Above, Business Process Analyst Les Music
(right) discusses the Systems Dynamic Modeling chart - affectionately known as
the "swirly chart" - with Dan Compton (center) and Bob Wiebe, senior operations
analysts and SDM experts. The Value Network Map is the map at the right.
The
next step was to develop a Systems Dynamic Model with Bob Wiebe and Dan Compton
that allowed people to see how the business would work in an ideal environment.
Music noted that "Systems Dynamic Modeling provided a good context for seeing
how we wanted work to flow into the organization and how we would plan and
accomplish the work."
Next,
the project team needed to define the network of roles and exchanges that would
be needed in the new configuration. That led the group to use Value Network
Analysis. Glenda Turner, who had successfully been using VNA in logistics and
supply chain, joined the team for the mapping effort.
Several
hundred people were engaged in a series of modeling and scenario workshops to define
the roles and interactions required to support the many variables that impact
the testing pathway of any given airplane. They managed the complexity of the activity that required literally
dozens of roles by first mapping different "neighborhoods" or
"flows" within the network - and then gradually merging the maps
through the role connections into one large network configuration.
The
result of this visualization is a map FOT&E employees refer to as the
"bubble chart." The VNA map captured the network of interactions in the test
cycle from minor local adjustments to a fleet-level perspective. It also showed
the many operations center interactions - not just within FOTV, but with
Airplane Programs, the FAA, and other regulatory agencies. After the VNA work,
the group moved into the Lean tools to configure processes, workflow, and
compliance systems that would support the new organization.
In
addition, a decision was made to refer to job roles rather than job titles.
"Concentrating on job roles allowed us to recognize the complexity of the
business in a compact form and look at all important interactions," said Music.
Not only did that help people focus on critical roles, they also discovered
there were roles that had not been previously acknowledged and needed to be
made more efficient. With an eye to more flexible resourcing the group
identified roles and exchanges that are activated all the time, as well as
roles and exchanges that were specialty or only occasional interactions.
What
Dennis and his team of innovators and implementers understand is that how
you go about change is just as important as what you want to change. The
group has proven, at least to their colleagues at Boeing, that skillfully
applying this powerful combination of tools can bring change - and bring it
quickly.
