Lean – 5S

One of the Lean Tools that we have used to one degree or another over the last several years is 5S. This is often considered housekeeping and stands for Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain. However, I am coming to realize that while housekeeping and an organized workplace are the result of 5S, the purpose of 5S is to make problems visible.

At its most basic level, 5S requires that we ask the question “do we have all that we need in the workplace?”, and “do we need all that we have in the workplace?”, then problem solve when the answer is no. Self discipline and continual improvement are central to achieving success – 5S becomes a way of life in the workplace.

Once the workplace is cleaner and more organized, the elimination of waste and the development of standards can more easily be accomplished.  It is a lot of work, but the results will be well worth it!

Systems and Processes

I was watching a Gemba Academy webinar earlier today which mentioned that "Confusion prevents Improvement" and that "Systems and Processes create autonomy and lead to success". As I considered this, I have to agree that a lot of rework is due to confusion - uncertainty about what is required, how it is to be accomplished, etc. Rework (or defects) is considered one of the seven wastes of manufacturing (muda) as defined by Taiichi Ohno of Toyota.

The way to reduce defects or rework is to reduce rejects which requires that we remove the causes of the defect in the process itself. Rework can be due to confusion when building the product, or by lack of understanding of customer and supplier requirements in the design stage. The better we understand what our customer wants, the fewer design changes we will have. As well, if we let our suppliers know exactly what our requirements are, we can get the right parts at the right time.

All of these defects can be reduced by improving our systems and processes. These improvements can reduce the interruptions to production caused by rework as well as the expense. It can also reduce scrap.

As an Engineering Manager I want to improve our design process to make sure that we ask our customers the right questions when we prepare our specifications so that they get exactly what they expect. I want to ask our internal customers the right questions so that there is no confusion when they build the parts for the trucks. I want to work with our suppliers so we get the best component for our trucks. There's a lot of work to do...