TXM Lean Minute – Containing A Problem With An Interim Fix

When something goes wrong you usually need to take action to ensure that work can be continued and customers supplied. We call this the interim fix or containment action. Learn how to develop an effective interim fix when things go wrong in your business.

TXM Lean Minute – Learn How to Use Problem Solving Concern Strips in Your Daily Meetings

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Read the Video Transcript

So how do we get by today?

This video is about filling in a concern strip and specifically the Interim Fix. At Toyota, they call this interim fix the Containment Action.

The challenge is to have a containment action that is specific and doesn’t simply rely on the people doing the work to “Be more careful.”

At TXM we teach people to solve problems in a practical way. We use the Solving Problems Every Day methodology as part of the TXM lean framework.

Firstly spend up to two minutes in the daily stand-up meeting identifying the permanent corrective actions.  After this limited time, the meeting facilitator needs to step in and ask “So what are we going to do today to protect the customer and keep the business running?”

The facilitator then needs to help articulate the exact behaviour required.

Often it is good to play a scenario over the suggested Interim. This helps identify other problems and often the team can take over and define exactly who is doing what.

The results are that the business keeps going. Sure there is a problem that is getting fixed, but in the meantime, the team knows exactly what to do

Focus on defining the detail of the interim fix. Ask the question “So how do we get by today?”

I’m Anthony Clyne. Thank you for watching this TXM Lean Minute