Imagine a Smooth Drive to Work with No Traffic Lights.
Jan 31, 2012 – 11:57 am | Posted by Gary Rascoe
Most of us could get to work in half the time if we could just eliminate the stops and starts caused by traffic lights. Have you ever noticed how some drivers (or yourself) accelerate quickly then come to a quick stop at the next light or stop sign and then repeat the same process over again? If you are driving in the car beside that person you may feel good when you pass them or if you have the lights timed correctly. The waste of starting and stopping reminds me of the opportunities for waste elimination that can be accomplished through production smoothing—a foundation of the Toyota Production System. When a car accelerates to quickly brake again, think of the waste that is produced: excess fuel, wear and tear on the brakes and of course frustration that often results in a few superlatives from having to continually start, stop and restart.
What would happen if could create a steady pace between lights or in heavy traffic? The flow would be much smoother and there would be less waste. If the entire traffic pattern followed that example it would be much more efficient; production smoothing attempts to do just that by smoothing out the peaks and valleys of the production orders. Production smoothing helps to reduce overtime and the need for moving people in and out of a process.
Organizations often experience quality issues when responding to unexpected peaks in demand. Oftentimes, we must quickly ramp up production and introduce new associates who may be unfamiliar with the manufacturing process. When production smoothing is done correctly, you periodically and methodically adjust your output just like you do when driving through a different speed zone. True, a steady pace may not be as exciting as quick accelerations and stops but a smooth flow makes for a better process with less waste.
At work, people often spend most of their day jumping from one fire to the next or expediting orders or activities to make up for hiccups in the system. Just like a steady driving pace, the elimination of constant fire-fights in the workplace might be less exciting, but it is definitely more productive. What do you think? Wouldn’t it be a pleasant surprise at work to have a steady flow of work with fewer interruptions and emergencies? While you may not get the same sense of accomplishment as putting out a fire, you would have more time to focus on other, more value added activities. Do you think you could get used to that?
February 4th, 2012 on 4:37 am
G’day Mate,
Most plants have a lot of under utilised space usually above the factory. Think about what your costs are for running your vehicle a long distance, your (wasted)time, fuel costs, factory security, the cost of your present accommodation & all other expenses per annum. You could find for half that expenditure you could make better use of space, save the cost of security, vehicle expenses, spend an extra hour in bed or have a nice breakfast, know your car is safe inside the factory and, if you were like I used to be, not go all the way back to the plant for something you intended to work on at home, there could also be taxation benefits ?.
Good Luck,
Richard, Australia.
February 4th, 2012 on 4:53 am
Dear Sir, what you refer to as smoothing, I think is known as a line or plant balance, which usually is done by the Plant Engineer on a weekly basis. This is simple if you know how. The advantages are less work in progress, reduces bottle necks and you know as Production Manager what needs to be done to achieve your goals. Please also bear in mind there should be a short meeting about half an hour after the line starts, or is handed over, with the supervisors of each line. The topics include who is absent, where there could become a bottleneck & your supervisors in most cases will swap the relevant people between every production line to make it work. I also believe the output of every line is checked morning break, lunch break and afternoon break. If this is done properly you will know at 10am if adjustments need to be made, better to know at 10am than at the end of the shift you did not achieve your goals.
Richard,
Australia.
February 17th, 2012 on 8:42 pm
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February 21st, 2012 on 2:28 pm
Hi, there is much more to production smoothing than what was implied by this article. Automotive companies typically smooth monthly based on the forecasted demand. Make to order companies typically use leadtime to help smooth. Specifically for Eldrige’s comment, this was not meant to be a technical post. I have often found using non-work related examples helpful to make a point when an Associate is confused by a principle. For example, one person was convinced batch production was more effective than flow. I used a McDonalds example (what if McDonalds ran by large batches and you wanted a fish sandwich but were told that they are making hamburgs now so you had to wait.) Not a technical answer but it helped the person understand why lead time and changing from batch to flow was important. Sorry if this blog caused confusion. You may want to look at the blog post #330 “Golf and Lessons for Lean”.
February 25th, 2012 on 12:42 am
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