Asking Man—Machine—Material—Method… and Then Some… for the Toyota Practical Problem Solving

In my last post, I looked at the questions What—When—Where—Why—Who—How… and Then Some… for the Toyota Practical Problem Solving. In this post I will look into another, similar structure that could also be used, namely Man—Machine—Material—Method, again with quite a few possible expansions and alternatives. This can be used both to structure the problem (i.e., a root cause analysis) or to break down the problem into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Introduction

Like the What—When—Where—Why—Who—How from my last post, this Man—Machine—Material—Method structure is also a useful guide to structure the understanding of shop floor issues. Again, you try to look at the problem from all angles to understand what is really causing your issues. Often, a fishbone diagram (also known as Ishikawa diagram) is used to visualize this structure. In any case, it can be used quite well for the Toyota Practical Problem Solving (PPS)!

The Four Ms

The typical four Ms, as they are also called, are Man, Machine, Material, and Method. The topic of “Man” focuses on the human element. Some companies like to use the word “Man” to keep all terms starting with “M,” whereas other companies like to use the gender neutral word “People.” You could also try both by using “(Hu)Man” or similar. We will see other terms later where a “M” can be forced, or not. “Man” refers to your operators, but also sometimes your customers, suppliers, or generally any kind of people. It can look at their training, their abilities, their physical and mental state, their motivation, their communication, and their teamwork… or the absence thereof. Please do note that the later is usually not a fault of the people, but surrounding factors like a lack of training. Possible questions are:

• Are the people involved adequately trained and skilled for the task?
• Do they understand the procedures and instructions?
• Are they following the correct procedures (i.e., the work standards)? If not, why?
• Are they fatigued, stressed, or distracted?
• Is there sufficient staffing for the workload?
• Is there clear communication between team members or shifts?
• Are safety protocols being followed?
• Are ergonomic factors contributing to errors or discomfort?

The topic of “Machine” often involves physical assets and their performance, maintenance, or suitability. This includes machines, tools, hardware and software, vehicles, conveyors, infrastructure (power, gas, water,…), and other type of hardware (and software). Common questions are:

• Is the equipment working correctly? Is it calibrated?
• Has there been a recent change or breakdown in the machinery?
• Is the equipment suitable for the task? Is it the right size or capacity?
• Is maintenance being performed regularly and correctly?
• Are the tools sharp, clean, and in good repair?
• Is there enough power, cooling, or other necessary resources for the machine?
• Are there any software glitches or system failures?

“Material” unsurprisingly refers to the items consumed, like raw materials, components, sub-assemblies, consumables, and finished goods. Some even include information here.

• Is the material meeting specifications?
• Is the material contaminated or damaged?
• Is the right type of material being used?
• Is the material being handled and stored correctly?
• Are there issues with the supplier’s quality or delivery?
• Is the batch number or lot tracing information available?
• Are there any defects originating from previous stages of the process?
• Is the information/data used accurate and up-to-date?

Finally, “Method” looks at the procedures, processes, work standards, testing procedures, communication protocols, and other organizational topics. Possible questions include:

• Are there clear, written procedures for the task? I.e., is there a work standard?
• Are the procedures effective and efficient?
• Are the procedures being followed consistently?
• Is the sequence of operations logical and optimized?
• Are there proper quality checks and controls in place?
• Is the scheduling method causing problems (e.g., rushed work)?
• Are the work instructions easy to understand and unambiguous?
• Could a different method produce a better result?

Of course, all of these these questions can be adapted and expanded depending on your situation. The above is very generic, and the more you know about your situation, the more you can ask situation specific questions along these lines.

More Ms

But of course, there are more than four Ms possible. A common extension is six M, including “Measurement” and “Mother Nature.” “Measurement,” also sometimes called “Metrics,” looks at data accuracy, data collection, and data analysis. Unless you already included it with “Machine” above, this includes measuring equipment and tools; and unless you included it with “method,” also the data collection and measurement protocols. You see, there can be quite a bit of overlap.

The sixth “M” is the environment, often called “Mother Nature” or “Millieu” for environmental factors. This could be the weather (e.g., injection molding often behaves differently with different humidity levels) or generally the temperature and atmosphere in the room, cleanliness, and more.

Another possible “M” is “Management,” looking at leadership, decision-making, and strategy. This is not so common and maybe even unpopular. Maybe it is because management does not want to be seen at fault, but more likely this is generally a too-high-level view for low-level shop floor problems. Besides, this is already covered by “Man,” as your managers are still humans.

Similarly, you could use “Maintenance,” albeit this is also already covered by “Machine.”  If used separately, this looks at the maintenance status and procedures, and will sometimes find that a lack of maintenance causes problems.

“Money” is another possibility that may not see much use. This represents the budget, financing, and cost-related issues.

Yet another less common one is “Mission,” representing the overall purpose and goal, which looks at misunderstandings and misalignment with the big picture. I also find this not useful for most of my normal problem solving.

Especially if you are in marketing, “Media” may be a possibility, albeit with less use for other departments. What kind of communication channels and information flows are you using?

Don’t Like Ms?

If you don’t like the letter “M,” there are some other similar structures, albeit these are often less suitable for the shop floor. Some use product/service, price, place, promotion, people/personnel, process, and physical evidence. These are also known as the seven Ps, and are more suitable for marketing. Another structure looks at  surroundings, suppliers, systems, and skills, safety. This is sometimes found in the service industry, but I also find this not so suitable for manufacturing. Their name “4S” or “5S” is also confusing with the lean 5S for cleaning and organizing your workplace.

Summary

Overall, there are many different possible structures you can use. However, more is not necessarily better here! This article showed your eleven M, seven P, and five S! If you want to use them all, then you will surely get lost along the way. I recommend sticking to the 4M, or maybe the 6M, but avoid the others unless you see a clear reason to use them. After all, the purpose of these structures is not to do the structure, but to understand your problem and analyze its root cause! Now, go out, look at your man, machine, material, method, and whatever Ms you find useful, and organize your industry!