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Observation of best / better practices

The followings are “Some” of the best/better practices observed in the plant tour; Systems-House Lean to evaluate for potential adaptation where applicable:

1. Pokayoke (error proofing) projects that are completed are displayed by customer products as a demonstration of commitment to resolving customer issues

2. Specific area for demonstrating / promoting kaizen improvements (SMED, etc.) established; visual charts and pictures allow employees to review and discuss

3. Visual production boards (established by production control) for communicating priorities both for kitting and production

4. Kitting kanban area for SMT lines; 24 hr supply available to SMT to ensure continuity5. Visual lights and alarms to escalate production issues to CFTs. CFT members dispatched

to problem areas in less than couple of minutes; two instances demonstrated6. All production support staff from plant managers to engineers reside on the shop floor

allowing for timely and effective focus on production issues7. Dedicated team in warehouse works on kitting the material for SMT lines; kitting takes 12

hrs and the customer is aware of the timeframe and takes into considerations for shifting priorities

8. Incoming part supermarket established; water-spider replenish to point of use based on schedules.

9. > than 90% ? of products have established a PULL system for managing flow.10. See-through principle implemented; all production lines are organized in a manner that the

supervisor can clearly see the flow and issues if any.11. Operators are standing while working; no chairs allowed; work-place designed

ergonomically. People get regular exercise on regular intervals.

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12. Flexible work-benches allow for customized size of work areas13. Movable pallets with wheels are used for transport of big cabinets on the floor, eliminating

the need for material handling devices14. Overhead power and production supplies along with movable equipment allow for quick

kaizen and line re-configuration15. Pilot LCD monitors have been implemented for communication of work instructions,

schedules, equipment info, issues, quality tracking, training, parts & material information, etc. Videos and Audio eliminates the need for operators to read and provide visual demonstration in some cases.

16. Plant manager attends minimal amount of meetings; his/her role is to ensure good systems are in place, and systems are running the plant. Managers are only dealing with abnormalities.

17. Visual standard work templates are used for inspection and detection18. Rules for production are posted in areas to allow for operator empowerments in shutting

down the line when needed19. Some general guiding principles are established for efficiency; for instance, no box

allowed in production area (to save space)20. Multi-skills operator allow for line balancing and sizing the work to the takt-time resulting

in reduction of unneeded labour waste21. Extra / Free space is segregated with colored chain to prohibit accumulation of unneeded

items. Free space is saved for future expansions

Observation of best / better practices

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22. Special area is assigned to storage and kitting of cardboard boxes; kits are prepared for production if needed; this allows space saving for production. The vendor provide the labour for this exercise.

23. The concept of “Doctors & Nurses” philosophy to deal with production issues24. Visual identification of personnel (bands on ESD jackets) to allow operators to quickly

recognize support staff25. Use of U/Linear/Takt/ in production cells where applicable

Observation of best / better practices