Question 1
Describe how the "visual workplace" can increase information flow, improve efficiency, and eliminate non-value-adding activities. Support your argument with a few examples.Question 2
What is meant by the visual workplace? Provide two examples.Answer 1
Visuals reduce the time spent sharing information, especially in signaling hazards, low-stock conditions, poor quality, etc. Time spent reading instructions or taking measurements are non-value-adding if a simple visual can replace them. Examples include graphs of stock conditions, painted warnings, markers, kanbans, andons, and others.Answer 2
The visual workplace brings low-cost visual systems to the workplace so information that is vital in the workplace can be shared. Good visual systems are designed to increase the possibility that what is supposed to happen does happen. One example is the timing clock that is increasingly found in fast-food restaurants, which indicates the length of time that a customer has waited. Other examples include andon lights which signal a problem, containers of the optimum size or with indentations for each part or type of part, color coding and symbols for parts containers.