How we think about Work

Do we really think about work, other than trying to get someone else to do it for us?

Shigeo Shingo and Taiichi Ohno both had exposure to ideas that changed how they thought about work. Just out of school, Shingo was exposed to Taylor's Scientific Management and a few years later attended a training program where he learned Gilbreth's Work Study methods. Ohno's early exposure was to Flander's organizing for flow, then began to study Ford, Taylor, Gilbreth, and others.

Think Differently

Frederick Taylor and Frank Gilbreth both studied the work processes in detail. (Below is a simplified version of what they studied.)

Taylor's focus was on accurately defining the time it should take to complete an activity. His time study methods became a standard measure for setting productivity expectations. Taylor's focus was on the work capacity a human was capable of.

Gilbreth's work was in defining all the motions in completing an activity. He removed unnecessary activity (waste) and focused on making the work easier. He developed a "One Best Way"... the beginning of standard work.

Walter Flander's looked at work from a different perspective, at a system level first, then the details.

Rather than having process villages and large batch operations, he mapped the flow sequence and reorganized the layout of the machines in the sequence of operations.

With the machines in sequence, he addressed the issue of synchronizing the operations. How do you manage the different cycle times or capacity issues?

He also had to manage the problems that quality and equipment had on his synchronization efforts.

Ohno began experimentation on layouts that led to multiple machines being run by a single operator. This required training operators to run different types of machines.

Shingo added the training for time studies and Gilbreth's Work Study ideas that led to people identifying unnecessary activity, improving layouts, and defining cycle times.

Shingo's further study of work details was to improve the viability of running small lots by reducing the changeover time required.

Shingo's rethinking of changeover details led to labeling each detail as either inside or outside. The inside details required the equipment to be stopped, so you wanted as few of these as possible. The outside details could be done while the equipment was running (before or after the changeover). Following Gilbreth's "One Best Way", as much was standardized as possible to eliminate the need for adjustments, tools, etc.

To reduce the changeover time even further, he made the distinction between setting and adjusting. Where any changeover required adjusting (run one, check, adjust, run more, check... until it was good enough), the goal was to eliminate the adjustment or have a defined setting that would not require test pieces to confirm.

Ohno added the TWI skills to build the foundations for the Toyota Production System. Clearly defining the standard, solving problems, improving the standards, and respecting people. Job Instruction reinforces looking closely at each step to define the key points, and what must happen to get the desired outcomes. This can become an effective learning to see exercise in thinking about work to be done. The Job Methods skill has you challenge each detail to remove unnecessary activity (waste) and develop more effective ways of accomplishing your work.

To reduce disruptions caused by defects and the necessity to babysit machines, autonomation became a part of how they thought about the work done by machines.

Can you Think Differently about work?

If you look, what will you find?

Pick the most popular product or service you deliver. Walk the production sequence.

How close is each activity? Count the steps needed between each activity. Can you put some activities closer together? Would it be easy to put any two of the activities closer together? Can you have any activities handed off to the next one rather than completing a batch before moving them to the next activity?

What problems do you encounter with each activity? Do you have safety issues? Do you have quality and rework issues? Do you have any machine problems? Which ones can be fixed today? Which ones can you contain to reduce the issue? Do you need more facts to understand the problem? Do you know why the problem happens?

Which activities are difficult or take longer to complete? Can you make them easier? Can the operations be simplified? Are all details of the activity necessary?

Do you use the basic skills to define the standard, problem-solve and improve the standards?

Do you think about how to simplify changeovers so they are not a factor in scheduling production?

What are you going to do today? What will you do tomorrow?

Have any questions?

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