More About One-Piece Flow

In a previous posting, we covered Chapter 8 of The Toyota Way which deals with Principle #2, "create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface." Some great comments were posted, and they all focused on the need to have a well-trained workforce when trying to implement flow. I agree. Without an understanding, there's no buy-in for change; without buy-in, there's no chance of success. In that respect, it's of the utmost importance to demonstrate the value of one-piece flow to the individual that it will affect.

However, it doesn't stop there. Eventually, good employees (like the ones in our industry) will adapt to something that's in their own best interest, but they can't always make it happen alone. To switch from a batch system to flow, several isolated operations must be linked together into one process. Sometimes, this may be outside the control of associates, team leaders, and supervisors.

Think about building and setting interior walls. The framers and drywall hangers might work for the wall department, but the wall-setters might work for another department (different team leader, different supervisor, different priorities). At best, the wall department leadership could link the framing and drywall hanging operations into one continuous process flow, but they might have problems integrating with the wall-set operation. That sort of departmental boundary-crossing requires management's involvement, to either change the boundaries or to build consensus between the two departments.

What are some other examples in our processes where managers could create one-piece flow and/or pull systems? Remember, this isn't limited to physical material; it also applies to informational flow.