Visual Systems : Harnessing the Power of a Visual Workplace

"When an industrial workplace (such as a machining area, assembly line, or loading dock) is dirty, cluttered or poorly marked, it's not just bad to the eyes — it's bad for the business.

This book is a comprehensive guide to "visual systems" — a highly successful approach that uses visual indicators, signs, controls, and guarantees to direct and support activities on the shop floor. The goal is a self-explaining, self-regulating workplace where critical information is shared rapidly, accurately — and without speaking or reading a word.

Packed with case examples, photos, tables, and checklists, the book shows how visual systems can reduce costs by:

• radically improving both quality and safety

• triggering new levels of employee participation

• cutting wasted motion and needless use of space and materials

• creating a company-wide visual improvement "language"

GWENDOLYN D. GALSWORTH (Cambridge, MA) is president and founder of a consulting and training firm that specializes in tools that support JIT improvement and lean production. She is a two-term Baldrige examiner.