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Mirror, Mirror on my Workbench, Who’s the Quickest with a Wrench?

Just a quick tip today.

Part of being successful at Lean is in developing a bag of tricks that you can reach into when a given situation presents itself.

So, what do you do when you see an operator spin a product around (or lean over it) to check something on the back side of it? This could happen when the operator is confirming that a part is installed, looking for a model number, or checking to make sure that a light illuminates during testing.

Whatever the reason, consider using a mirror to eliminate that step. A small mirror strategically placed behind the production unit can save the time spent moving the product, and can keep people from leaning forward into an un-ergonomic position. You can even get more sophisticated by incorporating lighting or magnification (like cosmetics mirrors).

If you have any other quick tips like this that you’d like me to write about, please add a comment below, or drop me a note at Info@Velaction.com.

By Jeff Hajek

October 7th, 2009

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