People like closure, so the thought of taking on something with no end can be a major challenge. Continuous improvement can create a mental hurdle that people must clear in order to fully commit to the idea that the achievements of today won’t be good enough tomorrow.
This A3 template can be used to create an A3 report, the communication medium for A3 problem solving. The A3 report takes its name from the “A3” size of paper that the report is generally written or printed on. (A3 paper is an international designation similar to the ledger size Read more…
A Design of Experiment (DOE) is the process of determine the interaction of KPIVs (Key Process Input Variables) on the output of a process. It attempts to quantify the relationship of the variables in order to optimize the settings for that process. A key point of the design of experiment Read more…
A water spider or ”mizusumashi” in Japanese (see our listing of Japanese Lean terms), is a person who has a prescribed set of tasks to keep materials in stock at the point of use in production areas. NOTE: The water spider is alternately called a water strider. This differs from Read more…
Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem titled “If” in 1895. Among many pearls of wisdom in the poem, he makes a reference to the ‘unforgiving minute.’ It struck a chord with me because of how competitive the business world has become. There is no free time, and every minute a company Read more…
When companies operate in silos, different groups do what is best within the confines of their own world. Design engineers may create products that are appealing to the customer, look amazing, and may even be built like a tank with bulletproof quality. But this otherwise outstanding design may be extremely Read more…
I recently went to a restaurant, and received this bill for an item that cost $12.95 on the menu: Item Price Food $12.95 Food Preparation Surcharge $3.95 Property Tax Surcharge $0.95 Site Security Fees $0.37 Waiting Area Use Fee $0.46 Clean-up Fee $0.99 Booth Usage Fees $0.76 Imagine how this Read more…
The SIPOC Analysis Sheet is a tool to help understand the flow of value from supplier to the customer. SIPOC is the acronym for Supplier-Inputs-Process-Outputs-Customer. Click Image to Get Our SIPOC Analysis Sheet(Get This Form for Free) In practical use, a simple form such as this has limitations. Suppliers often Read more…
The FMEA Worksheet (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) supports the process of managing the risk associated with product or process failures. Traditionally an engineering tool, the FMEA Worksheet is also useful when assessing the risk of a Lean project. Watch Our FMEA Video The basic steps to using the FMEA Read more…
A chaku-chaku line has a series of machines, each equipped with a hanedashi device, or autoejector. This enables the operator working a chaku-chaku line to: walk up and immediately insert the part he is holding into a machine press a start button, and then pick up the previously ejected part. Read more…
A hanedashi device is an automatic part ejector. It reduces waste when an operator approaches a machine to load the next part. In a machine without a hanedashi device, the operator would have to set down the new part that he would be carrying to the machine, pull out the Read more…
Total Productive Maintenance keeps machines operational in a way that supports production processes. Total Productive Maintenance combines routine scheduled preventative maintenance with predictive maintenance to limit the impact machine downtime has on operations. The “total” part of Total Productive Maintenance means that machine operators take on a big part of Read more…