Kaizen - The Many Ways For Getting Better
Kaizen - The Many Ways For Getting Better
Kaizen - The Many Ways For Getting Better
from the result-oriented thinking of most Western managers. Moreover, kaizen is people-oriented, being directed at peoples efforts. Of course results count, but kaizen assumes that improvements in peoples attitudes and efforts are more likely to produce improved results in the long run than mere result-oriented thinking would do. Kaizen q starts with people;
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(5) Correct mistakes at once. (6) Do not spend money for kaizen. (7) Wisdom is brought out when faced with hardship. (8) Ask why five times and seek root causes. (9) Seek the wisdom of ten people rather than the knowledge of one. (10) Kaizen ideas are infinite. A deviation from normal production is the enemy. It is countered by six gemba principles: (1) When an abnormality occurs go to the gemba first. (2) Check the gembutsu (!): machine, materials, rejects, safety. (3) Take temporary countermeasures immediately. (4) Find the root cause. (5) Remove the root cause. (6) Standardize, to prevent the trouble from recurring. Next, kaizen turns attention to the elimination of muda, in plain English: Waste. There are seven classes of muda: (1) Overproduction. (2) Waiting time at the machine. (3) Waste in the transport of units. (4) Waste in processing. (5) Waste in holding inventory. (6) Waste in motion. (7) Rejects.
focuses its attention on peoples efforts; people work on processes; processes are continually improved; improved processes improve results; improved results satisfy customers.
The elimination of overproduction embraces the just-in-time (JIT) concept, not only in the supply of materials and components from outside but also in the quantities produced, by minimizing stock levels. This not only cuts capital employed but also helps to show up production problems quickly. The idea is represented in one of many useful illustrations contained in the manual issued to participants, where a water container in which a high level (= excessive inventory) hides rocks (= problems) below the water surface. As the water level, representing inventory, is reduced the problems become exposed and can be tackled (see Figure 1). Automation is criticized for encouraging the overproduction of parts without regard for the requirements of subsequent processes. Again, JIT improvement advocates what is termed flow production as against lot production. The advantages of flow production are given as small quantities produced in large variety; small, low-cost, slow, singlepurpose equipment; small space requirement; company-wide approach; eliminates transport; zero defect; more possibilities of setting improvements; no work-in-progress. Examples of reducing waste in motion include reducing the distance between machines or operations, using both hands, reducing the number of motions and making operations smoother and more relaxed. From the shopfloor, kaizen spreads to all other functions of the business, including product planning, product
Reduce water level When the inventory is full... After the unnecessary inventory has been removed... Abnormal operation Water surface Generation of defective products Delay in delivery Problems Imbalance in become apparent workforce performance Breakdown of production facility
design, production planning, purchasing and sales. Because kaizen employs so many management techniques and is intended to be applied to all aspects of a business it has many more facets than can be described in one article but it is time to see how these ideas work in practice.
A Kaizen Workshop
A gemba kaizen workshop event was held on 13-17 December 1993 at the premises of Paddy Hopkirk Limited (PHL)[2], by the Kaizen Institute of Europe[3]. There were 19 participants, including the managing director of PHL and staff members. There was a preponderance of representatives from the metal can industry and a wide geographical distribution: UK, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Canada and the USA.
The manufacturing processes employed at PHL include stamping; presswork; MIG, spot and seam welding; degreasing; dip and powder painting; assembling; packing. The health of the company is greatly affected by the situation in the UK automotive industry. The company is at present expanding and wishes to review and change its approach to manufacturing processes. Challenges faced by the company include:
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The Programme
Monday was the first of the five days, and was an intensive Training Day, devoted to introductions and to explaining the kaizen philosophy, its constituent aspects, like JIT, and the methods used in implementing it. A large and well-produced working manual was issued to each participant. The 19 participants were divided into three teams and each team was allocated one of the product areas in the plant: (1) ramps and axle stands; (2) dog guards; (3) cycle carriers. Each team was also given office space. On the second day each team was introduced to previously-briefed operators in its product area and assigned roles. The team appointed a leader and began to study opportunities, list problems and set targets. At the daily meeting at 3.00 p.m. all team leaders met the workshop organizers and the PHL management to co-ordinate results and proposals. By the end of the second day, proposals for making changes on the shopfloor were formulated and put into effect by maintenance staff assisted by team members. Day three followed broadly similar lines, after an assessment of the results obtained by the changes made the previous evening. The morning of the fourth day was given over to standardization while the afternoon was spent on discussions with operators and the preparation of presentations of each teams work and results. Finally, Friday was a half-day, when the main activities were a 20-minute presentation by each team and a questions and answers session.
competition from Far East suppliers of cheaper, though inferior, products; responding quickly to large orders from new customers without recourse to stocks; accommodating the seasonal nature of the market 70 per cent of sales in seven months; accommodating expansion with its existing human and material resources.
A new
PHL realizes that it has to adopt a new manufacturing strategy to meet these challenges and to achieve world competitive status. The kaizen approach had been studied by the management team and was explained to the 130-strong workforce in preparation for the workshop and kaizen implementation. It was recognized that the plant presents all the opportunities targeted by the kaizen policy which are available to a traditional manufacturing company of any size:
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Reduction in inventory of raw materials, components, work-inprogress and finished product. Connection of dissimilar processes to reduce space and transport and to allow one-by-one rather than batch production. Changing the layout of facilities so as to create comfortable and balanced workstations which eliminate waste and allow valueadding activities to be increased. Introduction of operational standards to assure quality, safety, cost and delivery. Organization of the workplace so that everything is made obvious and more easily manageable. Establishing control systems to facilitate JIT rather than a reactionary or just-in-case approach.
PHL is a leading manufacturer of automotive accessories. It is Europes largest manufacturer of fuel cans and dog guards, one of Europes largest manufacturers of cycle carriers, axle stands and ramps and its sixth-largest manufacturer of roof racks and roof bars. There were plans for recruiting 65 temporary operators for the period January-September 1994 but hopes that by implementing kaizen this number could be reduced. The products have, for many years, enjoyed a reputation for quality and reliability in the home market and exports some to Japan have recently much increased, contributing to an increase in turnover to around 6.5 million in 1993.
14 Assembly Automation
On the Shopfloor
The manufacture of cycle carriers, studied by Team 3, has the greatest assembling content of any product manufactured by PHL. Cycle carriers are one of the newest and currently most successful PHL products, but export opportunities are being lost through inability to meet demand. Labour has been thrown at the job in attempts to meet demand; now everyone gets in each others way in obtaining and working with components. Not much thought has been given to facilities or activities. There are two varieties of the present
CH3 model of cycle carrier, one of which includes a number plate. Two new models are to be introduced in 1994. There is thus every opportunity and incentive to establish an efficient manufacturing process and a need to accommodate the assembling of new products.
it without accumulating inventory; kaizen was expected to have a significant part to play. Team members observed the present method of assembling and packing, and recorded operation times. Mudas or Wastes categorized by the kaizen system were searched out and recorded. Each team members observations and ideas for improvements were recorded on slips of paper, to be displayed and discussed later. Originally ten assemblers worked at a common bench, five aside, with two operators cartoning at the end of the bench. Each assembler had an assembling jig and carried out the entire sequence of assembling operations. The working area was extremely crowded; there was too little space for materials and components with
Pair of assembling jigs on an open structure
Subassembling
consequent rework through damage; operators could not pass each other without disturbance. By the end of the second day the major improvements arrived at were to divide the assembling operation into subassembling components to each of three frame units and to cut up the workbench so that each pair of assemblers would work at a separate bench. These changes were put into effect the same evening, by a considerable effort on the part of the small maintenance staff assisted by team members. When the results of the changes had been discussed with the operators and assessed by the team on the third day, ideas for further improvements arose, as predicted by the kaizen principle that small improvements lead to further improvements. While the idea of subassembling was retained, the main assembling operation was divided into two successive operations, carried out by two assemblers working side-byside. The team also realized that workbenches for assembling were an obstructive nuisance that contributed nothing useful; they quickly designed an open structure on which two assembling jigs and accessible component shelves could be mounted. The floor layout was changed to accommodate the new structures, reducing space wasted on component storage and improving access, material flow and operator movement. Again, all this was put into effect by working late into the evening.
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New layout
Another team had learned that: the kaizen process produced dramatic improvements quickly; time spent at the workplace was by far the most valuable; their entire team operators and advisers could achieve almost anything; there is waste everywhere; and kaizen is people doing things together. When it came to what they would do about kaizen in the future, some participants said they were committed and raring to go and that they are starting eight hothouses in 1994. Others said that they were forming a manufacturers college and, with help from the Kaizen Institute, would make dramatic improvements in their plants.
Comments on Kaizen
Nobody can quarrel with the idea of producing improvements. A policy of gradual, continuous improvement, at little cost, has attractions for many companies. The cost may be greater than appears. Introducing improvements quickly may be good for morale and retain momentum but assessing results too soon afterwards may lead to false conclusions, to the disadvantage of the practitioner and to the detriment of the kaizen concept. One must guard against changes which may turn out to be only temporary improvements resulting from change as such. The Hawthorne Effect, discovered in the famous 1920s experiments, showed that output increased when a change was introduced and again when the change was reversed. Much of the kaizen methodology appears to be good old-fashioned workstudy. If this were expressly stated it could embrace the substantial knowledge recorded in the workstudy literature and in the accumulated experience. All of the kaizen philosophy can be applied to assembling operations. Automated assembling may appear to fall outside the scope of kaizen, if only because improvement without significant expenditure is one of its cornerstones, but it does not ignore this activity. Of course, automated assembling can be subjected to continuous improvement. Simple improvements should be made first. Ejection should be automated before parts placing. The simplest method of fastening should be employed. Kaizen goes hand-in-hand with design for manufacture and assembly.
Operators discussing the refined assembling method with PHLs managing director, Steve Marshall
The working of these improvements was observed and timed early on the fourth day, after discussion with the operators. Analysis of the results showed that, on the face of it, they were disappointing. Output had been reduced from 500 to about 420 cycle carriers per day and the floor space had not been reduced. However, the number of operators had been reduced to 15. Team members felt disappointed and frustrated and were anxious to explain away the results: the operators were slow while learning and getting used to the new method; not all of them were initially co-operative; the two assembling stages were not yet optimally balanced. There was a strong feeling that the new method must be
16 Assembly Automation
Hospitality
The hospitality offered by Paddy Hopkirk Ltd in the course of the workshop deserves special mention. This relatively small company made excellent facilities available and took a great deal of trouble to make participants feel welcome and at home throughout the five days. The chairman, Mr Paddy Hopkirk, was present whenever he could be and gave the teams much encouragement. The inevitable interruptions of the companys activities by the teams were accepted with good grace and there was friendliness throughout. There was an enjoyable pre-Christmas dinner on the evening of the fourth day.
Notes and Reference 1. Imai, M., Kaizen The Key to Japans Competitive Success, McGraw-Hill Publishing, London and New York, 1986. 2. Paddy Hopkirk Ltd, Eden Way, Pages Industrial Park, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 8TZ. Tel: 0525 850800; Fax: 0525 850808. 3. The Kaizen Institute of Europe, 4 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RA. Tel: 071 713 0407; Fax: 071 713 0403.