A visual factory communicates important information using images like charts, infographics, and symbols. Let’s take the example of managing a team at a small factory. Because so many of your employees are working their way through and the turnover is high. Therefore, you must ensure that new employees are aware of where to go and what to do. Using the “visual factory” concept, you can clearly name each workspace, provide quick floor plans, and provide simple instructions for each workstation.
Why Visual Factory?
The information flow is changed by visual factory by reducing the size of the data bits and making them simpler to process. Most people learn more quickly from straightforward pictures than from a few sentences of text that briefly explains an idea. But in addition to learning more easily, they also typically pick things up more quickly. And for this reason, Visual Management system is the key in your organization
The main goal of forming a visual factory is to reduce waste and increase production. Companies can achieve these goals with the aid of Visual Factory by:
- Enabling a quicker learning process.
- Delivering timely reminders for important information.
- Enabling personnel to easily acquire updates.
We may use Visual Factory for a wide range of objectives. Some of the most typical are listed below:
Process Metrics :
Process metrics provide data regarding a process. This could be information about a process stage or
the present stage of the process. It ensures that people know the process and the stage wise
information of each process. It can include graphical illustrations or many such ideas in which people
are engaged and avoid mistakes. Process metrics enables quick, automated updates. It is usually
seen at the machine or cell. Delivering this information in real-time maximizes its effectiveness.
Immediate progress is facilitated by immediate feedback.
Warning:
These alert personnel about potential dangers to their safety nearby. Usually, they are founded on
action. Instructions on how to mitigate the threat are more useful than just warnings. Consider a
chemical company where there is warning sign on each machine but a warning sign on how this
particular machine or the chemical can harm you is very much required in a company. This Visual
presentation ensures people know how a threat can be possessed.
Instructions:
These serve as a reminder to workers on how to carry out a task. An infographic might, for instance,
outline the five steps necessary to operate a lathe properly. In the production areas, work
instructions are frequently posted. In general, production errors will be reduced by instructions that are very visual and include images and graphics. Communication will be improved to a greater extent the more information that can be represented graphically.
General information:
This including maps of the job sites, corporate profiles, and the like. All of these can be displayed for
quick and simple comprehension. A common tool for displaying this kind of information is a
dashboard. In a visual factory environment information is given to inform, alert, and encourage
Implementing Visual Management will turn out to be a process that you improve rather than something you perform once and then leave aside. That’s because every organization needs to identify the practices that benefit its employees the most. Visualmitra has its own survey methodology in combination with DMAIC
Define
What is the present state of your company? For instance:
- What information exchange methods do you currently use?
- How do you engage new employees?
Measure
What are you contributing to the process of exchanging knowledge with and what are you getting out of it?
- How much time does your business spend training each employee?
- How many resources (including people, money, computers, etc.) does your business devote to staff training?
- What more information-sharing initiatives are underway? For instance, weekly team meetings and daily stand-up meetings.
- Exist any occurrences (such as accidents) that may be directly attributed to a lack of knowledge or training?
Is the information sharing at your firm as successful and efficient as it could be? The response will typically be no because there is always space for improvement. Ask queries like:
- What should employees know to do their duties more effectively?
- How can I more efficiently and swiftly deliver that information to them?
- Where are there knowledge gaps where people are unable to quickly obtain the information they require?
Analyze
Is the information sharing at your firm as successful and efficient as it could be? The response will typically be no because there is always space for improvement. Ask queries like:
- What should employees know to do their duties more effectively?
- How can I more efficiently and swiftly deliver that information to them?
- Where are there knowledge gaps where people are unable to quickly obtain the information they require?
Improve
You don’t have to make a complete system change all at once. To increase staff knowledge and memory, you can identify one area where a knowledge gap is contributing to occurrences and apply Visual Factory aids.
Control
Analyze the successes and failures from the visual management you implemented. Comparing current measurements to those from the Survey stage Pick and choose what to keep, how to improve more and expand on. Establish a team to maintain the pace and carry out Visual Factory's implementation.
Lean Visual Factory
Information exchange is essential to any process, but it gets much more critical so as the process becomes more complex. A combination of tools called the “visual factory” enables precise and effective information transmission. Through survey determine what information has to be presented and how this should be done before implementing Visual Factory.
For a number of reasons, a visual factory should be used in manufacturing environments. The main objective of a visual factory is to increase output in terms of productivity, efficiency, and quality. It also tries to make self-help approachable and simple for the average person. Have you ever thought how your factory visuals should be? I’ll give you an glance on how it should be:
- It should Inform staff of current performance, Production status, Production plans, Key instructions for the day/week etc.
- It should be direct like in terms of Do’s and Don’ts, Work instructions, SOP etc.
- It should be able to track Production flow stage and quantities, Skill Matrix required, Plan vs Actual Status etc.
- It should be able to provide Control on deviations on process, raw material, standard operating procedures etc.
Your visual factory and 5S principles must coincide with the long-term objectives of the business for success. Above all, do not use visual management to please your customers but use it to increase level of your organization. Your factory will appear appealing in and of itself. Consequently, you won’t have to make any further effort! The 5s (set, sort, shine, standardize, maintain) lean manufacturing method with combination of visual management will improve productivity and order in workplaces and produce significantly better functioning work environments.
Benefits of Visual Factory
Organizations may operate to their full capacity with effective, timely communication. All staff members can work more efficiently when they are aware of what has to be done and when and how it needs to be done. The advantages of providing visual information to production workers include:
Reduce blunders
Human mistake is among the most frequent causes of error in the industrial industry. For
complicated activities, including posted work instructions, photos, or checklists can help guarantee
that no steps are missed or carried out improperly. This not only makes the workplace more
effective, but also safer. There is less space for error the more precise the instructions are.
Process Transparency
The production process can be managed visually to increase process transparency. There is less need
for social communication between subordinate and supervisor as a result of increased
manufacturing process openness. This frees up time-consuming, non-value-added tasks like asking
the same questions over and over.
Discipline
Through a visual factory people consistently follow the right procedures. A manufacturer's
workforce is encouraged to maintain process standardization throughout the production cycle by
constant interaction with visual management.
Occupational Training
On-the-job training is made easier by visual management since information about the production
process is easily accessible. This type of training is efficient since it involves staff in real-world
experience and is less disruptive to organizational operations.
Boosting staff morale
Employees feel more confident about their abilities to do complex tasks when given clear, strategic
visual instructions. Additionally, having access to visual, real-time data on the factory floor
encourages workers to meet shift goals by providing them with immediate feedback. Additionally, it
equips people with the knowledge they require to alter their behaviour in the moment rather than
discovering faults later.
Boost machine endurance
Instead of expecting staff to exactly remember steps in a process, visual information might serve as a
quick reminder. This enables quicker completion of tasks like switchovers, maintenance, and others
that would typically require downtime for the machines. As a result, your OEE Availability will
increase and machine uptime will be greatly increased.
Boost the number of machine runs
A color-coded calendar for scheduling machine maintenance or other quick visual cues that
operators can utilize as reminders help them avoid issues like machines that function poorly owing
to wear. Additionally, when workers have clear visual instructions regarding the ideal materials to
use in each machine, they are less likely to make mistakes that can slow down production, such as
misfeeds. Making a visual factory will increase run rates, which will improve your OEE Performance.
Reduce WIP (Work in Progress)
The limitations of the manufacturing process should be the focal point of measurements and
visualizations when a factory uses lean visual management signals like a scoreboard or white
board. It is much simpler to understand what steps need to be performed to increase flow at the
limitation and reduce the amount of WIP inventory when the limitation is the focus. This is
particularly true as the limitation is frequently where WIP inventory builds up.
Conclusion
At Visualmitra, we now offer our integrated workplace design and fitout solutions thanks to our experience working across several sectors. We can assist you in maximizing productivity and achieving world-class status while ensuring the safety of your personnel. In order to really develop a lean visual factory, we are providing projects for new development design concepts and current facility improvements.
Learn more about visual factory and the various sectors we have worked in. Do you have any more queries or suggestions? Please post them in the comments section below.