Yamazumi Boards

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04/03/2010

Yamazumi Boards

Yamazumi Boards

Yamazumi Chart - Example

Yamazumi Boards Yamazumi Charts are typically found in Japanese factories that use the lean production concepts made famous by the Toyota Production System. This hub shows how you can create Yamazumi charts to improve any process in your home or office. So what is a Yamazumi chart? Think of it as a revolutionary, visual method of identifying the roadblocks in a business process. This example shows a simple printing process at a copy shop. A Yamazumi board is just a stacked bar chart. In Japanese, the word "Yamazumi" literally means "to stack up". The business process starts at the base of the column, and each block is shown by minutes taken. The aim is to show operator and process cycle times. 1. The steps that are necessary to the process but do not really "add value" are in or an ge. 2. The steps that make a real difference - the execution steps - are in gr een. 3. The waste in the process - the blockage or failure mode - is in red. In this example the problem is a breakdown in the printing machine that requires time and energy to fix. These are the failures that must be eliminated through such lean production techniques as kaizen (continuous improvement) and p oka-yoke (simple but effective) solutions. For more advanced business problems Six Sigma thinking can be used to analyse the root causes of problems using the celebrated DMAIC (Define - Measure - Analyse - Improve Control) methodology.

The Five Advantages of Yamazumi Boards 1. It's visu al. If a picture is worth a thousand words, it's worth a hundred thousand figures. With Yamazumi charts (also known as Yamazumi boards as they literally are signboards in the "visual factory"), workers can immediately and intuitively see where the delays are coming from. 2. It's simple. Clarity is power. Who needs a management consultant's detailed report, when a Yamazumi Board tells the story at a single glance.

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04/03/2010

Yamazumi Boards

3. It's inescapable. Hanging above the production line, the Yamazumi Board is a constant, perpetual exhortation to continuous improvement, or Kaizen. 4. It's public. This one can't go straight to the "circular file". The Yamazumi Board is in the open, glaringly so. With competitive work teams, this is a great motivator to positive performance improvement. Nothing motivates better than public disclosure of results among colleagues. 5. It pinpoints the vital few op por tunities that can change everything. Remember the Pareto Principle. 20% of all causes account for 80% of results. With a Yamazumi Board, you can see visually where the key constraints, the key roadblocks are. Magnify the power of your process by focusing on the "vital few". This is a key Six Sigma principle as the Y=f(x) methodology explains. Inputs drive outputs, and you should focus on the inputs to deliver better outputs. The Yamazumi board proves that simplicity really is power. Remember the philosophical concept of Occam's razor? This arose from the wise words of 14th century English physician William of Ockham. He argued that "entities should not be multiplied unecessarily", meaning that the simplest theory solution is usually the best. A Yamazumi board will help you find it.

Yamazumi Your Life Yamazumi Your Life! Applies business strategies to revolutionise your life. Why should lean production only be used in factories when the same concepts can help you in your daily life.

Yamazumi Your Life! Are the Yamazumi Boards only useful if you work in a Japanese car factory? Think again. This innocent little stacked bar charts can turbocharge your life. (1) In the office Take any task in the office which is burdensome and complex. It may be anything from cutting code or drafting legal documents. Regardless of its nature, every business process will have three features - preparation time, execution time that adds value and blo