The basic process of abnormality management goes something like this: 1. Develop a standard. 2. Develop a way to identify when the standard is not being met. (i.e. make the abnormal condition apparent). This is most often done with visual controls or some form of daily management. 3. Take action to remove the abnormal condition.

During one of my training opportunities a Toyota Sensei once told me that the highest form of "respect for people" was allowing people to solve their own problems.  This statement stuck with me and I have often used this during training/coaching sessions.  Apparently, this statement also stuck with my friend.  In the hallway last week he said after a year of gemba he finally understood his role as a leader and what I meant when I talked about "respect for people."   He said at first he loved the Lean approach, because he loved being in gemba, but after a while the follow-up became overwhelming to him and frustrating to the teams he worked with.  He said each time he went to gemba he felt guilty about the increasing number of problems he was not having the time to solve.

It turns out that a common method line managers and team leaders often did was to help on the production line, making the production numbers look better than they really are. The role of team leaders and line managers are not to be on the line, but instead to observe and generate continuous improvement ideas. Since their role is not in production, their time doesn't count and makes the production numbers look better than they really are.

With a bit of creativity we can find motions, data entry tasks or mechanism that can be combined or triggered in such a way to turn manual processes into examples of jidoka - self-working low-cost automation.

I'm going to try & use this on some maps.

How does your team run its pace line? When circumstances throw it off course, how quickly does it react to protect itself? How does your team re-establish its operating groove? What is communication like? How quickly does the wind tunnel return? Does your team practice this drill?

We know that a Poka-Yoke approach is a much more effective approach to preventing mistakes and errors. But, sometimes, we see the approach of providing a "do not" sign only, which by itself, is not effective. But, coupled with a process or system that prevents the human from making mistakes or the error from being made, then that's a great balance to warning the person as well as preventing the person from making the mistake in the first place.

Nice visual

Click on the article entitled "Lean Product Development"

Value stream mapping is a tremendously valuable tool for improving a process. Well suited for a broad range of industries and processes. A value stream map (VSM) illustrates the flow of materials and information as a product or service moves through a process. In short, it helps eliminate waste.

Take any work - if it is assembling, accounting, programming, welding - anything.  If the work is simplified and understandable, if it is constructed so as to be simple to perform, it is likely to be far less open to simple mistakes and, therefore, quality improves - which means easier leads to better.  If the quality improves, then there's less re-work, less "going slow to make sure you get it right" and the like, so the speed at which the work can be accomplished is increased - hence, faster.  If we are doing things without burning people out, without rework and scrap, and take less time to do it - hour costs (especially per unit) are also….cheaper!

Good simulation of benefits of single piece flow.

A common response is "Mark, that makes sense… but we just don't have time…." I'd like to make the case that "lack of time" should not be an excuse that shuts down the possibility for Kaizen, but rather it's the first problem statement to which we can apply our Kaizen thinking…

Have you  ever been yelled at by your spouse or significant other for keeping the toilet lid up? Did you ever wish that there was a device that prevented you from making a mistake such as not placing the toilet lid down?

Confusion about how to apply 5S in a knowledge environment is rampant, as these stories of "lean as misguidedly executed" (LAME) attest. I believe that's because people focus on the easily visible, outward trappings of 5S without understanding the purpose of the tool.

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." ~Hans Hofmann This is one of the reasons we do 5S!

A nice addition to 5 why analysis.

An interesting article into the thinking of Mr. Ohno. I've got to read this book.

The fact is that a company does not have to be respectful of its employees and customers in order to be successful. Some can treat their workers and clients with disdain and a lack of respect and still remain profitable…for a while, at least. In the end, it turns out that being respectful is not only the right thing to do, but is also good for business.

Some good tips on Continuous Improvement