How to explain 5s: The 5s Game: Excellent way to expain the benefits of 5s

Hi,


in this video you will see in a very simple way, how to explain to anybody who is skeptical about implementing 5s, all the benefits of it. Also it provides a clear example of how quality and efficiency can be improved

Pascal's Quote

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter
        - Blaise Pascal

Continuous improvement Quote

"In times of change the
learners will inherit the
earth; while the learned find
themselves beautifully
equipped to deal with a
world that no longer exists"

- Eric Hoffer

How to generate ideas for improvement - Machine related

The Following questions help in the generation of ideas to improve the conditions affecting the MACHINE

Can we improve the processing method?
Can we improve the effective use of machines, computers, and other facilities?
Can we use machines to do the job?
Can we adequately maintain the service of machines?
Can we modify, maintain, or upgrade to improve the performance of the machines?
Can we identify the common causes of machine failure and find solutions to prevent them?
Can we think of improving tools and fixtures to do the work better?
Can we think of applying the tools in other areas?
Can we improve the procedures for machine or facility breakdown?

How to generate ideas for improvement - Employee related

The Following questions help in the generation of ideas to improve the conditions affecting the Employee (MAN)

Can we educate ourselves better in what we do?
Can we communicate better among ourselves?
Can we improve the new employee or temporary staff introduction package?
Can we direct people to the person who is in charge of a certain job without any trouble?
Can we effectively share work when overloaded
Can we do more cross-training and job rotation?
Can we improve the storage areas for personal belongings?
Can we improve the condition of the work environment, especially related to health and safety?
Can we improve the interface with the customer, internal or external?
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How to generate more ides for improvement

Sometimes we might feel that we can not come up with suggestions and that we have looked at all possibles opportunities for improvements. When that happens we need to step back and look at our activities and processes from a different perspective. The attached check list can be used by anybody to try to come up with more ideas for improvement. As always I encourage the team leaders, supervisors and managers to ask these questions while on the shop floor or office. The answer to these questions will be opportunities for improvement.

Try to focus on these questions affecting the way we do things, the method that we use.

Can we simplify, combine, or eliminate our jobs, materials, parts, etc?
Can we eliminate the redundant work done at multiple locations?
Can we do it right the first time?
Can we clarify the standards better and practice managing by exception?
Can we change the work method?
Can we improve the use of Standard operation procedures so that it is easy to follow?
Can we improve the training method? Do we have one?
Can we improve the housekeeping and workplace organization for materials, tools, parts, etc?
Can we improve the capacity of the operation, machine, or line?
Can we improve the layout?
Can we reduce the setup time?
Can we stop overproduction?

The 4 rules of lean thinking

In the article :Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System, Steven Spear captures 4 rules that summarize the operating principles of the Toyota Production System. These rules are very powerful at the moment you are faced with challenges trying to improve a process. When you face these type of problems, STOP and reflect on the 4 rules, you will be able to find a solution to your problem.

Rule 1

All work should be highly specified as to CONTENT, SEQUENCE, TIMING and OUTCOME.
can you clearly explain this for elements on your job? if the answer is not, then you have an opportunity for improvement.

Rule 2

Every customer supplier connection must be DIRECT and there must be an unambiguous YES-OR-NO way to send the requests and receive responses
Again the same question applies, can you clearly describe these two elements in your customer-supplier connections? if not, then you have an opportunity for improvement

Rule 3

The pathway for every product and service must be simple and direct

Rule 4

An improvement must be made in accordance with the scientific method, with guidance, and as close as possible to the actual work.

The 7 Wastes and the 8 Wastes

7, 8, 9 ,,,, how many are they really?

Well, in reality there are much more than 7 or 8. We normally use 7 or 8 because they cover all the major things and teaching 7 or 8 is easier that 9, 10 or more.

Here are some good ways to remember the 7 or 8 wastes. If you have more, please submit your comment

Tim Wood
T= Transportation
I = Inventory
M= Motion
W= Waiting
O= Overproduction
O= Over processing
D= Defects

Here is the other one

Worm pit
W= Waiting
O= Overproduction
R= Rework
M= Motion
P= Processing excessively
I= Inventory
T= Transportation

Another one

Down Time
D= Defects
O= Overproduction
W= Waiting
N= Non Utilized people (The 8th waste)
T= Transportation
I= Inventory
M= Motion
E= Excessive processing

Practical Problem Solving (9) Step 8 = Standardize Successful Processes

Structure successes so that anyone can implement without muri, mura or muda

Share new standards through Yokoten (Yokoten is the process of sharing the success with the entire company. Can the solution found be applied to other area of the company?)

Start the next round of Kaizen to continually strive for the ideal situation

Develop a clear standard for the successful process. This will be your new baseline from which you will have to close the gap to your ideal situation

Ensure countermeasure effectiveness and identify what the checking process will be to visualize a gap/progress. What is the plan to Standardize and Yokoten?

Practical Problem Solving (8) Step 7 = Check both Results and Processes

Evaluate results and processes, and share it with members involved





Assess the overall results, and the processes used to achieve the results (Did you use a good process?)





Three key viewpoints need to be considered when assessing the overall results:

your own, the customers, and the Company's

Asking the following questions will help you do hansei on the problem solving process and the assessment process

–Did I learn from the process?
–Did it lead to customer and stakeholder satisfaction?
–Did we produce results or develop processes that will help the company?

Understand the factors behind the success or failure to accumulate knowledge and know-how. Please value processes as much as results, only constant results can be considered results (repeatable)

–Do not assume the outcomes of a project. See them first hand for yourself before evaluating.
–It is not enough to know what happening. Insight and improvement come from knowing why.

Next: Standardize Successful Processes

Practical Problem Solving (7) Step 5 and 6 = Develop and Implement Countermeasures

This is the part where you are really to get to solve the problem, so without preconceived ideas develop as many potential countermeasures as possible. Utilize your network of team members for ideas to get diverse opinions from inside and outside the company. This is an opportunity to seek bold and creative ideas.



Narrow down the ideas that are the most practical and effective. A helpful tool called a criteria matrix may be useful to look at items such as effectiveness, cost, risk, feasibility, etc.

Select the countermeasure to implement based on the overall evaluation of the proposed countermeasures.

Build consensus with others (Nemawashi) to achieve an increased level of speed and smoothness. Explain purpose, Target and overall problem solving process of Countermeasure.

Implement the Countermeasures

Create a clear and detailed action plan. When creating the action-plan, be sure to clearly identify the four W’s and two H’s of the countermeasures.

Who, What, Where, When, How & How much?

A helpful Tool called a Ghant chart should be used here to monitor overall effectiveness of your planned activities using the PDCA.

Helpful Hints: Identify an effective countermeasure that directly addresses the root cause. .

Ask yourself :

will this countermeasure truly fix this root cause?

Ask yourself

could this countermeasure create a new problem ?

Don't rely on past experiences. Involve all stakeholders

Make sure to follow up on the countermeasures to see them through. In order to accomplish this, check progress regularly and thoroughly communicate by reporting, informing and consulting with all your stakeholders.

Do not forget to also share negative news quickly since the news may influence what they are doing and they may need extra time to resolve issues.

Avoid potential risks and prepare contingency plans for unforeseen changes.

Never give up. If you cannot achieve the expected results, try other measures. No matter what difficulties we may encounter, through ‘trial and error’ we must always make the best attempt and strive to take the next step forward.

Next Step: Monitor both results and processes

Practical Problem Solving (5) Step 3 = Target Setting

This step seems to be easy, but you should not fall on the trap. This step is very important, because you do not want to set up unrealistic goals, or set the expectations too high. Remember that Problem Solving is helping us improve continuously and at a steady pace.

Start with the prioritized problem at the point of occurrence.

Make the commitment about solving the problem

Set a measurable, quantitative, concrete and challenging target.

Be specific with the target, clearly identify how much and by when

Remember that with this process you are taking care of specific issues one step at a time, this will contribute to reduce your GAP to your ideal situation.

The following are some common mistake in Target Setting:

• Confusing "What to do" with the target
• Confusing the "Method" with the target
• Confusing the "Ideal Situation" with the target

These are some examples of good target setting:

Why do we set the target in step 3 and not in step 1 or 2?

Setting the target at step 3 can establish how much of the problem (GAP) we can address in step 1 by solving the problem to tackle. If we solve only one portion of the overall problem by solving the problem to tackle it the require us to decide how many other problems we have to tackle to reach the ideal situation.

It also narrows the focus for Root Cause Analysis therefore recognizing the impact of the countermeasures.

Next: Root Cause Analysis

Practical Problem Solving (4) Step 2 = Breakdown the problem

Break down the process in manageable pieces to solve one at a time as each may contribute to your overall GAP


In this step you have to use the 4W: What, where, when and who. These constitute the contributing factors to your GAP


Something very important to keep in mind in this step is not to ask WHY or to jump towards causes that might be causing your problem.






Use Genchi Gembutso so that you can look at what should be happening. This will also allow you to confirm the facts and determine the Point of Cause.



The point of cause is where the problem is happening withing the process. So remember that if the process it is not defined, you should try to visualize it, Where there is an output there is a process.



Some tools that help you visualize the What, Where , When and Who are Pareto Diagrams, Tree Diagrams, Pies and Scatter plot diagrams.



Now that you know where the Point of Cause is, you have to prioritize your problem.



These are some questions that will help you set a priority for your problem:

•Level of Importance

–Does this effect my group/department KPI’s?
–Does this affect a department hoshin item?
–How long has this problem existed?
–What impact does this have on team members?
–What impact does this have on the company?


•Level of Urgency


–Who does this problem affect?
–Does it affect the groups KPI’s?

•Potential for Expansion


–What will happen if I ignore this problem?
–Will it stay the same?
–Could it get worse?



(Next: Target Setting)

Practical Problem Solving (3) Step 1 = Clarify the Problem

During this step the person or team that is solving the problem should basically do 3 things.



a) Clarify what the current situation is

b) Clarify what the Ideal/Target situation is and

c) Visualize what the gap between the two is. (here is where you need to quantify What is Happening and What Should Be Happening also know as WIH vs. WSBH)



Visualizing the Current Situation, Target and Gap:





A very important question that you and your team need to ask is:


How does solving this problem align with company expectations?

This is a very important question, since you do not want to spend resources in doing things that are not align or are contributing to the overall goals of the company. For this reason is it so important that everybody understand the vision and the plan that the company has in order to achieve the vision. Please see the post about Blue Sky.

During this step please consider the following questions that will help you clarify your problem:

- Why am I looking at this problem?

- How does solving this problem relate to the purpose of my work in my current role?

- What is my Ultimate Goal in solving this problem?

- How solving this problem will add value to your company?

Next: Break down the Problem

Practical Problem Solving (2) 8 Steps for problem solving

The 8 steps of the practical problem solving are a more detailed application of the PDCA cycle:

the 8 steps are:

1 - Clarify and validate the problem

2- Breakdown the problem and identify any deviations from your target

3- Set an improvement target

4- Perform the root cause analysis

5- Develop the countermeasures

6- See the countermeasures through (implement the countermeasures)

7- Monitor / Check / Control the results and the processes

8- Standardize Successful processes and adjust accordingly

As you can see steps 1 to 5 are activities that we do within the PLAN of the PDCA. The other steps are the DO = implementing your countermeasures, CHECK = Monitor your results and processes and ADJUST/ACT= Standardize successful processes and adjust accordingly. (Please see diagram)

Next: Step 1- Clarify the Problem

Kaizen Events - the more the better ???...or it might be the indication of a bigger problem?

 

Is your company setting targets for doing a lot of Kaizen workshops to improve the processes? if your answer is yes, congratulations, BUT you might also be falling into a trap.

I think it is ok to do kaizen to improve processes that have been around in organizations for a while, but doing a lot of kaizen projects in processes or products are are relatively new, should be seen as a symptom for a much bigger problem.

 

If you are doing a lot of Kaizen on a new product or process, the work that was done during the design or planning face of that product or process was definitely very poor. Why should you be doing tons of Kaizens in something that was just designed or planned? did not you think thoroughly about all the possible lean opportunities during your planning or design face? do you still have a disconnect between your design group and your manufacturing group? was your manufacturing group feeding back information to the design group during the planning planning phase? did your design group go to gemba (shop floor) to see how their designs were going to affect the manufacturing process of the product?

 

Kaizen events are good once a product is launched, but they are much better if they are done during the planning and design phases of your products or processes.  Imagine all the waste that you could eliminate up front just by thinking ahead with your LEAN GOGGLES on.

 

so next time you see or hear a manager proudly showing presentation about the amount of Kaizens that he is doing, you will know where that person has the major problems............in design and planning