TOOL MANAGEMENT
Shadow boards help make for an effective workplace
Jim Roberts, Product manager at Beaverswood, considers ‘the benefits of adopting a common-sense approach to workplace tool management and organisation’.
High levels of safety, security, and organisation, have to be paramount when it comes to the working environment, and meeting the demand for shadow and impactful visual communication boards as companies strive for 5S compliance and lean operations in the workplace will contribute significantly to ensuring this. Any effective workplace, from an office to the factory shopfloor, from the warehouse and logistics centre to high street store, benefits from a reliance on visual cues and communication to operate efficiently and safely.
The advantages of ‘visual’ workplaces can drive heightened levels of quality, productivity, safety, and employee morale. Moreover, visual aids subliminally feed people with the information that they need – by answering questions, identifying equipment, and describing procedures. They also provide important safety information, and that is one reason why we are seeing increasing numbers of organisations implementing their 5S programmes.
Developed in Japan
Developed in Japan, and embodying orderliness, standardisation, and cleanliness among other attributes, 5S is an inexpensive management approach that has at its heart a system of visual aids and tools. These are designed to help
Any effective workplace, from an office to the factory shopfloor, and from a warehouse and logistics centre to a high street store, benefits from a reliance on visual cues and communication to operate efficiently and safely.
employees positively contribute to the organisation they work in, driving through improvements and advantages across the whole business environment. Enshrined in the 5S concept are ‘sort, set, shine, standardisation, and sustain’. 5S itself can be subject to continuous improvement, so the adoption of shadow boards for tools and specialist equipment will provide a common-sense – and more cost-effective – way to improve the organisation of the workplace, as part of the overall adoption of lean processes.
Elimination of waste
Beaverswood says that implementation of standardised shadow boards, such as its new Modulean range, can be ‘an innovative, cost-effective, and time- saving investment’.
44 Health Estate Journal March 2021
Who would disagree that the elimination of wasteful practices has to be an important consideration in business? So, nullifying the effect of unnecessary actions can add value and cut costs in straightened times. Shadow boards are a proven means to implement continuous improvement principles, because they are designed to encourage smarter working practices and drive out waste. Misplacing workplace equipment can be frustrating, inconvenient, and inefficient. It is so often the case that it is not until work is
underway, and people are reaching for a specific item, that they realise it has gone missing. They will inevitably have to then stop what they are doing, and waste valuable time and effort attempting to locate the item, or, if they are unable to find it, spend needlessly to replace it. Experience has revealed that visual solutions have been found to be more effective than any other communication medium, even in distracting environments. When introduced into the workplace, the impact and advantage of shadow boards can be manifold. Equipment can be arranged in order, in a logical position, and handy locations, making it immediately visible, and anything that is amiss – a missing brush, for instance – can be instantly identified, and the issue rectified before other people become involved.
An embodiment of a common-sense approach Shadow boards can be seen as an embodiment of a common-sense approach to an effective style of law and order in the workplace. Shadowing
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