Making Visual Management Helps You to Achieve Your Lean Management Goals

You are working hard to compete in the most competitive economy in decades, and have decided that the Lean Management methodologies will help you keep your business profitable into the 21st century. But the Lean philosophy is involved, embracing multiple methods, procedures and technologies. Creating, implementing and most of all sustaining a lean system require coordination, communication and commitment. One area of the Lean Methodologies that can help is Visual Management, and using Visual Management Training Videos can put you on the path to effective control of your lean systems.

What is Visual Management?

Visual management is generally linked to the 5S methodology that came out of Toyota Production System in the 1990's, a system designed to help workers and management create a smooth, efficient, and production area. This was accomplished by creating specific procedures for addressing problems in training, work area condition, the availability of supplies, tools and equipment, and ongoing training and monitoring to make sure the changes are maintained and improved upon.

This sounds like a big job, and it is. That is why Visual Management was introduced as a way to simplify and standardized the many, many elements that go into making 5S or any Lean method work.

In simple terms, visual management uses visual aids to help inform, communicate, control and implement. These aids can be in the form of charts, graphs, flow diagrams, status tags, notice boards or other visual cues. What make this different from the ubiquitous bulletin board is that the process is interactive. The people working with the procedures are expected to respond to the visual cues, either by providing information or taking appropriate action.

The Uttana Visual Management Training Videos contain specific ideas on how to make this happen.

What are Some of the Visual Management Tools Available?

The beauty of the Visual Management system is that it adapts to the needs of the installation where it is implemented, and can include elements like:

• Red Tags: One of the best known features of the original 5S system, Red Tags are a simple and effective communication device that can be used anywhere in the process to identify items or procedures that need clarification, and to collect the information required to make the required decisions.
• Charts and Grids: This is an old idea that has gotten new legs with the adoption of the 5S methodologies. Basically, information about the process going on in an area is written on a wall chart, and is updated regularly by the people who are doing the job. This makes it easy to see where you are in a given run.
• Simple Indicators: Colored markers, floor cones, even vests worn by workers are used to communicate specific information. Each item is tied the standard procedures for the operation at hand, and can tell a worker what stage the process is at, who is responsible for a specific task, and other important information.

Visual Management is a 2 Way Street:

What makes the visual management systems different than just warning labels and direction signs are that it is dynamic. It changes as the operation proceeds, and often requires response from those who see it. For example, the Red Tag.

• A worker or a manager sees something that does not appear to be used anymore. This could be a tool, some old manuals, or supplies that have been gathering dust. Rather than just pitching, the correct procedure is to write up a red tag asking the rest of the team to indicate the reasons, if any, that this item should remain.

• During the information gathering period specified by the appropriate procedures, workers, managers and maintenance staff see the red tag and have the opportunity to respond.
• At the end of the period, the responses, if any, are reviewed, and an appropriate action is taken. This could be pitching the item, moving it to archival storage, or having the people who need it label and store the item in an appropriate location. Thus, a problem is solved without creating another problem in the process.

Uttana Training Videos will show you hundreds of examples of how dynamic and interactive visual management techniques and tools can help make your operation more effective.