Visual management is a hot topic in lean manufacturing. It is not a do-or-do-not method like kanban or SMED, but it is an underlying soft approach that just makes manufacturing easier. It won’t fundamentally change your operations, but it will smoothen a lot of problems. In this post I will go through the reasons WHY a shop floor needs visual management.
Kaizen Through Growing Your People
As mentioned in my last post, continuous improvement (kaizen) is done through people, ideally close to the shop floor. You should always look for people to develop and grow, as they in turn nurture your continuous improvement. While it is really hard to give specific recommendations that apply to everybody, let me muse a bit on the topic.
Who Does Kaizen?
One core aspect of lean manufacturing is continuous improvement, or kaizen in Japanese. This concept emphasizes ongoing, incremental enhancements to processes, products, and services. Yet, there are commonly differences between how Toyota does kaizen and how the rest of the world does kaizen. These mostly relate to who does most of the kaizen activities. In Western companies, kaizen is usually driven by management. At Toyota, most of the improvement originates from and is handled on the shop floor. Let me explain…
Dark Lean
During the European Lean Educator Conference in Chemnitz, I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by Nadja Böhlmann on “Dark Lean.” In order to do good lean, we need to understand why some lean projects are bad. Or, in order for practitioners to reach the light side of lean, they need to understand more about “Dark Lean.” Let’s have a look at the darkness to understand the light…
A Common Mistake in Doing Lean: Skipping the Details!
Lean manufacturing is a great set of philosophies and tools to improve your production system, or for that matter any kind of operational system. Yet, many supposed lean implementations fail. One of the various reasons for failure of a lean project is a lack of attention to detail. Let me explain:
Toyota Change Point Management: Henkaten
Henkaten is an approach by Toyota to deal with changes in their manufacturing system. It is one of the lesser-known words of the lean vocabulary. Often translated as “change point,” it is about managing a change. However, there is no magic behind yet another Japanese word. It is all just the basics like most methods in lean manufacturing: attention to details, standards, and visual management. Let me show you!
On the Quality of KPIs
In this second post on KPIs, I will look at the quality of key performance indicators (KPIs). These are essential tools for measuring an organization’s progress toward its strategic goals. The quality of these indicators is critical as it impacts management’s decision-making and subsequent actions. Let’s have a look!
What are Good KPIs?
To control any kind of system, you need to know its status. For a simple system like heating, the indoor temperature may be the key input. For something as complex as manufacturing, however, there could be a myriad of different measurements that can help you to control the system. In this context, KPIs (key performance indicators) become crucial, offering a structured way to monitor various aspects of operation, from safety and quality to productivity and cost. Ensuring the right balance and focus among these KPIs can lead to more informed decision-making and enhanced operational efficiency. In this post I would like to dig deeper on what KPIs are good, and how you can go wrong with (too many?) KPIs.