Figure 7.9: Quality Assurance by process management
Jidoka
Many people have equated Jidoka with simply automation.
Jidoka is made of two words. The Japanese defines automation as simply a machine that moves itself (which is Jido). However, Jidoka refers to automation with a “human touch”.
Jidoka provides machines and operators with the ability, apart from automation, to detect an abnormality that has occurred and to stop the operation immediately. Otherwise, the machine should safely stop when the operation is completed normally. This enables operation to build quality into related processes to separate man and machine for more effective work. Therefore, Jidoka is more than just automation. Sometimes, it is referred to as “autonomation” …show more content…
It is deployed to replace processes that are difficult to be performed by man and/or processes that are very time consuming and requires high levels of attention (high man to machine ratio). The level of implementation of Jidoka varies depending on criticalness of the situation, which is usually decided by labor availability and criticalness to quality. Hence, the quality and productivity factors are always inseparable in terms of Jidoka.
Any implementation of Jidoka inevitably incurs additional expenses. However, as Jidoka usually returns benefits of higher productivity and quality, such expense can be considered an investment. Generally, a well-executed Jidoka yields a good ROI (Return on Investment) within one year for a product or service with three to five years of life span (such rule may differ depends on circumstances). The shorter the life span of the product, the more challenging it is to obtain a good ROI.
Table in figure 7.8 below describes possible levels one may implement Jidoka within a process or production line. Each of the implementation brings different outcomes to the operation depending on necessity and cost. Level 1 is a manual process and level 7 is a fully automated (from start to the end of the process) with built-in quality feature to stop the machine upon detecting any predefined …show more content…
Some of the inevitable consequences are labor shortages and high turnover rate of operators. These have jeopardized certain critical processes.
As a remedy, the team decided to implement Jidoka. In this case, Jidoka level 5 as illustrated in figure 7.9 below. The successful implementation of the project had managed to minimize the need for hiring (of operators) by as much as 30%. With an ROI of 12.5 months, it also saved operation a total cost of $24,000 per year (assuming an operator cost about $500 per month) for the subsequent years until the end of product life span. Process stability was also restored because the team no longer needed to rely on a lot labor, when labor supply was volatile. During the implementation process, the team also worked and developed the capability of local equipment suppliers.
Overall it was a win-win-win-win situation for overcoming labor shortages, saving operational cost, restoring process stability and providing opportunities for the local equipment supplier to experience the power of
Jidoka
Many people have equated Jidoka with simply automation.
Jidoka is made of two words. The Japanese defines automation as simply a machine that moves itself (which is Jido). However, Jidoka refers to automation with a “human touch”.
Jidoka provides machines and operators with the ability, apart from automation, to detect an abnormality that has occurred and to stop the operation immediately. Otherwise, the machine should safely stop when the operation is completed normally. This enables operation to build quality into related processes to separate man and machine for more effective work. Therefore, Jidoka is more than just automation. Sometimes, it is referred to as “autonomation” …show more content…
It is deployed to replace processes that are difficult to be performed by man and/or processes that are very time consuming and requires high levels of attention (high man to machine ratio). The level of implementation of Jidoka varies depending on criticalness of the situation, which is usually decided by labor availability and criticalness to quality. Hence, the quality and productivity factors are always inseparable in terms of Jidoka.
Any implementation of Jidoka inevitably incurs additional expenses. However, as Jidoka usually returns benefits of higher productivity and quality, such expense can be considered an investment. Generally, a well-executed Jidoka yields a good ROI (Return on Investment) within one year for a product or service with three to five years of life span (such rule may differ depends on circumstances). The shorter the life span of the product, the more challenging it is to obtain a good ROI.
Table in figure 7.8 below describes possible levels one may implement Jidoka within a process or production line. Each of the implementation brings different outcomes to the operation depending on necessity and cost. Level 1 is a manual process and level 7 is a fully automated (from start to the end of the process) with built-in quality feature to stop the machine upon detecting any predefined …show more content…
Some of the inevitable consequences are labor shortages and high turnover rate of operators. These have jeopardized certain critical processes.
As a remedy, the team decided to implement Jidoka. In this case, Jidoka level 5 as illustrated in figure 7.9 below. The successful implementation of the project had managed to minimize the need for hiring (of operators) by as much as 30%. With an ROI of 12.5 months, it also saved operation a total cost of $24,000 per year (assuming an operator cost about $500 per month) for the subsequent years until the end of product life span. Process stability was also restored because the team no longer needed to rely on a lot labor, when labor supply was volatile. During the implementation process, the team also worked and developed the capability of local equipment suppliers.
Overall it was a win-win-win-win situation for overcoming labor shortages, saving operational cost, restoring process stability and providing opportunities for the local equipment supplier to experience the power of