Daily Management is the backbone of every Lean organisation. This is where problems are spotted, escalated and solved — every day. This guide shows you how to implement a Tier 1-2-3 system that actually works.
Most manufacturers have meetings. The problem is that the meetings are often about what happened yesterday or last week — instead of what is happening right now. Daily Management turns that dynamic on its head.
Daily Management is a structured system of short, daily meetings at different organisational levels. Its purpose is to:
At the machine/cell. 5-10 minutes. Focus: "What do we need to succeed at today?"
Area level. 10-15 minutes. Focus: "What was escalated, and what do we do?"
Plant/company level. 15-20 minutes. Focus: "What requires a management decision?"
When
At shift start, the same time every day
Duration
Maximum 10 minutes
Participants
Operators in the cell/at the machine + team leader
Location
At the board in the production area
Safety (1 min)
Near-misses? Safety observations?
Quality (2 min)
Quality issues yesterday? Blocked material?
Delivery (3 min)
Did we hit the target yesterday? What's the plan today? Obstacles?
Cost / Continuous Improvement (2 min)
Improvement ideas? Status on ongoing improvements?
Escalation criterion
If a problem can't be solved by the team within 24 hours, it is escalated to Tier 2.
When
30-60 min after Tier 1
Duration
Maximum 15 minutes
Participants
Team leaders + production manager + support (maintenance, quality)
Location
At the area board (aggregates data from the Tier 1 boards)
The key to Tier 2
This meeting is about coordinating resources across teams. If maintenance needs to help in assembly, it's decided here.
When
Late morning or early afternoon
Duration
Maximum 20 minutes
Participants
Plant manager/director + function heads (production, quality, logistics, HR)
Focus
Strategic blockers, resource decisions, escalation to group level
Start with one Tier 1 board
Make it work before you roll it out to the rest of the factory.
Leadership must attend visibly
If the boss doesn't show up, neither will the employees.
Keep to the times
A Tier 1 meeting that takes 30 minutes is not Daily Management.
Make escalation visible
Use a physical escalation log so everyone can see what has been escalated.
Measure meeting quality
Track: was the meeting held? On time? Were actions closed?
Get board layouts, meeting agendas and escalation criteria ready to use.
Download the Tier-meetings templateDaily Management only works when it's anchored in the day-to-day. Book a no-obligation clarification call and we'll look at your meeting structure together.