Next-Gen Visual Management with bluebee? in the Lean Factory: 5 benefits

Visual Management is integral to the successful implementation of TPM, Lean or WCM. It involves the use of visual cues, displays, and controls on the shop floor to convey critical information about equipment status, maintenance schedules, and performance metrics.

Visual Management promotes transparency, facilitates communication and understanding among team members and helps engage employees contribute to the overall success of the organization. It is however often hindered by the limitations and burden of paper-based processes still prevalent today.

Traditional paper dashboards and forms

In traditional Lean Factory settings, Visual Management relies on paper. Not much has changed since the 1980s. Performance dashboards take the form of paper boards displaying KPIs and performance metrics, manually updated. 5S visual controls are based on color coded labels, floor markings, shadow board for tools. Checklists and SOPs consist in paper forms posted on machines. Kanban cards, one-point lessons posted on a board, etc. are all paper-based.

The Andon is often the only computerized system, with flashing lights and an electronic display of equipment status, breakdown, downtime, etc. It is arguably a tool for reactive maintenance rather than proactive improvement.

A revolutionary shift

The transition from traditional paper dashboards to a digitalized solution such as bluebee? on touch screens or large display panels, with workers on mobile devices and possibly real-time connection to machines, brings about a revolutionary shift in the concept of visual management.

Let' explore 5 benefits of bluebee? for visual management:

1. Visibility

When one visits a Smart factory using bluebee?, TPM excellence is immediately visible, in action:

• bluebee? tags (QR codes, NFC or RFID) are placed on every on equipment, meters, inspection points.
• Workers use mobile phones to perform their work on the factory floor.
• Large touchscreens (or standard screens) can be seen on the shopfloor and in office, inviting interaction with users.

2. Real-time

Traditional paper dashboards have static information and lack real-time updates. In contrast, bluebee? offers dynamic, real-time monitoring of KPIs directly from the factory floor, eliminating the need for manual updates and providing instant insights into performance metrics. Real-time alerts for deviations also ensure immediate issue recognition, promoting prompt response and resolution.

3. Trusted data

Instead of relying on handwritten forms, followed perhaps by manual data entry in Excel or ERP, bluebee? seamlessly integrates with real-time management systems, capturing data automatically from machines and workers' mobile devices when maintenance activity happens. This ensures accuracy, reduces delays, and eliminates the risk of human errors.

4. Methodological support

While paper firms may incorporate a step-by-step method in their design (for example 5-Whys), bluebee? interactively assists users to follow the right methodology.

For example, bluebee? mobile aids in root cause analysis, by providing methodological support and access to related historical data such as past failures for this equipment.

Analytics touchscreens invite users to drill-down from plant KPIs into more specific KPIs (for example at machine level), going down into the contributing data, all the way to specific events, as an aid to decision-making.

5. Remote collaboration

Instead of being physically confined to the shop floor like traditional TPM forms and boards, bluebee? offers remote accessibility on web and mobile. Stakeholders can collaborate and access visual data from different locations, fostering efficient teamwork. Photos of incidents and their resolutions are readily available. Remote users access the exact same data, from high level KPIs to specific records, as plant users.

All in all, bluebee? represents a transformative shift from traditional paper dashboards in TPM or Lean factory settings. The solution provides unprecedented visibility and transparency into plant performance and TPM activities, from shop floor workers to top managers all the way to corporate office.

Talk to our Bluebee Technologies teams in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok or Singapore to see how bluebee could be applied in your factory: www.bluebeecloud.com