Paging Dr. Lean

In the Paging Dr. Lean series, Patricia E. Moody asks lean experts to answer your lean questions. This forum allows industry leaders to speak to the lean issues or questions you come across each day.

Dear Dr. Lean:

We've been doing kaizen events now for five years to attack problems on the shop floor and we've been thinking about extending our work to logistics. Some of these activities have been very fruitful — we've reduced changeover times and made the plant a lot safer. But we kind of feel stuck at the same level, and whenever somebody leaves, we slip backwards a little. I'd like to know from someone who's "been there" what parts of the lean system can be used to reinforce good habits in the midst of change.

The other question I have is about heijunka boxes — I'm not sure where to use them and am not sure they carry enough information for our product lines. Appreciate your help with this one.

Thanks,
A Connecticut Production Manager

Dear Production Manager:

Sustaining lean can be a challenge. Most organizations experience varying degrees of plateauing and/or backsliding. I would recommend several approaches to keeping your improvement activities moving forward.

First, you need to be sure your teams are focused and working on the “right” improvement objectives. Hoshin Kanri or some level of policy deployment is a great tool to align kaizen activity to your company’s strategic goals. It is a clear method for everyone in the organization to see and understand their part in management’s vision while providing a disciplined and visible review process for your lean efforts.

Next, go to the gemba! The daily gemba walk is another powerful lean tool to keep your teams motivated and engaged. Creating a culture of achieving daily objectives and driving daily improvements through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) combined with daily gemba walks helps to instill ownership and accountability. It also fosters the discipline required to sustain results.
 

The heijunka board located in Kamatics' primary machining line provides time-based scheduling of demand in a simple visual format.

Finally, it may be time for your executive leadership to revitalize the workforce through its own actions and involvement. When was the last time your senior leaders participated in a kaizen? Are they attending the kaizen kickoffs, daily updates, and closeout presentations? Are they actively taking part in walking the gemba, asking “why?”, and challenging teams to be better? As we all know, leading by example is a big part of keeping teams focused and energized. Creating a culture that encourages constant change while establishing the disciplined environment to sustain it requires leadership.

Heijunka, or leveling, has many benefits in a lean environment as both volume and mix can be controlled in a truly visual system. Demand is leveled in short increments often referred to as “pitch.” Depending on the process, pitch can range from a few minutes to several hours for which kanban is then sized accordingly, moving from one operation to the next in the smallest interval of time. Many lean businesses use heijunka boxes, which resemble mailroom slots.

They are often low-tech, flexible tools that are easy to understand and easy to manage. And as opposed to expensive computer systems, they are visual and accessible to everyone. Kanban cards or tickets are typically used to populate the heijunka box. The information printed on the card can vary depending on your production process. Part number, part description, kanban quantity, cycle time, and cell ID are commonly used. But for heijunka to truly work effectively, the associates involved in the process must understand and be committed to its success. Whichever way you decide to go, your processes will become more stable with less waste.

Sincerely yours,
Thomas Fairbank
Director of Manufacturing at Kaman Aerospace (Kamatics Specialty Bearings)

Tom Fairbank is director of manufacturing for Kaman Aerospace’s Specialty Bearings and Engineered Products division – Kamatics. Prior to joining Kaman, he was director of operations at SARGENT Manufacturing in New Haven, CT. He also served as director, business systems for Primary Steel LLC, with responsibility for lean implementation for seven divisions across the United States. Fairbank enjoyed a 17-year career with the National Shingo Award winning Wiremold Company, serving in a number of progressively more responsible positions, including team leader, field sales representative, kaizen promotion office manager and division manager.