Made-to-Order Lean

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Managing Visually

Visualizationis an important starting point for managing in real time, either on the shop floor or in the department where the work is being completed. If you cannot clearly and quickly understand the status of your system, you will have a hard time prioritizing your limited resources. Putting simple visualization systems in place helps you in developing an eye for waste or at least pushes you into asking specific questions and getting to the root cause of problems.

What gets measured usually improves, yet many companies are content to perform financial measurements at a high level within the company. Activity on the shop floor is assumed to mean the area is productive, yet that activity is rarely measured directly. Even ...