It is very comforting to enter into a department at a company and see on the walls charts and graphs that are tracking meaningful control points for that department. It always looks impressive and gives the observer a feeling that this particular department is in control and has the pulse of activities occurring in the company.

For example the purchasing department may be tracking the delivery performance of the main suppliers to the company. Or the quality control department may be tracking the rejection rate of incoming raw materials and parts. Perhaps an engineering department is measuring the effect of drawing revisions. These activities are very impressive, particularly when placed on the walls in full view for everyone to see and, especially if colors are used and the data is frequently updated. Visuals are often good for morale as they send a silent message that someone is in control.

There is generally tremendous pride in these charts and graphs and a true feeling of authorship and ownership in their being on the wall. There are generally one or more individuals involved in the data collection and data organization prior to additional notations being applied to the charts. In too many instances it becomes more important to keep the charts and graphs current, and looking pretty, than making use of the data to make changes and improvements. The data collection becomes a permanent task in and of itself instead of being a tool, an indispensable tool, to be used to improve systems and routines within the company and thereby improving the bottom line.

There exists a purchasing department that operates in this already described fashion of evaluating suppliers, collecting data, and then maintaining a collection of vendor statistics on the purchasing department wall. However when it is time to solicit quotations for a new part or service to be supplied to this company the only criterion that is used is which supplier offers the lowest price. The collected data posted on charts and hanging on the department walls may show that the supplier with the third lowest price may have the best delivery record and lowest rejection rate but regardless the lowest price supplier is awarded the new purchase order. Why maintain the costs associated with collecting, organizing, and posting the data if it is going to be ignored?

In this case why should the best-performing supplier, who has been identified from all of this collected and charted data, continue supplying superior work if the only criteria for realizing new orders is price? If the best supplier is not going to be rewarded for being the best overall by receiving increased volume and new orders possibly the purchasing department should save time, effort, and money by abandoning its charting routine.

The purpose of collecting data is to establish measurement points. These points are placed on charts or graphs so that the information is easy to visualize and easy to use. The creation of the charts is not the endpoint and does not have value unless action is taken and a system put in place to make productivity improvements. Collecting data that does not get used is akin to collecting pennies in a glass jar and placing them on a shelf. The major difference is that collecting data within any company is expensive and time consuming.

The collected data should point out and highlight areas where changes are required and where routines need to be changed to improve productivity and therefore the bottom line. The data will need to continue to be collected to measure whether or not the changes made are proving effective and to evaluate if additional actions are required and when. The charts may get the glory, being visually impressive, but the bottom line will only improve if changes are made. Try tracking 20 important productivity criteria, placing and maintaining this information on charts throughout the company, and then making no changes. See if this will improve the bottom line.

The production department in one real company has been tracking, measuring, and charting set-up times for years. There exist beautiful, accurate, and multi-color bar charts in the production-scheduling department that have been maintained for years. These charts show that there has been a gradual, but measurable, increase in the time required to perform set-up times over time. It appears that the single reason for collecting all of this data is to create a point on a graph. In this real life example the comfort level is high with the data being collected creating a belief that this production department is in control and on top of things. However these data collection activities are a complete waste of time, as there is no organized and relentless push to improve set-up times. The data is merely being collected and that makes everyone feel good and creates the impressions that all is well.

This whole process is expensive and scary. Companies cannot afford to employ people to track unused data and maintain unnecessary charts. The process is scary in that the existence of this wall art may instill in management the fallacious belief that change is occurring. It is change that is required to improve the bottom line not maintaining data. Management, believing that change is happening, and made comfortable by the impressive charts, may relax and cease taking those actions that are necessary. If a company needs some wall art it should purchase pictures. If a company needs improvement, actions based on data need to be undertaken.

When collecting data to implement change keep the information simple to collect, simple to read, and simple to use. The tracked information should be meaningful and at a level that everyone in the company can understand. If there are too many goals, or the goals too demanding at any one time, employees will become overwhelmed and will not support the program. It is better to have a few clear, obvious, and understandable productivity initiatives underway at any one time with small, measurable, and achievable steps associated with the plan.

Charts and graphs are valuable in that they can allow many people to see information. Clear and simple charts are very effective methods to disseminate information and in the case of productivity charts allow the employees of a company to easily see the progress and results of changes as they are implemented. The charts are not solutions and will not improve the gross margins of any business. Charts are tools to measure the results occurring from those actions that are being implemented to improve the profitability of the company.



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