Original Date: 06/05/2006
Revision Date: / /

Rockwell Collins’ Cedar Rapids management has established a new company procedure that first established enterprise goals and metrics, then flowed respective aspects of those goals and metrics down to product teams. Pertinent goals and associated metrics are further flowed down to respective work cells and production line teams. Conversely, work cells gather required data to flow the metric information up to higher management, effectively creating enterprise line-of-sight goals and metrics.

Until recently, the Rockwell Collins Cedar Rapids facility did not use metrics effectively to help the enterprise achieve organizational goals. Company goals and associated metrics varied from one Integrated Product Team (IPT) to another. In some cases, company product/customer goals and associated metrics were created in isolation of the enterprise. Company management saw a need to improve the line of sight between enterprise metrics and those on the shop floor. Management also realized that a reduction in variation of the many goals and metrics between product and customer would result in an alignment of enterprise goals, with an improvement needed that would give company employees ownership of product results.

During the 2005 annual company operating planning process, management set enterprise goals that were flowed down to the IPTs. Pertinent goals and associated metrics were further flowed down to respective work cells and production line teams. This management process effectively established a line of sight from the enterprise to the facility through the IPT and finally down to the work cell or production line team. To comply with this process, lower-level team leaders are empowered to gather the required data needed to measure the respective metric. With production line personnel a part of resultant metrics, ownership of lower-level processes is accomplished. Factory floor and production mangers are responsible for achieving goals, gathering quantitative metrics, and providing corrective actions for those goals and metrics that are not satisfactorily achieved. The established line of sight provides a new flow down of metrics that empowers the heart of the organization and has improved employee performance at Rockwell Collins, with all entities measuring their results in relation to common goals.

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