3- Transporting
Transporting products between processes is a cost incursion which adds no value to the product. Excessive movement and handling cause damage and are an opportunity for quality to deteriorate. Material handlers must be used to transport the materials, resulting in another organizational cost that adds no customer value. Transportation can be difficult to reduce due to thee perceived costs of moving equipment and processes closer together. Furthermore, it is often hard to determine which processes should be next to each other. Mapping product flows can make this easier to visualize.
4- Inappropriate Processing
Many organizations use expensive high precision equipment where simpler tools would be sufficient. This often results in poor plant layout because preceding or subsequent operations are far apart. In addition they encourage high asset utilization (overproduction with minimal changeovers) in order to recover the high cost of this equipment. Toyota is famous for their use of low-cost automation, combined with immaculately maintained, often older machines. Investing in smaller, more flexible equipment where possible; creating manufacturing cells; and combining steps will greatly reduce the waste of inappropriate processing.
5- Unnecessary Inventory
Excess inventory tends to hide problems on the plant floor, which must be identified and resolved in order to improve operating performance. Excess inventory increases lead times, consumes productive floor space, delays the identification of problems, and inhibits communication. By achieving a seamless flow between work centres, many manufacturers have been able to improve customer service and slash inventories and their associated costs.
6- Unnecessary/ Excess motion
This waste is related to ergonomics and is seen in all instances of bending, stretching, walking, lifting and reaching. These are also health and safety issues, which in today’s litigious society are becoming more of a problem for organizations. Jobs with excessive motion should be analyzed and redesigned for improvement with the involvement of plant personnel.
7- Defects
Having a direct impact to the bottom line, quality defects resulting in rework or scrap are a tremendous cost to organizations (quarantining inventory, re-inspecting, re-scheduling, and capacity loss). In many organizations the total cost of defects is often a significant percentage of total manufacturing cost. Through employee involvement and Continuous Process Improvement (CPI), there is a huge opportunity to reduce defects at many facilities.
Kan ban
A Kan Ban is a card containing all the information required to be done on a product at each stage along its path to completion and which parts are needed at subsequent processes. These cards are used to control work-in-progress (WIP), production and inventory flow. A Kan Ban system allows a company to use Just-in-Time (JIT) Production and Ordering Systems which allow them to minimize their inventories while still satisfying customer demands.
A Kan Ban System consists of a set of these cards, with one being allocated for each part being manufactured, that travel between preceding and subsequent processes. The Kan Ban System was developed (over 20years ago), by Mr. Taiichi Ohno, to achieve objectives that include:
- reducing costs by eliminating waste/scrap
- try to create work sites that can respond to change quickly
- facilitate the methods of achieving and assuring quality control
- design work sites according to human dignity, mutual trust and trust and support,
and allowing workers to reach their maximum potential.
The two most common types of kanbans used today are:-
1) Withdrawal (Conveyance) Kanban
2) Production Kanban
1) Withdrawal (conveyance) Kanban:-
The main function of a withdrawal kanban is to pass authorization for the movement of parts from one stage to an other. Once it gets the parts from the preceding process and moves them to the next process, remaining with the parts until the last part has been consumed by the next process. The withdrawal kanban then travels back to the preceding process to get parts thus creating a cycle.
A withdrawal kanban usually carries the following information:-
- Part number
- Part name
- Lot size
- Routing process
- Name of the next process
- Location of the preceding process
- Container type
- Container capacity
- Number of containers released.
2) Production Kanban:-
The primary function of the production kanban is to release an order to the preceding stage to build the lot size indicated on the card. The production kanban card should have the following information:-
- materials required as inputs at the preceding stage
- parts required as inputs at the preceding stage
- information stated on withdrawals kanban
Kanban preconditions:-
Kanban is essentially a tool that can manage workplace effectively. As a result of its importance in the workplace, six rules (preconditions) have been developed to govern the operation of a kanban system. They are as follows:
- no withdrawals of parts without a kanban
- the subsequent process comes to withdraw only what is needed
- do not send the defective part to the subsequent process
- the preceding process should produce only the exact quantity of parts withdrawn by the subsequent process( ensures minimum inventory)
- smoothing of production
- fine tuning of production using kanban
5S: Workplace organization and standardization
5S is a process of work place organization and house keeping which is carried out gradually and systematically.
The 5S method is a structured program to implement workplace organization and standardization. A well organized workplace motivates people, both on the shop floor as well as others. 5S improves safety, work efficiency, improves productivity and establishes a sense of ownership.
5S is developed in Japan and stands for
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Seiri - Cleaning up: remove what is not needed and keep what is needed
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Seiton - Organizing: Place things in such a way that they can be easily reached whenever they are needed
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Seiso - Cleaning: Keep things clean and polished; no trash or dirt in the workplace
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Seiketsu- Standardizing: Maintain cleanness after cleaning; perpetual cleaning
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Shitsuke- Self- discipline: Commitment, a typical teaching and attitude towards any undertaking to inspire pride and adherence to standards established for the four components.
Impact of 5S implementation: reduce inventory, efficient on workplace usage, reduce time for searching spare part, reduce oil/ water/ air spilled, reduce un-stabilization, preventive of machine function, cleaning and checking machine condition, improve working condition, reduce work accident, increase discipline, follow procedure, and better relationship among employee.
By implementing 5S, eventually productivity, efficiency and working spirit will be promoted. It is not only useful to manage work place physically but also useful to develop employee’s attitudes and discipline.
Poka yoke
Poka-Yoke is Japanese for mistake-proofing. It involves incorporating error-proofing mechanisms into every step of the assembly process, designing products so that user-errors will be reduced if not eliminate, and detecting and reworking defective products as soon as possible. The practice of Poka-Yoke arose in the Japanese manufacturing community to enhance the quality of products by preventing mistakes in the production line.
Poka-Yoke device is a process or a single action that ensures a mistake has not been make and reduces the likelihood that a mistake will occur in the future. Also, in order to create a poka-yoke device, there are several steps such as: find out what is the problem, identify the locations at which the defect is discovered, identify error is being caused by someone, and so on.
Shigeo Shingo, one of the industrial engineers at Toyota, has been created and formalized a plan to help eliminate errors and defects. His plan is called Zero Quality Control (ZQC).
Shingo identified three different types of inspection: judgment inspection, informative inspection, and source inspection. Basicly, Poka-Yoke's idea is to stop a process whenever a defect occurs and to prevent the recurring source of the defect.
Visual Performance measures
Performance measurement provides a tool for assessing the progress of an organization in achieving its defined goals and objectives. In doing so it provides managers and stakeholders with an understanding of how value is created and at what cost. Good performance measurement frameworks contain a relatively small number of performance measures ("the critical few") that are clearly linked to the organization’s objectives, focused on the key performance issues, and are actionable, timely, valid and reliable, and readily understandable.
Excellent Performance Indicators
Excellent Performance Indicators (EPI) program was set up to encourage problem-solving skills and employee empowerment. The EPI program has evolved into an employee empowerment and recognition program based on metrics that measure team performance. The program rewards team accomplishments, provides the necessary tools to monitor data-driven performance, and encourages process improvements directed at reducing costs.
The EPI programs goals include optimizing employee and team performance; continuous improvement in product quality; and increased sensitivity to internal and external customer/supplier relationships through employee involvement.
Another aspect of the EPI program is training; some of which enhance employees educational needs while others target skills such as problem solving, effect and manage change, team building, and communications.
