Spot the problems in the indicators’ deviations
Look every week at which goals stray from their target, tell noise from a real problem and choose which ones to tackle.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- 1.4 h a monthper team; today it takes 2.9 to 7.6 h a month
- Elmira today
- Helps
- Frequency
- Weekly
- Who does it today
- Engineer
- Version
- Elmira Junior
What hurts today.
People react to every number that drops, and none gets solved.
The usual red stops being seen.
A problem without an owner shows up again at the next meeting.
A problem, in continuous improvement, is the gap between what was expected and what happened. Every week the engineer goes through their teams’ indicators, looks at which are red and how they are trending, separates normal variation from a real change and picks the few problems worth tackling, each with its owner. Without that filter, the team reacts to every number that drops, or gets used to red and stops seeing it.
Done today with
- Expert
- In-person meeting
- Spreadsheet
- Email and chat
- Slides
- BI dashboard
- Statistics software
Each step, today and with Elmira.
On WhatsApp, Elmira tells you which goals are at risk or critical and how their indicators are trending; which one is a problem is yours to decide, and she leaves its owner an action with a date.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| Check which goals are at risk or critical, and how they are trending | BI dashboard, Spreadsheet15 min – 30 min | |
| Tell normal variation from a real change | Statistics software, Expert15 min – 45 min | Still by hand |
| Choose the problems worth tackling | In-person meeting, Expert | Your call |
| Give each one its owner and a date | Email and chat, Spreadsheet5 min – 15 min | |
| Put them on the problem list | Spreadsheet, Slides5 min – 15 min | Comes with the value office |
The conversation
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
Elmira, which of Packaging’s goals are doing badly, and how are they trending?
In Packaging, “Cut Packaging’s waste” is critical: the waste went up from 3.1% in week 37 to 4.6% in week 40. “Raise line 2’s OEE” is at risk, with the OEE steady at 74% over the last four weeks.
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
The waste is a real problem. Paula Vera should define it with data by the 16th.
Create the action “Define the waste problem with data”
Goal: Cut Packaging’s waste
Team: Packaging
Responsible: Paula Vera
Due on October 16, 2026
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
Approve
Done: I created the action “Define the waste problem with data”.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of problem solving
- Gather the problems people on the floor reportWhat is said in the hallway reaches nobody.
- Keep the list of open problems and their statusThe list lives apart from the plan, and goes stale.
- Record the lessons learnedWhat was learned stays at the end of the A3, and nobody reads it again.