As described in the previous article of Basics of DMS, DMS is based on short meetings that review the status of activities planned for the day, and performance indicators from the previous period, and assign new tasks for the future. Depending on the DMS level, the timelines for tasks vary as well. Typically, lower levels of DMS focus on short-term routine activities that can be completed within the next 24 hours, while upper levels focus on more strategic projects and long-term activities.
PDCA and Boards
Meetings follow the PDCA principle—Plan, Do, Check, and Act—also known as the Deming cycle, where:
- Plan answers questions like: Why are we doing this? (CBN), What are our goals? How are our goals evolving (Glide Path)? How do we plan to achieve them? What standards will we follow?
- Do outlines who will do what and when the completion is expected (tomorrow, this week, this month).
- Check examines whether the goals were achieved. The difference between target values and actual results visually answers the question: Were the actions in the Do section effective?
- Act determines if the goals weren’t met. In this case, either the actions in the Do section were not fully implemented or the actions were insufficient. In either case, we need to identify additional actions that can be taken in the short term or escalate the issue to a higher DMS level for support, or review the Plan (standards) and Do (actions) sections.
Meetings are organized around wall boards, the structure of which corresponds to the PDCA cycle. The boards can be electronic, physical, or a combination of both. For example, part of the information is filled in on a physical board, while some is tracked electronically. It’s convenient to keep the action plan in electronic form, so all participants have access to it.
Escalation and Cascading Process
A well-established escalation and cascading system is one of the key success factors in implementing DMS. This means that each problem is resolved at its DMS level and is not immediately addressed by the plant director. In a poorly organized system, all issues are brought to DMS4, where department heads gather to discuss potential solutions. In a well-organized DMS system, problems are solved at the lowest possible level, and only if the issue cannot be resolved there is it escalated to the next level. Moreover, DMS is not a platform for discussing solutions. During the DMS meeting, a person responsible for analysis and action execution is assigned if needed.
On the other hand, the cascading process aims to communicate important information to the appropriate DMS level. This way, information moves both upward and downward.
KPIs
Visualizing key performance indicators (KPIs) makes it easier to convey information to meeting participants. Charts are easier to read than numbers, and trends for improvement or decline are clear. Moreover, if a meeting participant is unfamiliar with HOW a specific KPI is calculated, the color-coding of the column immediately indicates the “health” of the indicator. There are several golden rules for creating and filling out KPIs:
- A KPI should include a target value, which comes from the Plan section. Ideally, the goal should show a positive trend, also known as the Glide Path.
- The chart should display current actual values. Green indicates that the goal was achieved, and red indicates that it was not.
- If the goal was not met, the Act section should record root cause analysis and actions with deadlines and responsible parties.
- It’s good practice to show actual KPI values from the previous period (year, month, week) on the chart as a Baseline.
Conclusion
There are several key elements to the DMS system. Boards based on the PDCA principle consolidate information, showing current goals (P), actions aimed at achieving these goals (D), performance monitoring (C), and corrective actions if the goals are not met (A). If a problem cannot be solved at a certain level, it is escalated to the next level. Decisions made at higher levels are cascaded through DMS meetings to lower levels and communicated to the appropriate people. Key indicators are visually displayed on charts, making it easier to understand the results.