What is the right strategy for your Value Stream, where to start first? _ Go for 5 ‘s campaign or Create the Flow?

If you don’t want lose your time; after you set the gap between Current and Future VSM , you should look to create the Lean Flow first.

Don’t make the typical mistakes to go for a 5’s campaign ; if you set your efforts to crate flow many benefits will be carried to your organization.

(don’t worry about what many people say ; at  the end “5’s “ is part of the process)

Benefits of Creating Flow

•         Built-In Quality;

•        Creates Real Flexibility;

•        Creates Higher Productivity;

•        Frees up Floor Space;

•        Improves Safety;

•        Improves Morale; and

•        Reduces Inventory

Fig.

The benefits of create flow are also part of the benefits to set a 5’s campaign but goes beyond avoiding situations and behaviors like this …

Fig.

Designing a Flow Manufacturing Process

Step 1 - Create a Value Stream Map

Step 2 - Develop Sequence of Operations  (Work Content)

Step 3 - Takt Time Calculation

Step 4 - Balancing the Flow of Work

Step 5 - Establishing Supermarket  Requirements

Step 6 - Establishing Resource Requirements

Step 1 - Create a Value Stream Map

Understand the product flow / manufacturing sequences

• This step is accomplished by developing a Value Stream Map
• Look at the products as PROCESSES
• Output of one process is consumed by the next process
• Start from the point closest to the customer and work backward
• Start from final assembly and move backward into sub-assemblies and to the start of the process

Current and Future.

Fig.

Step 2 - Develop Sequence of Operations  (Work Content)

Fig.

Step 3 - Takt Time Calculation

Fig.

TAKT/Cycle/Lead Time Comparison

TAKT Time: How often we need to produce to meet customer demand without overproducing

Operation Cycle Time: Total Time for one operator/resource to complete their operation

Lead Time: Total Time to produce one product from the first operation to the last operation including delays.  Delays may be due to unbalanced lines, high WIP, batching processes, between operations.

Fig.

Step 4 - Balancing the Flow of Work

Four Steps For Balancing Operations

Based on Takt Time

1. Break Operations into Job elements

2. Identify and Remove Waste from operations

3. Define Improved job elements

4. Re-balance job elements by combining tasks

Figs

Step 5 - Establishing Supermarket  Requirements

Supermarkets are strategically placed inventory with standard pre-determined quantities in order to:

Minimize inventory investment

Maximize protection against disruption in flow due to:

• Fluctuation
• Demand
• Quality level
• Process times
• Physical location of supplying process
• Lengthy set up time

Figs.

Step 6 - Establishing Resource Requirements

Fig.

Just-in-time’ is a management philosophy and not a technique.

Just in time production (JIT): the other big pilar…

It originally referred to the production of goods to meet customer demand exactly, in time, quality and quantity, whether the `customer’ is the final purchaser of the product or another process further along the production line.

It has now come to mean producing with minimum waste “Muda” ; variation “Mura” & Overburden “Muri” .

Waste ,is taken in its most general sense and includes time and resources as well as materials. Elements of JIT include:

•    Continuous improvement.

◦                      Attacking fundamental problems – anything that does not add value to the product.

◦                      Devising systems to identify problems.

◦                      Striving for simplicity – simpler systems may be easier to understand, easier to manage and less likely to go wrong.

◦                      A product oriented layout – produces less time spent moving of materials and parts.

◦                      Quality control at source – each worker is responsible for the quality of their own output.

◦                      Poka-yoke – `foolproof’ tools, methods, jigs etc. prevent mistakes

◦                      Preventative maintenance, Total productive maintenance – ensuring machinery and equipment functions perfectly when it is required, and continually improving it.

•    Eliminating waste. There are 7 types of waste:

◦                      waste from overproduction.

◦                      waste of waiting time.

◦                      transportation waste.

◦                      processing waste.

◦                      inventory waste.

◦                      waste of motion.

◦                      waste from product defects.

•    Eliminating variation. There are 3 types of variation:

◦                      Variation from Process.

◦                      Variation from Material.

◦                      Variation from Information.

•    Eliminating Overburden. There are 3 types of Overburden:

◦                      Overburden  of Machines.

◦                      Overburden of people

◦                      Overburden of system

•    Good housekeeping – workplace cleanliness and organisation.

•    Set-up time reduction – increases flexibility and allows smaller batches. Ideal batch size is 1item. Multi-process handling – a multi-skilled workforce has greater productivity, flexibility and job satisfaction.

•    Levelled / mixed production – to smooth the flow of products through the factory.

•    Kanbans – simple tools to `pull’ products and components through the process.

•    Jidoka (Autonomation) – providing machines with the autonomous capability to use judgement, so workers can do more useful things than standing watching them work.

Andon (trouble lights) – to signal problems to initiate corrective action.

Fig.

Hence we can see that to have a Total JIT manufacturing system, a company-wide commitment, proper materials, quality, people and equipments must always be made available when needed. In addition; the policies and procedures developed for an internal JIT structure should also be extended into the company’s supplier and customer base to establish the identification of duplication of effort and performance feedback review to continuously reduced wastage and improve quality. By integrating the production process; the supplier, manufacturers and customers become an extension of the manufacturing production process instead of independently isolated processes where in fact in clear sense these three sets of manufacturing stages are inter-related and dependent on one another. Once functioning as individual stages and operating accordingly in isolated perspective; the suppliers, manufacturers and customers can no longer choose to operate in ignorance. The rules of productivity standards have changed to shape the economy and the markets today; every company must be receptive to changes and be dynamically responsive to demand. In general, it can be said that there is no such thing as a KEY in achieving a JIT success; only a LADDER; where a series of continuous steps of dedication in doing the job right every time is all it takes.

Fig.

Jidoka is the Path to Zero Defect

The Toyota Production System is a house with two pillars. One pillar represents just-in-time (JIT), and the other pillar the concept of JIDOKA.

The house will not stand without both pillars. Yet many of us focus on the mechanisms of implementation--one piece flow, pull production, takt time, standard work, kanban--without linking those mechanisms back to the pillars that hold up the entire system.

JIDOKA is the key to making the entire system stick.

•       Build in  mechanisms to prevent mass-production of defective work

•       Autonomous check for the abnormal in a process

•       Machines with capability to detect defects and respond accordingly

•       Transfer human intelligence to automated machinery/systems.

•       Not limited to machine processes; can be used with manual operations.

•       Human support system to execute continuous improvement through prevention activities.

•       Illuminates the causes of problems by stopping the process exactly as it was when a defects or abnormality was detected

Never pass defects to next operation

•        Detecting abnormalities

•        Responding immediately

•        Eliminating causes

Fig.

Why Jidoka must be implemented?

•       Process capabilities.

•        Containment. Defects are quickly identified and contained in the zone.

•        Feedback. So that quick countermeasures can be taken.

(Catch the killer on the spot is better then finding from the clue after escaped of the killer.)

Jidoka is one of the factors for the success of Lean implementation

•        High defect rates lead to frequent line stoppages, which will make the flow and pull difficult.

•        Defects will jeopardize the takt time and make the process unevenness, increase lead time and cost.

The root of the problem solving approach embedded in Jidoka thinking

is PDCA.

PDCA has its roots in the Scientific Method:

The scientific method has four steps

1. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena.
2. Formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena. In physics, the hypothesis often takes the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation.
3. Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.
4. Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments.

Jidoka drives a four step process that engages when abnormalities

occur:

•       Detect the abnormality

•       Stop – bring attention to the problem

•       Fix or correct the immediate condition

•       Investigate the root cause and install a countermeasure

Application of Jidoka

Fig.

A true human support system must be created as a part of any Jidoka implementation.

•       The resources necessary to respond, fix, and root cause analyze must be in place

•       Expectations of 5 W’s and 1 H defined and adhered to

•       Performance linked to expectations

Jidoka Benefits

•       Ensures & maintains safety

•       Improved quality

•       Empowers people 

•       Prevent defective items being delivered to next production phase

•       Recognises abnormalities in automated production so adjustments/repairs can be made quickly

•       Enables separation of machine and human work

•       Eliminates the need for operators to continuously watch machines just in case defects occur

•       Key driver for major gains in productivity