Increase your productivity by up to 30% with facility identification solutions
How can I further increase productivity and efficiency to compete on a worldwide scale? Brady’s Safety & Facility Identification Specialist, Dominique Roosen, explains how to maximise lean manufacturing in your production facilities.
60 seconds
In lean manufacturing, the general rule of thumb is that anyone should be able to enter the facility and identify the flow of work within 60 seconds. “One of the easiest and most effective ways to visually accomplish this goal is through the use of facility labelling”, says Dominique Roosen. “Imagine every employee always knows what to do next because the necessary information is right there, at the point of need. With facility labelling, you can make sure your employees don’t lose valuable time looking for tools, spare parts or wondering how to re-order supplies. Strategic, colour-coded facility identification labels can take your production efficiency to the next level. Customers report productivity increases of up to 35%, as well as improved on-time delivery, reduction in waste and savings 10 times higher than what was invested.”
Visual workplace organisation
“You could start by marking traffic lanes and walkways to ensure employees can move safely and swiftly from one area to another in your production facility. Forklift lanes can easily be identified with Brady’s ToughStripe™ Floor Marking Tape, warning employees about potential danger. To maximise this effect, colour code all traffic lanes for increased recognition.”
“Next, outline storage locations for moveable objects and tools using a specific colour. Add an identification label on the marked location, and a matching label on the object itself, for example ‘production storage cart 1’. The same principle goes for tool board markings, where ‘tool shadows’ can be used to mark their location. This will avoid tools ‘walking off’ to other departments”.
Not too much, not too little
“To avoid inventory overstock, Brady proposes to apply a maximum height indicator on the wall. If you do this right, you might free up capital tied up in inventory to use for more pressing needs. A minimum height indicator lets your employees know when to reorder to make sure you don’t run out of replacement stock. Use colours to clearly show the difference between maximum and minimum heights, like red and green. A third colour could be introduced as an advance warning that stock is running low. On a Kanban card, or on the colour marking itself, you can add practical information on how to reorder, increasing replenishment speed.”
Smart efficiency gains with safety visuals
“Investing to further prevent accidents from occurring is a smart way of doing business. Placing warnings and safety perimeters around moving machinery can avoid a lot of suffering. ‘Lean’ warning signs always include the name and magnitude of a hazard, its potential consequences, a recognisable ISO 7010 pictogram and instructions on how to avoid the hazard. Well placed safety visuals like these will show you care for your employees well-being and at the same time will reduce the number of times production stops because of an accident. Quality safety warnings at the place of need are a wise investment.”
For more information on lean labelling, please download our free pocket book ’50 Lean Visuals’or email Brady at emea_request@bradycorp.com to receive it.
BRADY U.K. & Ireland
Wildmere Industrial Estate
Banbury, Oxon OX16 3JU
Tel: +44 (0) 1295 228 288
Fax: +44 (0) 1295 228 219
csuk@bradycorp.com
