Lean in practice


Management Services Spring 2012


Find and focus on getting lean


By James K Franz, Vice-President – Global Operations, The Toyota Way Academy. Part one of putting lean into practice.


he fi rst day: It was the fi rst production shift after a rather involved line rebalancing. The fi rst problem surfaced in less than 20 minutes. It took a further ten minutes for the line to grind to a halt. Each operator, upon completing their particular job, would press the station release button to release their self-powered cart downstream to the next station.


T After a quick poka-yoke


check done by the line control computer, the cart’s electric motors would click on and quietly hum as it moved its precious cargo on to the next operator. If, for some reason, the cycle wasn’


motors would click on and quietly hum as it moved its precious cargo on to the next operator


the cycle wasn’t complete, the cart wouldn’t move. It could be a torque issue or a sequence issue as the line controller was que of


evaluating both the torque of each individual bolt and the sequence of each operation. Any deviation would fault


each individual bolt and the sequence of each operation. Any deviation would fault the entire station and prohibit the release of the cart until a technician


cart wouldn’t move. It could be a torque issue or a sequence issue as the line controller was evaluating both the torq


check done by the line control s electric


the station was currently occupied by a senior operator; one whose 12 years of service had yielded only positive reviews and a rather extensive knowledge of the line. The problem was found to be an out-of-sequence torque with bolt 7 and 8 having been torqued out of sequence. The fa


f ult was cleared,


the part was removed and re-attached and producti


the entire station and prohibit the release of the cart until a technician


began anew. Three minutes


t on


could clear the fault and verify a quality part. A ‘gap’ would then begin to appear as the downstream processes would release their carts, but there was no upstream movement. This is exactly what was happening in Section 2, Station 3. As each station was idled, the operators would busy themselves organising their particular work areas and a few more senior people began to walk up the line to see what the problem was. Surprisingly the station was currently occupied by a senior operator; one whose 12 years of service had yielded only positive reviews and a rather extensive knowledge of the line. The problem was found to be an out-of-sequence torque with bolt 7 and 8 having been torqued out of sequence. The fault was cleared, the part was removed and re-attached and production began anew. Three minutes


later, another part of the line experienced a similar problem and a gap began to creep inexorably down the line. Same response: tech clears fault, reruns part and production resumes. This process repeated itself throughout the morning with no stations being immune from these minor stoppages. By lunchtime, the line had lost nearly half the planned volume and the buffer to the customer was beginning to drop below the target level. drop below the target level. Daily overtime would need to be scheduled to ensure that


be scheduled to ensure that the customer was protected from any potential shortages and give the plant enough time to attack the problems. A short-term slide to the


from any potential shortages and give the plant enough time to attack the problems. A short-term slide to the


plant’s bottom line was going to hit and the management and line support teams would spend the next two


to hit and the management and line support teams would spend the next two


or so months splitting their time between fi re fi ghting on the fl oor and creating PowerPoint presentations for upper management to review on the launch rebalance progress.


Long shifts and seven-day weeks will begin to burn people out and the small


progress made would be very diffi cult to sustain: Groundhog Day will have begun. This is the nightmare


scenario I outlined to the plant s leadership team as we set about the task of planning the complete facility rebalance.


plant’s leadership team as we set about the task of planning the complete facility rebalance. The operations people present at the conference room table quietly nodded, no doubt refl ecting on past ‘launches’ with the resultant scar tissue. with the resultant scar tissue. The engineering and finance


at the conference room table quietly nodded, no doubt refl


nance


45


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