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Improvement – the truest process of all

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As theorised in his groundbreaking book on the theory of constraints, Israeli physicist, Dr. Eli Goldratt notes that the performance of any

organization is limited by its system constraints or ‘weakest links,’ and to concentrate on anything other than the weakest link at that point in time is a waste of effort and the most precious resource of all – time.

The push, then, to identify and strengthen this ‘weakest link’ is the most direct path to strengthening the entire organization’s ‘chain.’

This insight gained from identifying impediments to flow provides the required focusing tools for all levels of management within the organization. There will certainly be many areas that may need improvement, but more important, though, are the few aspects that must be improved upon – and which, once addressed, will push the organization to achieve its goals.

The first port of call in the process of improvement is detecting where these improvements need to be made. The process is a never-ending one, as system improvements in one area will most often highlight other areas for improvement. This complete process of ongoing improvement is known as whole system performance enhancement that applies not only to the present situation, but also to the future.

HOLISTIC IMPROVEMENT At LCP Roofing, a holistic approach to the process of ongoing improvement was and is not negotiable. The organization subscribes to an ethos of complete ownership of all processes, be it in business automation, information technology, quality systems, factory flow, or fleet management. This ownership takes place on an individual level and within the team as an organic unit.

MANUFACTURE & MANAGEMENT At LCP Roofing, there are two critical questions that customers ask: ‘How is it made?’ and ‘How is it managed?’

HOW IS IT MADE? The conferring of the Institute for Timber Construction (ITC-SA) certificate of competence for truss fabricators is set to instill a consistent professional approach to the prefabricated timber roof truss industry through a set of standards. These govern the following:

• Design procedures• Presentation of quotations• Competence of key personnel• Quality of manufacture• Erection instructions provided to site

It is important for the customer to note that there is a formalised process set down by our industry professional body so that all fabricators quote according to the same terms of reference. It is even more critical that customers know that they are being provided with design procedures and quotations that are tested against acceptable industry norms.

In a previous article published in SA Roofing, the characteristics and experience of ‘flow’ was

discussed with specific relevance to the experience of the roofing erector on site. Similarly, all

fabricators should identify any impediments to this flow and by doing this, Remarkable Due Date

Performance (RDDP) can and will be achieved, resulting in a sustained competitive edge.

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The customer should also request that the truss fabricator not only proves adherence to these minimum standards but also shows an ongoing process of system improvement.

The fabricator has, to a large extent, total control over the processes of design, quotations, personnel competence and erection instructions to site as listed above. Of joint control is the manufacture in as much as the fabricator uses licensed software to assist in his design and uses only nail plates and hangers supplied by his software system supplier. These two go hand in hand as the software bases the design on metalwork supplied. This means that a fabricator may not purchase metalwork either ‘off the shelf’ or from another software system supplier.

In addition, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) regulations state that the nail plates and hangers should not only be of the required 0.9mm thickness and galvanized to 275 grams/m2 or an equivalent corrosion resistance, but that the plates shall bear a mark that readily identifies the manufacturer or supplier. Should there be no mark to identify the software system supplier, the fabricated trusses should be rejected immediately.

Just as the roofing customer will insist on engineers’ foundation and suspended slab inspections, so should there be the requirement for inspection of the design and manufacturing process. The regulation A19 inspection required by all municipalities only proves erection according to the design intent and not that the design or manufacture are within acceptable norms and standards.

HOW IS IT MANAGED? It is not only the manufacturing process that needs to be managed, but the entire process from quote request to final delivery of the project. Of the approximately 215 fabricators nationally there are only eight fabricators that can claim that their fabrication process is regularly tested according to the requirements of SANS 1900 – The Manufacture of Monoplaner Prefabricated Nail-plated Timber Roof Trusses. It should not end there though, and for LCP Roofing, being one of these eight mark holders nationally, the manufacturing process was only part of its efforts to achieve whole system performance enhancement.

MORE ON RDDP The concept of RDDP is further explained by Dr. Alan Barnard, CEO of Goldratt Research Labs, who states that once this concept is implemented and a leading competitive edge is achieved, the next phases are to build, capitalize and sustain.

For LCP Roofing, the process of ‘building’ in order to attain and maintain RDDP was identified some five years ago as a key driver to the company’s sustainability.

LCP Roofing comprises a collection of various informal and formal business processes that were introduced at various times in the company’s growth phase and the implementation of these processes helped to determine the type and extent of its interaction with its customers.

Lyndsay Cotton, General Manager of LCP Roofing, comments, “We know that our customers will be happy if these processes are easy, efficient and benefit their objectives. However, should we not achieve these, customers will go somewhere else next time around. Our customer interaction is and should be an exceptional one from beginning to end.”

The 11-page document on prefabricated timber roof truss standards is easy for the layman and building professional alike to read and assimilate and provides a solid foundation upon which to base their specifications and requirements. Visit www.lcproofing.co.za to download the requirements for the Certificate of Competence.

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Leaders in Roof Truss TechnologyFabricators

SheetersErectors

Tilers

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OVERCOMING FLOW CHALLENGESWith the company’s growth, management realized that flow could become a challenge. Impediments to flow could include, for example, taking longer than normal to complete a project, or for potential human error to become a reality. With this in mind, more stringent compliance requirements and procedures could also make it tedious and time-consuming to train new employees, and system requirements could slip through the business processes.

In facing these potential challenges, LCP Roofing made a strategic business decision in 2013 to implement Business Process Management (BPM). The individual processes of accounting, payroll, process flow, offsite mobile management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and dashboard management were identified, software vendors were investigated and the existing processes were either modified, expanded or replaced with new processes.

BPM turns Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) into a holistic system which is then designed to fit into how the company works and not to dictate how it is run. No store-bought solution can achieve this.

LCP Roofing’s requirements of transparency and traceability are paramount and all these processes are currently being integrated into one solution that includes accounting, human resources, mobile devices, reports, customers, and process flow.

“We’re getting there,” says Cotton, “And I am happy to announce that the process flow, called ‘Our LCP’, is starting to produce effective results. Ensuring effective BPM is not easy and we have

worked hard to combine these various individual ERP offerings into one holistic solution.”

“Never allow constraints of your building project to be that of your fabricator and never allow inferior processes or standards to compromise your project,” notes Cotton, concluding, “Always ask, ‘Is it worth it?’”

ABOUT LCP ROOFINGLCP Roofing’s mandate is to become the preferred roofing company in Gauteng and to grow a sustainable business whilst using industry-leading software and equipment to achieve its aims of providing clients and shareholders with added value and its staff with safe and secure employment.

For more information, visit www.lcproofing.co.za.

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