A look inside an auto plant reveals how learning by practically doing leads to higher productivity
In essence, the plant and its workers were starting over; they were about to make new products in a new way. Previous studies have found that large efficiency gains from learning by doing are realised quickly as a plant ramps up production, so observing the plant at this early and crucial stage allowed us to closely scrutinize how learning by doing occurs.
Our analysis began with the first shift, which was the first week that more than 100 cars were produced. They excluded the first few weeks when a small number of prototypes were made to iron out any major problems, to train line workers in their new tasks, and to familiarise them with the new team-based production process. A second shift began seven weeks later. Second shift workers were trained by observing the first shift in action the week prior to the start of their own shift.
We find clear evidence of learning by doing at the car assembly plant. Eight weeks after the first shift started, the average number of defects per car dropped by more than 80%. Quality improvements continued beyond the eighth week but were much smaller. First-shift defect rates fell by another 10% until the end of the observation period. Unlike the first shift, the second shift did not initially experience a high defect rate. In fact, when the second shift started, the group’s defect rate was much lower than that of the first shift, which already had been running for several weeks. The second shift was able to come in and do a pretty impressive job from the get-go. Throughout the production year, the second shift continued to have fewer errors than the first shift.
Second-shift workers were probably on average less experienced, because shift assignments are largely based on seniority at the plant and most experienced workers choose to work the first shift. Still, the study finds that second-shift workers were at least as efficient as those in the first shift. These results suggest that the knowledge gained by first-shift workers through learning by doing was somehow passed on to the next round of workers.
TRANSFERRING KNOWLEDGE
Workers were assigned to a team that would be responsible for five consecutive operations on the assembly line. Whenever there was a problem with a particular operation, workers would go to their whiteboard and write down the problem. Plant managers would walk around the assembly plant visiting teams about every two weeks to help address issues on the teams’ whiteboards.
Together they would decide which problems they could fix and how to address them. Whatever the workers were learning went up on the whiteboard, and it was the managers’ and workers’ jobs to come up with ways to build that knowledge into the production process in a more permanent way. Whether it was altering the layout of tools at the workstations or regrouping the sequence of operations, workers’ suggestions quickly turned into new ways to raise productivity. By the time the second shift started working seven weeks later, improvements to the assembly line already had been made.
In essence, the plant and its workers were starting over; they were about to make new products in a new way. Previous studies have found that large efficiency gains from learning by doing are realised quickly as a plant ramps up production, so observing the plant at this early and crucial stage allowed us to closely scrutinize how learning by doing occurs.
Our analysis began with the first shift, which was the first week that more than 100 cars were produced. They excluded the first few weeks when a small number of prototypes were made to iron out any major problems, to train line workers in their new tasks, and to familiarise them with the new team-based production process. A second shift began seven weeks later. Second shift workers were trained by observing the first shift in action the week prior to the start of their own shift.
We find clear evidence of learning by doing at the car assembly plant. Eight weeks after the first shift started, the average number of defects per car dropped by more than 80%. Quality improvements continued beyond the eighth week but were much smaller. First-shift defect rates fell by another 10% until the end of the observation period. Unlike the first shift, the second shift did not initially experience a high defect rate. In fact, when the second shift started, the group’s defect rate was much lower than that of the first shift, which already had been running for several weeks. The second shift was able to come in and do a pretty impressive job from the get-go. Throughout the production year, the second shift continued to have fewer errors than the first shift.
Second-shift workers were probably on average less experienced, because shift assignments are largely based on seniority at the plant and most experienced workers choose to work the first shift. Still, the study finds that second-shift workers were at least as efficient as those in the first shift. These results suggest that the knowledge gained by first-shift workers through learning by doing was somehow passed on to the next round of workers.
TRANSFERRING KNOWLEDGE
Workers were assigned to a team that would be responsible for five consecutive operations on the assembly line. Whenever there was a problem with a particular operation, workers would go to their whiteboard and write down the problem. Plant managers would walk around the assembly plant visiting teams about every two weeks to help address issues on the teams’ whiteboards.
Together they would decide which problems they could fix and how to address them. Whatever the workers were learning went up on the whiteboard, and it was the managers’ and workers’ jobs to come up with ways to build that knowledge into the production process in a more permanent way. Whether it was altering the layout of tools at the workstations or regrouping the sequence of operations, workers’ suggestions quickly turned into new ways to raise productivity. By the time the second shift started working seven weeks later, improvements to the assembly line already had been made.
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