Question

List three possible consequences of an undocumented manufacturing change. Give an example of such a change.

Answer 1

Possible consequences of undocumented manufacturing change-

• Effect of ancillary industries: Manufacturing goods need an ecosystem to produce. Generally less complex parts are outsourced to ancillary industries who supply those parts to the key manufacturer for assembly and final production. Any undocumented change in design or quality of any one producer will have trickle-down effect on other producers due to problems in assembly and post production quality of goods. Hence the manufacturing change must be documented and circulated among the supply chain (or value chain) to update all stakeholders and initiate possible actions by them to accommodate the effect of such change in their businesses.
• Effect on sustainability of change: ANy change is not absolute. It is the precursor of future changes. Hence if any change is undocumented then it is difficult to usher any future change based on the present change. People forget everything if it is not properly documented and future innovators need to see the prior art to learn from the past mistakes and avoid the same mistakes again.
• Cause effect relationship: Every action is causal. Either it has a precursor cause or it causes actions subsequently. If not properly documented, people will fail to recognise how the present change was ideated in the first place and how it impacted the future changes.

Example for the same -

• When Tata Steel pioneered the Nanotechnology domain in steel industry, the major innovations happened in heat transfer liquids and waste to energy sectors. However, the change initiatives were implemented in a hurry and no proper documentation was maintained. Hence, after the change agents left the organisation to pursue further career goals, there was no further innovation downstream and everyhthing was left to chances. And there was no substantial change happened in these sectors afterwards in Tata Steel.