Ten tips for optimal use of a DMS in your improvement project

A Daily Management System, or DMS, is used to systematically and daily monitor your policy goals throughout the organization. How do you ensure that you get and secure optimal results with your DMS? Experienced improvement coach Philip Stevenije of PS Advies shares his tips for a successful DMS process.

1. Base your DMS priorities on your policy implementation. First of all, this requires a vision and a mission that you translate to clear policy, clear objectives, and only then to priorities per DMS level.

2. Take your time to record the standard for the DMS - with the same people, same time, same consultation. Using 5WH1: What-Where-When-Who-Why-How, you get a fixed standard and can avoid “trial & error”.

3. The new consultation structure has to become routine now, and the employees need some time to see its strength. Don’t change your consultation structure too soon; coach the employees during the DMS meetings. Change only when you have jointly decided to do so - to make sure a new standard fits all.

4. Use visual information and graphs - use color for recognition. A DMS exists through the strength of its simplicity. Visual information is easy to comprehend and remember. With overview and insight, you achieve more every day.

5. In a DMS, issues escalate to higher levels when they can’t be solved on the current level. Keep involvement between the different levels optimal and guarantee good feedback to the lower DMS level.

6. Too much new information and implementing new decisions too soon is a mistake often made. When DMS is new to your teams, keep the set-up simple. Start with a comprehensible layout and a limited number of charts. As soon as the DMS is up and running, you can start expanding, but always make sure that things remain clear. Less is often more!

7. Do your DMS meetings on the work floor, near the machines. DMS is all about what’s happening on the work floor. So organize your consultations on the work floor as much as possible. Your employees will really appreciate it!

8. Make sure there’s sufficient training and guidance so everyone involved knows how to keep each gear in the system running and contributing optimally.

9. Respect the time schedule for the DMS meetings. Certain key personnel likely need to be present for two DMS levels. Take the overlap into account by planning the presence of those persons at the beginning of one meeting and the end of the other meeting.

10. And finally, keep an eye on the balance between solving and escalating issues. This way, everyone stayed motivated and engaged. Give everybody the tools to solve issues themselves by being a leader who provides sufficient training and guidance for all levels.

More results from your DMS with Cierpa Software

Overview and consolidation are critical players in your DMS, just like with improvement methods OEE and Kaizen. OEE gives insight into the performance of your manufacturing lines. Kaizen gives the proper grip on actions and ensures that steps are performed and secured.

Cierpa Software focuses on structured improving together. Cierpa OEE helps you to measure and detect anomalies, while Cierpa Kaizen helps you convert them to clear improvement actions with PDCA status. It makes these software modules ideal for achieving more with your DMS.

The improvement consultants in our network will gladly show you how to implement and support a DMS with Cierpa’s result-oriented and user-friendly software.