Topics
Each topic takes a few minutes to read and ends with a quiz.
No topic matches this search.
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The A3
This topic teaches you how to keep a shop-floor problem on a single A3 sheet, from the figures-based observation through to the verification of results, following the PDCA cycle, and how to keep that sheet alive in front of the line rather than in a binder.
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FMEA
Know how to build a first FMEA on a piece of equipment or a shop-floor process: list the possible failures, rate them for severity, occurrence and detectability, then derive an action plan that you follow through to the end.
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ABC Analysis
Classify an inventory into three categories A, B, C based on actual consumption, then apply a different management rule to each: tight monitoring on the few items that carry weight, reduced stock on the mass of items that carry little.
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The Andon
Set up on a line or a piece of equipment an alert signal that brings the right support within a few minutes, then turn every call into a problem that is solved for good.
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Short Interval Management (SIM)
Replace the end-of-shift review with cascaded management — from hour-by-hour at the machine to the monthly review — where each deviation is handled at the level that can resolve it.
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Brainstorming
Brainstorming gives a team leader a structured method for generating several dozen possible solutions to a shop-floor problem in under an hour, then keeping only three or four that are feasible.
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Process mapping
Map a process end to end with the people involved, on a wall and with Post-it notes, to bring out the waiting, the loops and the waste that nobody sees anymore, then deal with them in an action plan.
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Spaghetti Diagram
Plot the actual movements of an operator or a part on a layout, measure them, then draw the target path that removes unnecessary steps.
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Ergonomics at workstations
Spot the movements that wear operators down and cost time, then redesign a workstation with the people who work at it, following a simple, verifiable workstation analysis.
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FIFO (First in First out)
Getting parts out in the order they came in, whether on a component stock or between two workstations, with storage that enforces the rule instead of the operator.
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The Gemba Walk
Learn how to prepare, lead and sustain a regular shop-floor walk that replaces second-hand information with observations made with your own eyes, and that leads to actions that are followed up.
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CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System)
Set up a CMMS that can be used from the first week: equipment inventory, work orders, intervention history and first indicators to get out of day-to-day maintenance.
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Performance indicators
Choose, calculate, display and keep alive three to five performance indicators on a line, so that the team sees every day where it stands and knows what to act on.
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The Kaizen workshop
This topic gives you the complete method to scope, run and follow up a one- to three-day Kaizen workshop on a line or a workstation, along with the pitfalls that cause most first workshops to fail.
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KANBAN
Set up a first kanban loop between an internal supplier workstation and an internal customer workstation: choose the loop, calculate the number of cards, build the production board, set the rules and spot the drifts that kill a kanban within a few weeks.
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Kitting
Decide which parts to deliver as a kit on an assembly line, design the kit and its container, then run the preparation without creating a shortage or shifting waste to the warehouse.
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U-shaped cells
Move from a series of aligned workstations to a U-shaped cell sized to takt time, to produce one piece at a time with a headcount that you adjust to demand.
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Preventive maintenance
Write, display and keep alive a level 1 and level 2 preventive maintenance schedule on a machine, to replace suffered breakdowns with chosen interventions.
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5 Whys
Trace a stoppage or a defect back to its root cause in a short session at the machine, then check that the chain holds and that the action taken keeps the problem from coming back.
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5S
Run a first 5S project on a workstation or a line, from sorting out unnecessary items to the sustaining audit, without falling back into disorder three months later.
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Waste
Recognise the eight wastes on your own line, spot them during shop-floor observation with a simple grid, and turn each observation into a measurable action.
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Shop floor audits
Set up a system of regular shop floor audits, carried out in shop floor-office pairs, to spot deviations from standards before they cost a breakdown, an accident or a non-conformity.
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The suggestion system
Set up, on the shop floor, a paper-based suggestion system that produces completed actions and dated responses, rather than an idea box that empties once and then goes silent.
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Introduction To Visual Management
This topic teaches you how to build a first visual management system on a line or at a workstation: choose few indicators, display them where the team passes by, and make sure they trigger an action rather than decorating a wall.
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Obeya, the "WAR ROOM"
Set up an Obeya on a shop floor project: prepare the facts, build the seven boards, launch the workshop and hold the ritual, without the room turning into a wall of paper that nobody reads.
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Pareto Chart
Rank quantified causes to decide, based on facts, where to focus the week's improvement effort.
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PDCA
PDCA provides a four-phase framework for solving a shop floor problem based on measurements rather than impressions, and then for locking in the result with a standard so the wheel does not roll back down.
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Poka-Yoké
Poka-Yoké makes human error impossible or visible at the workstation, before it becomes a defect: this topic teaches you how to spot a recurring error, design a simple mistake-proofing device, test it and keep it alive.
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SMED: Quick changeover
Cut a machine's downtime between two production runs by at least half, by observing a real changeover, separating what is done with the machine stopped from what is done with the machine running, then locking the new method into a standard that is tracked over time.
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The Standard
Write, post at the workstation and keep alive a one-page standard that sets the best known way to run an operation, serves to train a newcomer and turns every observed deviation into a problem to solve.
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Takt Time
Calculate the takt time of a line from customer demand and actual working time, compare it to the cycle times of the workstations and draw the first shop-floor decisions from it: where the bottleneck is, how many operators, when to recalculate.
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OEE - Overall Equipment Effectiveness
Measure the OEE of a workstation with its three components, read it to identify the first loss to address, and avoid the practices that make the approach fail.
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Value Stream Mapping - VSM
Map a value stream from end to end, measure its lead time, spot the inventory and waiting that inflate it, then draw a target state at takt time and turn it into a dated roadmap.
