My wife gave me a flip video camera for last Christmas. It is a great piece of technology. It is small like a cell phone and takes HD video. It has helped immensely with my work.
Here is a picture I took with my flip. What does this mean? This was at a gas station. Where should I go to get the tickets?
-Harish
This is a modification of a quote that my wife sent me.
“An optimist will tell you the glass is half full; the pessimist, half empty; and the lean monk will tell you that the glass is twice the size it needs to be.”
-Harish
It has been a while I did a blog post. I have been busy with a couple of projects.
Today’s blog is about value adding activities. How can you distinguish between value adding and non-value adding activities?
For an activity to be value adding, it must meet certain criteria. Let’s split the criteria into two groups.
1) Mandatory criteria:
For an activity to be value adding, it must be requested by the customer.
2) Optional criteria:
For an activity to be value adding, it should change the form, fit or function of a product. BUT just because the form, fit or function has been modified does not mean that the activity is value adding. It must be requested by the customer.
EXAMPLE:
Most people believe inspection to be value adding. Certain customers may request a specific inspection to be performed like radiography. This will make it value adding. General inspection on the other hand is not value added. This is because the product that is shipped to the customer must be of high quality. Making sure that it is so through an inspection step is not value adding. This is where the Shingo’s theories on inspection come into play.
Machining on the other hand can be value adding. But if the customer requirement is .009″ and you do .0090″, then the extra processing part of the operation becomes non-value adding.
The distinction between value adding and non-value adding can be quite confusing. Hope this blog helped you.
-Harish
Are you ready to be lean?
This might sound like a stupid question to ask. Here is the thing. If you start practicing lean, it is going to bring out the worst in your plant. You cannot hide behind large inventories anymore. The biggest outcome of lean is that the waste will get exposed. Lean will not work until waste is eliminated.
Consider one piece flow. I have heard many times that it does not work. The reason is that one piece flow starts to expose any kind of waste. Any kind of problem will have to addressed and remedied. The operator might not like it because it will not let him/her do her thing. The supervisor might not like it because he/she cannot not longer dictate what is to happen. The customer dictates what is to happen. And yes, you will be forced to do more changeovers. If your production scheduler asks to run large quantity work orders to avoid frequent wasteful changeovers, it is not lean. Lean forces you to address the changeovers and reduce the time.
So are you ready to be lean?
-Harish
I was reading Jon Miller’s post on Ohno circle. He has made some valuable posts about the same.
The idea is to choose a spot in your gemba (a spot close to say your assembly line) and observe and take notes. The prescribed time is 60 minutes. This is a very useful tool and of course you may not find this in your usual lean manufacturing books.
I am a big believer of perspectives. I like to look at things differently. So when you choose a spot, say behind the assembly line, be there for about 15 minutes. Then go to the front of the assembly line. Be there for another 15 minutes. Then go to the left and then to the right. Each view is different and you will be able to get the maximum bang for your buck. You might see something entirely different at each spot. If you are daring, you can actually be a part of the line (if your union/management will allow this).
Gembatte…
-Harish