Page 188 - How To Implement Lean Manufacturing

166 Cha pte r T e n

evaluation right now in real time. There is no need to check the information center. It is
not necessary to check with the storehouse or some computer database; the heijunka
board will allow us to “see” it directly, at this moment. Today, it is more common to hear
the phrases, visual management or visual system used in place of transparency. How-
ever, I prefer transparency because it better captures the concept, as you will “see” in
the example later.

Transparency Misunderstood
A great deal of the original concept of transparency has been lost. Most of what is com-
monly displayed as transparency is really visual management and it is very long on the
“visual” and all too often short on “management.” Unfortunately, most of what is posted
is not consistent with the original concept of being able to “see” what is happening in the
process. A common example of “visual management” is display boards that show the
status of such things as monthly production volumes, the status of problem solving, and
preventive maintenance, for example. Frequently, this information is kept in one location,
known as an information center. The information center often has process information
such as standard work combination tables, standard work charts, and other engineering
intensive information that generally I find are not valuable on the floor, but make for nice
wallpaper at the information center. All of this information is needed, at some time, at
some place, and for some reason. What should be kept at the line is what will be used at
the line. Keep that information there, the rest should be kept where it is needed.

The Ultimate Purpose of Transparency
However, the ultimate purpose of transparency,
starting with situation assessment is Rapid Response
“Not everything that is PDCA. Recall that PDCA stands for “Plan-Do-Check-
faced can be changed, but Act.” This is the iterative process improvement cycle
nothing can be changed until that is inherent within the kaizen improvement pro-
”
it is faced. cess. As part of PDCA, first it is necessary to deter-
James Baldwin mine something has changed, such as a production
rate flagging. Next, it is necessary to:
• Plan a corrective action or countermeasure (plan).
• Implement it (do).
• Confirm whether it is successful or not (check).
• Determine if additional actions or thoughtful inaction is appropriate (act).
The cycle then starts all over again; hence, it is an iterative process. Thus, it is criti-
cally necessary to have some information to be able to:
• Discern something has changed.
• Confirm that the countermeasure was or was not successful.

Furthermore, to perform PDCA in a “Rapid Response” fashion, or in Leanspeak, to
do that in a JIT (Just In Time) fashion, requires JIT information. This availability of JIT
information is what transparency is all about. In a transparent system, these data are
available JIT.