Remembering Koizumi San
What would happen if that heavy pallet on the top rack fell on the walkway?
This was the question the COO of my erstwhile company Toyota Tsusho had asked my boss, the SBU Head, Koizumi san, while going through the plant. Though he was a very busy person and always on the move, he had such a sharp eye for detail and had asked a direct question. In fact he was in charge of some 40 Plants worldwide and would be up in the air for 6 months in a year.
The issue was there was a rack on which we stored materials and on the other side of it was a walkway. In case the Fork Lift driver did not lift the pallet properly or nudged it, there was a chance the pallet could fall from that height and was potentially a hazard. This is a classic case of Shop Blindness as we call it, that though we were seeing it day in and day out, this thought never occurred to us.
I was given the task of solving this and after doing the mandatory Genchi Gembutsu or Go & see, I asked my staff for options while I had an idea already in my mind. As expected the maintenance manager started with No, Not Possible, I need 2 months to find a solution etc. I then told him that we could drill holes on a Steel plate, fix a series of steel rods with a base plate at an L Angle vertically and tighten them with a Bolt / Screw and later connect them horizontally and this would act as a barrier. It would be strong enough to resist a push and the driver also would be alerted on resistance at the top of the rack. We even thought of putting some small bells which would alert the Fork Lift driver in case he had hit the Barrier.
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I explained this to my boys and my boss, got the green light and we implemented it in a week. Always in awe of the safety mind at Toyota...
This is a shining example of how the senior management can guide the plant personell by doing Go & See and giving tips for improvement. We at AGCO have such support and many times I have experienced such worthy discussions with our Plant Managers, Directors and Top Management people.
The views expressed are that of the author only and not of AGCO GmbH.
Data and Augmented Experiences
2 年Raghavan Rao #ThankYou for sharing this on LinkedIn. I became aware of your #LeanCultureLiterallyCountS #BEexcellentToEachOther #LinkedIn post today through the also #INsightful comment of Manikandan Manoharan ?? #sensei = #AskingBetterQuestions (Nandri sir for Ulpaarvai. Mariyathai.) #factually #FarFromNaive #gLocally #SustainAble. Gentlemen, I send you “deep genba” #Respect. Knowing Smiles ?? #professionally. #GOandSee #AskWhy
20 Years experience in Production, 17 Years in Automotive field & 3 Years in Cutting tool Manufacturing.
2 年Koizumi San is very good in safety, aslo in numbers (Sales and account figures)no one can bluff, many times we stunned with his ability. counter measure he involved himself any small doubt he took all of us to genba and ask member and confirm, then finalising the counter measure we sat two days for making one counter measure. Many times when deep dig the counter measure path itself changed. We think it is a very small cut in houses also it happens but after this counter measure Changed from wearing single glove to double glove then move to kevlar glove. Which changed our way if thinking. As experienced jun San never compromised for safety. We learnt lot from him. Originally on the top shelf material shouldn't keep, due to Increase in volume member has deviated and kept metal pallets, finally from this idea it is an effective space utilisation and safety enhancement. Also. It it detachable whenever need can dismantle and increase the shelf height to accommodate muchore space as technology changes with few modification make best use of space Thank you sir
APS Manager at Fendt, Germany
2 年thank you all for the likes and motivation extended.
Lean /TPS Expert in Automotive value chain
2 年Raghavan Rao san Thank you for sharing your very practical problem solving in the Genba. You made an important point of Genchi Genbutsu in the Toyota way . Many times countermeasures are made from the desk without seeing the problem at the Genba. In my experience such countermeasure will not work and will involve the Genba team members. When we do Genchi Genbutsu the Genba team member involvement is much higher and they also contribute for solving the problem and take the ownership for the sustenance. That's the human psychology . If we suggest some idea we will try our best to make the idea to work.
Deputy general manager
2 年Sir simply superb .. nice to see two great leaders in one frame thanks for sharing