ROI Case File No.302 | 'PipeWorks' Endless Discussions'

Chapter 1: The Maze of Meetings—Three Years, Nothing Decided

The week after resolving Carelink's PDCA incident, a consultation arrived from Saitama regarding a pipe and valve manufacturer's system renewal. Episode 302 of Volume 25 "The Pursuit of Certainty" tells the story of structuring endless discussions and moving forward.

"Detective, we've been considering production management system renewal for three years. However, with each meeting, discussions diverge and nothing gets decided. Requirements definition, vendor selection, budget approval... I don't even know what we're discussing anymore."

Koji Tanaka, production technology manager at PipeWorks Inc., originally from Kawaguchi, visited 221B Baker Street with an exhausted expression. In his hands were bundles of three years' worth of meeting minutes and, in stark contrast, files plastered with sticky notes reading "No Conclusion."

"We manufacture industrial pipes and valves in Saitama. We supply automotive, construction, and plant industries. Our production management system was installed 20 years ago and has reached its limit. However, renewal discussions aren't progressing at all."

PipeWorks' System Renewal Stagnation: - Establishment: 1978 (Pipe and valve manufacturing) - Annual Revenue: ¥3.2 billion - Employees: 180 - Current System: Installed 2005 (20 years old) - Discussion Start: 2022 (3 years ago) - Meetings Held: Total 42 - Decisions Made: Zero - Budget: Undecided ("over ¥100 million" vague perception only)

Deep resignation filled Tanaka's voice.

"The problem is that the discussion focus changes with each meeting. Meeting 1: 'What features are needed.' Meeting 2: 'Which vendor to request.' Meeting 3: 'How to split the budget.' Then Meeting 4 returns to 'What features are truly necessary'... For three years, we've been going in circles."

Recent Meeting Record (42nd):

Agenda: "System Renewal Requirements Confirmation"

Manufacturing Manager: "Inventory management is top priority. Currently manual management, monthly inventory always shows discrepancies"

Sales Manager: "No, order management comes first. Can't respond immediately to customer inquiries—that's the problem"

Accounting Manager: "Let's discuss budget. Renewal cost ¥100 million? ¥200 million? Must decide amount first or can't discuss"

IT Manager: "Vendor selection comes first. Even if requirements are fixed, meaningless without capable vendors"

Tanaka: "So... what should we decide first?"

Result: No conclusion again, carried over to 43rd meeting

"I'm exhausted. Monthly meetings for three years, yet nothing has moved forward."

Chapter 2: The True Nature of Chaos—Hell Where Everything Is Discussed Simultaneously

"Mr. Tanaka, what approach have you taken in past meetings?"

To my question, Tanaka answered.

"Basically 'free discussion.' Opinions from each department, discussed overall. But too many opinions don't converge. Requirements, budget, vendors, schedule... Everything discussed simultaneously, ultimately nothing decided."

Current Meeting Method (Chaos Type): - Format: Free discussion - Agenda: "Regarding System Renewal" (vague) - Content: Requirements, budget, vendors, schedule mixed - Problem: Discussions diverge, don't converge

I explained the importance of structuring.

"The cause of chaos is discussing everything simultaneously. MECE—Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive. No gaps, no overlaps. If you segment discussions clearly, you'll move forward."

⬜️ ChatGPT | Catalyst of Vision

"Don't discuss everything at once. Segment with MECE, decide in order"

🟧 Claude | Alchemist of Stories

"Endless meetings aren't because participants are incompetent. It's because agendas aren't structured"

🟦 Gemini | Compass of Reason

"MECE is an organization technique. Decompose elements, eliminate overlaps, eliminate gaps"

The three members began analysis. Gemini developed the "MECE Analysis Framework" on the whiteboard.

MECE Principles: - Mutually Exclusive: Elements don't overlap - Collectively Exhaustive: No missing elements - Structure: Organize elements hierarchically

"Mr. Tanaka, let's structure PipeWorks' system renewal with MECE."

Chapter 3: The Blade of Segmentation—Three Years of Chaos into 3 Phases

Phase 1: Visualizing Chaos (1 week)

First, we listed everything discussed in the past 42 meetings.

Discussed Items (including duplicates): 1. Required features 2. Unnecessary features 3. Priority 4. Vendor candidates 5. Vendor evaluation criteria 6. Total budget 7. Payment method 8. Schedule 9. Post-implementation support 10. Existing data migration ... (58 items total)

Tanaka was stunned.

"We were discussing this many things simultaneously..."

Phase 2: Structuring with MECE (3 days)

Organized 58 items "with no gaps, no overlaps."

1st Layer: Decomposition by Project Phase

System renewal project can be divided into 3 phases chronologically:

System Renewal Project
├── Phase 1: Policy Review
├── Phase 2: Requirements Definition
└── Phase 3: Development & Implementation

2nd Layer: Detailed Decomposition of Each Phase

[Phase 1: Policy Review] (3 months)

Phase 1: Policy Review
├── 1-1. Define renewal purpose
├── 1-2. Determine budget framework
├── 1-3. Vendor selection policy (on-premise/cloud/package/scratch)
└── 1-4. Rough schedule formulation

[Phase 2: Requirements Definition] (6 months)

Phase 2: Requirements Definition
├── 2-1. Identify required features
├── 2-2. Determine priorities
├── 2-3. Vendor selection (RFP issuance, proposal evaluation)
├── 2-4. Detailed schedule formulation
└── 2-5. Contract execution

[Phase 3: Development & Implementation] (12 months)

Phase 3: Development & Implementation
├── 3-1. Detailed design
├── 3-2. Development & testing
├── 3-3. Data migration
├── 3-4. User training
└── 3-5. Go-live & maintenance transition

Phase 3: MECE Check (1 day)

Verified structured results against MECE principles.

Mutually Exclusive Check: - Any overlapping items between Phase 1 and 2? → "Budget" determined as framework in Phase 1, detailed in Phase 2. No overlap. - Overlap between Phase 2 and 3? → "Requirements Definition" completed in Phase 2, Phase 3 only implementation. No overlap.

Collectively Exhaustive Check: - Are all 58 items placed in some phase? → Missing placements: Zero

Conclusion: MECE Achieved

Phase 4: Structuring Payment Terms (1 week)

Tanaka shared another concern.

"Actually, there's also a budget approval problem. The accounting manager says 'Can't pay ¥100 million at once.' But vendors say 'Installment payments are troublesome to manage.'"

We applied the phase structure organized by MECE to payment terms.

MECE Design of Payment Terms:

Benefits: - Accounting: Not lump sum, distributed by phase - Vendor: Clear as compensation for each phase's deliverables - Project: Evaluate progress by phase, determine whether to continue next phase

Tanaka's eyes lit up.

"Segmenting by phase makes payments clear too."

Chapter 4: The Power of Structure—Three Months of Decisions for Three Years

Phase 5: 1st New Meeting "Discuss Only Phase 1" (1 month)

After structuring with MECE, changed meeting approach.

New Meeting Principles: - Agenda: Phase 1 content only - Prohibition: Don't discuss Phase 2 or 3 content

1st New Meeting (43rd Overall):

Agenda: "Phase 1: Policy Review"

Tanaka: "Today we'll decide only Phase 1. Specifically: ①renewal purpose, ②budget framework, ③vendor selection policy, ④rough schedule. These four items. Detailed requirements and features will be discussed in Phase 2."

Manufacturing Manager: "Then, renewal purpose is 'inventory management accuracy improvement' and 'production planning efficiency,' right?"

Sales Manager: "I want 'order management' included too... but that's decided by priority in Phase 2, correct?"

Tanaka: "Exactly. Today we only decide the 'renewal' policy."

Accounting Manager: "Budget is total ¥100M, 3-year recovery target. Installment payment by phase. This I approve."

IT Manager: "Vendor selection policy is cloud-based package with customization. Issue RFP to 5 companies."

Result: All Phase 1 items decided in 1 hour

Phase 6: Phase 2 Execution (6 months)

With Phase 1 policy decided, Phase 2 proceeded smoothly.

Requirements Definition: - Required features: 28 features identified - Priority: Classified as MUST (required) 10 features, WANT (desired) 18 features - Vendor selection: Proposals from 5 companies, narrowed to 2, finally contracted with 1

After 6 Months: - Requirements document: Completed - Vendor: Contract executed - Payment: Phase 2 portion (¥32M) paid

Phase 7: Phase 3 Execution (12 months)

Development & Implementation: - Detailed design: Completed - Development & testing: Priority implementation of 10 MUST features - Data migration: From existing to new system - Go-live: Successful

After 12 Months: - New system operational - Payment: Phase 3 portion (¥60M) paid

Results After 21 Months:

Project Performance: - Start to completion: 21 months (as planned) - Total investment: ¥100M (within budget) - Phase completion rate: 100%

Business Results: - Inventory accuracy: 2.8% variance → 0.3% (89% improvement) - Production planning efficiency: 40% reduction in work time - Order response time: Average 2 days → Same-day response possible - Annual cost reduction: ¥18M - Investment recovery period: 5.6 years (plan: within 6 years)

Organizational Change: - Meeting efficiency: "Today discuss only Phase X" principle established - MECE applied to other projects: Sales strategy meetings, facility investment planning - Tanaka: "Discussions no longer diverge. MECE is magic"

Chapter 5: Detective's Diagnosis—Structure Creates Progress

That night, I contemplated the essence of MECE.

The reason PipeWorks' meetings stagnated for three years wasn't participants' lack of ability. Agendas weren't structured.

Requirements, budget, vendors, schedule... Discussing everything simultaneously only creates chaos.

However, segmenting with MECE moves discussions forward. Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3. Segment chronologically, organize each phase's contents "with no gaps, no overlaps."

And deciding "today only Phase 1" allows meetings to reach conclusions in one hour.

"The cause of chaos isn't the number of elements. It's that elements aren't organized. MECE transforms chaos into order."

The next case will also depict the moment MECE moves discussions forward.

"Don't discuss everything at once. Segment with MECE, decide in order. Structure creates progress"—From the Detective's Notes

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