Before and after

MDI — Managers Daily ImprovementThe morning routine

BeforeEveryone walked into the daily meeting measuring something different, and safety was wherever it landed on the agenda.

AfterOne agreed set of numbers in one fixed order, safety reviewed first, every category ending at the issues tracker.

Action item trackingThe morning routine

BeforeItems raised in the morning meeting died between meetings.

AfterEvery item carries an owner, a date and a running log. A status question takes a glance instead of a meeting.

5S housekeeping — assigned, not assumedThe morning routine

Before“Everybody cleans up,” so nobody did — and the argument always happened at the border between two areas.

AfterEvery zone on the floor plan coloured to a person, daily or weekly, signed off every Monday.

The Saturday cleanupThe morning routine

BeforeFilthy. Dust, cobwebs, broken dock walls, docks too dark to work in.

AfterThe building brought back on Saturdays, without giving up an hour of production.

Shop-floor screensThe morning routine

BeforeSafety messaging on a break-room wall that nobody read.

AfterSafety and recognition on the screens people walk past twelve times a shift.

Every standing meeting, and how oftenThe meetings

BeforePeople got together when something had already gone wrong.

AfterTwenty-one standing meetings — four daily, seven weekly, three fortnightly, seven monthly — each with a fixed slot and purpose.

Hosting the workshop — showing the plant what changedWorkshops and walkthroughs

BeforeImprovements landed without anyone being told they were finished, deliberate, and theirs to keep.

AfterFive changes presented to the plant side by side with what they replaced.

Turning a walkthrough audit into a list somebody can act onWorkshops and walkthroughs

BeforeA safety audit that ended in a conversation and was gone by the following week.

AfterThirty-four written observations grouped by area, with a date to work them and owners in the action tracker.

Developing people, not just covering the shiftThe people

BeforeThe only time some people heard from management was when something was wrong.

AfterTraining past the machine — fire safety, evacuation, professionalism, critical thinking — people put forward for promotion, and a floor that talks.

Weekly counts — with an owner and a named back-upCapturing the data at the machine

BeforeRunning out of the cheap things that stop an expensive line — strapping, interleave paper, slings, scrapers.

AfterA standing count on every area with an owner, a frequency and a named back-up who covers when they're out.

Receiving control at the dockCapturing the data at the machine

BeforeDamage found a week later, which is an argument instead of a claim.

AfterCondition recorded at the truck with the receiver's initials on it, on a controlled form with a revision and an effective date.

Sending the problem back to the customerCapturing the data at the machine

BeforeWe absorbed a customer's errors unbilled — rewinding coil to our sizes, re-weighing loads, chasing paperwork before we could receive.

AfterNamed in writing with the inspection reports behind it, a specific request to fix it, and the courtesy put on record as a courtesy.

Standard work at the point of useCapturing the data at the machine

BeforeThe scanner transfer got done wrong at 2 a.m. by whoever was there, and inventory was wrong by morning.

AfterTwenty numbered steps on a laminated card at every scanner, ending with the confirmation people used to skip.

Tin: entry screen → weekly summary → usage historyTurning it into reports that trigger action

BeforeNobody could say how much tin we had, what we were burning, or when we would run out — and the price moves.

AfterA weekly number for tanks, waste, stock and ingots, and a printed date for when stock depletes. Tin bought against the market, not against a panic.

The re-order list writes itselfTurning it into reports that trigger action

BeforePurchasing driven by whoever shouted loudest.

AfterCounting on Monday produces the buy list on Monday, off the same data, with no second spreadsheet.

Count it on one side, buy it on the otherTurning it into reports that trigger action

BeforeOrdering lived in people's heads. Whoever did the counting still had to find somebody who knew the vendor.

AfterOne sheet: count the front, flip it over, place the order. Lead time sits next to the re-order level, so the trigger is a decision.

A Kanban on palletsTurning it into reports that trigger action

BeforePallets — which every department uses and nothing ships without — found to be short at the worst moment, custom sizes worst of all.

AfterThe stack signals when to order, where the people using it can see it, and the long-lead sizes get ordered against their own lead time.

What's in queue — plant, machine and customerTurning it into reports that trigger action

Before“How are we doing on Tin Line 1?” was a twenty-minute answer that depended on who you asked.

AfterOne page: 51 orders, 3 late, 172,060 lbs in queue, clear by the 13th — and days-to-zero by department, so the overtime goes where it's needed.

The spot meeting — hot jobs, twice a weekTurning it into reports that trigger action

BeforeOrders were bumped up by whoever heard about them first, which quietly pushed something else down with nobody deciding that.

AfterBumping an order is a decision made twice a week with scheduling, production and shipping in the room, and the customer hears the same day.

Finding material by addressTurning it into reports that trigger action

BeforePaid hours spent walking the building looking for material.

AfterMaterial found by address, on a report colour-matched to the racks it describes. The annual count stopped being a scramble.

Work instruction controlStandard work and control

BeforeWork instructions nobody could find, or that three people had three versions of.

AfterOne binder, one index: 29 instructions and 3 workflow maps, each with a revision letter and an effective date.

Root cause and corrective actionStandard work and control

BeforeCorrective actions written and never checked.

AfterEvery incident ends with an implementation review, an effectiveness review and a signature — did we do it, and did it work.

Package label generatorStandard work and control

BeforeLabels typed by hand, and a typo on a label is a coil shipped to the wrong customer.

AfterOne entry point, one format: barcode, handling caution and every field printed the same way every time — plus written instructions so somebody else can maintain it.

Evacuation and emergency equipment mapStandard work and control

BeforeThe posted evacuation map was out of date, the equipment on it had moved, and there was no marked route out of the warehouse.

AfterEleven location-specific maps, each tracing the way out from that exact spot — and the same routes painted on the warehouse floor.

Painting the floor into a systemStandard work and control

BeforeVisitors walked through a working plant with nothing telling them where it was safe to be, and forklifts were parked wherever they stopped.

AfterA painted walkway matching the map, an entry stocked with hard hats, glasses and the visitor policy, and a marked lane with a charger for every truck.

What came due on a cycleCompliance and programs

BeforeRecurring obligations that don't move, all landing while you are busy with something else.

AfterEvery one tracked and met — and the 2025 quality audit closed with zero findings.

PPE out of a machine, not a closetCompliance and programs

BeforeWe ran out of PPE. No tracking, no count, nobody accountable — so every fix was a rush order at rush prices.

AfterA control function: usage recorded per employee, automatic refill at threshold, and the rush fees gone.

GLTM 2025 — the digital twin proposalCompliance and programs

BeforeEvery change to volume, material or process was tested by running it. There was no way to ask what would happen first.

AfterA costed proposal to simulate it instead — written with its expected value and a 12–24 month path, and taken to the global leadership meeting.

Packaging a load so it arrives the way it leftPackaging

BeforeA load that arrives damaged or mislabelled is a load you make twice, and it is the first thing the customer sees of you.

AfterA standard for how a load leaves, with generated labels, required markings on before it moves, and a name signed against the check.

Boxes — specified, ordered, and decoratedPackaging

BeforeA custom product in a box that doesn't fit arrives damaged, and a plain box tells the customer nothing about who made what's inside.

AfterBoxes ordered to the dimensions of what goes in them, and the box itself made part of the product — printed, wrapped or covered.