In a country that seems more and more to value throw away and buy it new over maintain and repair, I am lucky to live in a county where there are still a number of small repair businesses. I think this is most likely due to large presence of Naval repair activities in our area, but regardless, as a Do It Yourself type person, I appreciate the choices it gives me.
Recently in the course of refurbishing my steam cleaner, I found the motor needed some minor repairs. I looked up several local motor repair shops, and selected one convenient to my commute. On the way home, I stopped off, got the motor out, and carried it into this business.
I was immediately struck when I entered by the clutter. I had a difficult time finding a space on the counter to set my heavy motor down. There were rows of shelves full of motors with work tickets attached, waiting to be worked, and since these were full, lined along the walkways on the floor were even more. I waited to be helped by the obviously very busy technician. I didn’t mind the wait, because I have always loved to take things apart to see how they worked, so I wandered around the shop, looking at various partially assembled motors.
When it was my turn to be helped, the man was very polite and professional. Meanwhile several more customers had come in behind me. One was dropping something off, and was instructed to leave it by the door on the floor, due to the lack of shelf space. The technician made a call to the manufacturer representative, and I was informed that he would need to research the correct part, so he took my name and number, and promised to call when he had the needed information.
That was on Monday. On Thursday, knowing how busy he was, I called to see if he had the part. He told me no, that the factory rep had yet to call him back, and that he would call him and give me a call back. The following Tuesday, tired of waiting, I had some errands at the other end of the county, and decided to take the motor by a competitors shop.
I was immediately struck by the contrast between the two businesses. There were motors on shelves, but these were display models ready to be sold, not damaged motors waiting to be looked after. Behind the counter I could see the work area. A man was working on a motor, occasionally reaching up for a tool or part, but otherwise not moving. I could see everything clearly labeled on the bins and pegboard, and in contrast there were no other partially disassembled motors waiting for his attention. I was helped immediately, and after explaining what I needed was handed a claim ticket and told it would be ready by mid week. As I left, I glanced back to see the man from the counter pick up my motor, turn, and take two steps to place my motor on the bench directly behind the busy technician. Less than 36 hours after dropping it off, they called to tell me my motor was ready for pickup.
Now some would argue that the clutter of the previous shop was indicative of a high demand for the services of this business. Following the same logic, some would question the quality of the work of the latter, citing the lack of backlog as an indication of a low volume of business. Knowing that the latter business has been there for over 50 years, and is the factory authorized “Baldor” brand repair facility, I have complete confidence in my motor now that they have repaired it. Knowing their proximity to the shipyard, I know they experience a high volume. The reason they have no backlog is because their turnaround time is so fast. Customers typically value three things to varying degrees; cost, quality, and schedule. As the customer in this scenario, I can honestly say that I am satisfied on all three accounts.
From a Lean perspective, the two experiences illustrate what we call the “Eight Wastes.” These are: Rework, Inventory, Overproduction, Waiting, Motion, Transportation, Over-processing, and Waste of Human Capitol. The first business and I had to interact both in person, and then a follow up on the phone, and I’m sure this would have continued had I not given up, and yet none of this rework on the initial attempt by me to communicate what I wanted was getting my motor fixed. With the second business this process step took less than three minutes and only once. The inventory problem was obvious. By any account; number of items, pounds, or variety, the previous business had way more stuff crammed into about the same space. Yet I doubt he had the capacitor I needed, or if he did, would have been able to find it. I’m guessing in all the clutter, there were multiple motors ready for sale, where at the second business I could only see one of each type on display. I waited for over a week before giving up on the first business, but barely a day for a completed product from the second. In the first business I watched the technician walk back and forth between the catalogs, manuals, and phone, and I couldn’t even see where the actual work was done. Even though the first business was closer to my house, I would have had to transport the motor there at least three times; once for the initial request, again once the part was available, and a third time to pick it up. If the amount of rework on the customer request step was any indication, I am sure there would have been more over-processing. Despite the fact that the individual I dealt with initially seemed very intelligent, I never got to observe him use his talents to do any real problem solving, and I doubt that with all the answering of phones and walking around clutter that his skills as an electrical technician are truly being utilized.
So why is it that we admire people who are busy, assuming they are engaged, hard working, and competent? They may be all those things, but are they really accomplishing anything in the process?
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