No manager can see everything. An operator who spends eight hours a day on the same machine sees things that aren't visible from the office: minor hiccups, recurring problems, areas where something could work better. A plant that can gather and utilize this knowledge improves faster than one that relies solely on management's ideas.
Lean implementation typically begins with training. The team learns the methodology, understands waste, and sees where flow can be improved. Then they return to the shop floor and encounter the same space as before the training. Tools are lying around, zones are unmarked, and information about process status resides in the shift manager's head.
The knowledge is there, but the conditions for its application are not.
When a new person comes onto the floor, every shift manager has to keep track of what they can and can't do. Usually, that place is their own head. This works until the manager changes positions, gets sick, or simply forgets.
The waste of time in organizations, especially in manufacturing companies, can seriously affect work efficiency. The analysis of research results shows that middle -level employees lose as much as 24% of time on simple activities, such as searching for documentation or transferring a change. How to remedy this problem and increase work efficiency?
The key aspect in every production environment, where organization and efficiency must stand at the highest level, are appropriate tools that allow operational liquidity to maintain. One of the inconspicuous and at the same time very popular tools used in industry are dry -erase boards.
