The Three Actuals

From a longer CIO mag article on Honda's atmosphere of, and philosophy behind, metaphorical Speed. I like the three actuals especially, as I've found no real practical equivalent for proximity and shared air--the factory tour, the ride-along, the install, and the always popular customer-service showdown/shootout and resulting defibrillation.

After a few turns, you can see patterns like in those cheesy shopping-mall 3-D posters you're sposed to stare at sideways. After a few more, things start to blend and toasters seem the same as tires or gourmet coffee, which is to say--the products become almost irrelevant. The interesting thing is the commonalities between winners and losers regardless of category or sector. Finally, after enough tours and enough pretendingto be an employee, you decide to mix and match: You see a Rocket Scientist's challenge through a bricklayer's or nurse's lense. And you say, "have you thought of...." And they say, "Eureka!"

Sometimes.

And sometimes, they tilt their heads sideways and... And.... Nope. Only bats and dogs catch some vibes. Sometimes, you have to be there. In it, or on it. Blind to the noise of the "obvious," or just lower to the ground.

The Three Actuals

The collaborative environment at Honda is a byproduct of the company’s emphasis on the Japanese concept of the three actuals—go to the actual place, work with the actual people or part and understand the actual situation. Although it might seem unnecessary or impractical, adherence to the concept helped facilitate the efficient design of the ’98 Accord. When the designers weren’t sure whether a part they were designing could actually be welded, for example, they’d drive over to the manufacturing plant to ask a welder directly . A visit to the site about a specific problem not only prevents engineers from becoming detached from the actual process, it often yields insight into a completely unrelated and unforeseen issue, says Shriver.

After a few test cars were produced, the Accord design staff interviewed every one of the 4,000 line associates who worked on the project about problems they encountered and solicited their suggestions for improvements. Though doing 4,000 interviews was very time-consuming, in the end it allowed for faster production. "They helped us find things that we would’ve missed otherwise," says Honda R&D Chief Engineer Charles Baker. "[Associates on the factory floor] know the process the best. If we can get them involved and give them responsibility to fix problems, we can make a much smoother startup."

The three actuals concept not only saved time, it saved money. While about 20 percent of the new Accord shares parts with the ’97 model, the rest is designed from scratch. Yet, because R&D personnel had such close interaction with the plant side, they consciously designed the new model so that it could be assembled using the old equipment. This meant Honda could produce 1,000 test cars alongside the old model and not disrupt the normal production schedule. The tests of the preproduction cars, which began around March, gave the company a chance to make the process perfect. As a result, it was able to go from zero to full production within just 20 days of the Aug. 19 start date—no small accomplishment when most automakers shut down their plants for two to six months between model changes. Toyota, for example, took about 35 days to get up to full production with the ’97 Camry, and Chrysler typically takes 75 days, says Ronald E. Harbour, president of Troy, Mich.- based manufacturing consultancy Harbour & Associates Inc. When the stakes are $26,000 in lost productivity for each minute the plant is idle, the advantages of speed add up quickly...

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