Client Results
Case Study - International Paper Asia
The Company
International Paper Asia is a significant manufacturer in the international paper packaging arena. The Asian operations are one of their major packaging manufacturing hubs.
The Challenge
The Asian General Manager recognized that the problem solving capabilities of the company needed to be improved. The business units and sites varied in their capability to eliminate problems and the problem solving capabilities they possessed were directly related to the experience of the management team in each facility. Low levels of team experience working together, regardless of technical ability, meant poor problem solving.
Several years of experience working together meant better problem solving. There were no established problem solving systems, routines or procedures that new staff or employees could look to for guidance. Sites currently doing well could not be expected to continue their performance upon employee turnover because of the absence of any legacy problem solving and knowledge management systems. The GM and management team recognized this was not a foundation upon which to grow a world class business in the dynamic and fast growing Asian market.
The company was also faced with a stretch profit goal for the year and they further recognized the company could not become a leader in the Asian market markets by just solving problems. To meet the goals and uniformly install problem solving and problem prevention capabilities, a common set of operating and thinking skills, along with a common implementation system had to be developed.
The Solution
The first step was to clearly outline the goals to the General Managers of the various IP Asia business units and enroll them in jointly creating the solution. The team used the ASG Critical Thinking Skills of Root Cause Analysis process to gain insights into the problems and causes; Decision Making to improve how they make and communicate decisions; and Problem Prevention-Risk Analysis to insure plans and projects are implemented trouble-free. They also experienced the creative excitement generated by Opportunity-Benefit Analysis to refine and improve their business plans. The senior management team was highly motivated to use and institutionalize the Critical Thinking Skills and integrate them into their routine operations.
Results
Each business unit General Manager created a specific action plan for integrating the Critical Thinking Skills into their operations. Some of the business will use teams to improve cross-functional performance in key areas such as product quality. Others will improve the daily routines when there is a process or equipment problem. Each plan is specific and tailor to the specific business unit; there is not a "one-size-fits-all" mandate.