Transforming Your Value Streams Facilitator’s Guide

Production Leveling Before kanban can work we must level production. In this module you will earn what heijunka is.

A step by step guide to presenting Gemba Academy’s 5S course to lean learners in all positions. This guide includes key points, discussion items, quiz questions and answers, and helpful tips. Using Gemba Academy’s online learning content, any facilitator can teach teams of people to understand and improve their processes.

July 2017 Production Leveling

Preparation and Lesson Plan Use this page to prepare for each training session.

Resources • Gemba Academy videos • Online quizzes

Prepare for a Successful Training Session • Watch videos and complete quizzes on your own at least one day before the training session. • Read this guide thoroughly and become familiar with the course content before presenting to others. • Prepare a suitable training room for your participants. • Prepare a computer with internet access and a projector or large screen. Test all equipment before the training session. • Have your Gemba Academy username and password ready.

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• Choose your quiz style. The most popular option is to use the online interactive quiz, answering questions as a group with open discussion. Another option is to print the PDF version and have participants complete the quizzes individually.

Training Session Outline • Step 1: Introduce the session topic and content to the participants. • Step 2: Play a video. • Step 3: Lead a group discussion using this guide. Review key points, ask prepared questions and have participants fill in the Choose Your Quiz blanks in their workbooks. Style • Step 4: Take the quiz and review responses. • Step 5: Apply what has been learned in your workplace.

When questions come up, encourage other participants to answer. Responding to questions with “What does the team think?” goes a long way to build engagement.

Helpful Tip

1 Production Leveling

Step 1: Session Overview • Introduce the training topic. • This video examines the concept of heijunka and explains the benefits of leveling production.

• Explain what to expect during this session. In this session we will: • Watch “Production Leveling” (8:36) • Discuss what we learned from the video using the workbook • Review the content with a quiz and talk about the results.

• Before you begin… • Ask your participants what they think “leveling” means in this context. What does it have to do with bullwhips?

Step 2: Play “Production Leveling”

Step 3: Review Key Points

What is Heijunka? • Heijunka refers to a system of production smoothing or leveling by both volume and mix. • Before we study heijunka in more depth, we must introduce two concepts: • Mura (unevenness): one of the most challenging things in any business is varying customer demand, especially when you think you know what they want. • Muri (overburdening): as a result of varying customer demand, companies often overburden their employees and equipment. • A related concept is the “hockey stick effect”. At the beginning of the month or quarter, there isn’t much work to do, but near the end of the month, employees often work mandatory overtime to meet demand. • Your suppliers might feel more pain than your company does when experiencing uneven demand by the “bullwhip effect”. A small variation in demand can create a massive variation in supply, much like the flick of a wrist can produce massive force at the end of a bullwhip. • Before leveling, resources are required for peak demand seasons and not required for slow seasons. This frustrates employees and makes for an uneven process. • After leveling, we are better able to schedule resources in a more balanced and respectful fashion.

What Does Heijunka Look Like? • Lot Production: Uneven production, leads to excess inventory or lost customer orders. • Weekly Leveling: Not quite as even as pure heijunka, this requires even more changeovers than the lot production system, making quick changeovers a necessity. • Daily Heijunka Production Scheduling: The volume is leveled per day and the mix is leveled within each day. The number of changeovers exponentially increases, so quick

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changeovers (supported by good 5S, reliable machines, and stable processes) are absolutely critical.

Additional Benefits of Heijunka • Leveling allows us to make what the customer wants when they want it. This helps us dramatically reduce the amount of slow moving or obsolete inventory. • One-piece flow and standard work can be established, since production follows a pattern and the level mix provides a stable workload. This helps reduce cost and improve quality. • We are able to smooth our signals throughout the supply chain. • Leveling also allows our suppliers to limit their inventory, deliver set quantities on a routine basis, and avoid the bullwhip effect.

Prerequisites to Heijunka • Since the number of changeovers required is exponentially greater, Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) are crucial. Once these systems are in place, we can produce according to what we sell. • The Heijunka box: this is a common tool for implementing leveling. It allows us to schedule exactly when a product should be produced by matching product families (and their kanban cards) with time periods.

Step 4: Quiz

1. Heijunka refers to a system of production ______by both volume and mix smoothing or leveling flow acceleration pull

2. Means unevenness. Muda Mura Muri

3. Means to overburden. Mura Muri Muda

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4. The ability to setup (changeover) equipment is crucial for heijunka to work properly. True False

5. What are some advantages of implementing heijunka? Please select all that apply. We’re able to intensify both the hockey stick and bullwhip effect. You make what the customer wants when they want it (JIT) It becomes possible for smooth one-piece flow and standard work to be established. We’re able to smooth signals throughout the supply chain.

6. The number of setups (changeovers) required will likely increase when heijunka is implemented. True False

Step 5: Reflection Give your participants 10-15 minutes to fill out the reflection questions at the end of their workbook. When they’ve finished, have a short discussion with them. Now that they know what heijunka is, do they see any opportunities to implement it in their workspace? Do they know what is involved to set up heijunka? Spend 5-10 minutes discussing.

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