Process Archives - understand-culture

DIN

The German Institute for Norms (Deutsches Institut für Normung – DIN) sets voluntary standards for material and immaterial things.

DIN norms are suggested typically by German industry. They are set only when all parties to the discussion are in agreement. DIN norms are to Germany what ISO and EN norms are to international and European industry respectively.

The first DIN norm was set in March of 1918. By 1927 the Germans had settled on more than 3,000 norms. In 1948 the number reached 8,200. As of 2012 there are over 33,000 DIN norms, most of which are in the areas of mechanical engineering, construction, air and space, information technology, environmental protection, optics and professional services.

Each year produces roughly 2,000 new DIN norms. Each and every norm is reviewed every five years as to whether it is necessary and or meets current standards. The DIN system has begun the process of integrating itself with European and international standardization systems.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhem Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German philosopher and polymath (someone with expertise in many different areas). He is considered one of the strongest proponents of rationalism, a school of philosophy which stresses that knowledge is accumulated primarily, solely through thought.

Rationalists did not believe that authentic knowledge could be gained via the senses, through empiricism (experience). Cogito ergo sum – I think, therefore I am – as Descartes put it, the founder of modern rationalism.

The historians of philosophy contrast rationalism with British empiricism, led by David Hume, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. These empiricists argued that knowledge is gained first and foremostly via the senses. Simply stated, experience is more important than (informs) pure thought.

Although such overly simplified characterizations are questioned by today’s experts, they show a fundamental difference between continental philosophy (German and French) on the one side and British, and later British-American, philosophy on the other.

The competition between rationalism and empiricism is in the end a battle between deduction and induction.

Not see the forest for the trees

Den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht sehen – to not see the forest for the trees – is an often-used figure of speech in Germany (and in the U.S.) describing how one can fail to see the bigger picture due to focusing on the details.

This figure of speech always has a negative connotation and implies that a person does not have everything under control, is not capable of stepping back in order to assess the broader situation.

This is considered in Germany to be a serious weakness, for in their work they strive to orient themselves on universal (generally valid, admitted, accepted) conditions (prerequisites, requirements, premises, suppositions).

In doing so Germans try to maintain a certain amount of distance from the details of their work, in order to always recognize (be cognizant of) basic structures and patterns.

Oil change made easy

Hattinger Stahlbus GmbH has patented their oil drain, which makes draining automobile oil much easier. Their motto is: “The intelligent way to change you oil!” And it works like this:

“The stahlbus®-oil drain valve takes the place of the conventional drain plug. For the oil change, you unscrew the safety cap and attach the quick connect with the drain tube. Once this is connected the valve opens and the oil starts flowing into the catch. After disconnecting the drain tube, the valve closes automatically and you only need to install the safety cap.”

An intelligent solution to avoid spills and dirty hands. Made in Germany.

Engineers – Quotes

“Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.” James Michener

“Engineers are behind the cars we drive, the pills we pop and the way we power our homes.” James Dyson

“Silicon Valley has evolved a critical mass of engineers and venture capitalists and all the support structure – the law firms, the real estate, all that – that are all actually geared toward being accepting of startups.” Elon Musk

“I’ve actually found the image of Silicon Valley as a hotbed of money-grubbing tech people to be pretty false, but maybe that’s because the people I hang out with are all really engineers.” Linus Torvalds

“I think one problem we’ve had is that people who are smart and creative and innovative as engineers went into financial engineering.” Walter Isaacson

“The South produced statesmen and soldiers, planters and doctors and lawyers and poets, but certainly no engineers and mechanics. Let Yankees adopt such low callings.” Margaret Mitchell

Der Weg ist das Ziel

Der Weg ist das Ziel. The path is the goal. Eastern thinking. Not Western. However, a figure of speech many Germans use, and an entry point into how they understand the importance of process, of how the work is done.

Prozesse. Processes. Garantie. Guaranty. Kein Werkzeug. Not a tool. Germans would say that a final product is only as good as the process which led to it. Process. how the work is done. And a process is only as good as the product it produces. Zwei Seiten einer Medaille. Two sides of the same coin. Processes. Not a tool.

If you work with Germans, you’ll know how intense and constant their focus is on how the work should be done. You’ll experience discussion after discussion, meeting after meeting, debate after debate. It can appear as if they are obsessed with process. All this at the expense of the user, of the internal or external customer. It can appear to threaten the very purpose, and success, of the activity.

But wait. When Germans engage about how the work is done, they are, in fact, talking about the customer, about how best to serve the customer. Two sides of the same coin. If you get the process right, you get the end product right. For the customer. In the German context, talking process is talking customer. The Germans may not use the term customer, or the term serve, or value. But this doesn’t mean that they are not focused on it.

For Germans true focus on the customer is focus on how to do the work right, correctly. The path is not the goal. In the West, the goal is the goal. The path gets you there. Chart that path carefully. Walk that path the right way. “The right way”, lots of room for discussion there.

Manufacturing without compromise

How the German company innotool&greminger markets their medical products provides insight into how important internal processes – how the work is done – are to Germans.

Their website states Fertigung ohne Kompromisse: Perfektion im Produktionsprozess – literally Manufacturing without Compromise: Perfection in Production Processes. They then spell that out.

“In medical diagnostics and therapy the key to quality of results is Handwerkszeug (the tools of craftsmanship). It is no different in the manufacturing of medical products.”

Our solutions are based on expert technical staff, high-performing physical plant and systems, and automated production, optimized for manufacturing medical implants and delicate instruments. With the help of CAD-CAM software we maximize the potential of our knowhow. We deepen that expertise via modernization and continual training of our staff. For quality doesn’t happen by itself.”

Instead of emphasizing the quality of their products, innotool&greminger focuses on the production processes which determine that quality.

Zero Tolerance

Americans typically prefer rules that are very specific, but not meant to be followed to the letter. Nevertheless, recently in response to a lot of complaints about inconsistencies in disciplining misbehaving students, many American school systems have started adopting strict zero tolerance policies.

These policies typically state that any student committing a wrongdoing will receive the same pre-determined punishment, no matter what the specifics of his/her offense are.

Schools have had quite a bit of trouble implementing these policies, and statistics have shown that the rigid rules have actually led to elevated dropout rates and an increasing number of suspensions. This is largely because American students are used to having a little “wiggle room,” and weren’t accustomed to the strict enforcement policy.

Wiggle room – permission to slightly bend a couple of rules, as long as most of the rules are followed.

Standardization

The German Commission on Electronics and Information Technology is an independent, non-profit, national organization which standardizes practices in its industry.

The commission creates norms, sets standards for safety and represents Germany in several European and international norming bodies. Its work results are an integral part of German norms in the area of electronics.

The Association of German Engineers also sets standards, with over 2,000 by 2012. Voluntary experts manage the work and maintain close communications with German industry.

Continuous improvement

Manufacturing automobiles is based on complex production processes. Chassis are formed out of high tensile steel, which are then fitted and painted. Each and every step in the process is made up of smaller, more exact process steps.

All of this cannot work without those involved following processes. Operating on checklists will not lead to road-worthy automobiles.

German cars are known worldwide for their quality, possibly the best in the world. Could that technical quality be based on the quality of processes? Could the strict adherence to well-defined processes be a key to success?