Since procuring a global TRACC licence in January 2009, DuPont trained internal facilitation resources and began implementing TRACC at 30 sites in nine countries as part of the DuPont Production System (DPS). Fifty-five sites will begin DPS TRACC
implementation by the end of 2009, with 300 global sites coming online by 2012.

The first sites to start applying DPS TRACC already are reporting performance gains and a positive impact on work discipline and culture. DuPont’s successful start stems from three active ingredients in managing the programme:
• insistence on a standardised roll-out process using off the-shelf TRACC content with minimal customisation
• an excellent short-cycle learning and improvement mechanism, which includes weekly feedback and calibration sessions by the DPS Global Programme Management Office
• dedicated and highly capable internal support resources with unsurpassed attention to detail

Achieving the first of the above – standard implementation across the company – is no mean feat in such a diverse, global business with a 200-year history of innovation and significant prior best practice investment. DuPont’s success is a testament to the discipline with which they’ve deployed the TRACC framework. How did they pull it off?

Don Wirth, DuPont’s newly-appointed VP – Global Operations – Corporate Supply Chains and overall TRACC sponsor, explained the objectives and why the company decided to use TRACC. “DPS is a multi-year effort to standardize and improve managing and operating practices across our global manufacturing base. We want to do three things with DPS: drive operating discipline through best practices; align a diverse, global organization; and drive bottom-line returns. What we needed as part of DPS was a systematic, shop floor-driven approach to implement and sustain best practices for operating discipline. We saw in TRACC a solid framework to do this in a standard way across our global fleet.

“For our successful start we relied on two principles. The first was no customisation for six months. Based on our experience in implementing other corporate systems, we knew that customisation introduces complexity which we can’t anticipate at the time. So we asked everyone involved to give the standard TRACC content and process a chance to prove itself in the field. Now that it’s working well, there’s much less pressure to customise.

“The second principle was requiring everyone’s input to improve the process. We have such talented people. Thus, we need their energy and ideas to improve the process for everyone, rather than customizing it for their site or region.”

To DPS TRACC programme manager Tom Takacs a standard approach was important on two levels. “The DuPont Production System is all about implementing and sustaining standard best practices. We believe in standard work. DPS TRACC is the mechanism to do this at shop floor level. As soon as we start customizing our own process for deploying it, we violate the principle of standard work. On a more practical level, DuPont invested significantly in a multi-language TRACC
licence. With customisation we would lose the benefit of CCI maintaining it for us.”

The discipline with which DuPont has driven the TRACC implementation bodes well for the company’s success in leveraging it for improved operating discipline and bottom-line results for years to come.