Poka Yoke Archives

Lean Equipment: Five Considerations for a Monument-Free Factory

Within the context of Lean thinking, quite a lot of attention is given to the proper and smart maintenance of equipment and installations; and for a good reason. Poor maintenance, typically resulting in unplanned down-time, rejects and loss of speed, is still an important cause of poor delivery reliability towards customers. And as a result, indirectly, it may also well be the reason behind high inventory levels and excessive overhead cost to still try being on-time.

Total Productive Maintenance or TPM, therefore, also is a well-known theme among capital-intense (semi-)process industries like for instance chemicals, plastics, metals, energy, paper, food and fast-moving consumer goods. And in more and more cases, TPM (either independently or as a part of Lean) is already well under way. But in this post, I don’t want to focus too much on the phase the equipment is already in operation, but rather before we even install the equipment, viz., the design, choice and purchase of the equipment. If we don’t, lots of problems may later arise because of a lack of Lean thinking in the design and purchasing process of equipment. Time for a change therefore; time to move towards Lean equipment and a monument-free future! (more…)

Zero Defects is Not Unreasonable

One of the most often witnessed symptoms of Lean Management that I come across nowadays are whiteboards with performance indicators. These serve as one of the central elements in weekly (or when I’m lucky, daily) huddles that are so fashionable nowadays. Now of course a lot of good things can actually be said about these huddles and indicators when done correctly. However, there are some risks in using these type of representations as well, as for instance Mark Graban rightfully wrote about last August in his blog when discussing the use of charts. You can also read more on correctly interpreting data on charts using Statistical Process Control (SPC) on my own blog, while writing on climate change. But even if applied correctly, I think there is a more structural issue with concentrating too much or even solely on these type of charts. (more…)

Happy Hunting: Malfunctions in Process Control

Isn’t it just fantastic what we people have managed to do in the field of measurement and control technology. The nicest gadgets ensure our production equipment and processes remain in control. Nothing can halt technology, so it seems. And who knows what the Internet of Things (IoT) will have in store for all of us in the future. A future that most probably is nearer than we think.

But let’s stay somewhat closer to home for now. What about all these business processes that aren’t fully mechanized or automated? How do we keep those in control? What can we learn from trying to apply the concepts of measurement and control technology to these type of processes? (more…)

The Quality Department is Dead, Long Live the Quality Department!

“Is it really true, that we do not add any value?” People in supportive functions pose me this question quite regularly. Recently it was someone from the quality department that confronted me with this question. Coincidentally or not, the quality department plays a role in each of the three Lean initiatives that I currently accompany. All of the quality departments involved are experiencing a change in the role they play as a result of the Lean transformation their organization as a whole is going through. In anticipation of the answer to the question: although I don’t think it is the right question to ask, yes, from a Lean point of view the quality department does not add value to the product. Not even when the customer has asked for it specifically and is willing to pay for it… (more…)

Lessons for Lean E-tailing

It was my birthday last week and my almost 80 year old father had been so kind to offer me some book certificates of bol.com (comparable to amazon.com). The certificates, however, could only be converted into e-books. Bol.com’s Customer Service confirmed to me it was impossible to exchange the certificates into traditional books. In the end I succeeded, but I don’t want to deprive my readers from the lessons learned for Lean e-tailing. (more…)