The diagnosis

Diagnosis is a set of measures, checks made to determine or verify the technical characteristics of a system for maintenance or improvement purposes. The diagnosis is different from the audit.

The audit measures a deviation in order to assess the effectiveness of a system. It establishes a statement and measures the gaps between what is done (reality), what is intended to be done (the target system) and what to do (the reference). An audit is a compliance review and verification mission.
The diagnosis derives from a specific method to who leads it. It does not rely on specific benchmarks. It highlights strengths and weaknesses. It proposes to identify improvement solutions according to the displayed wishes (what should I do?), from an environment (what is it possible to do?), and depending on the available resources (what are my means?)

Industry = Repeated operations = Routine

But are you ever confronted with these types of situations :

• An external person to the company asks you about a point of general organization or a point of detail
• A customer asks you a question about making a product
• You have difficulty internally to solve a recurring problem
• Your workshops are cluttered. Do you have to enlarge?
• Your maximum production capacity seems to be reached. Do you have to invest?
• A new environmental regulation has just been created: How to take it into account?
• A new technology has just emerged. Should I use it and if so, how?
• …..

To improve, we must have a critical look at the existing.

Key steps of a diagnosis 

You have decided to carry out a diagnosis by an external consultant.

How will this happen? What will be the different stages? What will you get at the end of it?

The step		The key points
	The preparation	Framing the perimeter with the consultant What is the problem? What must evolve? Define a general schedule Validate the list of people to be interviewed
	The field visit	Visit of the workshops and services by the consultant with the manager Understand how the business works Understand the different flows and processes How does it work? Why does this work like this? Can we do otherwise? What is shocking? More focused and autonomous visit by the consultant Field Data Statements: Stocks – Cadence – Management Methods – … What are the bottlenecks? What indicators and dashboards are displayed? What are the standards at the posts? What are the waste?
	The interviews	Short interviews with goals Understanding the methods and organization of work Identify key issues Identify possible areas for improvement
	The deepening	Depending on the initial request and following the visits and interviews, further studies are carried out on various points Study of flows and processes Synoptic Mapping (which can in some cases go up to a VSM) Study of volumetry Takt Time – Cycle Time Adequacy load / capacity Search for bottlenecks The information system Functional areas covered Integration of the system General organization Organization chart – Job cards Dashboards – Animation workshop
	The heart of problem	Cropping from initial request Do the main problems relate to demand? Are other problems more urgent? Should we go in another direction?
	The actions plan	An action plan is proposed : List and details of the work to be carried out Purposes Goals to reach Cutting the work site Internal and external teams concerned Provisional schedule General planning of all work sites
	The report	A diagnostic report is submitted. This one integrates at least : The description of the original application for diagnosis The problem is redefined and synthesized The strenghts of the company The weaknesses of the company The heart problem The action plan to be deployed
	The general presentation	A presentation of the diagnosis is made to the whole team : Reminder of the objectives Interactive report playback Comments on this one Follow-up

When you do something you have to know that you will have against you all people who would like to do the same thing, all who wanted to do the contrary and a great part of those who wanted to do nothing…

Confucius