On the web and in print, you find frequent mention of a “lean toolbox,” “lean toolbook,” or similar. These books do have their use, and at least one of them is written by an author that I highly respect. Many other lean books also focus on the different tools and methods. But focusing on a set of tools can also be quite misleading. Hence, I wrote this blog post as a word of warning. Every master needs their tools, but the tools do not make a master!
Lean Tools
All About 5 Why
If you’re doing lean, you will encounter people telling you to do “5 Why” everywhere. And the method sounds simple, just ask “Why?” five times to find the root cause of a problem. However, there is a surprising amount of depth to this, as well as some pitfalls. Let me elaborate:
Just in Sequence Part 3 – What Can Go Wrong
This third and last post on Just in Sequence details all the things that can go wrong, and talks about how to fix them. The biggest problem is if the sequence of your Just in Sequence part does not match the main component that it should be sequenced to. This happens especially due to defects and rework. I also describe common options to deal with these problems – but be warned: all of them suck. As usual in lean, it is so much easier not to have problems in the first place than it is to deal with them afterward.
Just in Sequence Part 2 – How to Do It
In this second post on Just in Sequence, I would like to talk about some details on the actual sequencing of parts: when to use Just in Sequence in the first place, which parts to sequence, and how to define the sequence. These are all organizational details to make Just in Sequence work. In my next and last post of this series, I will describe how to handle problems with parts being out of sequence.
Just in Sequence Part 1 – What Is It?
“Just in Sequence” (JIS) is a good way to supply material to high-mix, low-volume production. It combines well with “Just in Time” (JIT) and “Ship to Line” (STL), but neither are a prerequisite for Just in Sequence. In automotive it is sometimes also called In Line Vehicle Sequence (ILVS). In this series of posts I would like to talk about what Just in Sequence is, how it works, and what to be aware of. This first post details the basics of Just in Sequence production.
Pacing of Flow Lines 2 – Continuously Moving Line
In my last post I described the pacing of pulse and unstructured flow lines. Another common way to structure the pacing of flow lines is the continuously moving line. In this type of line, the parts are always moving, and the processes and workers move along with the part until the process is completed.
Pacing of Flow Lines 1 – Unstructured and Pulse Line
Flow lines are often the best and most organized approach to establish a value stream. Hence, for flow lines or flow shops you can organize the processes much more easily than for many other types of production systems.
In this series of posts I will look at and compare different ways to pace your production processes. Please note that this is not line balancing about the work content for each process, but rather different options on when to start the work for each process. In the first post I will look at unstructured pacing and pulse lines. In my next post I will go into detail for the continuously moving line.
Toyota’s and Denso’s Relentless Quest for Lot Size One
A famous step toward perfection in a lean production system is a lot size of one. However, few people realize what enormous effort and rigor Toyota applies to achieve this goal. During my visit to a Toyota plant and the APMS conference in Tokyo in 2015, I saw quite a few stunning examples of this quest. Let me show you …