Jam Sessions: Short Interval Management Conversations with Bill Remy and Paul Culling

Dashboards, MES data, and andon lights tell you what already happened. They rarely change what happens next.

In this ten-part “Jam Sessions” by The Manufacturing Edge podcast series, TBM’s Bill Remy and iObeya’s Paul Culling talk through what it takes to win the day on the plant floor: separating signal from noise, shortening the time between an event and the response, and building daily management that connects every function. Each episode runs about three minutes or less. Listen to one or work through the full series in order.

Why Dashboards and Data Alone Don’t Drive Action

Episode 1: MES Systems Are Just Record Keepers

MES platforms and dashboards log what happened, but they don’t deal with problems. Bill and Paul explain why a red metric only matters when it becomes an action, and how escalating that action up the chain speeds resolution across the plant.

Episode 2: The Andon Light Trap: Separating Signal from Noise

Walk through most plants and every machine has a light flashing, yet nobody behaves any differently. Bill and Paul discuss andon fatigue, why too many alerts create a false sense of control, and why a dashboard is always a look backward at history.

Winning the Day Through Short Interval Management

Episode 3: Win the Day, Win the Week

You win the year by winning the month, the week, the day, and nearly every hour in it. Bill explains why a strong start to the day (people, tools, and materials in place) and a short response interval are what keep a team from falling behind on Monday.

Episode 4: Daily Tiered Meetings Done Right

One client’s tiered meetings stack through the day, escalating issues hour by hour until they reach plant leadership. Bill and Paul cover why speed of escalation matters, why support groups must respond like a fire department, and how a priority zone on the board keeps everyone aligned.

Episode 5: Hour-by-Hour Isn’t Arbitrary

“We can’t do hour-by-hour here” is one of the most common objections. Bill and Paul discuss how the right interval is set by your takt time and process, and why checking progress only at the end of a shift is like playing with the scoreboard covered.

Episode 6: You Can’t Manage a Game You Can’t See the Score Of

Sports teams know the score and the clock at all times, and they adjust mid-game. Bill and Paul apply that logic to production, and explain why real-time visibility into equipment, materials, and people requires a live digital system rather than a whiteboard or end-of-day spreadsheet.

Making Tiered Management Work Across the Business

Episode 7: Rolling Out Tiered Management: The Good, the Bad, and the SDDC Board

How do you stand up tiered management on the floor? Bill and Paul walk through an area-by-area rollout, then examine a site whose rotating issue boards looked like a system but never closed the loop back to the person who raised the problem.

Episode 8: Focal Length: Why Frontline and Support Groups See Different Horizons

A frontline leader manages this shift and this day. Support groups such as maintenance, materials, and engineering should work further out, resolving issues before they reach that window. Bill introduces focal length as a way to keep tier meetings focused on today.

Episode 9: Breaking Down Silos Between Functions

What is engineering’s tier one? What is purchasing’s? Bill and Paul discuss giving every function its own daily management, and why a single source of truth for issues, actions, owners, and due dates exposes root causes that scattered emails and spreadsheets hide.

Designing Digital Tools for the People Who Use Them

Episode 10: The Human Side of Digital

More andons and apps can simply mean more noise. Bill and Paul close the series on why digital tools need change management and a clear response mechanism, so that people can tell which signals matter and act on them.

Put Short Interval Management to Work in Your Plant

If these conversations raise questions about how your own sites manage the day, we would like to hear from you. Complete the form on the right to request a conversation.