Chemical Industry Success Story :: Coaching is Vital             
 
Project: To Increase Yield On A Chemical Process, To Design Levels

Issue: A Team Leader struggled with Root Cause Analysis phase of his project for more than 3 months! This particular individual was an engineer and highly skilled in advanced statistical tools. He had become so involved in demonstrating statistical correlation between suspected causes and the low output of his process that he couldn't "see the forest through the trees".

Solution: An Albany Analytical coach was brought in to help. The coaching involved many "dumb questions" - the answers to which were "obvious" to the process experts. However, upon "walking the process" and seeing what really was happening, it became clear that the answer was not in chemical theory, or statistical analysis. The problem had been a misunderstanding by both the operators of the second shift (who had the wrong specification for setting the controls) and by the purchasing agent who had supplied a cheaper thermocouple, because no one had documented the requirements for that part.

Results: Within 6 weeks, root causes were verified, solutions piloted, and the project was in the final stages of implementation!

Note: Documentation and systemic misunderstandings are often the root causes. These typically are not "seen" by those who are internal to those processes or the organization at large. It takes a fresh eye - a coach - to guide projects through that realization.