Feedback from a Muda Walk for a Month Participant

The last couple of years we have tried to do this with just myself and my shop foreman and to be honest, we didn't do well with it, as we kept forgetting to do this or could not get the uninterrupted time to do it right. This year I have taken a different approach and it is providing real value for the effort. 

I recruited 5 key people from the shop office and production floor to be the observers and left myself out of that role (having the boss watch seems to make people nervous anyway). I shared with them what the goal was of this exercise and my counterpart from last year supported the idea, but reinforced how poorly he and I had done in the past. We then decided on our format and set up our process. I gave them some chalk (got it from you a few years ago) and we set up two circles on the fabrication floor. One in our Square production area and one in our round production area. Each team member was to spend 1/2 hour in each circle once a week. They were coached using your guidelines and asked to just write down what they observed. They could make a suggestion on their notes about a better way or a fix, but not to stop the observation until the 1/2 hour was up. 

After two weeks it was voted on by the team to move the circle in the square production area, which we did last Friday. So now we will get a new perspective for that area, which is exactly what we need. 

My thoughts when I set this up was to find a way to get the observations done with the least impact to daily activity. Also, since my foreman and I did not seem able to make the time last year, I needed people that we could just make it a part of their job for the week, no excuses. The real benefit I knew I would get (which is proving to be true) was the different perspectives by each of the people. Each of the team members is being given the weekly information that you send, we do a brief meeting on Friday to gather the notes for the week and you would enjoy the enthusiasm as we discuss the next weeks goal. 

My plan is to compile all of the observations/notes, looking for the common ones first. Then I will meet with the team to see if these are items that need addressed or not, look at any suggestions, then decide if they are simple adjustments/fixes or long term tasks. We will then put them on our agenda for our normal weekly shop lean meeting. The team has agreed that we should carry this activity on after this month is over, so we are trying to determine the format, but agree we will continue to do this. 

It has proven to be a real benefit having the people that are so busy that they do not get to just watch what is going on around them, observe. They really do see, understand the movements and are providing very good comments. Also, a couple of minor adjustments to a process or tool location were done already, by the lead person that observed the need. My only regret is that I didn't do it this way last year. Thanks  

Muda Walk for a month - Week 3: 09/19 to 09/23

The theme this week is: Reduce the Waste of Movement of people and the transportation of material & tools

This is going to be a great week – if you make it so!

Your Muda walk this week is to look for treasure hunts AKA the waste of motion.   Moving around is not work! Value is not being added while people are walking around. Watch for people looking for things; ask why and why and why again. Why is this happening? Why are the tools, equipment, forms, etc. not located closer to the work area? Or where the tools are needed?  Go to the shop or a job site at the start or end of a shift and watch for wasted motion. Watch how much time is spent in getting ready or cleaning up? How much time should be spent? Look for ways to reduce this time.  Look for workers making trips to the yard, or for people walking around the shop, or even look for when someone has to go to a hardware store to buy material or tools. Look at how often the crews run out of small supplies or consumables.  Look for tools that are missing or broken causing people to find new ones.

Look too for the Waste of transportation of goods.  This is related to treasure hunts. Any time anyone is moving material, tools or things this is waste. Unless something changes the material or product to add value while it is moving, it is waste. Ask yourself and the workers how to change or reduce the movement or the distance moved.  If you can’t change the distance moved – try changing how it is moved to make it safer, easier and faster.  Don’t blame anyone but look for systems, policies or old layouts that causes transportation waste.

Go watch for Muda. Record your improvements. Implementing visual controls and the 5S’s can help eliminate these wastes.

Go and See – Ask Why – Show Respect – Do No Harm

My Muda Walk Story #2

While walk through a job site I observed workers coming to this table looking for stuff. They would spend sometimes 10 minutes searching through the boxes.  I did not see it on this walk, but I am sure at some point soon after my walk the general contractor demanded that they move this table.  How much time do you think they would spend moving it?  This is the Muda of inventory, movement (treasure hunts) and if they have to move the table it will also be the Muda of transportation. It uses resources but produces not value -  that’s Muda.

This is my Muda Walk story – what is yours?

Week 2: 09/12 to 9/16 – Look for the Waste of Waiting

The theme is the Waste of Waiting. We want value to flow and never wait. When employees, equipment or even customers are WAITING, it is waste. They may be waiting on processes or other equipment to finish work or for an upstream activity to be completed.  Examples of this waste are: when crews are waiting for inspections, field instructions, another trade or material; when a shop worker is waiting for the shear to cut material; or when payroll is waiting for late time sheets. We worked to reduce inventory last week, BUT we never want to have a crew waiting because of no material to install – some strategic inventory is needed and no more.

Waiting in the field can happen due to incomplete material deliveries, unanswered RFIs or a failure of another trade to be reliable in fulfilling its commitment. Waiting is often caused by poor communications between the field, support functions and/or suppliers; when people are unsure what is to be done; and/or because of poor coordination between trades.

During every Muda walk this week look for waiting and drive to the root cause to eliminate it.  We want the material to FLOW to installation with no or as little waiting as possible.  Talk with your employees – ask them:

• What creates waiting?
• What keeps them from doing the work?
• What barriers get in their way?
• How would they remove the barrier?
  

Remember that every problem they surface is real to them. Thank them for bring it up. Let them know it is a legitimate problem and you are serious about helping them solve it. Resolve the problem immediately if you can.  Employee will trust you more when they know you are listening and taking action. They will share more ideas with you.

Remember try to do a Muda Walk if possible for one hour each day.  If you can’t do that - do what you can.

Record your improvements.

Read the Muda Walk for a Month Blog. You can read the weekly theme, see examples and even post your own comments or pictures. Go to http://mudawalkforamonth.blogspot.com/

Best wishes in spotting Muda. Go and See – Ask Why – Show Respect – Do No Harm

Muda Walk for a Month – Week 1: 09/01 to 09/09 - Reminder

The focus for this week is: Eliminate Overproduction and Reduce Inventory

Have you seen any of these?

• Stacks of material at the job site?
• Rental equipment not being used?
• Trailers full of fabricated or ordered material?
• Stashes around the work area?
• Job site trailer closets stuffed with supplies?
• Piles of fabricated material in the yard?
• Boxes of paper goods stacked in the hallways?
• Fabricated product on pallets in the warehouse?
  

All of these and many more are indicators of overproduction and they are inventory.  Inventory is a double serious waste because it produces or hides other wastes. We don’t want the crews to ever run out of material, but we want to avoid as much inventory as possible while still allowing the work to FLOW.

When you spot these waste ask WHY – why do we have to keep this inventory? Why do we have so much inventory? Why are we over-ordering material? Keep asking why until you find the root cause and implement countermeasures.

Ways to reduce inventory are:

• Better job site planning and coordination. Use the Last Planner System® of look-aheads and weekly work plans.
• Use a Kanban method. It means a signal to refill the inventory. This is especially useful for consumables in the shop, field and even office supplies. Use a min/max marker. Use an inventory card with a dual bin system so when one bin is empty you pull the card and keep using the 2nd bin while the 1st bin is being refilled.
• Work with suppliers to service your material needs and include them in identifying how much material to stock. 

Remember: Go and See – Ask Why – Show Respect – Do No Harm

Just DO IT

Muda Walk story

This comes from Glenn Lamb - Fabrication Division Manager, Dee Cramer:
Gene has incorporated the material order forms onto the board, and painted it, and the brooms the color of the area they belong. 

Muda Walk for a Month – Week 1: 09/01 to 09/09

Muda Walk for a Month – Week 1: 09/01 to 09/09
(This is a bonus week and includes a holiday in the USA)

The Theme this week is to attack Over Production and Inventory

We are starting the Muda Walk for a month by looking for the waste Mr. Imai says is the mother of all wastes: OVER PRODUCTION. Over production usually leads to many other wastes especially inventory.  Over production in construction is not the same as making too many parts like they do in manufacturing.  Hopefully, we don’t fabricate more parts than are ordered.  In construction we over produce when we order material or fabricate too much or too soon. For example, when the shop fabricates duct ahead of schedule just to keep the shop busy, there is excess material at the end of the day somewhere. It is either taking up room in the shop, out in the yard or it may be shipped to the job site. There it is unloaded by workers who really should be doing install – aka value added work.  Storing fabricated material at a job site runs the risk of the General Contractor asking us to move it. We have to move it several times before it is finally installed. (Moving material is another waste.) Stockpiling material or parts either in a warehouse or at the job site is inventory caused by over production.

INVENTORY itself is waste. It costs money – more than you think! Some inventory may be called strategic inventory – inventory that is necessary to keep the crews installing. Any additional inventory is excess and waste. The challenge is to “see” the difference.  Any material or parts not currently being used by the customer is waste. This includes raw material, work in process and final fabrications. This type of waste includes extra parts, excess space and unused tools. Look for stashes and workers’ own stockpiles - they are inventory (waste) too.

Inventory is a double serious waste because it produces or hides other wastes. Companies and job sites often accumulate inventory because of unreliable support from their shop, vendors or the material delivery function or because of efforts to save money through a bulk buy. Usually the money saved in bulk buys is spent by the hidden, but real, costs of holding inventory.  Companies also accumulate inventory because of weak planning and poor job site coordination.

Go look for over production and inventory. Over production is often spotted by stacks of material, parts or tools. That may be in a warehouse, a trailer, in the yard or at the job site. Stacks, piles or loads of material is caused by over production and are non-value added from the customer’s viewpoint.  Ask “Why” do we have these stacks?  Ask why enough times to get to the root cause.

Implement improvements. Try something; if it doesn’t work try something else.

Record your improvements.

Remember: Go and See – Ask Why – Show Respect – Do No Harm

Just DO IT