Supermaket container label sample? Implementing Kaizen for one product line

[Augus]

Our company just implementing Kaizen for one of our product line. Which include 10 sub-assemblies and kit together at shipping.

We are setting up suppermarket which include raw material from stock and cut pieces from cutting department. I would like to get example or suggestion of what information need to be on the label of those cut part from cutting department when place on the suppermarket rack.

Thanks.

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by Augus

Our company just implementing Kaizen for one of our product line. Which include 10 sub-assemblies and kit together at shipping.

We are setting up suppermarket which include raw material from stock and cut pieces from cutting department. I would like to get example or suggestion of what information need to be on the label of those cut part from cutting department when place on the suppermarket rack.

Thanks.

I don't mean to burst your bubble about "Lean." (I am, after all, a charter member of the Lean Manufacturing Division of ASQ.)

I think someone is using "overkill" in ascribing this process to a "kaizen" initiative.

Simply stated, what you want and need is a brief session in "mistake proofing" to assure the workers can assemble the components of the kit without duplicating or leaving any item out of the kit.

Without seeing your operation and the various components of the kit, I can't give you a concrete plan, but I assure you that labeling of bins that hold the items or labeling of the items themselves is secondary to assuring the assembly flow reduces the possiblity of a kit assembler taking two items from the same bin or omitting one item from another bin.

Here's an example of a mistake proofing system for kitting I have seen:
there are ten total items in the kit,
but the ten include

• one each of A, B, C, D,
• two of E and
• four of F

They created TEN bins to draw from, with TWO bins of E and FOUR bins of F, so the assembler takes one from each bin instead of keeping count of how many E's or F's are drawn.

Alternately, they could have had two sub-kit lines where the TWO E items were put into a sealed package and the FOUR F items put into another package so that the final kitting line would have SIX bins, with the E and F bins filled with sealed packs of the proper quantity. This would work extremely well if E and F came from separate suppliers who could be contracted to supply the components in portion-controlled bags.

In the final analysis, does the kit assembler really need to read a label and know the part number of each item if he is dealing with either 6 or 10 bins of components?

Heck, this would be an ideal line for a blind person to work at!

[wmarhel]

Originally Posted by Augus

Our company just implementing Kaizen for one of our product line. Which include 10 sub-assemblies and kit together at shipping.

We are setting up suppermarket which include raw material from stock and cut pieces from cutting department. I would like to get example or suggestion of what information need to be on the label of those cut part from cutting department when place on the suppermarket rack.

Thanks.

Your labeling could be as simple as color-coded bins alongside a chart which contains the the color codes and what they mean. This could also assist in allowing you to "pull" exactly what you need from the cutting department.

As far as labels, the following information can commonly be found included, but it really depends on your operation and your needs:

1) Part Number
2) Quantity held for bin (how many the cutting department should put in when replenishing)
3) Storage Location
4) Replenishment Location (Work-Cell that will fill the bin)

I would recommend you make the labels as big as possible. Use high contrast if you can, say flourescent yellow labels with black print. Use signs above the supermarket location to identify it as a unique storage area.

Good Luck,

Wayne

[Jim Wynne]

Originally Posted by Wes Bucey

I don't mean to burst your bubble about "Lean." (I am, after all, a charter member of the Lean Manufacturing Division of ASQ.)

I think someone is using "overkill" in ascribing this process to a "kaizen" initiative.

Simply stated, what you want and need is a brief session in "mistake proofing" to assure the workers can assemble the components of the kit without duplicating or leaving any item out of the kit.

Without seeing your operation and the various components of the kit, I can't give you a concrete plan, but I assure you that labeling of bins that hold the items or labeling of the items themselves is secondary to assuring the assembly flow reduces the possiblity of a kit assembler taking two items from the same bin or omitting one item from another bin.

Here's an example of a mistake proofing system for kitting I have seen:
there are ten total items in the kit,
but the ten include

• one each of A, B, C, D,
• two of E and
• four of F

They created TEN bins to draw from, with TWO bins of E and FOUR bins of F, so the assembler takes one from each bin instead of keeping count of how many E's or F's are drawn.

Alternately, they could have had two sub-kit lines where the TWO E items were put into a sealed package and the FOUR F items put into another package so that the final kitting line would have SIX bins, with the E and F bins filled with sealed packs of the proper quantity. This would work extremely well if E and F came from separate suppliers who could be contracted to supply the components in portion-controlled bags.

In the final analysis, does the kit assembler really need to read a label and know the part number of each item if he is dealing with either 6 or 10 bins of components?

Heck, this would be an ideal line for a blind person to work at!

Very good advice, but another consideration for labeling is restocking the bins, and assuring that the blind guy doesn't have to worry about having the correct parts.

[asutherland]

Very good advice, but another consideration for labeling is restocking the bins, and assuring that the blind guy doesn't have to worry about having the correct parts.[I]

Exceptional example Wes. and excellent analysis for restocking. Not much more to add except that if the space is available have either the actual part or picture of the part on the restocking side so that comparisons can be easily made to not put the wrong part in the wrong bin.

If working with various combination of kits, you can color code the variations. (Dont forget to check that the people pulling the kits are not color blind).

[Wes Bucey]

You are correct, of course. I was focusing on mistake proofing the kit assembler. Certainly, good practice would dictate also looking at mistake proofing the process of supplying the bins.

Hey! That's why kaizen events have achieved some success:
Many eyes looking at a situation from many angles.
I still prefer the terms "brainstorming" or "improvement" to "kaizen."

An acquaintance, Akio Miura, a top Quality consultant and one of the ASQ stalwarts in Japan, is simply death on the term "kaizen" which he explains is poorly translated. He also decries the term "poka yoke" as similarly mistranslated. I think I'll ask him to join us here in the Cove. At the very least, I'll get permission to post one of his diatribes about the two terms - it should prove quite an eye opener to folks who assume anything and everything to do with Japanese manufacturing is top notch Quality.