Will Terminal 5 Flow?

This article was spotted extolling the virtues of Lean process design in Terminal 5.

Lean is starting to enter the vocabulary of wider business away from its typical manufacturing base which is to be welcomed. But the article on Terminal 5 talks about 'operational efficiency leading to cost reduction'.

This leads us to wonder if lean is really being used in the right context. Where is the customer in all this? Well, the end of the article quotes a BA exective as saying, “T5 is opening up Heathrow to a new passenger-oriented experience.”

So the jury is probably out.

If you want to be part of the jury, BAA is asking for volunteers to test the systems at T5. It will be interesting to see if some of the new systems and techniques have really been designed in terms of the customer pathway or designed top-down.

Line Balancing is a black art, right?

Well, no and no.

A first tier auto supplier was struggling to meet demand from a particular line with OEE's running at around 50%. It had decided to invest about £40,000 on a new automated end of line inspection device since its management information was telling it that was where the majority of downtime was originating (which indeed was correct at face value).

However, process mapping and going to the Gemba (workplace) revealed that a much bigger problem was being caused by the work content at the three semi-manual assembly stages. In this case, it was not 'Rocket Science' to understand the reduction in average line speed was being caused by uneven work content and lumpy flow. As is so often the case, the lowest skilled (agency) workers were at this stage despite it being the bottleneck.

The work content was assessed using video and content analysis and the tasks at the three stations were radically changed. A trial was done showing incredible increases in OEE (towards world class 85%!) and the team leaders at the company quickly installed mistake proofing for the new operation (without prompting, we hasten to add).

The value to the company in increased output was over £700,000 per annum.

OK, it may be rare to find such amazing increases in throughput for a relatively small resource input, but ask yourself;

• Are there any semi-automated lines in your workplace where the data you are collecting is actually leading you to the wrong conclusions?
• Is the bottleneck in a different place to where you suspect it to be?
• Have you been to the Gemba and understood the reality?

Process Data Measurement

We see a lot of automated shop floor and process data capture going on, especially with larger companies. For example, OEE (Overall Equipment Effectivess) measurement is often reported in great detail and with great certainty ("Our factory OEE increased by 0.7% last month!").

Usually when Kaizen teams start to look at the data, they see that reported data through automated collection systems is at best unreliable and at worst downright misleading. The best way to understand line performance is to see and understand it for yourself and to collect data to support what you are seeing. Once you understand what you need, you can then turn again to automated systems to support you.

Time and again, challenging a team to turn away from 'analysis paralysis' and focussing on the key 'real' data leads to big jumps first in understanding and then to real progress in problem solving and problem resolution.

'Enjoyable' visit to A&E?

One of the contributors had the misfortune to take our partner to the A&E department at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport the other day, with a twisted ankle.

The NHS is full of waste, has slow processes and is full of demoralised staff, according to the generally received view. In fact, a pay as you go A&E department has opened locally, run by Casualty Plus, which is an indication that requirements are not being met by the public sector.. Expectations were low and indeed a great deal of reading literature was taken as it was likely to be a long night..

We walked (OK, one of us limped) in. We were greeted by an LED display telling us how long the wait was. We were booked in electronically at reception and were told to wait for the nurse. We waited less than five minutes and an assessment was carried out to determine the severity of the injury - presumably to decide if emergency treatment was required. The injury was judged less serious.

We were directed to the X-ray department, the directions for which were clearly marked on the floor. We waited a short time. The X-ray was taken and transmitted electronically to a central server. We were given a bar coded card which we dropped in a container and asked to wait again. We waited probably ten minutes and then were seen by a nurse who looked at the X-ray and checked with a doctor before seeing us. The nurse's only frustration was that the X-rays were taking some time to come through to the server and was hoping ways could be found to improve this.

Happily, there was no break although the sprain was bad and getting worse. In the consulting room, most if not all medical supplies were marked clearly and the nurse quickly found the correct bandage and gave advice on pain relief and how much to walk/rest.

We left the A&E department, hardly having had time for a coffee. The cycle time from start to finish was 75% of the time which was displayed on the LED display.

I noticed customer satisfaction graphs displayed, rating most key aspects of the service and it seems our experience was not unusual.

Examples of 5S workplace organisation, flow, Kanban, visual management, workflow, Kaizen.........

We hope you never need to go to Stockport A&E but if you ever do look out for the lean processes in evidence...

Delegate Power

At a recent Kaizen event, a delegate introduced a saying which everyone in the team liked:

"When the winds of change blow, some build walls, some build windmills"

Although this slogan is not new, it was certainly new to the company I was working with and new to the team. They thought it was so good that they put the slogan on their lean training room and really helped to personalise their journey. Stories are so important in terms of changing culture and this will no doubt be an important step to help them along the way.....

Don't Forget 5S!!

5S can often still be dismissed as just getting the workplace clean - often by senior management who are not close enough to the muda to understand its impact. Even lean implementers can get complacent about it's importance - we assume it is at the base of everything we do but sometimes forget its real worth in removing blockers and helping the product to flow.

On a recent implementation, a large percentage of the kaizen activity was focussed on workplace organisation of a process which was changed over frequently. The area was full of unused equipment (one item had been there for months and was cleaned every week but not used). The workforce accepted as given that it took ages to find all the change parts to be able to change the line over.

The team really focussed on sorting the major items and designing new storage cabinets, labelled and organised. The team were also able to involve operators in the area in the 5S activity. The whole morale of the line lifted as the operators could actually find what they wanted.

The upshot was improved performance through reduced changeover time. Nothing more advanced was done that a good systematic approach to 5S.

It reminds us all we shouldn't forget the basics.