Visualization is an important starting point for managing in real time.

You need to quickly and clearly understand the status of production system, otherwise you will have a hard time prioritizing limited resources. What gets measures usually improves, quick visualization system allows you to manage in real time, to grasp the current situation in real time, not in a production meeting after the fact. When developing visual system, you need to involve everyone who will either supply information or utilize the available information.

These are measurements used to determine whether a process is stable or is improving. Be sure you use the right metrics to drive improvements. All metrics drive behavior and the wrong metrics can cause negative effects. Important question: Does the metric measure what is important, and does it drive the correct behavior? Understand how the metric is calculated and what influence the responsible person has over the factors in equation. Often, metrics are based on quality, productivity, cost, delivery, profitability, and safety.

It is clear who is responsible for each metric. The metric goal is clear, is well thought out (for example, is adjusted for seasonal factors), and targets particular improvement. The metric is reviewed regularly by appropriate managers. The visual is easy to read, it doesnt give to much information and it allows to quickly grasp situation.

Everyone can understand how the measurement is calculated. The visual clearly indicates which major value streams, products, and/or areas influence the particular metric. Everyone can understand the current actions, their status, and the expected outcome. The visual can be easily kept up to date (with a pencil if possible).

An office board is a visual board used in administrative departments, not on the production floor. Example (Figure 1.5) is a chart for an engineering department to configure systems for newly received orders. If there is a queue of more than ten orders waiting, they are in jeopardy of delay. More than twenty orders waiting will definitely delay manufacturings starting date. The goal is adjusted to take into account a shorter working day on Fridays.

A plant board is used in the production area. It represents all the value streams within an entire plant. It should tell at a glance where you stand on the important measures (managing production on the shop floor) and whether actions have an impact and are being completed on time (drive and measure improvements). It serves as a working tool, not simply a display of information. It not only shows the goals and results for metrics but also helps to pinpoint which areas have the most negative impact on productivity and helps to assign responsibility and actions to reach desired goals.

Figure 1.6 plant board it displays results; makes analysis; and plans, assigns, and tracks ongoing actions. Figure 1.7 is a display on which management communicates results, but it doesnt indicate what influences the measurement or what is being done to improve it. For each measurement, an owner should be assigned. The owner is responsible for the metric reaching its target and following up with others involved in implementing the tasks that affect the metric. Color coded graphs make it easy to see what should increase or decrease, what is acceptable, and what requires attention and improvement. Goal that is drawn as a level line can be problematic, because it is usually unrealistic.

Each metric is affected by different areas of the plant, different products, or different processes. Pareto charts shows which area or product has the most influence on a metric. Action plans are the high-level tasks (task list) associated with each respective metric. Tasks are shaded the same color as the bars or product lines they will help to improve. Action plans make it easy to see how many actions are related to a bar on the Pareto chart which represents an area or product in the plant. Color-coded actions signify if an action is on schedule (green), slipping (yellow) or late (red).

These are similar to plant boards, but deal only with the flow through a particular value stream. It should be regularly updated on meetings. Meetings should review the following: Do action plans relate to improvement ideas from the value stream maps? Are these actions going to improve the value stream metrics like reducing lead time? Are the assigned people for each action on target? Are these actions related to customer priorities and those tasks measured on the plant board? Is everything being kept up to date?

Team board is updated daily by a team leader and tracks only what is within teams control like the detailed progress of quality or problems in the area, productivity, on-time orders (schedule attainment), attendance, and so on. Data should always be filled in with a pencil and should show the biggest problems in real time to help the team leader stay focused on what is important.

Whenever it becomes difficult to distinguish normal from abnormal, consider whether this distinction is significant and then find a simple method to show what occurs when you are operating abnormally.

Visual management doesnt need to be in the form of a chart on board. There are other alternatives If, for example, you consistently want to have a minimum of two pieces or bins of work-in-process inventory between machines, you can paint the floor or shelf red where the pieces or bins would normally go. When the two pieces or bins are not in place, the red color will stand out as an abnormality. Red, yellow, and green provide excellent visual signals. The color scheme concept has many practical uses and works efficiently anywhere (for example andon system).