Problem.
The owner of a large plumbing-contracting firm described a
problem that was costing the company substantial sums of money. His Job Crews
took tools out of the company's inventory for use at
work sites, as they should.
But, he said, "These tools aren't always returned and
we're spending a lot of money on new ones." There was an
existing verbal policy, requiring employees
to pay for missing tools, but record keeping was poor so enforcement was almost non-existent.
Plan.
His T-21 Team Manager (TM) assembled a Team to
examine the problem. They assessed the company's computer
capabilities and suggested a simple computer Database program for tool tracking.
The owner agreed to the proposal, and the T-21 Team designed, built, and tested the new program and wrote a manual of system procedures for
implementing it.
The System Manual explained how to establish the program in
their office, provided the paper forms to use, and gave operating instructions for the computer program.
Each employee is required to sign a written agreement, confirming their responsibility for the replacement cost of any tools not returned, by a payroll deduction.
For each tool checked-out, the Tool Clerk completes a line on a
T-21 designed (paper) Log Form that includes: the tool
ID-number and brief description, who checked it out, a day-date-time entry, and job number.
It is then signed by the employee checking-out the tool.
When the tool is returned, the Tool Clerk makes a "return
entry" in the log and a
signed receipt is given to the employee.
On a daily basis,
data from the
Log Form sheets is entered into the new
T-21 computer Database; the original log sheets are kept in the company safe.
The status of any tool is then instantly available, anytime.
Whenever a job is completed, the Database is queried for
non-returned tools for that job number.
If a tool shows as "checked out" but not "returned", the responsible employee is notified.
If the tool is not returned within 3 days, the worker is required to pay for the
tool through a payroll deduction.
Results.
At first, some tools were returned late, but
after it became obvious that tools were being closely tracked,
they were promptly returned.
In
a six-month follow-up call, the owner told his TM, "Since we started this tracking
thing, every tool has been turned-in, just like it's supposed
to be. Every one! This whole thing you
made for us just works. It's going to pay for itself
very fast around here."
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