specifically says that front-line workers should interact with customers and suppliers. "…the 'average' person, … will routinely be out and about- that is, first-line people communicating directly with suppliers, customers, etc. Who is the person who best knows what's wrong with defective suppliers? Obviously, the front-line person who lives with the defective item eight hours a day…" Peters also says that front-line workers can work with suppliers to improve quality or productivity (1988, 14, 18).

Recall that specifications do not always reflect all the customer's needs. Workers at a major customer's plant were unhappy with Harris parts, although the parts met specifications. Manufacturing workers met with the customers' workers, and identified the problem. Some parts had cosmetic (visual appearance) defects that the specifications did not cover. These defects interfered with the customer's machine vision systems. The CCT solved the problem, and the customer was very happy with the results.

The CCT went on to improve a Harris product for this customer. ... Since then, CCTs from the Mountaintop plant have worked successfully with two other large customers. Feedback from one contact led Harris to increase the tape reel size by 67%. This increased the customer's time between reel changes, and reduced the customer's equipment setups. This improved the customer's productivity.

More about customer contact teams in Leading the Way to Competitive Excellence: The Harris Mountaintop Case Study

Quality Improvement Teams (QITs)

• Manufacturing workers
• Manufacturing engineers and technicians
• Product designers
• A change in the product's design may make it easier to manufacture. This is part of Design for Manufacture (DFM).
• Industrial statisticians
• Design of Experiments (DOE, or DOX) is a method of scientifically testing process changes to see if they improve quality.