Lean Insight and Product Reviews
5S is a Lean manufacturing tactic that focuses on the organization of work spaces and processes for a safer and more efficient facility. 5S represents the five steps in this Lean process: sorting, setting, shining, standardizing, and sustaining. More than implementing new ways of organizing or working, there are specific supplies that can help in each step of the 5S process. Seiri – Sort This is the…
A spaghetti diagram, often called a spaghetti plot, spaghetti chart, or spaghetti model, is a valuable tool to add to your Lean toolbox. Spaghetti diagrams are a component of Gemba walks and are a visual representation of flows in your facility. The goal of a spaghetti diagram is to make it easier for managers to identify resources wasted and processes that can be streamlined. Before embarking on…
To improve communication, safety and efficiency in workplaces that contain many pipes, using a pipe marking system can be very helpful. Standard pipe labels can quickly convey information about what’s inside a pipe and where it’s traveling. The industry consensus standard for pipe marking is ANSI/ASME A13.1, which offers guidelines for color schemes, sizes and locations of pipe labels. The color guidelines specify what colors should be…
Make Your Lean Six Sigma Project a Success Whenever you are using Lean Six Sigma to make improvements to your facility and eliminate waste, you need to make sure you take the time up front to plan it out properly. In fact, the planning stage is often considered the most important of the entire Lean Six Sigma process. During this stage you will be making a checklist…
How to Create a Solid Lean Foundation So, you’re looking to implement Lean in your workplace and aren’t sure where to start. Or maybe you’ve experienced some problems in previous or current Lean efforts and are trying to figure out why things aren’t quite falling into place. Whatever your predicament, we’re here to help. In this blog post we’re going to go over five of the best…
Lean Is All About Learning – But You Still Don’t Need To Make These Mistakes So you’ve heard about this whole Lean manufacturing thing, you may have even been using it already, maybe even for months or years on end… but what happens if you’re not seeing the results you wanted or expected? What do you do if, seemingly and despite your best efforts, Lean projects tend…
Gemba Walk Know-How: Preparation & Interpretation Gemba walks are a powerful piece of your Lean toolbox, and constitute a straightforward way for business owners and managers to find and remedy issues that affect their production. As Lean tools are all about efficiency and waste elimination, a Gemba walk generally fits agreeably into any improvement regimen you may already have planned or in motion. In this blog post,…
Let’s Explore How Vinyl Chart Tape Can Improve your Workspace. Every once in a while a product or tool comes along so powerful that it has the potential to completely revolutionize the way you do business, turn old preconceptions over on their heads, and bring you into the future as an innovator in your market. Admittedly, vinyl chart tape might not exactly be one of these… BUT, it…
Everyone knows that there are only 24 hours in a day, and it is impossible to get any more added on. When thinking about increasing production in a facility, this means you must always think first about how to become more productive, rather than just trying to get people to work more hours. Improved productivity is a great way to eliminate waste in facilities, and get the…
Smartphone’s have become more than just a luxury for many people and businesses today. They give you easy access to essential communication tools like email, text and, of course, voice. In addition, you can access most types of documents on them through the Internet, and do many other activities that can help make working much easier. All this convenience, however, comes with some problems as well. Research…