Shadow Board

A shadow board is typically pegboard, often painted white, with a colored outline for the tool below each hook.

Consider a tools storage setup such as this one.

Tools on a board without shadows.

While it looks organized, it would be hard to determine which tool was missing if there was a blank space.

So, what if you put outlines behind where the tools go?

Packing Station Shadow Board with Hand-Drawn Outlines

These are extremely useful in shops where tools are used for a variety of different tasks and are easy to misplace.

A quick glance at a shadow board, even from the other side of room, will tell you immediately which tools are missing. You would also be able to determine if items were in the wrong location. Shadow boards are a great example of a type of visual control.

Why Shadow Boards are Bad for Production

For production, shadow boards are far less useful. Tools should not be stored at a central location. They should be at the point of use. And they should not be located flat up against pegboard. They should be oriented in a “handshake” configuration, where the operator can easily grab the tool and return it with little effort. (Read more about Why I Hate Shadowboards at Velaction.com.)

You will often see production tools on tool balancers, mounted to magnetic strips, or dropped into funnel-shaped holes with the handle protruding. The point is to sequence the tools to the operation, eliminate transportation waste, and minimize motion waste.