Scheduling and planning in the lab

Every job that comes into the lab needs 3 things, the test equipment, the test technician and the time to do the test. Maybe time and material to design and build a test rig. Places I have worked, we seldom do the same thing over and over, rather each job requires a custom setup and invention of the equipment and process. So, its complicated.

The Information Services guys can turn down work, they just say “we don’t do that”. And close the work order. But the lab must find a way, figure it out, and complete the work. We can’t usually say no. A lab should have a scope, a document that outlines what they are certified to do. And that usually requires having people who are qualified in some way to do that work. But some don’t have an official scope, and so the scope is effectively unlimited.

My favorite system was what I did at TRW. There were two white boards. One board lists the active jobs, the other was set up as a Gantt chart. As the work came in, it went on the Gantt chart. Pretty much first come, first served. If someone wanted to cut in line, everything was there, right up on the wall and we could have a discussion about it. I could tell them to go see my boss if they wanted to change my schedule. We could bring the boss to the lab, and make the changes right then if needed.

Bosses don’t really want to be involved in the scheduling of work. I think it gives them a headache. They want to make it automatic.  The easiest thing to do it divide by program. Worker A, you take care of the F150 program testing, worker B, you do the Fiesta testing. It is simplistic, and seldom works. The problem is each of the programs will have very different hours needed, different skills and experience needed. So one person will get lucky, and be able to manage their load, and the other will be overwhelmed, and get yelled at and fired. But it seems fair, on the surface, but it’s really not. Most places do it that way.

The big picture guy, usually the boss, needs to evaluate everything that is going on and throw people and money where it will do the most good. There is always too much to do, and frequently not enough money, so someone has to pick and choose what is going to get done, and what is going to have to wait, or be canceled. And having the worker bees do that themselves is no way to run a railroad. It helps for the boss to be able to use the project managers tools. Feeling out of control creates stress. Stress takes minutes off ones life. Using planning tools effectively helps lessen that feeling of being out of control. I remember the training on how to use the Franklin planner. The presented was talking about a boss he knew, CEO or high level guy, said his planning tool was a yellow pad. More and more common these days there is no planning tool at all. When things are the most busy, and it seems like there is no time to plan, is the time it is most important to take time to plan.

Some places have project managers. Those guys are great at making schedules, but they depend on others to tell them how long each step will take. And the people telling them how long, while usually good intentioned, are frequently wrong. So the overall schedule will be wrong.

Individuals are using paper planners. I use an old paper planner and the power of it is that it reminds me, keeps me focused. Used properly, future work lists are compiled bit by bit as time goes on. Make notes to future self to remind one to do important tasks or make important meetings. Look back and remember what happened when boss is asking. Plan your day and know before you start if you are overscheduled or not.  I have not discovered a computer based tool that works well. Look at the CEO at your company, he or she probably uses an old paper planner. Don’t you want to be like them?

There is no easy answer. So if you are doing it the easy way, you are probably doing it wrong. Here is what to do. You break each job into steps. You plan out those steps on a Gantt chart. Assign each step to a worker. If it won’t all fit, make the tough decision to delete that job. And keep adjusting it as things go wrong and conditions change. It takes a lot of time and effort, just to plan the work. That’s why the boss makes the big bucks.

There is software out there called job shop software. It is expensive and the software only knows what you tell it. So expect to invest quite a lot of time setting it up. Encoding what jobs need what skills, what workers have what skills. What jobs need what machines. What machines are working and what machines are down. What workers are available and what workers are on vacation. And on and on, little details that need to be included in the program.

So I think its best done by a human. Some are better at it than others. Make your own system if needed. If that doesn’t work, try again, until you get something that works. Read books, go to training on project management. It is a very big deal and you can’t know too much about it.