Jidoka – What does Line Stop really mean?

By Al Norval

As we look at the House of Lean, we see the roof held up by two pillars – JIT & Jidoka. I’ve written before about Jidoka being the forgotten pillar since most of the buzz is around the other pillar of JIT. Jidoka or autonomation as it is often translated to, really refers to “Built in Quality at the Source” or even more simply – Don’t pass defects on. Many people forget that high quality and Just In Time go hand in hand. There’s no sense reducing lead times just to move defects faster through the value stream.

I like to think of Jidoka as three things:

1. Don’t accept defects
   


2. Don’t make defects
   


3. Don’t pass defects on
   

Today, this post deals with the second bullet - Don’t make Defects. This can be broken down into a process which has four main parts to it:

1. Detect Defects
   


2. Stop
   


3. Call for help
   


4. Problem Solve
   

I see many people jumping on the bandwagon when they hear this but they tend to confuse the Stop step. While Stop accomplishes the goal of not passing defects on to the next operation, the parts of the process must work together. None of the steps works in isolation. I see many operations that wouldn’t run for very long if we kept stopping them every time the line produced a defect.

Machines are better than humans at detecting defects and stopping the line. Humans are better than machines at calling for help and problem solving. For Jidoka to work properly we must have both the machine and human parts of the system working well together. That means we must have a human response system that can respond to defects quickly, problem solve and rapidly get the line back up and running again.

The image I like to use in that when problems occur, the team swarms all over them so the operation can get back up and running again without making defects. Not only do they get the operation back up and running again but they problem solve to root cause so the problem doesn’t occur again.

Too often I see organizations put in the machine system where defects are detected and the operation is stopped but they have a weak human response system which leads to much downtime, delay and frustration on the part of Team Members. Problems aren’t solved to root cause which means they occur again and again.

The key lesson is:

Ensure a rapid human response system is in place and functioning well before line stop is attempted.

If not, it’s an easy way to just trade one type of waste for another.

Cheers

Jidoka – The Forgotten Pillar

By Al Norval

As we look at the House of Lean, we tend to concentrate on the Foundation and JIT pillar. I’d like to write today about the other pillar – Jidoka for without it, our House of Lean would tilt and the roof would surely come crashing down.

Jidoka or autonomation as it is often translated to, really refers to “Built in Quality at the Source” or even more simply – Don’t pass defects on. Many people forget that high quality and Just In Time go hand in hand. There’s no sense reducing lead times just to move defects faster through the value stream.

I like to think of Jidoka as three things:

1. Don’t accept defects
   
2. Don’t make defects
   
3. Don’t pass defects on
   

The origins of Jidoka go back to the original Toyoda (correct spelling of the family name) family Weaving Loom business. Before they became famous for making automobiles, the family was in the business of making weaving looms that had a reputation for making cloth of very high quality levels.

In the late nineteenth century, people used to sit and watch the weaving machines make cloth waiting for any broken threads which would lead to defects in the cloth. When they saw a broken thread they would stop the machine, repair the thread and restart the machine. Imagine a job like this, watching a machine do the work and reacting only when there was a problem. What a waste.

Toyoda saw this and invented a method whereby the weaving loom would self-detect a break in the thread, stop and alert the operators. The operators could then repair the thread and restart the weaving loom. Now one person could operate many looms and the looms would produce only cloth of the highest quality.

This is where the term Jidoka came from. Autonomation – automation or machines but with a human touch. Ones that can self-detect errors, stop and alert the operator. Now machines can do what they do best which is detecting defects and humans can do what they do best which is problems solving.

By implementing Jidoka, we implement a system that prevents defects from being sent to the next person or operation in the value stream. Now we can begin to introduce JIT and cash in the benefits of reduced inventory and lead time.

Jidoka and JIT – we need both pillars to be working hand in hand to truly provide value to our Customers.

Cheers

Back to Basics

By Al Norval

The dog days of summer have passed, fall is here, the air is crisp and winter is just around the corner. It’s one of my favorite times of year which means it’s football season. As I write this, training camps have broken and the regular season is well under way. It’s mid-season so every team is still in the race.

What do football and Lean have in common? Many things, the most important being how they pay attention to the basics. The basics of football are blocking and tackling. The basics of Lean are making problems visible and problem solving.

Football training camps that began several weeks ago, opened with the basics of blocking & tackling. Why do they start with the basics? In football, the teams have to block and tackle on every play. If they can’t get those right, there is no way they can get the more advanced plays right. The basics of blocking and tackling are a foundation for everything else. They need to be good at the foundational basics so they can build upon them. If not, it’s like building a house of cards and we all know teams like that.

The basics of Lean are found in the foundation of the House of Lean. Like football, Lean needs a solid foundation of Standard & Stable processes to build upon. Lean uses 5S and Visual Management to make waste and problems visible and a simple problem solving process to engage team members in solving problems. The outcome of problem solving often is standards and/ or standardized work by which the improvements are locked in. By solving problems and strengthening the underlying processes, we build a solid foundation upon which to move into JIT and Jidoka.

So, standards and standardized work lock in improvements. Sounds like football again where each play is standardized work and where more advanced options build upon the foundational standard plays.

For more on basics and Lean, see the Lean Manifesto at www.leansystems.org.