Deer Poka Yokes

Moose crossing the highway may be a big problem in Maine and Canada, but here in Michigan our biggest highway concern is the whitetail deer. Not as large as moose, they can still cause considerable damage, even fatalities.

So, the crack staff here at the TPM Log (or "cracked" staff--ed.) have researched a few poka yokes (error proofs) to solve the problem.

This is the Deer Alert system. Mount one on each side of your hood and as you drive down the road they create a whistling noise that scares the deer away from the road. By the reviews online, I would say the effectiveness may not be all that we would desire.

Next up is an idea still in the development stage:

Hmmm...

Finally, if the deer would just follow the operation standard and flow with the traffic instead of attempting to flow at right angles to it, all of this could be avoided. This deer followed the standard work procedure and made it safely across the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004.

Take care, really...

Moose Crossings

If you are driving down an unfamiliar road at night and you see a sign with "Moose Crossing Next 1 Mile" you would probably slow down and be extra alert to the potential of a moose crossing the road in front of your car. If you then drive the same road every night for six months and never see any moose in that area you will probably become complacent and not even notice the warning any more.

And then one night--BAM! Dead moose, broken car, walking home, calling the insurance company, and all the rest of the usual hassle. If you were lucky.

The same thing happens to us in manufacturing. We are surrounded by "Moose Crossing" signs, but we no longer heed them because we have gone for long periods of time without "moose" crossing in front of us. Many of the signs are examples of good visual management, but we no longer even see them. We have to remember those signs are there for a good reason and to pay attention to them each and every day. The day we forget about them is the day the "moose" run out in front of us and we send bad product to our customers or fail to notice a machine problem early.

This is the true role of an error-proof (poka yoke). Imagine if there were sensors near the moose crossing sign that caused a yellow light to flash when moose were nearby. You would pay attention to that much better than to the sign itself. Poka yoke devices cause the equipment to check itself so we do not have to. The equipment does not become tired or complacent. It checks every piece with the same intensity it did the first piece. The poka yoke is also the key to increasing the dignity of our work. Taichii Ohno and Dr. Deming both believed that it was inappropriate to make people constantly check the work of machines. Improving the machines and the processes was proper, dignified work, not babysitting equipment that did not perform well. Poka yokes make the process check itself. The person can then improve the process to fix the immediate problem (brake before hitting the moose) and prevent future problems (eliminate the need for the moose to cross the road).

1. Pay attention to the "Moose Crossing" signs--every time you pass.
2. Improve the signs so they become poka yokes instead of "instructions."
3. Improve the processes to eliminate the mistakes found by the poka yokes.
4. Continuously repeat the process.

Take care and watch out for the moose...

Update: Thanks to Pat Rohn for the concept and the pic.

© 2008 by Mike Gardner, all rights reserved.

Parts Precision Mitsuba de Mexico

This week I have been working with Parts Precision Mitsuba de Mexico (PMM), the newest operation in our North American Mitsuba group. PMM is an aluminum die casting and machining facility located in Apodaca, a suburb of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

Die casting poses some serious TPM challenges. The raw material--molten aluminum--is brutal on the machine and the die. Extending the lives of the machines and the dies is a major goal of our TPM efforts. PMM has made a good, albeit small, start along this path.

My thanks to everyone at PMM for their cooperation and enthusiasm this week. Muy bien!

(No new posts until at least July 7, enjoy the holiday--ed.)

© 2008 by Mike Gardner. All rights reserved.

5S for TPM

This is a simple photograph, but it illustrates a lot:

1. They use TPM.
2. They understand 5S.
3. They manage their workplace autonomously.
4. They understand the value of "space."
5. They understand visual management.

That is a lot to infer from one simple photograph. It happens to be true.

© 2008 by Mike Gardner, all rights reserved.

Get S.M.A.R.T.

I was present at a pretty good kaizen event report-out at one of our facilities yesterday, but I was struck by the lack of S.M.A.R.T. goals. This doesn't have anything to do with Agent 86, Agent 99, or thwarting the diabolical plans of T.H.R.U.S.H. S.M.A.R.T. goals are very valuable tools that help us define, refine, and achieve real gains through our kaizen activities. The S.M.A.R.T. acronym stands for Specific; Measureable; Attainable; Realistic; and Timely. Proper development and use of these five attributes will help kaizen events become more meaningful. Let's look at each item in more detail:

Specific: It is not enough to state we want to "improve productivity." We must be specific where, and by how much. We should also be able to state a general methodology by which we intend to improve, i.e. through scrap reduction, downtime elimination, or improved OEE. A goal statement that includes a phrase such as "improve PPLH by 25% within 90 days through a 90% reduction in changeover downtime" is specific.

Measurable: First cousin to "specific," any improvement must be able to be measured. Focus on your Key Performance Indicators such as PPLH, OEE, Time Units, Scrap Rate, Downtime, etc.

Attainable: The improvement must be in an area the people performing the kaizen have control over. Manufacturing kaizen teams have little or no chance of revamping the accounting system, so an improvement in that area is not attainable. Focus on the areas where you can have a real impact.

Realistic: A 100% elimination of scrap within 30 days is not realistic. No 100% measure is realistic. Then again, a 5% reduction is not realistic either, because it has no great benefit. Setting targets is always a balancing act.

Timely: One of my former leaders used to say that if something was not important enough to set a deadline for, it was not important enough to do. Our kaizen activities must be bound be definite deadlines. The goals should state "within X days" or "by Y date." The action items list for follow-up must also include definite deadlines. If we have no notion of the time frame in which we must operate, we will often fall into the trap of the perpetual project, that goes on forever and accomplishes nothing.

Your kaizen efforts will be much more rewarding if you follow the S.M.A.R.T. goals. So Get S.M.A.R.T.!

Say You Care

But, don't say it with flowers. Say you care by slapping a bright orange TPM Problem Tag on every machine problem you can find. Follow up with a work order or other plan to fix the problems tagged. Keep finding, tagging, and fixing until there are no more problems. Then go find some more problems and do the same. In the meantime, train people how to spot problems, fix problems, and maintain the equipment to prevent them from ocurring. Teach them more and more about their equipment and how it works. Help the operators develop a preventive maintenance system and give them what they need to get it done--including time, that most precious resource.

That's it. It is not complicated. Only three things are required: commitment; leadership; and teamwork. That, in a nutshell, is my vision of Total Productive Maintenance. Once the above actions become instinctive and automatic you can move on to the more advanced aspects. The previous paragraph is the foundation for a successful TPM system that will allow you to reap huge rewards.

UPDATE: Buy your bright orange problem tags from Strategic Work Systems at www.swspitcrew.com.

"All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure."

-- Mark Twain

Twain's quote is true because the more we understand something, the less we try to change it. This is because we keep running into all the reasons the situation can not be changed. We encounter mostly laziness and prejudice when trying to learn about a system or process. Everyone tells us how it just can not be done the way we want. The entire laundry list of excuses is paraded in front of us disguised as "knowledge."

People with too much invested in the old way will do anything to fight the change, and the more you "know" the more you will tend to agree with them.

Don't. Stay ignorant.

Take care,