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Lean Tales in Japan: The Japanese Supermarket Checkout

Christoph Roser February 28, 2017

Japan is a wonderland for anybody interested in lean. Of course there is the archetype of lean manufacturing, the Toyota group and its Toyota Production System. However, access to Toyota plants is restricted, and during their guided tours you can observe only so much. (See for example my post on Evolution of Toyota Assembly Line Layout – A Visit to the Motomachi Plant as the result of such a tour).

Fortunately, the goal to achieve perfection is also found in many other processes in Japan, many of which you can observe almost anytime, whenever you like and for how long you like. In the past I blogged about Lean in the Japanese Public Toilet and Japanese Standard Pointing and Calling on Japanese trains. This time I’m looking in more detail into the Japanese supermarket, in particular its checkout system.

The Lean Rabbit Chase in a U-Line

Christoph Roser February 21, 2017

There are different ways to manage workers in an manual U-line. One of these methods is known as the “Rabbit Chase,” also known as the “Caravan Approach” or “Operators-in-Motion.” The workers always move in a circle and handle all processes in sequence.

150th Anniversary of the Birth of Sakichi Toyoda

Christoph Roser February 14, 2017

Exactly 150 years ago, on February 14, 1867, Sakichi Toyoda (豊田佐吉 Toyoda Sakichi) was born. He is known in Japan as the King of Inventors (which is probably a bit of an exaggeration), father of the Japanese Industrial Revolution, and also the founder of the Toyota industrial empire. Time to take a look back in history on his life.

The Chaku Chaku Line

Christoph Roser February 7, 2017

Chaku Chaku is a way to operate a semi-automated manufacturing line. One (or more) workers walk around the line, add parts to the processes, and then start the process. While the process works on the part automatically, the worker adds the next part to the next process, and so on.

How to Determine Your Lot Size – Part 3

Christoph Roser January 31, 2017

This is the third and final post on lot sizes (Part 1 and Part 2). After considering all the factors of the processes and inventories (changeover time, batch size, customer order size, and container and shipment size), we now look at how to set up the information flow. This is especially important if we want to have different lot sizes in different sections of our value stream.

How to Determine Your Lot Size – Part 2

Christoph Roser January 24, 2017

A good lot size has a significant impact on the performance of the system. In this second post, I look at the influence of the machine batch size on the lot size. I also briefly go into the lot sizes for the processing industry, and also administrative processes. In my next and last post I will look at how to manage different lot sizes in different parts of the value stream.

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