Kanban

A system that uses replenishment signals to

simplify inventory management
Signals (usually cards) hold product details
What to make, when to make it, how much to make, and where
to send it

Cards stay attached to a bin that holds the product

When bin is empty, it is returned to the start of the
assembly line for replenishment
Full bins are returned to the customer, and the cycle
continues

Supermarket
The location where a
predetermined standard
inventory is kept to supply
downstream processes.
Supermarkets are ordinarily
located near the supplying
process to help that process
see customer usage and
requirements.
---Learning to See

Kanban Example
Supermarket Ordering System

Benefits of Kanban

Highly visible systems

Simple, effective, and inexpensive
Reduces inventory and eliminates stock-outs
Improves the quality of service
Improves lead times

Just-in-Time
Supermarket Analogy
A carton of milk is removed from shelf
A stock person restocks the empty location,
but only brings what shelf can accommodate
the supermarket combines visual control, pull system,
Kanban, 5S

Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)

Method that focuses on the rapid conversion from
manufacturing one product to the next

Just-in-Time
Quick Changeover (Set-up Reduction)
Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)
a series of techniques for changeovers of production machinery in less
than ten minutes (single digit minutes)
Set-up Reduction Program Goals
To achieve smaller lots
To maintain consistent quality
To minimize inventory
To reduce lead times
To address frustration of setup personnel

Just-in-Time
Basic SMED Principles
Identify

internal vs. external

changeover tasks
Analyze

each tasks real

purpose and function

Focus

on no/low cost

solutions
Aim

time

to eliminate changeover

External elements of work can be completed while the machine is still running e.g.
get the next tool, get all your clamps, get lifting equipment in place, put equipment
away, etc.
Internal elements of work can only be done while the machine is stopped e.g.
change the tool, adjust the machine depth, sharpen a tool (which requires the
machine to be stopped), etc..

SMED Examples

SMED Examples

Just-in-Time
No/Low Cost Solution: One-Turn Methods
Pear-Shaped Hole Method

Tighten Here

Attach and
Remove
Here

Just-in-Time
No/Low Cost Solution: One-Turn Methods
Wing Nut Method

Benefits of SMED

Increases throughput by reducing setup times

Eliminates setup errors
Increases safety
Reduces the cost of setups
Reduces waiting times and inventory buildups
Decreases the required skill level of the operators

Developing a Lean Factory

Summary - Just-in-Time
Pull Systems/Kanban
Quick Changeover/Setup Reduction
Single Piece Flow
Takt Time

Lean Production System

Goals - highest quality, lowest cost, shortest lead times

Just-In-Time

Involvement

separate man &

machine work
identify abnormal
conditions
poka yoke

continuous flow
takt time/pace
pull system
triggers
Heijunka

Standardized Work

Jidoka

Kaizen

Stable Manufacturing Process

Jidoka
Quality at the Source
Source Inspection: Operators must be certain
that the product they are passing to the next
work station is of acceptable quality.
Operators must be given the means to
perform inspection at the source, before they
pass it along.

Jidoka
Quality at the Source

Source Inspection at
Molding

Courtesy Sara Lee Intimate Apparel,

Villanueva, Honduras

Jidoka
Bulls Eye for
checking package
size

Courtesy of National Textiles

Jidoka
Poka-Yoke (Mistake Proofing)
A Poka-yoke device is any mechanism that either prevents a mistake from
being made or makes the mistake obvious at a glance.

Jidoka
Andon
A visual management tool that highlights the status of operations in an area at a
single glance and that signals whenever an abnormality occurs.
An andon can indicate production status (for example, which machines are
operating), an abnormality (for example, machine downtime, a quality problem,
tooling faults, operator delays, and material shortages), and needed actions, such as
changeovers. An andon can also be used to display the status of production in
terms of the number of units planned versus actual output.

Jidoka
Andon

Courtesy of Sara Lee Intimate Apparel

Developing a Lean Factory

Summary - Jidoka
Quality at the Source
Poka Yoke
Andons

Lean Production System

Goals - highest quality, lowest cost, shortest lead times

Just-In-Time

Involvement

separate man &

machine work
identify abnormal
conditions
poka yoke

continuous flow
takt time/pace
pull system
triggers
Heijunka

Standardized Work

Jidoka

Kaizen

Stable Manufacturing Process

Heijunka

Leveling the type and quantity of

production over a fixed period of time.
This enables production to efficiently
meet customer demands while avoiding
batching and results in minimum
inventories, capital costs, manpower, and
production lead time through the whole
value stream.

---The Lean Lexicon

Heijunka Box
A tool used to level the mix
and volume of production by
distributing kanban within a
facility at fixed intervals.
Also called a leveling box.
A load-leveling box has a
column of kanban slots for
each pitch interval, and a
row of kanban slots for each
product type.

---Learning to See

Paced Withdrawal

The practice of releasing production instructions to work areas and

withdrawing completed product from work areas at a fixed, frequent
pace.
In this type of handling system, a material handler, or waterstrider,
performs a route through a facility at precisely determined time
intervals.

Standardized Work
Establishing precise procedures for each operators work in a production process,
based on three elements:

1.
2.
3.

Takt time, which is the rate at which products must be made in a process in
order to meet customer demand.
The precise work sequence, in which an operator performs tasks within takt
time.
The standard inventory, including units in machines, required to keep the
process operating smoothly.

--- The Lean Lexicon

Takt Time = 10 seconds

Standardization

House of Lean