Keeping You Informed On Lean Manufacturing
In a recent (excellent) article on the challenges of sustaining 5S, James Womack (author of “The Machine That Changed the World”) tells us:
“I frequently hear 5S advocated as some sort of “clean up, fix up” campaign, an “easy way to get started with lean”, raise morale, impress investors, impress customers, and, in general, create the appearance of a “world-class” company (whatever a “world class” company may be).”
In the last post, we recommended posting charts at each work station to gather information about production and performance that would be used to identify and solve problems. Remember, the purpose of these charts isn’t simply to gather data that will be used later by your resident black belt (though it certainly could be). The purpose is to identify and address problems in real time, in other words, lean problem solving. So we’re interested in gathering as little information as possible in as “user-friendly” a way as we can and still get good problem solving accomplished.
Lean efforts will be successful to the degree to which we have operational excellence in the shop. Inventories and costs will decrease to the extent that we can reduce downtime, scrap, delays, scheduling problems, die problems, and equipment problems. There’s no value in a value stream mapping and no good in pushing a pull system unless we also address those problems that will keep them from being effective. Supervisors and operators need to be actively involved in problem solving.
I’ve updated a video I posted to YouTube some time ago. (Actually, what I did was delete the old video and replace it.) The video is a quick overview that answers the question, “What is 5S?”. I hope you’ll take a look at it.
Over the years, I’v
e helped a number of clients with process mapping exercises. Now, process mapping is one of those things you can read about and look up on the interweb and still not get much help when it comes to actually doing it with a team. (That said, a good book on the topic is “Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart” by Geary Rummler. ) I’ve learned some things that can help you.
In our last post, I said we’d look at a few more VSM’s and talk about the data on them by way of analysis.
Here’s a quick one.
Six months ago (yikes!) we were talking about how to develop and use Value Stream Maps. We had gotten to the point where we had put together a pretty good “Current State” map that included performance data. We said we’d look, in more detail, at the map and the data we had put together before we went on to creating a “Future State” map. And here we are…a mere SIX MONTHS LATER! So, let’s get going.
Here’s my most recent YouTube video, “What Is 5S?” Yeah, it’s kind of DIY (I used a free screen cast software called “Screen-Cast-O-Matic”, which does a good job of very basic…very basic…screen cast capture, editing, and uploading to YouTube), but the basic message is good. I’ve come across a V8 powered screencast and video editing software that should up my game so look for future videos coming to your theater soon.
While you’re there, check out my other two videos by searching on Chagrin River Consulting. And, hey, subscribe to my YouTube Channel, why don’t ya?
https://youtu.be/zIK4Cg2EGME
I haven’t written much about error proofing in my several years of blogging about lean manufacturing. When I teach, I don’t go into error proofing much. The primary reason is that error proofing is (to my way of thinking, at any rate) very specific to a particular task, activity, or process. When I’ve looked at literature about error proofing, specific examples relevant to specific equipment or tasks are given. I always find myself thinking, “That’s great…if one has that type of equipment or is carrying out that particular task.”
In our last post, we talked a bit about 5S audits and argued that teams of operators should self-audit their own areas rather than having “external” audits conducted. In this post, we’ll go over the process for teaching teams how to audit themselves. I’ve also provided a download of the form I use for all this.
Continue reading “Teams Should Conduct Their Own 5S Audits: Part Two”