Tool

Description

Advantage

Kaizen

Continuous improvement

Basis for JIT philosophy.

Cellular Work Flows

Moving operations together for efficiency.

Eliminate wasteful transportation.

Parts are started and finished in the same cell.

Facilitate one-piece flow production.

Visual control is enhanced (see below).

One-piece Flow Production

Parts are produced in batches of one.

Defective parts are limited.

Limits inventory and WIP build up.

Exposure of waste.

Real-time feedback from processes.

Standard Work Concepts

Every process must have a standard procedure.

Takt time

Work procedures

Standard WIP

Foundation for future improvements.

Work procedures eliminate second -guessing.

Standard WIP provides for a continuous flow of work.

The 7 Wastes

Waste arising from 1) overproducing, 2) waiting, 3) transporting, 4) processing, 5) unnecessary stock, 6) unnecessary motion, and 7) producing defective goods.

Recognition of waste is critical to improvement.

"Make It Ugly"

Bringing problems to everyone’s attention by visually displaying them. Example: inventory that is "in the way" instead of in the warehouse.

Reduces the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality.

"Just Do It"

Doing and improving rather than "overplanning".

Focus on continuous improvement.

Eliminate waste of too much planning.

The 5 Ss

Concepts of neatness, orderliness, cleanliness, and work -place discipline. Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, Shitsuke.

Visual control is enhanced.

Foundation for future improvements.

Kanban Inventory

A card system that describes inventory instructions. Example: Supermarket stocking- a void on the shelf is a signal to the clerk to replenish the stock.

Facilitates production of the necessary parts only.

Visual Control

Clear, visual control instead of explanation.

Examples: Methods of parts storage and production status scoreboards.

Signals shortages.

Highlights idle workers and other wastes.

Management can focus on abnormal and eliminate detailed reporting.

Single-minute Exchange of Die

Concentration on opportunities to eliminate waste in setup and changeover. Convert internal setup (stop machine to setup) to external setup.

Setup waste is targeted.

Poke yoke

Design self-checking elements in production processes. Make processes "foolproof".

Enhances goal of quality at the source.

The "Five Whys"

An approach to change problems into opportunities for improvement. Ask "why?" 5 times. (Example)

Focuses on the root cause of problems and views problems as raw materials for improvement.