A day in the life of Jake - a factory scheduler
Listen, want to know what really irks me? What’s good today was not good yesterday and might not be good tomorrow. Metrics and objectives always changing or seem to be part of a secret club. Some managers play games - say one thing, mean another. Wink wink nod nod. Give that job priority and get it out the door – ya, right. They know that I know that they just got off the phone to the customer who just yelled at them and that they promised to tell me to focus on their order. Allows them to sleep at night. I wonder which of the five number one priorities I should expedite? Which one will hurt me the least? Any career limiting options there?
They change the rules, do not tell me. They change the goals, do not tell me. They say that the job is a high priority, do not really mean it. They say trust the data, they do not keep it up to date or accurate. They say use the Industrial Engineering standards, standards have not been met in years. They say trust the system, they do not have the right system for the problem at hand. They say to use historical performance data, the system has not been reliable or predictable for years. If I cannot predict it, how can I plan it? They say that we cannot have overtime this month on Monday, change their minds by Monday afternoon. They say to keep inventory down, change their mind when there is not enough work on the automated flexible assembly line. They tell me that the plan is no good, do not tell me what is bad, and do not suggest any ideas that could improve it. Just tell me what you want the schedule to be and I will issue it. Am I supposed to make decisions? They change everything I create. Did they replace the decaf with extreme caffeine? Anyone for triple espresso?
Oh? Just let it ring. If it is important, they will call again. If I answered every call, I would never get anything done.
Speaking of which, how do they expect me to create better plans when I have no time for thinking? Multiple plans? What-ifs? Comparing options? Optimizing? Good joke. I would be happy to get one plan done before they change the rules. They do not want to hear excuses or reasons why the plan is not feasible, they just want it to happen. They want the plan to say what they want to hear. Emperor’s clothes are a bit tattered.
They always use the most optimistic numbers and estimates I give them. If I say that possibly we could do it in four hours, but usually count on six, could maybe take eight and have not seen five in six months, they converge on the four like politicians around a baby. Told to use four in the schedule – it will happen this time I am told. No proof, no hard evidence to support the four hours except faith and hubris. Put a few of these decisions together in a plan and you have a really great situation to chew on. But that again is my fault. No one ever seems to remember when, where, or who made the decision about four hours. Selective memory is a real talent. Can someone just tell me what I am supposed to do? Need a refill?
From the book Practical Production Control, by Kenneth N. McKay and Vincent C.S. Wiers, 2004.
