Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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Expectations

Our goal today:

•run a manufacturing simulation 4 times

•make a simple Lean Manufacturing change on each run

•Measure the results of each change in a ScoreBox

To illustrate some important concepts about Lean Manufacturing.

The waste of batch processing / mass production

Batch Size Reduction

Continuous Flow

Learning to See

Welcome to the Lego Widget Flow Factory!

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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Factory Setup

Operator 1

Operator 3

Operator 4

Operator 5

8 Material Handler

The Operators The Product

The ParametersMaking Lego Widget

4 Rounds of Production

10 Employees

Production Demand = 12

Operator 6

9 Quality Inspector

10 Customer

Operator 2

Operator 7

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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ScoreBoxKPI BoardKey Performance Indicators Board

m s m s m s m s

Avg Lead Time - - - - % change

Total WIP Inventory% change

Total Finished Units

Total Operators% change

m s m s m s m s

Total Elapsed Time% change

m s m s m s m s

Total Operator Time (DxE)% change

Productivity (Total people-seconds per piece)% change

12 6 1 1 (Kaizen)

#DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

#DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!-

12 12 12 12

#DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

#DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

#DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

#DIV/0!

A

B

C

D

- - -

E

F

G - #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4

WIP- Work in Process. How many pieces remain on the production floor after customer demand is met?

Lead Time- time it takes to produce one complete item, from start to finish. Or, sum of each operator’s cycle time.

Total Finished Units- In this case, Customer Demand.

Total Operators- Number of people working in the process.Total Elapsed Time- Amount of time from when the first unit is begun to the time the last unit is finished and delivered to the customer. Total duration.

Total Operator Time- Total Operators(D) x Total Elapsed Time(E). Total amount of manpower spent on this operation.

Productivity- Total Operator Time(F) / Total Finished Units(C). Total amount of manpower spent per piece (in this case, converted to people-seconds per piece). Hours per Thousand is a productivity measure, a more Lean measure is Seconds per Unit.

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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• Rules– The customer wants 12.– Produce in batches of 12. Each operator must

finish 12 before passing to the next operator.– If you finish 12, keep working!

Round #1

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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• Rules– The customer wants 12.– Produce in batches of 6. Each operator must

finish 6 before passing to the next operator.– If you finish with 12, keep working!

Do you think batch size reduction will make a difference?

Round #2

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Operator 1 Operator 2 Operator 3 Operator 4

Drop a new widget into this process, how long before it finishes?

Effects of “Batch” Manufacturing

•Long Lead Times

•Excess WIP / Inventory

•Creates Waste (Wait, travel, over-production, etc….)

•Resource Consumption (Handling, floor space, workers)

•Increases Chances for Poor Quality

Batch Processing

1 2 3 4

Operator 1 Operator 2 Operator 3 Operator 4

ContinuousFlow

“Batch Processing”Why it made a difference.

Does it take longer to go into the downtown heart of large city at rush hour or at 02:00 am? It is the same distance, and same amount of traffic lights. The difference is the amount of inventory – in terms of cars - on the road!

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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Batch & Queue Nightmare

The Old Process meets the New Process.One cart of product moving to growing (in a kaizen that eventually improved the process by 40%), has to wait to get through because of batched raw material narrow the hall, and a batch of 12 carts moving through on one side, and a batch of 9 carts sitting on the other side.

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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• Rules– The customer wants 12.– Produce in batches of 1. Each operator must

finish 1 before passing to the next operator.– If you finish 12, keep working!

Do you think continuous flow will make a difference?

Round #3

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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“Continuous Flow”

Fold each letter until all the letters are folded

Stuff each envelope until all the envelopes are stuffed.

Seal each envelope until all the envelopes are sealed

Apply stamps until all the stamps are applied

Go to the mail box.

Suppose you had to perform the process pictured above:

Which method would be faster?

Fold one letter

Stuff one envelope with the folded letter

Seal the envelope

Apply a stamp.

Repeat steps 1-4 for each unit.

Go to the mail box.

Batch Processing / Mass Productiondo as many as you can, build inventory whenever possible

Continuous Flowmake one - move one

OR

Why it made a difference.

Which method would be faster if it was done by 1 person?

Which method would be faster if it was done by 3 people?Making an assembly line of 3 people would merely hide the waste.

Apply the lesson from the Lego Widget Factory – ‘make one – move one’ would be faster.

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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Learning to See

• Value – Does it change the form, fit, or function of the product?– Is the Customer willing to pay for this activity?

• Waste– Two Forms of Waste

1. Necessary Waste- activity that adds no value to the product, but can not be eliminated because of current technology, culture, or politics.

2. Unnecessary Waste- can be eliminated

– 8 Characteristics of Waste

Learning to See means learning to see the flow of activities that create a product, and the associated value and waste associated with my daily activities.

The goal is to implement continuous, incremental improvement, always working to eliminate waste and increase value to the customer.

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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8 Characteristics of Waste

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8 Characteristics of Waste

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• Rules– The customer wants 12.– Form a kaizen team to improve the process,

applying the Lean tools that you have learned to eliminate the 8 forms of waste.

– If you finish 12, keep working!

Round #4

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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The House of Lean

Quick Changeover

Standardized Work Batch Reduction Teams

Quality at Source

5S System Visual Plant Layout

POUS

Cellular/FlowPull/Kanban TPM

ValueStreamMapping

Continuous ImprovementContinuous Improvement

Employee Involvement

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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Pull Systems

Operator 5 – Yellow or Orange

Operator 6 – Yellow or Orange

Operator 7 – Red, Green, or Blue

Customer Order

Name: Fred’s House of Widgets

Date Wanted: Immediately

Item: Widget

Qty: 4

Customization: Red 4 dots, Yellow 2 dots

Customer Order

Name: Widget-Mart

Date Wanted: Immediately

Item: Widget

Qty: 4

Customization: Blue 4 dots, Yellow 2 dots

Customer Order

Name: Widgets ‘R-US

Date Wanted: Immediately

Item: Widget

Qty: 4

Customization: Orange 2 dots, Green 4 dots

Lean 101 Lego Widget Factory

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Pull Systems