Why Cadence Matters
The secret to sustainable continuous improvement isn't intensity—it's rhythm. Most organizations try to boil the ocean: track everything, fix everything, improve everything. They burn out in 90 days.
The cadence framework creates natural escalation: Daily for immediate issues, Weekly for project progress, Monthly for emerging threats, Quarterly for strategic planning. Each level builds on the one below it.
"Consistency beats intensity. A 10-minute daily standup sustained for a year delivers more value than quarterly all-day improvement summits."
The Four-Level Framework
Daily Standups
5-10 minutesPurpose: Review yesterday's losses, assign quick investigations, keep improvement momentum daily.
Who Attends: Shift leads, operators, maintenance techs (rotate participation)
Key Activities:
- Review Dashboard "Recent Reported Losses"
- Check E Matrix for yesterday's downtime events
- Identify any losses >$1K that need investigation
- Assign owners for quick root cause checks
- Update on ongoing countermeasures
Success Metric: Every shift holds standup consistently; >80% of assigned investigations completed by next standup
Weekly Team Reviews
30-45 minutesPurpose: Review project progress, move tasks through kanban, identify blockers, ensure countermeasures stay on track.
Who Attends: Project owners, team members, shift leads
Key Activities:
- Walk MyTasks kanban board (Backlog → Ready → In Progress → Review → Done)
- Discuss blockers and resource needs
- Review countermeasures: are they working?
- Update project timelines if needed
- Assign next week's tasks
Success Metric: All active projects reviewed weekly; tasks don't sit in "In Progress" for >2 weeks
Monthly Emerging Threats
60 minutesPurpose: Identify rapidly increasing losses before they become major problems; launch new projects targeting emerging threats.
Who Attends: Department leads, CI coordinator, site admin
Key Activities:
- Review Dashboard "Recommended Projects" panel
- Analyze losses with >25% month-over-month increases
- Review Quality Recommendation Service outputs
- Prioritize emerging threats by financial impact
- Assign owners and launch new projects
- Review last month's launched projects: still on track?
Success Metric: Top 3 emerging threats addressed monthly; zero "surprise" problems (caught trends early)
Quarterly Business Reviews
2-3 hoursPurpose: Strategic review of cost deployment, equipment effectiveness, project portfolio ROI, and skill development.
Who Attends: Leadership team, finance, operations, maintenance, quality
Key Activities:
- C Matrix deep dive: Which loss types are costing the most?
- E Matrix analysis: Equipment effectiveness trends
- Quality C Matrix: Top defect modes and costs
- Project portfolio review: Completed vs. active, ROI delivered
- Leaderboard review: Skill development across teams
- Strategic prioritization for next quarter
Success Metric: Clear top 5 priorities for next quarter; measurable YoY improvement in total cost of losses
How the Levels Build on Each Other
Each cadence level feeds information to the next, creating natural escalation from tactical to strategic:
Daily → Weekly
Investigations from daily standups become tasks in weekly reviews. "We found vibration on Pump 3" → "Add bearing inspection to weekly checklist."
Weekly → Monthly
Recurring issues from weekly reviews trigger monthly threat analysis. "Pump 3 keeps failing" → "Launch project to redesign bearing housing."
Monthly → Quarterly
Trend data from monthly reviews informs quarterly strategic planning. "Hydraulic failures up 40%" → "Invest in predictive maintenance for hydraulic systems."
Quarterly → Daily (Feedback Loop)
Strategic priorities from quarterly reviews become focus areas in daily standups. Full circle, continuous improvement.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Skipping Levels
The Mistake: "We'll just do monthly reviews—dailies feel like overkill."
Why It Fails: Small issues compound for 30 days before anyone notices. You lose the rapid feedback loop that drives improvement.
Making Them Too Long
The Mistake: "Let's do 30-minute daily standups to be thorough."
Why It Fails: People stop coming. Dailies must be fast. Save the deep discussions for weekly reviews.
No Clear Ownership
The Mistake: "Everyone should attend every meeting."
Why It Fails: When everyone's responsible, no one's responsible. Assign clear facilitators and attendance expectations.
Analysis Paralysis
The Mistake: "We need to fully understand this before taking action."
Why It Fails: Dailies are for quick checks, not full RCA. Escalate complex issues to project teams.
Implementation Roadmap
Don't try to launch all four levels simultaneously. Build the cadence incrementally:
Start Daily Standups
One shift, one team. Get the muscle memory built. Keep it simple: yesterday's losses, today's priorities.
Add Weekly Reviews
Launch your first project. Use weekly reviews to keep it on track. Expand dailies to all shifts.
Introduce Monthly Threat Reviews
Now that you have data trends, start analyzing them. Launch 1-2 new projects per month targeting emerging issues.
Schedule First Quarterly Review
You now have enough data and completed projects to do meaningful strategic planning. Set priorities for next quarter.
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