Non-Conformity Project

Title page

Title: Project NCR, Petrogas Company

Authors:Willem Castelijns (2182592)Bas Claassen (2170285)Milad Dashti (2144279)Mary Ghadiri Dehkordi (2217941)DongMin Son (2185926)Lorraine van Dijk (2186447)

Class code:IM61Project group name:LeaNCRCompany coach: Andr NederlofUniversity coach:Eric de RuijterInstitute: Fontys University of Applied SciencesCourse of Studies:International Business and Management StudiesStudy Phase:Semester 6Academic year:2013-2014Date of Completion:13/06/2014Place:Eindhoven, the Netherlands

PrefaceThis report has been written to aid Petrogas in having a functional non-conformance reporting system, also known as a NCR system. This project has been provided to us as part of the International Business and Management Studies program of Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Our project group consists of six students of Iranian, South Korean, Afghan and Dutch backgrounds.

For this project, we analysed the data of the current NCR system, looked for alternative reporting systems and interviewed a wide range of Petrogass employees. Our recommendations based on this research are discussed in this report. The research has taken place from February to July 2014.

We would like to thank our Company coach A. Nederlof and University coach E. de Ruijter for this project, for their help and for their guidance.

Table of ContentsIntroduction1Interim Report 221.Preparation for meeting32.Meeting43.Recommendations5Step 1 Detecting6Step 2 Solving6Step 3 Informing/Learning7Roles7The new NCR Form8Explanation of the boxes9Part A9Part B10NCR Co-ordinator11Red tag system12Frequency of NCR meeting13Training14Frequency of reporting14Costs of implementation plan14Appendix 115Interview number 1 with Tjerk van Emmeren (service department)15Interview number 2 with Marc v d Boogaart (Assembly)19Interview number 3 with Ruud Sanders (Planner)23Interview number 4 with Bas Straatman(Coating)25Interview number 5 with Quint van Gijsel (work preparation)29Interview number 6 with Jacob van den Pol (Head of engineering departments)32Interview number 7 with Martijn van der Pol (quality)37Interview number 8 with Arvid Traets Project (Project Engineer)43Interview number 9 with Richard Nanning48Appendix 252Fishbone Diagram Problem Definition52Appendix 353I audit53Appendix 454Consultancy Skills Assignments54Creativity Assignment54Develop actions to counter issues based on the model.546 most important factors for effective brainstorming55Stakeholder Management Assignment56The commitment diagram57Risk Management Report58Introduction58Identifying hazards58Assessing the risk59Risk assessment tool59Control60On-going Monitoring60Project closure611.Post-Implementation review612.Lessons learned613.Financial closure634.Project Archive635.Final presentation63Conclusion64

Table of tablesTable 11 Problems detected from interviews3Table 12 Cost calculation NCR co-ordinator11Table 13, Estimated costs of implementation plan14

Table of figuresFigure 11 New NCR Form9Figure 12, a red tag12Figure 13, example of the NCR process13

Executive summary This summary includes Interim report 2 (analysis of database), the results of the interviews (interim report 3) and the project teams recommendations for the NCR problem. Project goalThe original goal of the project is to write an implementation plan for an NCR process where all NCRs are documented, which enables decisions for corrective and preventive action. Project outcomeFirstly, throughout the investigation on the database given by Petrogas, problems of the current system were broadly defined; the NCR form is not effective enough, Non-conformity is detected in later stage of production (assembly), hard to calculate estimated time and costs and corrective and preventive actions were either not filled in or repeated over time. Based on the outcome of the database analysis, the project team selectively collected qualitative information with individual interviews with department managers. The entire script of the interviews is in the Appendix. During the interviews, a clearer picture of the problems was made; no-feedback/no follow-up, late detection of NCR, there is no specific standard to write report, filling in a NCR is time consuming and it is hard to measure estimated costs and hours of each Non-conformity product.Thirdly, a meeting with important stakeholders was held to discuss on the project teams draft recommendations. During the meeting, the management team and the project team had consent on the framework of the process and form. Some of the suggestions were aroused during the meeting regarding to details of a new process and form. Lastly, the end of the report includes an implementation plan for the new NCR system for Petrogas to achieve their initial goal of the LeaNCR project: write an implementation plan for an NCR process where all NCRs are documented, which enables decisions for corrective and preventive action. The recommendation includes the new process, new form and additional procedures about the new NCR system. Those additional procedures are a red tag system, a NCR team meeting, training and frequently reporting the NCR to stakeholders.

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Introduction Petrogas is a company, which designs, manufactures and supplies turn-key gas installations. In order to do this, it relies on the quality of its various components. Petrogas devises a non-conformance reporting system (or NCR system) in order to keep track of the quality, to avoid depending on unreliable suppliers and to improve over-all quality. However, this system is less effective than Petrogas believed it could be, and it was estimated that a reasonable amount of money (around two million euros) were wasted each years due to unreported non-conformances. Petrogas believes that a NCR system is necessary. Therefore, this project is assigned to Fontys University of Applied Sciences by Andre Nederlof, lead buyer of Petrogas, in order to tackle the issues related to current Non-conformance reporting system. After defining the background of the LeaNCR project, which included the scope of the project, project approach, planning, financial and risk plans, the LeaNCR team sets a goal which is Write an implementation plan for a NCR process where all NCRs are documented, which enables decisions for corrective and preventive actions. Based on the goal of the project, the team chose the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control) framework to get to grips with this matter.

Furthermore, the Measurement and Analysis of the NCR databases, which were provided by Petrogas, took place and resulted in gathering several alternative flows and alternative databases forms. After that, the Current flow and the database form of Petrogas were compared with alternative processes and forms. Towards the end of the project, team LeaNCR interviewed a group of nine people whose work is directly or indirectly influenced by the NCR system.Based on this research, several solutions were developed to address the various problems of the current system. These solutions were later discussed with a small group of stakeholders, and based on this discussion; the project group devised several recommendations. This report describes the solutions and the recommendations of our project.

Interim Report 2Every company has a different procedure on how to tackle non-conforming products. When a non-conforming product is discovered, a process flow (procedure) starts, which makes sure that the non-conformity is handled properly. When every step in the process is taken, the non-conforming product is fixed and normally the company learns from it, so it is less likely that the same non-conformity occurs again. In Interim Report 2 Petrogass process flow is compared with other businesses flows. The outcome was that other processes were more complex and includes more steps then Petrogass own process. After looking at the process flow, the system used in the flow was analysed. Here Petrogass database was compared with one other database. There were a lot of similarities regarding the data fields, however the main difference is that in Petrogass form only one person fills it in, while at the alternative these are four persons. The report goes on moving away from theory towards practice. The database and the process combined in practice is the analysis of how effective these theories work together. First, the effectiveness of the form is analysed. The outcomes of the analysis shows that some parts of the form are not filled in frequently, due to lack of knowledge, lack of options or are unnecessary. The form is written by the person who normally detects the non-conformity, which is the second part of this analysis. The results were that the detection of the NCRs was mostly at assembly and at the customer, which is normally too late in the process. For the writing part, it shows as a result that there are a few employees who write a majority of the NCRs. That means that not everyone is writing the NCRs. The end conclusion was that persons detecting it were not necessarily writing it in practice. Thirdly, the report shows the parties causing the NCRs. Those NCRs were mainly caused by Petrogas Asia (36%), Feijen (9%) and Javaro Metaalbewerking (7%). Of course NCRs were also caused internally of which 36% was caused by Engineering, 16% by Assembly and 14% by Project management. Those NCRs made, of course, cost money and time. How much time and money this involves was not clear in the company, that is why a prediction was made in the second interim report. Some scenarios were sketched based on which percentages of the NCRs were previously filled in. The last part of this analysis and the report was which corrective and preventive actions were taken for the NCRs. For the corrective action this was mainly reparation and for the preventive action review drawings, inspect during production and communication.

1. Preparation for meeting The actual preparation of the meeting started from an earlier stage in the project. Several problem definitions and solutions based on managers perspective were a result of the qualitative interviews. Therefore, our group had a complete list of problems and possible solutions managers have in their mind. Those constraints are; No follow-up, late detection of NCR, No standard to decide whether is it a NCR or not, Filling a NCR is time consuming, list in drop-down menus are incomplete, Hard to measure estimated costs & hours and Using another system than the NCR as an alternative and so on.Those constraints are categorized into two segments. The first category is implementing a new process within Petrogas successfully and the other one is constraints related to the form of Non-conformity report. Petrogas has to achieve the initial goal of the project; all NCRs are documented, which enables decisions for corrective and preventive action. Implement new process successfully NCR form

No follow-upFilling in NCR is time consuming

Late detection of NCRList in drop-down menus are incomplete

No standard to decide whether it is a NCR or notHard to measure estimated costs & hours

Table 11 Problems detected from interviewsBesides crucial constraints described in Table 1.1, Appendix 2 provides further details on each problem with a root-cause analysis. Throughout the brainstorming session which was held within the Interim Report 3 phase of the project, several solutions (recommendations) came up. Each team member proposed several recommendations, of which the best suggestions were selected for the meeting. The recommendation plan includes suggestions related to a new way of NCR process, a new NCR form and the rest. To begin with a new NCR process and NCR form, the biggest changes were that a co-ordinator is involved within the entire process and the form itself is much simplified.

2. MeetingDue to having several suggestions, the project decided to have a meeting with the main stakeholders of this project. In this meeting the group presented their potential recommendations. Together with the insights of the management team the following decisions were made: A new process, which has a better fit with Petrogass working environment. In the new process, the department managers will have a critical role in the corrective actions. Also in the new process, a co-ordinator will make sure the process is flowing accordingly. The current non-conformity form will be divided in two parts, and unnecessary content will be removed. A Non-conformity is a product which is not according to specification, it does not matter how much money there is involved.

From these decisions we made recommendations, which will be discussed further on.

3. Recommendations The new NCR process312

Step 1 DetectingAt first, a problem on a part or a product is detected by a specific person on a specific department. This person will decide on the NCR standards if it is a NCR or not. If a product or part is badly damaged and cannot fulfil to the product standards which results in a lack of quality, a NCR should be reported if: The part/product can be fixed, replaced or repaired for a cost-price above ( 500, -) The time it takes to fix, to replace or to repair takes is more than (1) factory hour If the same NCR has occurred (one month) prior to the detection of the current NCR If the part/product heavily infect the planningThere is no need to record damage if it is not considered as a NCR according to standards that mentioned above, since it is time consuming to register the NCR than simply repair it. However if the problem is identified as NCR, the person who detected it has to discuss this with his department head who will actually submit part A of the form into the system. When this is done, the assigned person has to fill in part A of the NCR form; based on the information available. Questions that this person should fill in at Part A of the form are:1. What is the project number? 2. Where is the NCR detected? 3. Is Petrogas responsible for the problem or one of its suppliers?4. Which department will have to repair the NCR?5. What is the problem or deviation?6. What is the planned date that it should be fixed for our department?7. Do you have any attachments that can make the problem clearer?Step 1 of the NCR process

After all these questions are answered, the same person will automatically send part A to the department head of the section, that will need to repair it, and to the NCR Co-ordinator. With this Email step 1 is closed.Step 2 SolvingStep 2 officially starts when the head of the department that has to fix the NCR and the NCR Co-ordinator receive the Email that contains all necessary information for fixing the NCR such as attachments, project numbers, a planned date, the problem and cause. First of all, the department head has to decide which worker will be the best man for the job and when this person has to start, based on the instructions of Part A. After the NCR has been fixed, initiator will report to the department head and informs him about the costs of the parts; how long it took him and how to prevent the same problem from happening again. With this information the department head is able to fill in part B of the form, which consists of questions like: What are the estimated costs and hours regarding this NCR? How can we prevent this NCR from happening again as an organisation? Is the NCR finished and ready to return to the production process?After the NCR has been fixed and the questions are answered, it will be sent automatically to the person that filled in part A together with the NCR Co-ordinator.

Step 3 Informing/LearningNow Petrogas reaches the step that the NCR is solved and the initiator/writer of part A receives the message that his problem is solved and how and at what cost it has been fixed.

RolesNow the several roles of the people involved with the process are briefly described:Initiator The person that detects a defect in a product must report that non-conformity product. In case the initiator does not have access to a computer or he/she does not have time to fill in the form, he will inform the department manager directly. Furthermore this person will move the product/part including a red tag towards the department that will fix it.

Writer part AThe person fills in part A of the form. This person is either a department manager or an initiator who has to ensure the message sent to the co-ordinator and the head of the solving department. Head of the solving departmentThis person receives an Email that his department needs to fix a NCR and how to fix it. Now he assigns one of his workers to fix the problem before a specific date, which mentioned on the form. Also he receives part B of the form and he makes sure that the co-ordinator receives this data.Solver He/she will be made responsible by the department head for solving the NCR: the solver needs to report back to his/her department head with information, such as the estimated hours and costs.Co-ordinator The co-ordinator has a helicopter view of the whole process. He is sending signals, tracking progress, sending feedback, collecting, sharing and analysing data. He makes sure that the entire information is centralized, and that corrective and preventive actions are taken. The new NCR FormAfter the project team looked at the analysis of old NCR form, which showed an overview of all the boxes and how many times they were filled in, it was immediately clear that there is a need for some serious attention. A new form was developed shown in figure 1-1. Every box is briefly described and they are divided in boxes that are mandatory to fill in or free to leave open. A mandatory box should be marked with a star (*) and the writer should not be able to continue before the box is filled in. When a box is not filled in and the writer presses on send it should note why it is not sending and which box is still open.Furthermore if possible it should automatically send part A to the department head of the corrective department and the NCR Co-ordinator. For example when someone from the assembly department detects a NCR and he decides that engineering will need to fix it, the email will be send to the head of engineering department and the NCR Co-ordinator. For sending part B the same has to be done, except the head of the solving party will be changed by the person who wrote the NCR. On top of that, part A should be blocked for the party that takes the corrective action and part B has to be blocked for the person detecting the NCR.

Figure 12 New NCR FormExplanation of the boxesPart AProject number (Mandatory)This box did not change compared to the old form; the writer fills in the number of the project and when it is filled in, it should automatically fill in the project description, project leader, customer and the delivery date for the customer. In the old form this was filled in 99% of the times, so this box can be considered as safe.Planned delivery date (Mandatory)The Planned delivery data is also extracted from the old form. However, the meaning of the word may have slightly changed. It should stand for the date that the department needs the part/product as latest.Username (Mandatory)The username should automatically be filled in and linked to his department. So at once it should be clear who detected it and for which department he works.

Corrective action by (Mandatory)Here the writer fills in which department should be taking the corrective action, instead of an individual. A dropdown menu with all the departments would be the best way to do so.State (Mandatory)Whether the NCR is opened or closed should be filled in automatically, only the NCR Co-ordinator is able to close NCRs and has a clear overview of what is opened and what is closed.AttachmentsIn the current system, the majority mentioned that it was time consuming to put an attachment to the NCR. Therefore, based on the form analysis, it was demonstrated that only 12% of the employees attached an attachment. Since the new NCR form, modified for Petrogas, saves huge time for employees to fill in the NCRs, it is not a major constraint to focus on (for Petrogas currently). However, when the new process and form is established perfectly, the co-ordinator mainly focuses on attachment problems and uses Dropbox and Air Droid to upload photos that employees took. Caused by (mandatory to fill in; whether if its caused by supplier or Petrogas)In this box the writer fills in whether the NCR was caused internally or externally followed by a dropdown box, which shows the specific department or supplier. In the old form, people were used to fill this box in for approximately 90%. When they did not fill this box in, it was because they either did not had the knowledge or were afraid to blame a colleague. However, with this new from they do not have to blame a specific colleague.Description of non-conformity (Mandatory)Here the writer explains what needs to be done, in order to fix the product according to the standards.Part BEstimated costs & hours (Mandatory)In the old form, this was predicted on beforehand by people who had little knowledge about this. Now, this is done when the non-conformity is finished, therefore the cost and hours are much easier to fill in. At least, this is done by someone who has more knowledge, because he or his department actually fixed the non-conformity.RemarksAn open text box were the writer of part B is able to fill in remarks about the NCR; ideas of how to prevent it or problems that he faced during the solving process of the non-conformity.

NCR Co-ordinatorRequirements: Knowledgeable about Petrogas and its departments NCRs should be top priority Good analytical skills Preferably someone that has been working for Petrogas for some time Preferably knows how to read product specifications

Job Description of the Co-ordinator: Receives all NCRs Starts tracking the NCRs. Does a root cause analyses for recurring NCRs Assigns corrective/preventive action supervisor Informs senior management/management team Analyses trends in the NCR system Gives feedback to initiator and solver Holds periodically NCR management meetings Closes all NCRs.Cost Calculation: NCR co-ordinator daily receives 3 NCRs on average (prediction). Therefore, based on this calculation, the co-ordinator is required to work on NCRs 3 hours per day. In Table 2, the estimated cost of assigning an NCR co-ordinator is estimated per year. TaskCost/hourHoursWeeksTotal cost

Reading NCR 95,000,2552 6.175,00

Writing part of NCR-0,2552 6.175,00

Root cause analysis-0.7552 18.525,00

Trend analysis-0,2552 6.175,00

Unforeseen complications-0.7552 18.525,00

Feedback-0,16652 4.100,20

Closure-0,08352 2.050,10

Report for management-44 1.520,00

Prepare management meeting-26 1.140,00

Total952.652 64.385,30

Table 11 Cost calculation NCR co-ordinator

Red tag systemEach department has a stack of red tags such as the one shown above, a supply of tie-wraps, duct tape and/or rubber bands to fix the red tag to a product. When a NCR is detected, it gets a red tag to indicate that the product should not be used. The red tag contains the date and time when it was detected, but also the name of the department and the individual who identifies the problem. If possible, the department which will solve it will also be written down. Once the NCR has been solved, the solver checks the box to show that it has been solved, and knows to which department and person to bring the fixed product. Figure 12, a red tag

Below is illustrated with an example how the red tag system will ideally work. In this example, assembly detects a problem that can be fixed by wielding.1. The assembly department assembles a new installation1. An employee detects an non-conforming product1. He fills in part A of the NCR form, sends it, and fills in a red tag. Parts of the red tag can be filled in quickly by using a department stamp and/or a time stamp.1. He brings the product (with the red tag connected to it) to a designated NCR corner[footnoteRef:1] of the wielding department to fix it [1: A designated spot for non-conforming products to prevent them from being used accidentally. It can be divided in a section for parts that have to be fixed and parts that have been fixed]

1. An employee of the wielding department sees that there is a product in their NCR corner, reads the red-tag and fixes it accordingly.1. This employee looks up the relevant NCR form and fills in part B, and checks the bottom box of the red-tag to show that the product is fixed.1. The NCR form is now complete. The preventive action process can start from here. The wielding employee brings the product back to the assembly NCR corner.1. An employee of assembly sees that the fixed product has arrived in their NCR corner, and uses it.

Figure 13, example of the NCR processFrequency of NCR meeting Monthly department meeting: separate time schedule for each department head. Most likely the Co-ordinator and the departmental manager have to discuss approximately 10 NCRs per meeting. Quarterly NCR team meeting: the quarterly meeting is required for all the managers (within the NCR team) with the co-ordinator. When stakeholders are not available all at the same time, it is possible for the co-ordinator to have two meetings. In this meeting, the co-ordinator decides which NCRs are to be discussed, based on his analysis and the data he gathered. Quarterly meeting: Similar to quarterly meeting. The NCR co-ordinator analyses the database, categorizes them and discusses them with the managers. In this yearly meeting, the co-ordinator has to include the senior management team as well. Stakeholders involvement and content of meeting

MonthlyManagers individually discuss all the NCRs occurring in each department

QuarterlyEntire NCR team discusses selected NCRs with preventive action.

QuarterlyNCR team discusses with senior management team about the largest constraints in each year.

Training The co-ordinator is responsible for trainings related to the new system/new form. In the final presentation at Petrogas, which will be held the 17th of June 2014, all stakeholders will be present if possible. Therefore, the managers are aware of changes made by the project team. In the future, Petrogas will provide proper training for their employees to manage the new NCR process and form adequately.Frequency of reportingAt this moment, when a detector finds a non-conformity product, he submits the report to several people in an unorganized way; there are too many people in CC. The new process suggests to report a NCR to the department manager and the Co-ordinator. However, it is important for some stakeholders to receive the NCR immediately to tune their schedule. For instance, the planner has to have the NCR as soon as possible to alter his planning. On the other hand, the procurement department has to have its reports not as frequently as the planner. The procurement department requires a monthly, quarterly and/or yearly report from the co-ordinator to take an action against suppliers. Eventually, it is the co-ordinator who is responsible for the frequency of reports. Costs of implementation planBy knowing the fact any calculation of implementing our recommendations is out of our scope, the project team still provides an oversight of necessary costs. The recommendations include the job of the NCR co-ordinator, together with modifying the system in order to get a two-step form. In order to get the system to work efficiently; managers and employees need to be trained. CategoryNumber of personCost/hourWeeksDaysHoursTotal cost

1. NCR co-ordinator1 95,005252.6 64.385,30

2. Modification of system1 95,001124 2.280,00

3. Training managers15 95,00112 2.850,00

4. Training employees150 95,00111 14.250,00

Table 12, Estimated costs of implementation plan

Appendix 1Interview number 1 with Tjerk van Emmeren (service department)Thursday 15.05.2014 at 09:00

Executed by: Lorraine van Dijk DongMin Son (DM) Observer: Milad Dashti

Summary Employees see the NCRs as critics on their work. It is not seen as an improvement for the future, but as a mistake, that is why employees argue against it.

This is a communication problem, but there is also a system problem. When NCRs are written, there is almost never feedback given on it. In the report some people are not an option to click on.

Mr. van Emmeren knows the costs of the NCRs of his department. He is the only one who knows, other departments have no clue. The quality department is not involved in the NCRs.

No one is overlooking the NCRs and updating the status. This results in that the engineers find the same faults over and over again, since nothing is done about it.

The service department reports their non-conformities in Trimergo, which was in total 700.000 euros last year. This means that a piece of information was not given to the project team prior to the interviews.

The service department writes 30% of its NCRs and 70% they leave out. Tjerk van Emmeren fills in the NCRs for his department because the engineers cannot connect with the system when they are out of the country.

TranscriptLorraine: We are a student group from Fontys, we try here to see what the problem is with NCR writing and the process of the NCRs. We already found some data, but we really want to hear from the employees what actually the problem is in order to come up with a solution.DongMin: In this interview we want ask you mainly about the problems of the NCR that you might have noticed, and a little bit about a solution that you might have thought about. That is actually the main goal of this interview. Approximately this interview will take 15 30 minutes.

DongMin: Then, we would like to hear it from your side; we would like to ask about yourself, from which department.

Tjerk: I am from the service department, and I do write quite a lot NCRs, as our guys in the field discover problems and report them to the different departments here in the company, and the biggest issue with the NCR system is that people see it as very critic on their work. They do not see it as an improvement for the future, but they think they are wrong, making faults, so that is a big issue. People always argue against it. They do not say we have to look it to this, how it was caused and everything, but they simply say that it is not true, that is was not their fault. So, everybody is cleaning their own plate.

DongMin: Could you actually define which category it does fall into, is it a communication problem, or the system, the people or the form?

Tjerk: Communication and the system both. The point is if you write an NCR, you will never get feedback on it. I write an NCR, and then I have to email it manually to different departments who are involved. The email addresses will be set automatically, and I can add people if I would like to. The point is as soon as I register it, then maybe someone will respond on the email, but if nobody responds I never hear from it again. So, I dont get feedback on the NCR, so I do not know if it is solved or improved for the future. It should be a good thing if the original reporter of the NCR should close the NCR, so everybody should have to get back with an answer or solution, which is good enough for me to close the NCR. And that is why a lot of people do not write NCRs anymore, as they can write it down but nobody does anything with it.

DongMin: Do you have any problems with the form then, that the form itself is a problem?

Tjerk: Sometimes some missing departments, persons who should solve the issue, or companies that are missing. So, we buy parts from companies and if the NCR is caused by the supplier we have to add the company, but some companies are not on the list.

Lorraine: We already also looked at different systems: that you as initiator fill in the first part, which is the NCR description, then the Quality manager fills in the second part, how much it is going to cost. So, every person checks what the person before him filled in, and then it is closed.

Tjerk: Yes, the point is, I believe, our quality department does not know how expensive it is to solve it. Normally, for my part, I write down the costs of the problem, as I know the hour rates for field service engineers and the costs for visa, flying, hotels, everything. So, especially not direct cost but indirect costs are pretty high when you are solving problems everywhere in the world.

Tjerk: Our Quality department is mainly mechanical orientated or completely mechanical oriented, and they only know welding certificates, welding procedures and everything like that. They do not know electrical issues, so they are not involved in that part. I believe our quality department is not even involved, I never send a NCR to the quality department.

Lorraine: Who is then involved when you write a NCR?

Tjerk: For example, if they made a fault made in the assembly, our assembly leader is involved. Or if a supplier supplied the wrong part or the part is defect, our purchase department is involved. So different departments are involved, but there is no one who is overlooking all the NCRs and is saying we have to solve this, how do we solve this, is it already solved? Because some of the problems we find in the field are solved already as we are assembling installations that were produced already 2 or 3 years ago.

Lorraine: How important is that the NCRs are not written down completely for you? Is it really effecting? It is effecting the company because it costs lots of money.

Tjerk: It is pretty important, not especially for me, but for our engineers, because they get irritated finding the same faults over and over again. They are now at a stage where they said: passing and leaking valves, we do not report them anymore, as they dont do anything with it. I do not believe that is the way to go. I believe at the end of last year, Frank requested them again: Please, report all the issues, as we have to follow them, and go back to the suppliers that they are not delivering the right parts.

DongMin: So the big problem is that they do give any feedback, so that the engineers do not want to fill in the NCR form anymore and that cause the same problems again and again.

Tjerk: We even created not completely NCRs system, but we got in our system Trimergo, for all the warranty projects, we are now defining them in different categories, mentioning the cost and solution. As not for all the warranty projects issues are NCRs issued. So then they say at the end of the year that we have so many costs on non-conformances, but if you take a look at the other list on Trimergo, it is approximately 6 times that amount of money.

Lorraine: But that is something your department does as a solution?

Tjerk: Yes, because we want to find the cause, and for example 25% of the warranty costs are caused by delivery not conforming scope. So we have delivered an installation that was not conforming the scope we agreed on with the customer.

DongMin: So the delivered part also causes a lot of problems then?

Lorraine: That is why the customer is in our NCR data is low, because the Trimergo is not involved in that indeed.

Tjerk: Maybe you should take a look at that list.

Lorraine: That is a good thing. But then the communication between the departments is a little bit off, with the NCRs too.

Tjerk: Yes. No, I never get any feedback; the only feedback I get sometimes is from the assembly. Most of the time they say: No it is not our fault because this or that. It is not always true.

Lorraine: No, it has to be like one company: if someone makes a mistake, then we will try to fix it.

Tjerk: Yes, but they are arguing against it, that is the point. They are not saying: we have to improve quality or change some things in the process, instead they say it is not our fault, it is not true.

DongMin: And also, another question I want to ask you: how do you guys fill in the NCR, because is it like the workers in the workflow who has to fill in, or you fill it in?

Tjerk: Most of the time I fill in the NCR, because the connection with the system is pretty difficult from outside the Netherlands, we have to use a VPN connection and it is difficult and too slow to fill in the NCR from, for example: Saudi Arabia, India and some of these countries.

Lorraine: So you think maybe that it is a good thing too, that there can be system..

Tjerk: If it is easier to use, they probably would create more NCRs and we can improve the quality. So if it is like an online system or something similar, they do not have to make a secured connection every time, it is much easier.

Lorraine: and that you have maybe access on your phone. So they have their phone and can immediately write the NCR.

Tjerk: Yes, if they can have access on their phone, immediately make a picture and make a short description would be great.

Lorraine: Actually, I want to ask something about the process. Now, you said that the customer does not get the products according to specifications, but when do you think that has to be detected? Doesnt that have to be detected all the way down in the warehouse?

Tjerk: No, no. The warehouse does not know anything about specifications, that is the fault of the project leader, as he has to go through all the specifications and that is the problem again. They are like thousands of pages; it is very hard to do not miss points in the specifications. There are electrical, mechanical specifications, painting, welding, construction; every customer has its own specification, so there is no standard.

Lorraine: So, the NCRs will be detected anyways in the assembly or at the customer?

Tjerk: Yes, most of the time at the customer. When we are assembling the installation on site, most of the time there are a couple of people on site who know the specification from the beginning to the end. They simply walk next to the installation and see what is not according specs. Sometimes, we can manage to say it is also okay this way and they accept it, but not always.

Lorraine: do you think at the NCR system, that you can fill in everything? That it is not too specified?

Tjerk: No, I think I can fill anything. That is quite okay.

Lorraine: because some people have difficulties filling some parts of the form.

Tjerk: No, most of the times I can fill them all in. I am only missing some people of departments to click on, like I said.

Closure.

Milad: I also have two questions, before; you said that sometimes you deliver a product to the customer that is not conforming scope that is agreed upon, what is the reason for that? Why do you deliver something different than what the customer asked for?

Tjerk: It is very difficult to read all the specifications, sometimes even at different places at the specifications they are contradicting each other. It is a designing problem, but it is hard to read the complete specifications, you cannot make an easy overview of it.

Milad: Do you also sometimes decide not to fill in a NCR? If you receive, report that something is not conforming?

Tjerk: Many times

Milad: What is the reason for you to decide whether to fill in this NCR and not another one?

Tjerk: If it is very clear who is responsible, I will fill in the NCR.

Milad: So, if it is not clear who is responsible, you do not fill it in?

Tjerk: No, and if for example non-conforming scope or that kind of problems, I never fill in a NCR.

DongMin: Then, how many percentages would you say that you fill in NCRs?

Tjerk: I believe it is like, 30% I do fill in, and 70% I dont fill in.

DongMin: That is actually quite a lot, because we came up with a scenario how much it will cost if only 20% of the NCRs are filled in, that it will cost the company 7.5 million approximately.

Tjerk: I can show you the list of the Trimergo system, and then you can see all the Warranty cases.

DongMin: Oke, so that is an extra set of NCRs?

Tjerk: Those are the real costs, at least for the service department, and all the warranty cases.

Milad: Yes, because when we just started this project, they told us that the costs were anywhere between 500.000 and 2 million euros. Right now, we can see that probably those costs are way higher.

Tjerk: I believe only our department, last year was about 700.000 euros. I believe we are the biggest, but I do not know for sure. As we are at the end of the line, and have to solve all the last problems.

Lorraine: So, maybe then 2 million is still in reach.

DongMin: Could you send us the database? It would be really helpful for us.

Tjerk: I can print it out. The only thing is, all the problem descriptions are in dutch.

Lorraine: That is no problem; we have Dutch students. We can translate it.

Tjerk: I will print it out, and I will be back in a couple of minutes.

Lorraine/DongMin: Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. And we will probably see you next time in the workshop.

Interview number 2 with Marc v d Boogaart (Assembly) Thursday 15.05.2014 at 10:00

Executed by: Willem Castelijns Mary Ghadiri Observer: Milad Dashti

Summary

Big projects report in NCR database (10%), others in iAuditor (90%) because its simpler and saves time. 20% of total NCRs is not reported at all, because they are very small things that are easy to fix and not worth the extra time to fill in an NCR Improving the NC reporting is very important for his department, because there are recurring problems that are not fixed. A lot of information in the drop-down menus is not up to date and this causes problems and costs even more time Main problem with the system is that it simply takes too much time to fill in an NCR Assembly is often blamed for problems that originate from an earlier stage (e.g. engineering) No quality control on suppliers causes many problems for the organization as a whole In order to report more problems in the NCR database Marc wants it to become less time consuming (simplified) iAuditor data is send to Frank, he analyses the costs and hours but other than that nothing else is done with data

TranscriptWillem: is it okay for you if we do the interview in English?

Marc: yeah I am okay

Mary: thanks for being here. We know that you are busy so we will try to keep it short and quick as possible. We would like to say that we are recording your voice. So are you comfortable and fine with that?

Marc: Yes, it is no problem

Mary: So we want to explain to you briefly what our group is doing in Petrogas; you will have a clear picture of our project and we will all be in a same page. So hopefully the outcome of this interview will be useful for Petrogas.

Willem: So probably you know that Petrogas has a system for dealing with NCRs. That is why we are here because at the moment the system is not effective which causes a lot of problems internally and externally. So we did a research and we found out that you report NCRs regularly. Based on our information, you report 54% of assembly NCRs.

Mary: We would like to know about your daily activities and the responsibilities that related to NCRs. Can you please tell us a bit these matters?

Marc: Basically, I try to prepare the work for assemblers, I have to get the drawings from the system, copy them and make clear pictures for them. It is not about general arrangements; it is also about equipment, etc. I make several copies of them and provide them to assemblers.

Willem: So you do not do assembly anything yourself?

Marc: At this moment, No I dont. We have several projects. During the projects, problems come and I try to solve them for assemblers. If we have a problem like we dont know how to assemble or what the project leader has in mind, I try to get the answers, and make it clear for them. During the project (big projects), NCRs cost a lot of time and I think in the whole organization is not clear how much time costs. And what I do separately is with my iPad I have NCRs list for each project and I make pictures, describe what the NCR is and I give it a time for what we expect how long it takes to fix the problem. Why I do it that way because it takes less time. I fill in 54% of NCRs, but I think 30%, 40% I dont record and that happens when the problem is easy to solve (4:20) but it takes time to solve. Before and after every project the time used is being calculated, the difference is registered and forwarded to my supervisor Frank v d Sloot (Plant Manager) a lot of the times it is because of NCRs, the big NCRs cost a lot of times are reported because they cost a lot of time.

Mary: How important is NCRs for you and your department?

Marc: it should be important. We see regular comebacks and That is our biggest concern when we dont think anything done with NCRs. Most of the times, I think nothing is done with NCRs within the organization. Willem: How important is it for you if the system gets improved?

Marc: very important I think.

Willem: so you can use it more often.

Marc: we should simplify it I think.

Willem: so now you use IPad you said. But dose it use the same form? Marc: No, it does not. I use iAuditor.

Mary: So you prefer to have a simple form, not really a complicated one?

Marc: Yes, it costs me too much time to fill in the NCRs. When I fill in the NCRs, I have to attach the pictures and that is time consuming. With iAuditor, it takes me a minute to describe it and I am done. And after that, I make a PDF file and that file goes to frank.

Willem: so you know the process of NCR. When it occurs and when it finishes it and you use this form regularly?

Marc: yeah

Willem: Are there any major bottlenecks or things that are hard to fill in with this form?

Marc: No, they are not hard to fill in. sometimes that you have an NCR within the organization, you cant (Dutch)

I can not select it, selecting a box is not always possible if there is for example a different supplier, the options are not up to date, which results in some phone calls that have to be made in order to make it up to date, this is also the case for project numbers for example.

Willem: But isnt it hard to blame someone that caused the NCR? Or the form is not up to date?

Marc: This is not always up-to-date. You can blame someone but it is not always obvious who did it. You have to blame someone..

Mary: It is not always clear who that person is.

Marc: exactly

Willem: what about estimation of costs and hours? How do you predict them before hand?

Marc: yes I predict them

Mary: so what is the main problem of the system according to you? Main issue?

Marc: There is no main issue. It just takes too much time for me and something can be done simpler, I think. You cant always choose the correct category. The same situation when we want to describe where the problem is.

Willem: But do you select a random option then? Or you dont fill it in?

Marc: Yes, I fill them in.

Willem: so now we come to the point of occurrence, how many times it happens. So are there any specific criteria for an NCR.

Marc: Basically, when an assembler is assembling and he has to stop because there is a fault, it doesnt matter how tiny it is, for him it is an NCR. It is a setback in time; the times we do have in assembly are pricey because most of the companies think we do too long about things and I say no. That is not correct. We just have so many setbacks of NCRs and etc., which it takes that amount of time. And that is the discussion that I have had since I am with Petrogas. The NCRs are very important. I really dont know if the organization sees them as that important. For instance, I can get really mad about that, we have a big problem overseas with Thomson heaters, they are leaking and there was an NCR and it costs lot of money. But the problem it occurred in engineering, but the hours we made to do corrective actions were reported in the name of assembly. When we have a meeting, NCRs in assembly department may cost around 250,000 euro, then everyone look at our department, but the real problem happened in engineering.

Willem: In between engineering and assembly is quality department. So they are also responsible and they have to check if it is correct.

Marc: that is the problem with NCRs and I think out of 100% NCRs that I make, 50% is quality issues. For instance, Skid was made by supplier, and later the fault came to quality but the only one we can blame is the supplier. However, I think the quality department is responsible as well and that is something that you cant do the NCR as well at this moment.

Willem: normally since you are at the end of the process before the customer, you are saying that youre getting blame because of earlier problems.

Marc: Sometimes it looks like and it speaks it out that way but when you are looking back, that is not true.

Willem: so who decide in assembly when to fill in an NCR? Is it you?

Marc: Yes.

Willem: so we have the right person. So do you have any idea how many times NCRs on assembly stage is registered or done nothing with it?

Marc: I think, with iAuditor and NCR, I describe 80% of NCRs.

Mary: what are the possible solutions according to you for Petrogas?

Marc: Control, I think. Basically, We have no quality control on suppliers and that is a big problem through the whole organization. And the problems occur in assembly department and then it is almost too late to take action to it.

Willem: how many times do you think your department cause an NCR? Does it happen at all?

Marc: yes we make NCR as well. And I have to be honest I dont register them at this moment. I only register the big problems when it costs huge amount of time then I will write an NCR and the little ones we dont record them.

Willem: how do you define the little ones?

Marc: For example when the handle of valve mounted a wrong way, we need to change it and it takes 10 or 20 minutes to change that. Those kinds of ncrs we dont report.

Willem: how we can motivate you that you write all of them?

Marc: the motivation is about the time that it takes to fill in NCRs. When I have to write down all of them in the system, it takes me 2 to3 hours a day and I dont have time for that. And that is why I use iAuditor. . Because it is much easier.

Mary: Milad do you have any question to ask?

Milad: Yes. so you report lots of NCRs wit I auditor, so where is this data saved?

Marc: the only thing that I think it happens with these data, it goes to our supervisor, Frank, and it is only for calculation time matters. And that is really important for me because I am responsible for calculation of time and that is my goal to get the system done in the calculation time. But I think after that there is nothing being done with that information.

Milad: so it doesnt support any corrective actions?

Marc: No. My feeling is till today, we write down the NCRs in the system but there is nothing been done with it. So that is also demotivate us because we say why we should write the NCRs when no action will take to solve them.

Milad: do you know what percentage you report in the NCR system and what percentage with IAditour?

Marc: I think 10% wit NCRs and the rest of with iAuditor.. And I have them all in my PC. If you want I can provide them to you.

Mary: yes that would be really useful.

Marc: you may see that description in iAuditor is a bit different but the rest are the same.

Mary: Also do you consider anyone important that we should talk to?

Marc: NO

All: thanking him, closing meeting.

Interview number 3 with Ruud Sanders (Planner)Thursday 15.05.2014 at 11:00 Executed by: Willem Castelijns Mary Ghadiri Observer: Bas Claassen Summary Ruud is a planner and is responsible for the planning from beginning to end. He is mostly takes care of scheduling the workshop and a little for the office. As a planner he is working with everybody and all the NCRs that are written are sent to him. He doesnt fill in any NCRs himself, but the information about the costs and hours and effect on planning are most relevant to him. The costs and hours are assigned to a department by him based on the report. He is also not informed about what actions are to be taken with regards to CA/PA. He is not aware of in what stage the NCR currently is, he has to go after this information himself to find out whether it is already closed or still being worked on. He estimates that about 30% of the NCRs are reported.

TranscriptMary: thanks for being here. We know that you are busy so we will try to keep it short and quick as possible. We would like to say that we are recording your voice. So are you comfortable and fine with that?

Ruud: yes, it is okay.

Mary: So we want to explain to you briefly what our group is doing in Petrogas; you will have a clear picture of our project and we will all be in a same page. So hopefully the outcome of this interview will be useful for Petrogas.

Willem: So probably you know that Petrogas has a system for dealing with NCRs. That is why we are here because at the moment the system is not effective which causes a lot of problems internally and externally.

Mary: We would like to know about your daily activities and the responsibilities that related to NCRs. Can you please tell us a bit these matters?

Ruud: I am planner, scheduler. So I am responsible for the schedule from the moment that there is a prospect or offer till it is on the truck. My main business is scheduling the workshop and slightly the office but mostly the workshop. So I am responsible for everything that needs to go on time and therefore, I am working practically with everybody and I think all of the NCRs are sent to me. So most of the times, I have some involvement with all the NCRs.

Mary: How important is NCRs for you and your department?

Ruud: It can be very important. Some of them are not but most of them have an impact on the planning and it a big cause of delay in my planning.

Willem: So would like to see it solved?

Ruud: well you cant solve that we make NCRs Willem: that is truth. But at the moment, so far, we saw that there are three different systems and a lot of NCRs are not getting written down and you lose lot of money. Guy: yes, and most NCRs, I am already aware of because I am the first person that they call if something goes wrong and they cant make it on time because of several reasons. I also get NCRs that they have been already resolved so I get everything.

Willem: are you familiar with NCR form?

Ruud: yes, I see the result of it, but I dont fill it in. but the relevant points of this form to me are for example, if there is an estimation of cost and hours, then I have to figure out on which departments those are made. And if it is a delay or something is wrong with delivery, I need to know when it can be solved, an end date or fixed date. So I can imagine if you write an NCR, you are not sure when the issue will be resolved but somewhere along line, it should be a solve date.

Mary: so what is the main problem of the system according to you? Main issue?

Ruud: the only thing right now for the planning that it is on there, it is estimation of hours but I cannot see that. And for the supplier part, they never say when the issue will be solved or already solved because most of the NCRs that I see are already fixed but I cant see it. So I have to make phone calls several times or just wait for them to come to me.

Willem: so does it take a lot of time per day, or week?

Ruud: Not reading the NCRs but solving them or knowing what goes on take time.

Willem: So are there any specific criteria according to you what an NCR or not.

Ruud: If it takes an X amount of cost, it should be written down. At least be avoided and it has impact on my delivery time and if the issue has an impact on my complete time of my project then it is an NCR. So if the supplier says I will deliver a new one within a month and no costs are involved then it is an NCR. And based on that we also can report to our customer.

Willem: How many times according to you NCRs are written?

Ruud: I think it is only 30%.

Willem: and all on the same system, or do you see different systems For example: iAuditor that assembly department uses it?

Ruud: I only receive NCRs. Also I receive emails, which is related to NCRs.

Willem: so you dont get blamed, it is only to get informed for your planning?

Ruud: Yes I get informed but I dont get inform about what the actions are. So I need to know if I have to do anything, change my schedule, inform sales or project manger.

Mary: What are the possible solutions according to you for Petrogas?

Ruud: I think filling the NCR form should get better but also it should have more steps. For examples, when it is written, what the progress is, when it will be solved. Also some preventing actions are needed. I think what could help is if one or two persons on quality are really be responsible for it. By doing that, at least someone has an overview what it is open, or what it is closed. Then I can ask that person questions what the states on the NCRs.

Mary: do you have any question Bas?

Bas: Not really, will you attend to the workshop?

Ruud: yes, you can ask me.

All: Thanking him, closing the meeting.

Interview number 4 with Bas Straatman(Coating) Thursday 15/05/2014 at 13:00 Executed by: Lorraine van DijkDongMin Son (DM) Observer: Milad Dashti

Summary

Working as paint inspector & outsourcer and writing a lot of NCRs Follow up is the biggest problem, he has no idea what happens with them He wants a confirmation or notification when the NCR gets solved Filling in he is seeing as part of the job Writes down 10%, other 90% is too small to write Never had a meeting regarding NCRs Suggests making a system that pushes the NCR through the organization automatically. Wants people to be chased to solve the NCR through emails.

Transcript

DM: So we are from the student group from Fontys, and we are here doing a junior consultancy project to find out the NCR problems and to give an implementation plan for Petrogas. Anyhow thats why we are here. The goal of the interview is to find any problems for your side. And then we know what kind of solution we can offer.

Bas: Like a result?

Lorraine: So first we want to ask something about yourself, what you normally do etc. department.

Bas: Coating & Outsourcing, so I am responsible for all kind a things for coating. Coating inspector.

Lorraine: and how important are the NCRs to you.

Bas: pretty important because NCRs I make are big issues and time consuming regarding production and assembly.

DM: Can you explain us why that is time consuming?

Bas: Because when the paint damages we have to and its time consuming because paint has to dry.

Lorraine: Do you write the NCRs yourself?

Bas: Most of the times I do.

Lorraine: Because are you the one responsible for that? In your department.

Bas: yes

DM: On the research that we had based on the NCRs database we got from the company, you somehow also wrote the NCRs regarding the warehouse. Is that true?Bas: Yes, the warehouse receives the painted items, so they find out if there is a flaw in the coating, then they call me to check it.

DM: so the NCRs that you record are mostly about the paint, or damages regarding the paint.

Bas: Yes

Lorraine: What kind of problems do you have with NCR system or process?

Bas: The biggest problem is the follow-up of NCRs

DM: Like Feedback?

Bas: Yes

Lorraine: The form itself, can you all fill it in or are their certain parts that you dont agree?

Bas: There are some issues that are missing, then I contact ICT and they put it in so it is not a huge issue.

Lorraine:Okay, but not like some boxes that you are not able to fill in like hours, costs or root causes.

Bas: Thats the big question mark because I dont know how much time it will take.

DM: And that happens, you used to contact the other department so they know about it. Or to know the costs, date etc.

Bas: the costs and hours are primarily my responsibility, because I have to contact the assembly department to make sure they are ready.

Milad: So you are receiving an NCR, then you do the coating after you fill in the report right?

Bas: for instance a boll valve comes in and has transport damage, or the supplier painted in the wrong color, warehouse comes to me, they ask me to check the boll valve or any other damages in the painting, if it is good it is good. And if I have to fill out an NCR I fill out an NCR, I try to communicate with the suppliers to fix it.

Milad: and do you do the coating or is someone else doing it?

Bas: I am primarily the outsourcing, and coating inspector.

Milad: once a color is incorrect, you receive the information that if the corrective action is done?

Bas: Not always.

Milad: Lets assume you do, do you then come back to this form and closing it with feedback?

Bas: No

Milad: So you only fill it in?

Bas: Yes I only fill it in and send it around to the necessary people, who are normally project leaders or purchasers that have to follow up on it.

DM: And about contacting suppliers directly, do you do it often? Is it like a guideline that you have to communicate with your supplier directly or does it has to be done be another person.

Bas: for the general coating work, like piping vessels and that stuff, I contact the suppliers directly, and for boll valves it is the purchase department.

Lorraine: But you said that the problem is the follow up, you want the project manager to see if the NCR is executed.

Bas: Yes

Lorraine: Is there another issue in communication, system, form people or process?

Bas: Feedback would be nice, if you send out an NCR to people that need to have the NCR, feedback should be included.

Milad : what kind a feedback do you expect?

Bas: I am from the military, so if we send an email out you get a response: Sorry, read it.

Milad: For confirmation.

Bas: Yes for confirmation.

DM: and was there a sort of a meeting to talk about NCRs and to talk about communication, or did you had any chance to talk about it with a group of people where you could speak about it?

Bas: In the past you mean?DM: Yes

Bas: Never had a meeting about NCRs

DM: Okay, specifically about this problem, NCR?

Bas: No.

Lorraine: But are you happy with the form, the system in which you can fill in the form etc.

Bas: I dont mind it, no it comes with the job.

Lorraine: so for you mostly only feedback, like you want to know if it is confirmed.

Bas: Feedback and follow up.

Milad:This is the only system you use for reporting NCRs? You dont use any other system.

Bas: No this is the only one.

DM: Well basically the reason why we ask these kinds of questions is because that is totally different compared with the other departments. They all use different things. And they also mentioned that the form is difficult to use. And thats why they use different forms. But for you it is convenient and good enough?

Bas:Yes for me its good enough.

Milad: well I expect when a corrective actions is executed you also have to follow up with someone else. Right?

Bas: mmm no one really tells me.

Milad: Okay

Lorraine: So you outsource the coating and then when it comes back no one says to you that it has returned.

Bas: The planner, transport planner he tells me when he can pick up stuff at coaters. And then I sort of know when stuff comes in. But that is not sure.

Lorraine: so you fill in an NCR and you pass it on and it is gone?

Bas: Yes exactly.Lorraine: I kind of get the idea that you want to know what happened with it and that you are concerned about it. If it is okay, because there can be a problem that you have the same product twice.

Bas: yes, or one supplier that has a couple of issues with the same things, like transport damage. So we have 5 transport damages, in 5 different deliveries then there should be a problem with their packaging.

Milad: does it happen more often that the paint is damaged or a completely wrong color?

Bas: No most of the times it is damaged.

Lorraine: And can you tell us how many percent of the NCRs you do fill in?

Bas: Maybe 10%

DM: And what happens with the 90%?

Bas:For the 90 % it is give and take principle with the suppliers.

DM: Could you explain further about that?

Bas: IF a pipesmoel comes in with damage that occurred during transport, I contact the painter and ask him to come over and paint it.

Milad: What would you tell the supplier in such a case? Do you let him pay for the costs?

Bas: yes it his problem, because we have standard rules for transport, such as all the pipesmoels have to be taped together so that they are not able to move during transport, which is his problem so he needs to fix it. And I dont want to write NCRs about that because it is Bull****. I can write an ncr for it, but it is quicker fixed without a NCR than with a NCR. And also I heard stories from other companies like: Aaa your NCRs, they use the NCR form as toilet paper right.

Lorraine: okay great Laughing!

DM: are there any other solutions that you can suggest for us instead of giving or having more feedbacks or sessions, or are there any other things that you would like to mention as suggestion?

Bas: Yes automated, just like with outlook you can ask to receive notifications, so when someone opens the email so you dont get the yes or no questions, because most of the times I click no. So make it automatically. DM: okay, there might be a workshop session with the interviewed managers to come up with the solutions together for the problems, Would you be willing to join the workshop to come up with the solutions all together?

Bas: Yes if it fits my agenda.

Milad: we will let you know well before.

DM: we always communicate with Mr. Andr, and he will probably send you the mail. That would be the next time we meet!

Bas: okay no problem!

All: thanking him, closing the meeting and shaking hands.

Interview number 5 with Quint van Gijsel (work preparation)Tuesday 20.05.2014 at 10:00

Executed by: DongMin Son (DM)Willem Castelijns Observer: Mary Ghadiri

Summary

Work preparation department lies between design and purchase and engineering department. Non-existent of Follow-up is the key problem, Lack of options to choose in preventive action. Cost of materials is easy to find (Trimerago), but estimated hour is hard to find, since cooperation between departments related to estimated hour is weak. Based on working experience, there was centralized information flow with team dealing with NCR Monthly meeting to discuss about NCR with NCR team Decision to write NCR is based on impact of the project. However, there is no standard for it. Maybe within quality department, form up a team to deal with NCR only.

Transcript

DM: We are from the student group of fontys, we are doing junior consultancy project and we are taking a look at NCR system in Petrogas. The goal of the project is to provide implementation plan for the new NCR system. The goal of this interview is to get to know about the problem that you recognize in the NCR system in the Petrogas. So this is what we are going to do. So we would like to ask about yourself; department, year of the work etc. So, can you tell us about yourself?

Quint: I am responsible for work preparation. So thats a department after Engineering, between purchase and shop floor. So we have to transfer drawings to products, which can be made. So the shop floor understands what has to be done. Also that purchasing understands what they have to purchase.

DM: So it is design to the actual product.

Quint: Yep. So we decide where the parts are going to be made, and what is needed to make them. Besides that I am also responsible for machining shop, milling and turning; so three employees are there for shifts, making different parts for pressure vessels.

Willem: Firstly we will tell you about NCR, non-conformity. So how do you see it? Do you deal with it often?

Quint: sometimes, it is not very clear who is responsible for to write an NCR, and to address it. It is more important to have follow-up to solve it. So sometimes I have notice something. It can be on my department and machine shop. Also be something from assembly or sometimes I write an NCR, fill it up as complete as possible and also to discuss with other department for solution, sometimes engineering, quality control, to get the form as complete as possible. And to distribute to project leader and some other people are involved. And then sometimes it is easy to stop but the most important thing is to make sure that never happens again. To report is one, with the follow up, that is not really clear. For my experience in history, the company was more machining factory and quality control was responsible for NCR with another name but on the same base. Such employee from that quality control was responsible to report NCR and for follow-up.

Willem: So instead of here everyone is busy with NCR, but there are people purely focusing on NCR.

Quint: to keep the information central, so that person also can provide all the information to department where NCR reported.

DM: so you actually mentioned that they had those team centralized to focusing on the NCR in different company, here you told us that you are discussing with certain people for the corrective and preventive action right? How that does exactly works? Like a how many times in a week or a month that meeting arranged or how many corrective and preventive action provided by team. Can you explain further about this kind of discussion?

Quint: Oh, there are not standardized team for, so my experience was that we had a special NCR team, so that was supervisor from each department, engineering, quality department all those people get together once a month, and discuss all together about all the NCRs written that month, to see that okay how many time does what failure occurred, cause rest have to take actions, wasnt always good, always went smoothly that there is no team NCR. So when NCR occurs, he tries to solve it as soon as possible. Write down what is happened, some information to it wont happen again. But most of time we go on further in the database and it stops. Then we go further, oh, next NCR, but there is no really looking back and no gathering information.

Willem: and you mentioned about form. Is the just one on your ERP system or is it something else?

Quint: it is special NCR database.

Willem: this form right? From previous interviews we saw that different forms to use.

Quint: really? I only know one database,

DM: and you are only filling this one?

Quint: yeah only this one

DM: then how many percentages are you can say you fill NCR in? And you dont fill NCR in? Is this like a 50/50 or is it like 30/70?

Quint: When NCR occurs, for me personally, now the rule is when I notice NCR, I report it, you notice NCR in your department, and you know it.

DM: only from your department?

Quint: I always check what is the impact of NCR, if the small tapping for trap, which cost 15 minutes, then writing an NCR is more expansive. Is it really engineerings error, so the part doesnt fit whatever, materials not right. So there is longer delivery time. So we have to order again, so there are a lot of costs, thats really subject for NCR.

Willem: so how important is for your department work preparation that problem gets solved? How relevant is it?

Quint: you mean just to get it solved?

Willem: to improve it.

Quint: yeah that is very important. Because, when there is an improvement, for example, engineering problems, when they are occurring again and again, when there is possibility to stop them, to get to that to the basis where the problem occurred, maybe training for people on construction, technical team, we will get better information, information will be send to suppliers or our shop.

Willem: so it is really about specifications, not about it takes too much time or that is hard to fill in.

Quint: no, its

Willem: its really about that what is contained information.

Quint: only thing is maybe a preventive action that is a little bit vague.

Willem: yeah like a few little categories,

Quint: yeah you have not many options to fill in right

Willem: so is there a box that is hard to fill in?

Quint: I worked at the company where such as more colleagues here and this similar to I used to have in another company. So, for me it is familiar.

Willem: what about these, like estimated hours and estimated costs?

Quint: this is no the easy. You really cant tell when does the job is done, because its my time, its the time at the assembly, welding, material costs that is the easiest part, you can find in the trimergo, what all parts are cost, but its also sometimes, those engineering hours. When engineer made failure, adjust drawing and maybe it will take an hour or two hours. For me its taking half an hour on the shop floor, to fill it in correctly, so you have to not adjust only the material costs. So yeah most complete will be at the end, asking everybody how much does it cost. However it is not reality. It is just a guess.

Willem: are there any specific criteria when you write an NCR? Like when this happens, when you write an NCR?

Quint: lets say, it depends on impact. You have engineering problems like a last week with a flinch with 8 holes in it. But there was not on the drawing how much holes it was. So I asked engineer that little deviation, can you adjust the quantity of the holes on the drawing? Then I get the reaction like well, I can see from the glass where there are 8 holes. And that is the thing I do not write NCR, such a minor deviation. But the thing is when they got a flinch with 100 holes in it, shop floor really have to count one two three four. and then program the machine. That is ridiculous and that is what I want to. But that are minor deviations. Its like a for me not much time, at the shop floor, they know what they have to make, but I give them feedback for the engineering to adjust it, not only for this one, that should be complete; rules for drawing. When I really see deviation on the product failure, and the product is very expensive part, then I will make an NCR. So that when you report everything, making NCR costs a lot of money, but I understand, that is what always what management team asks. You are complaining about engineering. Let me see how many times some failure occurs. So many time, and how many? So that is the thing. Write down everything, we did it also at the first company. That was an American mother company. So they want to know everything. Then we started to write down everything. Really everything. At the monthly presentation, the NCRs are rising and rising. So they can see how many times which failure occurs, but they were not happy it was for every little thing.

DM: that is actually we are here to come up with the solution.

Quint: so to come back with the flinch with the hole, its no big problem for that one, but when we got the flinch with many holes, and there was no quantity, and at the shop floor, they miscount the hole and they weld it, causing 30,000 euros. And the machining time. Then you are delivering. So then that impact will be not to oversee. That is why for me I make a guess. Okay, how much cost, and to write it or not to write it.

DM: I think we got the most of information.

Willem: do you got anything about solution? Some ideas that are methods to improve system.

Quint: what I would do is to make a, we have big quality department and every company quality department is different responsibilities. Here is mainly paperwork and welding engineers, other company I worked for there was really a lot of production insight so those quality people were really measuring quality. Maybe we have to find one employee of the quality control to control it to be responsible for the system to fill in, to make solutions to be a central player for solution. I think and then you are sure always the solution. Everybody knows whom to talk with.

Willem: And they also make someone responsible for it, now no one is responsible.

Quint: now no one is. Exactly. That is my opinion.

Willem: did you heard about the app? For tablets or phones. Do you use iAuditor?

Quint: no, no.

DM: so are you only using this form right?

Quint: yeah, yeah.

DM: those are the most information that we wanted to get. And there probably will be some workshop, to get to know all the problems from different departments, and also to come up with the good solutions all together, try to communicate with each other. And then try to come up with the best solution together with our group. Are you willing to join us for the workshop?

Quint: yeah, of course.

DM: so that would be the invitation for next workshop, if there were. So we are going to have best solution all together. This is our plan.

Willem: you still have some questions?

Quint: no, no not yet.

Mary: do you consider anyone important we should interview with?

Quint: yeah maybe my direct colleague from work preparation Richard Nanning. Is he already on the list?

DM: he will be here today.

Quint: okay, so he is the first employee from this company. So very long time here. And knows all the departments, work floor, assembly, and coating. So he can have maybe something more.

All: thank you very much for your time.

Interview number 6 with Jacob van den Pol (Head of engineering departments)Tuesday 20.05.2014 at 11:00 Executed by: Willem CastelijnsDongMin Son (DM) Observer: Mary Ghadiri

SUMMARY

NCR is written a dumped in a bottomless pit to be filed and forgotten, and nothing happens with it. As a result people stop writing NCRs because it seems useless. If we dont intend to learn from NCRs then we might as well not write them at all. People see the NCRs as a way to place the blame on someone. Both the initiator and the receiver misunderstand the real purpose and try to clean their own desk. It is not about who made the mistake but that a mistake has been made and it needs to be fixed. The mindset of all the employees has to change regarding this. The person who addresses the problem shouldnt also be the person who comes up with the solution. The initiator also cant properly estimate the costs and hours, which makes completing the form difficult and forms a barrier to even starting one. The current NCR should be pulled apart. The form should only address the problem and there should be an easy way to attach photos or even videos from any kind of device. The report should stop at the corrective action. The preventive action should be done by someone that has the time to think of it, maybe a team of different departments. In the database you have problems enough finding your own NCRs let alone those made by others. Another problem is that the lists with names of employees and suppliers in the database are severely outdated. iAuditor might be exactly what is needed because it is simple to use and also add attachments. However, the way iAuditor is being used right now is not right because it is not connected to a company database. Also the iPads that are used on the work floor break too easily. Another idea is to have several levels of NCRs. The levels could be based on the impact of the non-conformity or on the location it is discovered (On-site, workshop, office etc). But there should be clear guidelines on when which type needs to be filled in. In the department meetings NCRs are discussed in order for the department to learn from them. In the meetings with senior management specific NCRs are not discussed unless it has a big impact on the company overall.

Transcript

DM: So you might know about ourselves

Jacob: Yes, I met you

DM: Junior consultancy project for Petrogas to get new implementation plan for the NCR system

Jacob: What was it? LeaNCR?

DM: Yes, LeaNCR project. The purpose of this interview is to get the problems that you think of the NCR system and to get possible solutions that you might think of, and thats why we wanted to arrange this interview. So we would like to hear something from your side.

Jacob Ok, well I am the project director so I guide the project management department. We have roughly 25 project engineers. And I do it on interim basis but it has been over a year already. I also guide the mechanical engineering team and we have 13 mechanical engineers. It works for me to do both departments because both departments are in the project teams together. We have 6 project teams, I am sure you know already, so that gives me a broad perspective on the projects that we do.

Willem: so you guide it from beginning till end.

Jacob: Basically.

Willem: Ok then that is clear, you probably know about the NCR problem a little bit. So what do you experience about it?

Jacob: I think my experience is the same as all of my colleagues. We write an NCR and we dump it in this bottomless pit and its filed and forgotten and nothing happens. As a result people stop writing NCRs because they think nothing is done with it why should I bother writing them? I am a big fan of the philosophy behind the NCR thing, because its ok to make a mistake but its stupid to make a mistake twice, we should learn from our mistakes. People should be allowed to have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. It makes you a better engineer, or better person. The way we deal with it up to now is clearly not the way.

Willem: Yeah you are not the only one saying that

Jacob: No, Yeah we figured that out already and now the problem is, but thats more your problem: what is the right way?

Willem: So how does it affect the people in your department?

Jacob: The strange thing is that people see the NCRs as sort of placing the blame. So one of my team writes an NCR for instance to a mistake made on the assembly department. So the NCR is filed and emailed to Marc van den Boogaard, one of the assembly team, and he responds with a furious email with lots of exclamation marks Its not my fault you messed up yourselves!. Especially he misunderstood but maybe the sender also misunderstands the purpose of the NCR. Its not saying you did something wrong its your problem so you fix it, but a mistake was made and we as a company have to fix it. And thats I think a mindset that has to change within all of the colleagues at petrogas that its not pointing the finger at somebody. Its mainly locating a mistake or an error and something has to be done, and I think the person who addresses the problem shouldnt also have to be the person who provides a solution. I think it should be sufficient for someone like Marc van den Boogaard to say this is impossible assemble, its not strong enough, coated the wrong colour and for him that should be it, merely addressing the problem. Because now if he writes the NCR we also make him responsible for coming up with a solution, he doesnt know hes from assembly.

Willem: So basically what you are saying is most people are thinking only from their departments and not of whole the organization.

Jacob: its a strange combination of pointing the finger at somebody else and keeping your own desk free of problems. As long as you can push the problems back to the other departments then your own hands are clean. And that is what people sometimes use an NCR for, I dont know if they do it intentionally.

Willem: Do you write NCRs yourself too?

Jacob: No, but I used to. When I was a project engineer I used write numerous NCRs and I faced the same issue that nothing was done with them. In the database you have problems enough retrieving your own NCRs let alone finding NCRs made by others.

Willem: So basically the people from the department that you are guiding they most often deal with NCRs

Jacob: Yeah. I get all of them, I am in the CC when the NCR is reported because all the department heads of the departments involved are included and as a result for both mechanical engineering and project engineering I am involved.

Willem: So it takes your department a lot of time too

Jacob: Yeah. And I think its ok to put some effort in writing an NCR, its ok in investigating an NCR and into fixing the problem, but one time should be enough. If we have to fix an NCR 10 times over then its a waste of time. And if we dont intend to learn from NCRs then we might as well save the time and not write them at all. But thats not the way, I think.

Willem: And do you notice also that your people dont have time for the NCRs?

Jacob: If people knew that something would be done with the NCRs then they would make more time for them. Now they have the feeling that nothing is done with them so they write an NCR only for real big problems. Its more a way of addressing the problem to the senior management than it is to log the problem.

Willem: So I think you know this form as you have filled this in. do you experience any problem or boxes that are hard to fill or are unnecessary? Jacob: There was one problem somewhere you have to pull down a menu with the names, specific names of colleagues, that list is outdated pretty severely. So there are a lot of names that no longer work here and new names arent on there and thats difficult. And I have a problem with if I report a problem how the hell am I going to make an estimate about the costs. And that makes completing the form difficult and people say I wont start because Ill have problems finishing it.

Willem: Yes that is exactly what we also found out.

Jacob: And the same for the corrective actions, I dont know what the corrective actions would be.

DM: And what would be a set of solutions related to the forms or related to the process of reporting the NCR that you might think of.

Jacob: I think it should be pulled apart. The form should be merely addressing problem. I think there should be an easy way of attaching photos or even a video from a camera, iphone or ipad or whatever. That should be made easier because now you have to put it as an attachment to the email but its not as part of the report. And that would be helpful. And I think that the report should stop at the corrective action, so this should not be a part of the report.

Willem: So someone else should do it

Jacob: Well I think maybe corrective actions should be filled in by the initiator of the report and preventive measures should be different. So for this problem we do a quick fix so this would be the corrective action, that took so long and cost so much. But for sure the preventive action should be done by somebody else that has time to think of it. Maybe we should have a team of different departments that think of preventive actions and subsequent costs.

Willem: So all the people from your department use this file and not anything else?

Jacob: I hope so.

Willem: Ok because we experienced that for example Marc van den Boogaard uses iAuditor the app on his iPad.

Jacob: Thats Richard van Aarlebeeks fault.

Willem: So what would be a solution for you?

Jacob: If we can make the iAuditor app part of the database thats easily accessible for everybody else. I think iAuditor is exactly what we need because it is easy to put a bit of text, snap a picture and its automatically placed below the text.

Willem: Because now what Marc van den Boogaard does is he makes a picture and at the end of the month he has a big list in excel and he sends it to Frank and thats all what is done.

Jacob: And then frank present those pictures in the quarterly meetings with the entire staff, so its presented as a fault in the assembly department and after the meeting someone comes to me and sa