 Levinson Productivity
Systems, P.C.William A. Levinson, P.E. Principal 570-824-1986  |
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Edward Mott Woolley's description of a fabric folding operation in a bleaching and dyeing factory in Wilmington, Delaware: "But all [employees] took two steps to the right to secure their cloth, returned to the tables, folded the stuff and deposited it on another pile two steps to the left. That had always been the practice; no one had ever thought to question it" (The System Company, 1911, 41).
The following animation (created with Poser 4, annotated with Corel PhotoPaint) shows the very practical virtues of videotaping operations (and/or having a person who has not become accustomed to the job watch it). This is very useful in the kaizen blitz, and also for single-minute exchange of die (SMED). The very substantial waste motion, which is immediately obvious to us, was taken for granted by the workers who did this job (and also by their managers) for a long time.
Henry Ford on this situation:
- Pedestrianism is not a very high-paying line of work.
- No job should ever require an employee to take more than one step in one direction. Also, no job should require a worker to bend over.
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