RED BEAD EXPERIMENT Ardy.Bayat@Maersk.com

Job Postings: 11 position 6 Willing Workers. Must be willing to put forth best efforts. no education requirements, no experience requirements,you just have to be willing workers. 2 Inspectors. Must be able to distinguish red from white; able to count to 20. Experience is not necessary. 1 Chief Inspector. someone who likes to tell other people what to do 2 Recorders. Able to both write and add, may be even up to 100.

Daily Work Audience to observe Willing Worker to Produce beads Grasp paddle by handle. Push paddle down into the beads. Agitate gently. Raise paddle, Tilt 44 degrees, no shaking. Take full paddle to each inspector for count Worker return beads to box, pour in original box Inspectors to count defects count and record independently Show count to Chief Inspector Chief Inspector review defect report and determine count. If numbers match then Announce “number of red bead” and say dismissed. If numbers don’t match then request Recount Chief Inspector evaluate performance of each worker after Day Recorder – enter and plot numbers on flip chart Recorder one capture data point in run chart Recorder two capture data in table and analyse & record daily results

Red is Dead!!

White First Time!

LEarning Common and Assignable Causes: Stable and Unstable Processes COMMON: Numerous small causes of variability that are inherent to any system, operate randomly or by chance. ASSIGNABLE: Assignable, have relatively large effects on process, occur occasionally or sporadic. Stable and Unstable Processes A process is Stable when variation made up of only common causes In an Unstable process (process is not in statistical control), variation is made up of both common causes and assignable causes Identification Tools are used to find if specific causes of variation exist within a process Assignable Cause Common Cause Control Limits

Lessons Learnt to capture during review and discussion Learning points from the Red Bead Experiment: Variation is an inherent part of any process. The system was stable and predictable. This is sometimes referred to as being ’in statistical control’. That doesn’t mean it is ’Capable’ and meets customer needs and specifications! Employees work within a system over which they have some control. The system design by in large determines their performance. The work standard set by management may have no relationship to the capability of the system. We need to have the right capable processes in place to deliver the result. We also need to ensure that these processes are standardised, maintained and improved by everyone. There was no evidence that any worker was better than any other. Do not assume that the people are the dominant source of variation. Need to measure the process and variation within it. Focus on what causes variation and look to address that. Punishment and reward can be demoralising. Identification tools (Run Chart, Control Limits etc) can help us with Process Management if used on regular basis as part of daily work and team meetings

What does it mean to us in terms of how we MANAGE the process? Need to know the process performance i.e. have process measurement in place Need to know if process is stable and predictable i.e. need to know the control limits – We can predict future performance if we have a standard process Need to measure the process in daily/weekly basis

What does it mean for us in terms of how we IMPROVE the process? Stable and predictable process doesn’t mean capable process If we are not happy with the process even though process is stable (no assignable cause in the process), we need to improve the process A standardised and stable process is the foundation from which we IMPROVE the process for benefit of everyone

Any specific implication for Managers, Team leaders and Operators? Team leaders need to get measurements in place Operators need to maintain the measurements Team leaders and operators need to monitor and analyse the measurement/performance together Managers need to set realistic targets and do not tamper with the standardised process Team leader need to channel opportunities for improvement through Super User Community

Background

Why is the RED BEAD Experiment useful? Learn how to easily understand it, measure it and let it guide your decision making to manage and improve the process Create a common language and understanding, have fun whilst doing and learning useful tools that will help you in your daily job Understand and see that there is ‘Variation’ in a process and its output whether we like it or not The Red Bead Experiment in brief: Customer demand quality services and products. In this role play, quality or defect free is symbolised by ‘White’ beads from a box mixed with both ‘White’ and ‘Red’ beads. Management will ask six “willing workers” to scoop beads from a box using a tool. The goal is to select only white beads. Unfortunately, 20 percent of the beads are red, namely defects. This makes it nearly impossible select only white beads. Management will try their best to get the willing workers to produce defect-free work (‘no red beads’). It’s obvious that the goals set for the workers is impossible. No matter how hard the workers try and no matter how much managers threaten, praise and rewarded, the system (process) is the thing at fault, not the willing workers. This will be demonstrated by constructing a control chart which clearly showed that the workers produce outputs within natural control limits (boundaries) of the process and how it is currently designed. This demonstrates how utterly futile it is to blame workers for system problems that are beyond their control.

What is the RED BEAD Experiment? The RED BEAD Experiment was created in 1982 by Dr. W. Edwards Deming who taught the Japanese, America and many other countries about quality. When you play the game, each player uses a special metal paddle to draw small red and white colored beads from a large bowl. Each draw of the paddle gets 50 beads. Some are white and some are red. The white beads symbolize the good things that we experience each day as we do our work and the red beads symbolize the problems or errors that we experience. There are many learnings as you play the game that help clarify Process Management and Process Improvement Fundamentals and ways of working. For example the need to measure the process, use right tools to visualise the performance and know when to act and improve and when to not Tamper with the process as it is working as it should! 13