Here is an interesting story I want to share. Back in my past as CEO of an injector manufacturing plant there was a phenomenon for several weeks. Every Friday at 3:00 pm we were in crisis mode. At that time, we were working seven days, three shifts and at 3:00 pm on Friday, the assembly manager indicated that we need to shut down the assembly line on the weekend due to inadequate parts supply. The logistics manager struggled to get the parts from the fabrication department or outside suppliers, which had to produce the parts by working overtime and expedited shipping cost.
Shutting down the assembly line would have had a dramatic impact on the supply to our customer as we were one of their just-in-time suppliers. We would have shut down their production line with a huge financial penalty. We were in crisis mode every Friday for a couple of months.
Finally, I called all managers involved in the supply and production process into a meeting to discuss the constant crisis mode on Fridays. After lengthy discussions and analyzing the root cause of the shortages, we agreed to meeting on Thursday mornings, everyone providing information about demand and supplies for the weekend production. We were now able to prioritize and adjust production where needed. Within two weeks there was no crisis meeting on Fridays any more. Problem solved. We were able to reliably provide the necessary quantity to the customer.
Conclusion: Unless you find the root cause of the problem using six sigma methodology and eliminate the issues in the process, you will not see improvements in your processes and production output.