Purchasing failed to consult production before spending its allotted funds on materials.

“Why did he buy these? The other brand is easier to use,” says a production representative.

Purchasing second-guesses the engineer’s elaborate design.

“That’s wasting our resources,” shouts a buyer.

Everyone harps on production.

“Assemble it faster. Come on, speed it up,” they say.

The project has glaring quality, safety and customer satisfaction issues. But the team, faced with a deadline, signs off on it.

Such a manufacturing scenario is common, even in this age of technology and manufacturing might. The recent Firestone and Mitsubishi fiascos are high-profile examples.

The steps at the start of this article lead to equally tragic results. However, those results bring laughs and playful ribbing instead of lawsuits and pink slips.

The “project” is an ice-breaker at the Disney Institute’s “Operational Excellence” program in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Teams of five strangers — department and corporate managers from a wide array of industries — must assemble a toy monorail set and then design and construct plastic block bridges for the train to pass through. Passengers (Disney figurines) ride on top of the train and “pay” based on the amount of bridges they go under. Each team has seven minutes to plan and build before loading and running its train.

Team B, which includes a magazine editor, watches in horror as bridges collapse and unsecured passengers (Mickey, Pooh and Tigger) fall to their doom.

The activity displays vividly how:
— departments fail to effectively communicate with one another
— people prefer to function in a silo system
— teams don’t effectively benchmark and learn from the success and failure of others
— companies ignore the voice of the customer

The train wreck segues into the meat of the four-day program’s content, learning how to do things “the Disney way.” 

Turning on the light bulb
“We try to make ‘ahas!’ happen,” says Larry Lynch, the business development director of the Disney Institute, a college-type campus in the heart of Walt Disney World.

“A big piece of that monorail exercise is about listening. It’s about hearing and listening to your team members in order to get to the final result. Many people, especially those in management, don’t listen. We start working on that listening skill right at the beginning of the program.”

Beyond open ears, the Institute seeks to open each attendee’s mind, eyes and mouth through teachings and adventures in this fairy-tale environment dripping with imagination and creativity.

At the base of the Institute’s teachings are the components of Disney’s Operational Excellence circle chain (planning, processes, partnering and performance linked together at every step by pride) and its corporate success formula (a three-legged stool consisting of quality employee experience, quality customer experience and financial results).

A dynamic exchange of ideas
While the Disney Institute may be new to you, a host of heavy-hitting manufacturers have utilized it since the campus’ founding in 1996, and since 1986, when it was a seminar series known as Disney University. These companies send purchasing, production, engineering, quality and/or safety leaders to open-enrollment programs in Florida. Some also work with the Institute to create custom-designed programs held at the Institute and at their manufacturing plants.

While open-enrollment programs are geared toward a specific theme (supply chain, quality, customer service, etc.), programs purposely veer away from a particular industry. This creates an eclectic mix of attendees with a wide range of experiences, challenges and viewpoints. A 30-person class may include managers from, say, Intel, Ford, AT&T, Chase Manhattan Bank, Burger King, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Howard University and the Baltimore Orioles.

“Most of us are faced with the same challenges,” says Institute alumnus Bill Gelgota, an area executive for Volkswagen. “Disney stands for consistency, thoroughness, quality and customer service, and that’s important whether you’re in cars, restaurants or anything else. The lessons are universal.”

Volkswagen credits the Institute’s teachings for the successful relaunch of the Beetle in 1998.

While the list of bigwigs stands out, companies outside the Fortune 500 are far from excluded. A plant manager for a single-site manufacturing company attends a recent session to create a road map for empowering front-line employees. He gains insight from Disney’s initiatives, as well as those of his four tablemates, managers at a large plant, a bank, a casino and a hospital emergency room. He leaves with a sound implementation plan.

“Activities and interaction make this a unique experience,” says Lynch. “Anyone can attend a seminar at a hotel off the interstate. Someone at the front of the room tells you his theories of how things get done. You’re talked to, and it’s easy to drift off. We take our teachings and involve the class. You’re touching, feeling, experiencing. It sparks your creativity. That gets you thinking with the people around you. Suddenly, you have this dynamic exchange of ideas.”

Besides campus work, attendees view Disney best practices by going behind the scenes at theme parks and facilities.

“Operational Excellence” attendees enter the Magic Kingdom after the park closes to see how maintenance and inspection work is done on the Space Mountain roller coaster. They see quality in action at Central Shops, a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility which creates and refurbishes ride cars, boats, carousel horses, tour buses, fiberglass animals, character costumes, metal and wood signs, and park decorations. They also see continuous improvement at DC2, a massive distribution warehouse with 400,000 SKUs.

The four Ps at work
Armed with the knowledge from classroom discussions, attendees easily spot planning, processes, partnering and performance in action while behind the scenes.

At Central Shops’ costume creation and painting area, it’s apparent that job packets are an effective planning tool that increases product quality. Each packet contains all the information for the required work. It includes assembly instructions, color and fabric swatches, and pictures of how the finished product will look.

In regard to processes, there is an easy-to-follow flow to costume development. Headgear for a costume moves from station to station in logical order. Areas are clearly marked. There is a place for everything and everything is in its place.

At Space Mountain, partnering is key to a low downtime rate and high customer satisfaction. If the ride stalls during park hours, a “101” (all hands on deck) call is placed. It’s an assistance page directed to the ride’s maintenance personnel as well as (here’s the partnering part) maintenance personnel from other attractions.
Any and all help is welcomed. Partnering is also apparent in the 24/7 relationships maintenance has with its MRO, electrical and other suppliers. That’s crucial since nearly all scheduled work is done between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Performance? Central Shop products always leave the building in “show quality” (Disney’s term for 100 percent flawless). DC2 is moving toward a goal of 99 percent order accuracy. And, Space Mountain downtime since 1998 is “minimal, at best.”

Lessons learned
Incorporating the Disney way, how would the five members of Team B spend their seven minutes during the monorail exercise?

First 2 minutes: Discuss rules, roles and strategies as a group. Synopsize lessons learned from watching the previous group. Give everyone a chance to speak. Draw a concise action plan.

Next minute: Discuss ways to positively impact the customer. Engineering and purchasing develop a cost-effective way to safely secure passengers. Production prepares for assembly.

Next minute: Break into individual departments. Purchasing re-examines the price list and team recommendations, then buys materials. Production assembles the track. Engineering creates the bridge design.

Next two minutes: Production constructs bridges. Engineering communicates with production to ensure the design is effective. Purchasing talks with production and engineering, then trades surplus material to Team C for an additional component or two.

Last minute: The team ensures it has a quality product, then loads passengers. It completes the project and activates the train.