Efficient Plant October 2022 - 6

column | implementations
Line-ofSight
Supports
HROs
Dr.
Klaus M. Blache
Univ. of Tennessee Reliability
and Maintainability Center
(RMC)
B
ECOMING AND SUSTAINING a
high-reliability organization (HRO)
requires daily actions based on a set of
principles. Those principles enable individuals/
teams/organizations to act on emerging problems
and deploy the proper resources to resolve the
problems efficiently and effectively. Maintaining
high reliability requires constantly being ready for
the unexpected and taking timely action.
From the early books on HRO (such as
Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance
in an Age of Uncertainty by K.E. Weick
and K.M. Sutcliffe) and many writings since, the
HRO principles can be summarized as problem
detection and management.
Problem detection calls for you to:
seek out problems
+ notice/respond to small problems before
they become big
+ use near failure and failure to understand
Based in Knoxville, Klaus M.
Blache is director of the Reliability
& Maintainability Center at
the Univ. of Tennessee, and a
research professor in the College
of Engineering. Contact him at
kblache@utk.edu.
system weaknesses/strengths
not simplify or explain away problems (look
across departmental boundaries and recognize
the complexity of most interactions)
use system thinking/big picture (how it all
works together, affects other parts of factory);
continually protect system inherent reliability.
When conducting problem management:
expect unexpected events and ensure resilSimple
line-of-sight example
Cascade of actions
to support goal
Praise people
Increase PM
compliance on critical
assets to >95%
Less failures, higher
uptime
PM compliance,
repeat failures and
equipment availability
Plant goal
Actionable reliability
improvement
items such as PM
optimization and
adding a planner
Impact/benefit
expected?
Plant floor team
members need to
understand what to
do to reach/support
the goal.
performing PMs vs
firefighting, celebrate
wins (metrics
improvement)
How will it be
measured?
Implement tools
to monitor target
compliance.
Monitor
performance results at
each cascaded level.
Line of Sight
Behavior support by
leadership
Provide opportunity
for feedback,
corrections, and
adjustments from all
participants.
iency/capability to manage them
make sure decision making is at the front-line
level (empowered to solve problems)
+ under normal daily conditions the established
hierarchy is used
+ when there is an unexpected critical issue,
recognize where the expertise exists (the most
knowledgeable on the asset issue takes the lead,
regardless of title or level).
Success is about having an organization that
allows this dynamic culture. It requires individuals
with a mindset of problem solving, timely
collaboration with others, and constantly
adjusting to the situation in real time. The highly
reliable organization in practice is constantly
changing based on need. By attacking and
resolving issues while they're small, many problems
can be resolved before they become larger
problems. It only works if you have the proper
mindset with a balance of problem-solving skills
and social collaboration.
In my April 2021 article, " Line-of-Sight Clarity
Drives Engagement, " I wrote,
" If implemented correctly, you should not
have to tell employees how they contribute to
their role. They should be telling you. Employee
engagement will determine the new level of
organizational success. "
Managing with line-of-sight clarifies relationships
between goals and objectives.
The schematic illustrates a simple example.
1. First, decide on the few vital goals that will
make the most improvement. Decide on the reliability
action items that will support that goal.
2.
List the expected outcomes and what needs
to be performed at each level in the factory.
3. Select metrics/key process indicators (KPIs)
that will accurately monitor progress.
4.
each other. Using a line-of-sight process keeps
teams focused on what matters during daily
operations and continuous improvement. EP
6 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
OCTOBER 2022
Agree to leadership behaviors that need to be
practiced to change the workforce mindset.
Line-of-sight and HRO cultures complement
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Efficient Plant October 2022

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