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Toyota Supermarket
I was sharing a story with a recent Lean Academy group on how Taichii Ohno used to spend hours on the shop floor observing the process, and identifying waste.
Ohno coined the Seven wastes, which we all know and love. By the way, these were actually referred to as the Flow Wastes and despite numerous reincarnations were never the 8 wastes or the 9!
However he was most acerbic about the Waste of Motion.
Ohno saw this the waste of human movement, or activity and saw on so many occasions in his factories how people would want to look busy rather than actually being busy adding value.
Added value is simply defined from the Toyota perspective of transforming information or materials into a product or service which the customer would be happy to pay for. This definition was embedded into my cerebellum by none other than the legendary Shingijutsu back in the early nineties.
Ohno commented that no one want to look idle, so as a result, people perfected ways of looking busy.
Ohno uses an example of one of his times observing a machine shop, where fitter fabricators would make their component parts and would be forever sharpening their tools, as the flow of work meant there was uneven delivery of parts, so people didn’t want to be standing around.
The waste of motion is one of the least obvious wastes, but the advice I gave my students is to put a video recorder up overlooking their factory, and run it for an hour during the production shift.
This records just exactly what activities the employees are undertaking during the working day and is often quite revealing. I visit many Gembas during my travels, and trust me, I witness a lot of people walking around looking for either materials, tools and equipment and information in relation to the job in hand.
Last week I visited one of the factories, owned by one of my participants, and he had taken this to heart. He stayed that he’d been to many Lean presentations and was sceptical about the snake oil of you could achieve a 30% improvement in productivity through Lean.
However, he took me through their Gemba and already I could see the first flush of Lean with some good 5S, and the. He shepherded me up to the boardroom and he had a little surprise for me. He had actually taken my advice and had set up a video and after reviewing the content, he concluded that in the 10 minute video, he only saw about 3 minutes of working!
He has now shown this to his entire team, and has set them the challenge to reduce waste of motion, as this is often the biggest productivity winner of these classic waste.
Congratulations to the guys in Tauranga, this was a great example of using simple analysis using a video, to really identify where there was a problem!
I know they will be working hard to fix these opportunities, and of course there is no blame on this one, this was not a draconian measure to entrap staff…far from it!
I’m sure Taichii Ohno would have approved. I’ m also sure that he would have scolded the managers in front of the staff as to why they hadn’t done this sooner, as they didn’t spend enough time at Gemba.
One my very first trips to Japan our tour included an interesting contrast between a visit to Yamaha musical Instruments and the motorcycle factory and museum.
It was a bit of a boyhood dream to visit Yamaha as a teenager I was desperate to own and ride a moped which at 50cc is all we were allowed to straddle at the not so sensible age of 16.
The long and short of it all is that although my sisters boyfriend had one, I was never allowed! I blame this on him as he was always a bad influence 🙂
At the time my best friend Andy wanted a Honda but the best we did was to by a Yamaha and Honda jacket which looked dashing on our bicycles!!
So back to the Japan tour, we had spent the morning visiting the Yamaha Instruments factory and after a swift lunch we headed to the Motorcycle factory across town.
The tour team were greeted and furnished with a Yamaha baseball hat (which I still have today) and we were taken through a bit of a company presentation before being taken through to the main assembly hall.
The motorbikes were built from the frame up and as we walked the final assembly line we were told there were 138 assembly stations that resulted in a finished bike.
The place was immaculate, extremely well organized and as expected each station was well set up and we could see eveidence of Standard Work, Kanban, Visual management and of course 5S!
We noted the very last station was a rolling road. The operator had the task of starting the motorcycle and then road testing it on a rolling road whereby he conducted a series of tests and computers ran their diagnostics producing either a pass or fail.
Apparently they rotate this job 3-4 times per shift. I wondered if this was because riding motorcycles all day would be much of a hardship!
After the completion of the tour we returned to the visitors centre and museum, and it was quite fascinating to see the history of their company and actually just how closeley they have worked with Toyota over the years.
Pictured above is my friend Celine, riding a virtual reality Ski-doo…that was a lot of fun!
So now back to the Mirai tour story…
Our tour group had assembled in their training room and were briefed on the company history and products as part of our usual orientation.
Our host stressed that everyone at Mirai was encouraged to come up with “small innovations” to improve products for customers, even invent completely new ones as well as to continuously improve their operating practices.
Our guide was proud to point out that he had a great idea to save money, and that if we looked down, we could see it. Looking down, we saw that each of the table legs had a tennis ball on the end.
He explained that the rubber feet that were originally delivered with the table, had worn out and the tables were in danger of scratching the floor. the cost of replacing the runner feet was quite expensive, so he had the idea of using a tennis ball!
He proudly claimed this as a double saving as they were used tennis balls from his tennis club, so a great recycling initiative too!
He went on to explain that every employee was expected to contribute ideas, however small. and each idea submitted was tracked using a league table and based on set increments, employees were rewarded in their salary according to number attained. it was important to note that the ideas were rewarded, not the implementation.
On our tour, we were shown the company idea league table, which was set up in their lunchroom, for all to see.
Just as an aside, the lunchroom doubled as a theatre, and had a stage and employee regularly put on their own shows and were allowed time to rehearse as part of their working week!
Next time, we will make a third and final report from Mirai as we finally make it to their Gemba and their product showroom.
One of my most memorable Japan companies that I visited was Mirai Industries, headquartered near Nagoya, we spent a morning hearing about their very interesting story and I thought I would bring some of their history and business practices to you over a series of bite sized articles.
Just a little history of this unique company and then some key (and somewhat amazing) facts:
Akio Yamada, CEO of Mirai Industries, was born in Shanghai in 1931. His father was running a woolen fabric company in Shanghai, but his family had to return to home when Japan was defeated in the Second World War. After returning to Japan, his father established ‘Yamada Electric Wire Manufacturer’ and Yamada began to work for his father’s company after he graduated.
The late 1940s was the golden age of theatre in Japan. Yamada, who was fond of all things theatrical, often finished his work early and went to see plays. He was so into the Thespian life he formed his own troupe of artistes to perform on stage.
He named his troupe ‘Mirai.’ (Mirai means future in Japanese) He spent most of his money that he earned at his father’s company on ‘Mirai’ up until the point that Yamada’s father, who could not take it any longer, fired him from the company.
To make ends meet, he decided to establish his own electric installation equipment company with his troupe of 3 actors plus Yamada himself. He named the company ‘Mirai Industries’ after the name of his acting troupe.
So an interesting start up story, but what about the culture and the Vision and Values of Mirai Industries?
Yamada founded the culture with a the following thoughts:
“To make customers happy, I have to ask my employees to work harder. To encourage employees to work hard, I have to please them.”
Here’s some of their employment conditions:
– The shortest working hours in Japan [8:30-16:45]
– Must not work overtime
– 40 days paid holiday per year
– 3 years of maternity leave
– One of the highest salaries in their industry
– Everyone one contributes their ideas for Products, Services and Improvements
– No redundancies – ever!
– Free Overseas holidays for all employees every 5 years!
The last one I will come back to another time, but the whole company shuts down every 5 years and they all go on holiday together!
I was struggling a bit for the 4th Dec, the only idea that kept recirculating around in my head was the “Four Hoursemen of the Apocolypse” which I thought wouldn’t be very festive!
So finally, after due research, I bring you day four, “Four Candles” by the Two Ronnies.
This reminds me of how some senior managers behave, when they are less than clear to their subordinates about what they are trying to achieve. In my experience, clarity of information is critical do avoid duplicated effort and rework.
Here’s a recap of the sketch, which was voted one of the funniest British comedy sketches of all time.
At Ronnie Barkers memorial ceremony held at Westminster Abbey, his procession was led with 4 Candles, not the usual 2 in memory of this clever piece penned by him.
Also the original script, rediscovered in 2006, sold at auction for 45,000 pounds in 2007!
From Wikipedia:
The sketch opens with a throwaway joke as the hardware shopkeeper (Corbett) hands a lady a roll of toilet paper, saying “mind how you go”. The lady exits and the shopkeeper is then confronted by a customer (Barker), who is holding a shopping list. The customer then requests what sounds like “four candles”. The shopkeeper then takes out four candles, but the customer merely repeats his request and the shopkeeper is confused. The customer rephrases his request to reveal he in fact wanted “fork ‘andles” (handles for garden forks.)
He then asks for plugs. To try to avoid a similar mistake the shopkeeper asks what kind and is told “a rubber one, bathroom”. Believing that he is asking for rubber bath plugs the shopkeeper gets out a box of them and asks for the size. The customer’s answer is “thirteen amp” revealing he in fact wants an insulated electric plug.
He next asks for saw tips. Confused, the shopkeeper asks if he wants an ointment for “sore tips”. After a better explanation the shopkeeper explains they do not have any. This causes little or no frustration.
He then asks for “o’s”. This item causes the most frustration with the shopkeeper bringing a hoe, a hose (“‘Ose! I thought you said “‘oes!”) and pantyhose to the counter before working out what he wants are the letter O for the garden gate – “‘o’s as in Mon Repos”. The box of garden gate letters is noticeably difficult to get to and put back, requiring a ladder.
When he asks for “peas” the shopkeeper, believing him to be asking for the letter P for a garden gate, is understandably annoyed as they are in the box he has just put back. The customer waits for him to get the box down before better explaining what he wants – tins of peas. At this point the shopkeeper first suspects it may be a joke.
He then asks for “pumps” and the shopkeeper asks him to elaborate. The customer complies by asking for “foot pumps”. The shopkeeper brings a pneumatic pump to the counter. The customer then reveals he wants “brown pumps size nine”. At this point the shopkeeper becomes convinced that the customer is playing a practical joke on him.
After he asks for washers the shopkeeper, out of desperation and annoyance, recites a long list of possible items. The customer then explains he wants tap washers, almost the only type of washer that the shopkeeper failed to list.
At this point the shopkeeper, having had enough, snatches the shopping list the customer has been holding to complete the order without any confusions. However, he then seems to take offence at something written on the list. He decides he cannot tolerate the customer any longer and calls his assistant from the back to complete the order. The assistant reveals that the request was for billhooks. The audience is intended to infer that the shopkeeper misread it as bollocks or pillocks.
This one is pretty obvious…the Three M’s of course!
MUDA
The Japanese word for “Waste” or “Useless”.
Whenever we see MUDA we must seek to eliminate or reduce as much as possible.
MURI
The Japanese word for “Strain” or “Overburdened”.
If people, equipment or software are unable to cope with a heavy workload, this also results in waste being created and we should beware of reducing this almost invisible kind of problem from the workplace.
MURA
The Japanese word for “Uneveness” or “Variability”.
If workload has peaks and troughs, there will be increasing demands on the process caused by famine and feast. This again is often accepted as “just the way it is”. all efforts mut be made to synchronise, level and flow the process.
OK so I have had an inspiration, helped largely by my friend Lesley who makes her own Advent Calendars for friends and family.
I love them, although the love is mainly confined to the fact that for every day of December, I get to open the door and snaffle a chocolate!
How about the “Lean” advent calendar, whereby each day is marked with not only revealing what’s behind the door, and the true meaning of Christmas but also what is behind the true meaning of Lean Management principles!
However, from my observations, the shop bought variety doesn’t taste too much like quality chocolate, so my plan this year is to make my own. Or at least that was then plan. I asked my Mum, to source me an advent box, as they’re available from our local craft superstore “Spotlight”.
Low and behold…Mum and Dad preloaded this one with Roses chocolates.
Apparently not all Roses fit in behind the doors, so Dad was very helpful in disposing of the oversized chocolates, and had to buy 2 boxes to make sure the calendar was fully loaded…or at least that is his excuse!
So onto the next part of the story…everyday I will need to blog about a Lean version of the advent calendar…wish me luck!
Picking up from where I left on the previous post, we were now being guided through the museum hall, getting a crash course on some of the key Toyota machine designs of yesteryear.
The next section featured how cotton was processed from it’s semi raw state, loaded onto a conveyor and then turned into coils of what looked similar to cotton tape. This machine had a Willy Wonka kind of feel, and the coils of white cotton did look a bit like candy floss as the machine effortlessly went about it’s work.
The cotton tape was then moved to the next machine which spun the tape into more of a “twill” or a thick cotton cord which now started to look like an end product. I believe at this stage, the intermediate product could go in different directions to be turned in to other value added products.
The next machine, spun down to an even finer thread, we were told this level of thread would be what would be used in making Denim.
I guess the most interesting part of this section of the tour, was to see how cotton products were made, but you had to be there. The attention to engineering detail and sheer awesomeness of watching these pioneering machines do their work, under the roof of the original Toyota business was quite special.
In my mind it was easy to see the roots of the Toyota Production System in it’s earliest form. This also was the economic machine that through it’s success allowed the Motor Corporation Division to blossom and form.
More later on that subject as this factory was also the birthplace of the Toyota Automobile.
Whilst leading a recent Japan Study tour, our party were stationed in Nagoya for a few days, prior to heading to Tokyo.
Nagoya is pretty much central, and is in fact the spiritual home of Toyota, where the Toyoda family lived and established their original company, Toyota Industries.
for those of you that don’t know the history of Toyota, a must visit location is the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology (TCMIT) http://www.tcmit.org/english/
My band of followers and I took an easy taxi ride from our hotel and were pretty much the only westerners around at the time and were given a bit of the VIP treatment from the museum staff.
One of the amazing facts, is this entire facility was the former HQ of Toyota Spinning & Weaving, and the Toyoda (ta) family actually lived on site as needs must back in the early days of the 20th century.
During some of my Japan trips spent with Masaaki Imai, he had told us of how tte young Toyota family had actually spent time playing in the factory as children.
Obviously with living on site, it would be an awesome play to play and the theory is this is where they originally developed their passion for “going to Gemba”, as part of their DNA.
As we entered the main display hall, we were greated by a large collection of displays chronicling the origins of cotton, it’s botanical heritage and primitive industrial history.
I think being a group of Europeans, we attracted a bit of attention, and we had a hostess accompany us and took us through a number of the interactive displays, which was really quite awesome, as it gave us a bit of a VIP feel as we were guided through the tour.
I guess what impressed me the most is just how spinning and weaving was at the heart of Toyota’s heritage, and for those of you that didnt know Taichii Ohno started with Spinning and Weaving at this very plant!
It was a little eerie to think Taichii Ohno had once walked these very halls.
We also saw the “Non Stop Shuttle Change Automatic Loom” or type G weaving loom. This had been invented by Saikichi Toyoda in 1924, and was the world’s first automatic loom, called the “Type-G Toyoda Automatic Loom (with non-stop shuttle-change motion)” because it could change shuttles without stopping operation.
So this loom was an early example of JIDOKA
The Toyota term “jido” is applied to a machine with a built-in device for making judgments, whereas the regular Japanese term “jido” (automation) is simply applied to a machine that moves on its own. Jidoka refers to “automation with a human touch,” as opposed to a machine that simply moves under the monitoring and supervision of an operator.
Since the loom stopped when a problem arose, no defective products were produced. This meant that a single operator could be put in charge of numerous looms, resulting in a tremendous improvement in productivity.
My wife recently returned from a family trip to the UK and spotted these in that legendary department store, Marks and Spencers.
The sad thing is she thought that they would be an ideal gift for me as they combined my passion for 5S with my wardrobe.
So check out my pride and joy, seven pairs of individually labelled socks each with the day of the week!
These are also some evidence of Standardisation with colour coding at the heel and toe, so I’ll get used to looking at my toes and thinking, “ah yes, Yellow toes, it must be Monday!”
Obviously this has added an extra challenge to the laundry process as we all know, sometimes socks get separated in the wash, and rumour has it, there is a black hole in every household where socks go never to return.
I’ve also developed a One Point Lesson for hanging the socks on the washing line, as they need to be paired making it easy then to put away ready for use.
My next improvement is colour coding the laundry pegs to match the toe colours, but that might be taking it a little too far?
Richard Steel
Lean Tomatoes 