Saturday 19 May 2012

Looking is more than observing

I've just returned from a trip to Pakistan looking at their fan manufacturing sector.  In many of the factories, conditions were poor and productivity was low. However, the owners of these factories were keen to listen and keen to try out low cost suggestions for improvement.

Whilst going round 'looking' at what was going one, I was reminded of the need to talk to the operators (difficult when they only speak Urdu) and to see 'beyond the obvious'.  However, it is what we put together from our vision and hearing that allows us to 'see' what is really going on.

It was also important to remember that things might not work across a cultural divide ... and that local conditions might mitigate against some improvements ... the unstable power supply in Pakistan means that buffer stocks might be necessary to allow for manual work to take place when machines cannot be powered.

So look, listen and thin ... then you can see solutions!

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