Reducing Designated Storage Area Eliminate Waste Within a Workstation www.uttana.com
Reduce Waste Reducing wasteful processes by making things smaller and moving things closer together increases facility efficiency. Wasteful workstations should be easy to identify by the amount of Work-In-Process accumulating within. Large amounts of Work-In-Process may point to a problem in the size of storage spaces. Remember: it is important that only Standard Work-In-Process be maintained within a workstation. www.uttana.com
Workstation Design Workstations should be designed to allow for only the absolutely necessary items and tools involved in station processes. Objects that have no relevance to the process cause unnecessary visual clutter. Workstations designed with extra storage for parts eventually leads to stockpiles of Work-In-Process. These stockpiles of Work-In-Process are great sources of waste. www.uttana.com
Workstation Design, Cont. Design a workstation that has designated storage spaces for tools. A workstation without a designated space can result in stockpiles of tools that are unnecessary to the process. Efficient workstations should have only the necessary tools contained within. These tools should be within easy access of the workers. www.uttana.com
Workstation Design, Vertical Space Use all of the space available within a workstation. This includes vertical spaces such as: support beams, false ceilings, other similar fixtures. These are smart and efficient places to affix tools, allowing easy access to larger tools without compromising storage space sizes. www.uttana.com
5S and Point of Use Storage Designing a station that allows easy access to tools is known as Point of Use Storage and is part of a larger framework known as 5S. 5S is an organization method used to improve workplace performance. It consists of five Japanese words: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke, that when translated mean: sort, straighten, sweep, standardize, and sustain. Each word serves as a category for series of activities involving improvement and organization of a workplace. www.uttana.com
5S and Workstation Design Design a workstation in such a way to incorporate 5S elements. Strong adherence to 5S ensures that a workstation stays organized in both physical space and process flow. Organization improves job performance and allows for visual identification of waste accumulation. www.uttana.com