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Got Toast?
GBMP Lean Simulation Heats Up EASTECŪ |
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass - The Lean Simulation at EASTEC last month was a huge success - in part due to the delicious aroma of cinnamon raisin toast wafting through the exhibition hall - but also because of the dramatic example it provided of the enormous effect a Lean implementation can have on lead times, scrap costs, rework, employee morale, customer satisfaction and so much more. GBMP erected the elaborate simulation at the annual tradeshow to demonstrate the benefits of implementing several Lean tools to reduce and/or eliminate waste from the fairly simple process of making toast - (and because it was a lot of fun too).
Pitting co-workers against one another and the clock, the Toast Simulation, part of the Lean & Green Pavilion, provided two workstations - a "traditional" workstation and a Lean workstation. The Lean Workstation, seen here, uses Standardized Work, Visual Control Systems, Kanban cards and 5S Workplace Organization - just a few Lean practices from the Lean toolkit - to ensure that the operator knows what to make, how much to make, how to make it, when items need to be replaced and where everything he or she needs to make it is located. The premise was that "traditional" workstations are not as organized and therefore less efficient thus costing companies a lot of money - every day, every month, and every year. (We received plenty of feedback that our "traditional" station - a total mess with no lighting, no visual controls, the wrong tools, no standardized work instructions, the wrong parts, no indication of what the order was and much more unhelpful stuff - was not all that far off from how a lot of people are working at their benches every day.)
Notice how everything on the Lean workstation is labeled and everything has a "home" (5S Workplace Organization). Notice too that there are step-by-step instructions along with photos of "good" and "bad" product (Standardized Work and Visual Control Systems). Notice the ergonomic table height and proper lighting. Notice that the equipment (in this case the toaster) is calibrated and its proper dial location for optimal product is marked (Total Productive Maintenance) and a bin and card signals the operator when a raw supply (in this case the bread) is running low (Kanban).
Suffice it to say not one "contestant" using the traditional workstation could beat the times of the operators of the Lean workstation - and if they did, you can bet the toast was undercooked, had the wrong topping on it (jelly or cream cheese, instead of butter), looked more like scrap than a sale-able product or had some other defect (not sliced to the customer's specification for example). Remember, implementing Lean to improve your processes is all about meeting your customers' needs in exactly the way they want it, exactly when they want it and to decrease the amount of time between paying for raw inventory and getting paid by your customers. Keeping only the value-added activities in your processes - those your customer pays for - and eliminating non-value-adding activities - those your customer is not paying you for - is the foundation of Lean. These non-value-adding activities are widely-known as The 7 Wastes: Defects, Waiting, Motion, Inventory, Over-processing, Transportation and Overproduction.
Identifying and eliminating the 7 wastes is the key to Lean and the lesson of the Toast Simulation at EASTEC. Join us next year - we might add bagels! Learn more at www.gbmp.org
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About GBMP: About GBMP, Inc.: GBMP is a Boston-based non-profit corporation whose mission is to educate the public about applying Lean Manufacturing (aka The Toyota Production Systems) to their processes. By achieving this mission, GBMP helps New England companies remain competitive in the global economy in order to keep and create jobs for the people of New England. GBMP has worked with hundreds of companies, providing solutions resulting in millions in cost savings. Each year GBMP trains over 7000 people on Continuous Improvement principles in customized, on-site classroom and shop-floor training sessions and educates over 1000 more people in public workshops, plant tours and the Manufacturing Roundtable. GBMP also produces and sells Lean Training DVDs and other helpful Lean implementation products and administers The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence eleven states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The annual Shingo Prize Northeast Conference is held in October - this year on the 7th and 8th - at the DCU Center in Worcester MA.
About EASTECŪ EASTEC is co-sponsored by SME, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association and the Association for Manufacturing Technology. The event celebrated its 30th anniversary May 19-21 at Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., and drew more than 14,000 attendees and 600 exhibitors. Spread over 160,000 square feet, EASTEC consisted of five technology-focused areas: design, engineering and rapid technologies; tooling, workholding and machining accessories; automation and process improvement; plant, energy and environmental efficiency; and precision manufacturing equipment and systems. Attendees also learned how to maximize their use of technology and learned about leading-edge, cost-effective approaches through four new EASTEC Resource Centers: Lean and Green, Energy, Medical, and Aerospace and Defense. |
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