| |December 20209dynamic documents, not static. Whenever an improvement takes place, the appropriate SW document needs to be revisedThe Value StreamThe value stream is just a diagram which captures what you are doing. It includes walking, waiting, in process inventory between spaces. That's the bottom row moving back to front. On the top row, moving front to back, you capture the information flow or signals as they actually happen. This is called a Current State Value Stream. Next, use your imagination and develop a Future State Value Stream, what you want it to be. Work towards it.Standard WorkStandard Work Procedure (or SOP), Takt time, Standard work sequence, Standard work in processTakt timeTakt time is not cycle time. You can't measure takt time with a stop watch. Whereas, Takt time = (time available)/(No. of units the customer wants)Standard work sequenceThis is the sequence in which a product is made, manually or in auto mode, including walking and waiting. When setting this up, one needs to minimize walking and waiting.Standard work in process is defined as Process time/takt time. If this is 1 or <1, you have an ideal state, single piece work flow. So, ideally, processes should be designed and set up to achieve a single piece work flow. Also, lines should be set up to flow counterclockwise. Because of the way the human brain is wired, this goes faster. That's why races are always run counterclockwise. Kanban (pull): In any organization, information flows front to back, and material (or services) flows back to front. This is the concept of a two bin (or two pocket) kanban. When you get an order, a kanban ticket is raised, and production fills it. Production sends the ticket on to Stores/Purchase, and they in turn fill the parts drawn by buying from suppliers, or making them on ancillary lines. On every line, whether main or ancillary, you try to achieve single piece work flow and match the takt time. You also need to be able to achieve quick changeovers between products. This has to be worked upon. The SMED concept comes from this. It does not mean that you are only changing dies, or doing it in 1 minute. It means you changeover as quickly as possible, and keep improving.In a later article, we will discuss other Lean Principles, Heijunka, Genchigenbutsu, defect mitigation, Jidoka, and others. The ultimate objective is to reduce cost of production, whether goods or services. Lean works in all kinds of businesses, as long as there is a differential between price and cost
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