Reduce labour requirements and create part flow.

Labour Reduction

Strategy: “Part in Hand” Get the right parts into the worker’s hand at the right time.

How:

Changed 80% of parts from MRP to kanban or VMI. Then applied standard work and load leveling to Production workers.

Result:

Labour was reduced and sustained by 43% ($14,500 per unit).

Effective use of space - Production activities are pulled using IPK signals (ie. empty square or bin), not schedules.