Superfactory just posted Norman Bodek's latest article on Hirano's Eight Conditions for Flow Manufacturing. This follows his previous article on the 10 Commandments of Kaikaku, and is part of Mr. Bodek's efforts to translate and edit the works of the Lean masters. As he mentions in his latest article, this is a very difficult but rewarding process.
The article goes into detail, with examples, of Hirano's "eight conditions":
- To lay out the facilities in the sequence of the process
- To make facilities small and exclusive use
- U-shaped line and parallel line
- Working by standing
- Multi process operation - multi skill operator
- To bring up the degree of processing one by one
- Synchronization
- To make the flow clean
Following these conditions will help in the effort to change from batch to one piece flow. As is always the case with Mr. Bodek's articles, the first-person accounts and examples are fascinating, and bring a touch of the real world to some of the theory.