Process Review Guide

Willow Tree Industries Resource Document

A guide for identifying bottlenecks, rework, missing visibility, downtime causes, and workflow improvement opportunities.

Purpose

Process improvement starts by understanding how work actually happens, not just how it is supposed to happen.
This guide helps identify practical improvement opportunities.

Current Process Review

What are the main steps?
Who performs each step?
Where does information come from?
Where does information go?
What tools, machines, or software are involved?
Where are decisions made?
Where does work wait?

Common Improvement Areas

Manual data entry
Repeated paperwork
Unclear pass/fail criteria
Missing production counts
Slow changeovers
Frequent no-read or rework conditions
Untracked downtime
Too much reliance on memory or tribal knowledge

Data to Collect

Cycle time
Downtime reasons
Scrap or rework counts
Operator notes
Bottleneck locations
Quality escapes
Manual entry points
Current reports or logs

Potential Solutions

Simple fixture or tooling updates
Barcode scanning and verification
Dashboards or production counters
Improved work instructions
Sensor or PLC logic changes
Better fault messaging
Maintenance tracking improvements