THE VISUAL FACTORY

Michel Greif’s 1991 book The Visual Factory is a classic that everyone should read. Read it or not, the concept of a visual factory is one that everyone should implement.

The concept is fairly simple. It is that the information needed to have the factory operate properly must not be hidden away. It must be out there, not only accessible but visual to the point of reaching out, grabbing you by the arm and shouting “READ ME!” If the information is not readily accessible, its value will be limited.

One issue is that in some organizations managers and supervisors see information as the source of their power. They seem to have the attitude that “If everyone knows this, what am I needed for?” So they hold it close, doling it out in drips and drabs as they deem appropriate. In the meantime, the people who need the information may not be able to do their jobs as well as they should. They may not even be able to do their jobs at all.

There are a few things that need to remain closely held, but not that many. In general, everyone should have access to all information. This information includes production schedules, bills of material, productivity metrics and more. Sure, some of the teammates will not strictly have a need to know. Some will not use the information even if they do need it. Sharing it encourages openness of communications in both directions. Not having access sends a message that they are not trustworthy.

All key productivity metrics including production output, average rates, OEE, quality, changeover times and more should be posted where everyone will see it on a daily basis. Large posters graphing trend lines can be posted in highly visible areas such as the cafeteria lunch line. Get the teammates used to seeing it. Get them used to thinking about it. Make sure they know what it means and why it is important. Do that and they will start thinking about ways to improve the trend lines.

Quality is another area where visibility can help. In some plants teammates do not really know what a quality product looks like. Blanchard and Johnson in their book The One Minute Manager compare this to bowling with a curtain in front of the pins. The teammate throws the ball, it goes through the curtain and something happens but they can’t see what. They only know when management tells them they missed.

Take some ideas from outside of the plant. Church’s Chicken makes some great biscuits. How do they maintain the quality? Look in the kitchen and you will see a poster with photos of a good biscuit as well as 8-9 photos of biscuits that are not good. Everyone knows what a good biscuit is supposed to look like. Put up posters in your plant with pictures of good product along with pictures of various defective products with defects identified. Even a product as mundane as a bottle of shampoo can have 25-30 different ways it can be defective.

Do you want workers or teammates? If the latter they need to be fully informed.