Why Audit Weekly 5S Workplace Organisation?

We know that housekeeping is one of the fundamental Lean principles; a foundation stone for the Toyota Production System and the many others that follow along similar lines. We know how much hard work it takes to get that initial “sort” and “set in order” started; how hard it is to get the “shine” in place. But that only takes short term effort. The long term sustaining is where the hard work is and this is where the weekly housekeeping auditing come into it’s own.

Using Fishbone Diagrams to Solve Problems

Fishbone diagrams may also be referred to as cause and effect diagrams, or Ishikawa diagrams, after their founder Kaoru Ishikawa. Whatever your preferred term, the fishbone diagram is a great tool for delving into a problem when we need to determine the root cause, and you are surrounded by the opinions of those around you. It provides a process to clearly define the “Effect” and then puts you to thinking about the possible causes, based on the categories of common problems in manufacturing.

Getting Lean to stick

Getting Lean to stick and changing a company culture are BIG problems in many companies. If you aren’t always improving, then you are going backwards.

Leading a Lean Transformation

Lean transformation requires Lean Know-how and skills to drive sustainable change in your organisation. Tim McLean explains his main attributes for leading a business transformation.

Lean Production Preparation Process (3P)

Recently I visited an automotive electrical OEM to review their working supermarket for controlling work-in-process. As amazing as this was to observe supermarket in action, the standout moment for me was to be shown a mockup of the future assembly line, at full scale and made from materials found on site; lots of cardboard, drums, foam and wire. This full scale mockup has many benefits when developing the new process. This Lean process of mocking-up is called “3P” (Production Preparation Process)

Leadership Behaviour to Sustain Lean

Sustaining our lean implementation is a challenge faced by every business, regardless of industry you are in. As we progress on our Lean journey, it is easy to move onto the next theme. Having our efforts maintained and improved can only be achieved by monitoring the situation and adjusting as problems arise. The best way to make sure our systems are monitored is through the correct leadership behaviour. An audit is one way to define the required leadership behaviour.

Takt Time

The concept of takt time is one of the trickiest concepts and calculations to grasp when designing a Lean Production system. Takt time calculations determine the customers demand, broken down into small, level loaded units. It is NOT a reflection of your capacity or current ability; takt time also doesn’t concern itself with your cycle times or lead times. It is the frequency with which a unit needs to be completed, or comes out the end of your production pipeline, to meet your customer orders. This then sets the heartbeat of production activities, like a conductor coordinating an orchestra.

Top 5 Lean Foundation Tools

The TXM team visit many different manufacturing companies, from the food and pharmaceutical industries to machining and sheet-metal engineering companies, with a huge variety of different industries that fit somewhere in-between. Regardless of what industry you are in, the top 5 Lean fundamentals remain the same.

Setup Time Reduction – The Quick Change Over

For many manufacturing processes, setting up a machine to change from one product to the next is the biggest part of the process. Because it is a hassle, we try to do it as infrequently as possible, so we don’t get good at it and it takes a long time and we need to run large batches to justify our long setup times.

Considerations for implementing a Just in Time system

Implementing a just in time system is a huge undertaking and the rewards for doing so will also be huge. Previously we outlined the basic JIT principle of having the right amount of products, where we need it and when we need it, as well as the basic information we need to collect to give us the full understanding of our manufacturing processes and parts supply.

Metrics for Business Performance

There a many metrics that are used to measure performance across a business. Without a doubt they are a key mechanism for analysing the effectiveness of any business operation. However what is measured may vary from one business to another and these vary when viewed from the perspective of a Lean metric. Lean metrics allow businesses to measure, evaluate and react to changes in performance base on the needs of the customer.

What is Team Leader Standard Work? (DELETE)

There are a lot of standards in Lean Manufacturing – it’s our process for documenting how things are done. Standards allow us to clearly communicate the requirements to new employees and remind long-standing ones. Standards can be audited against to check we are following our set processes. We have standards to cover 5S and housekeeping, quality specifications and how people work. We have most of the factory cover by these standards – now it’s time to consider the standards needed by team leaders and managers.

Production Flow Elements – Two-Bin System

Over the last few articles, we have been discussing the importance of Production flow and the different Lean tools that are available to control flow. Supermarkets can be useful when sections of Production work very differently and balancing can be difficult to achieved.

TXM Lean Case Study – Lean Transformation at a Small Manufacturer

THE CHALLENGE Following the Post-Glover acquisition in 2009 half of the business was relocated to a new site. The resistor business found itself occupying a factory area that was much larger than it needed. The business had strong resources in finance and engineering, but the small production team was under-resourced and lacked the skills to …

TXM Lean Case Study – Redesigned Processes at Agilent

TXM Lean Case Study – Redesigned Processes at Agilent The Challenge A global leader in sophisticated equipment for scientific applications, our client was facing major challenges. Global growth and increasing competition from low cost countries meant that they had identified a need to both increase output and reduce cost in its key product line. The …

How To: Solving Problems Every Day

The SPED (Solving Problems Every Day) method is about solving many small problems every day. Most problems can be simply analysed using 5 Whys. The outcome your staff need is to have common language about Concern, Containment, and Corrective Action (ref “Getting The Right Things Done” by Pascal Dennis).

Engage your staff by asking “What are your frustrations?” I learnt this from an innovation consultant, Roger La Salle. This

Production Flow Elements – First In First Out (FIFO)

A key part of implementing Lean Manufacturing into a Production area is understanding Flow; how parts move along the processes, between each workstation and what this looks like across the week and month. The future state value stream map has provided a vision for what the Production flow will look like, defining which parts of the overall production process can flow easily, which parts needs direction and which sections need

What Does Production Flow Look Like?

A key part of implementing Lean Manufacturing into a Production area is understanding Flow; how parts move along the processes, between each workstation and what this looks like across the week and month.

TXM Lean Case Study – Server Racks Australia (SRA)

Server Racks Australia decreased order lead times from 4-6 weeks to around 2 weeks. THE CHALLENGE Server Racks Australia (SRA) is a successful manufacturer of computer server racks and related products based in Queanbeyan in New South Wales. The business is growing due to high quality, responsiveness to customers and product innovations. Their lean improvements …

TXM Lean Case Study – Sykes Racing – An Olympic Success Story

The Challenge Back in pre-GFC 2008, world leading Rowing Boat Manufacturer, Sykes Racing was spread across several small factory buildings on the side of a hill in Geelong. Sykes boats had migrated from wood to sophisticated carbon fibre composites many years before, but the manufacturing mindset was largely unchanged. A traditional “craft” approach was used …